Motion Capture Accelerates Uganda’s Game Development IndustryA tale that has evolved since 2004, Sunjata is the project that will take the Ugandan video game industry – and then the world – by storm. But first, the small team at Klan Of The Kings needed the tools to bring their vision to life.&nbsp;Comic artist and African folklore lover, Ronald Kayima, had a sizeable task in front of him when transforming his story into a video game. Sunjata immerses players in a world of African mythology, ancient tales, and stunning visuals, designed to celebrate the continent’s illustrious history and educate those who haven’t had the opportunity to learn about it before. In an Assassin’s Creed-style game, warrior protagonist Kaar Menelik fights against the gods to save his community.&nbsp;A brief historyThrough founder Ronald’s comic book creations, he met Hannington, a talented 3D artist who took to Sunjata at first sight. From there, with expert advice from collaborators Hans de Heer and Phillip Mukasa, the burgeoning team transformed the plotline into a cinematic, photorealistic game.&nbsp;Without a well established game development industry in Uganda, finding the resources to produce a AAA game was a challenging feat for the team to face. The gaming industry and Ugandan game developers have been virtually non-existent – until now. Sunjata is up to the task of setting the tone for an industry that has yet to break out.Part of the development team’s goal is to establish Uganda as a player on the global games stage. To do that, they need to push for the highest quality content possible, and have it reach outside of the country. “Every milestone we hit, I see it spark a certain level of change in our industry down here,” explains Ronald.&nbsp;Challenges and opportunities Klan Of The Kings opted to use Unreal Engine to build Sunjata, with Ronald learning the software from YouTube videos. The consistent tutorials eventually led him to an Xsens case study demonstrating the use of motion capture in game design.&nbsp;Upon using the motion technology, Ronald found the process “very user-friendly and very easy to implement” into Sunjata, making a small team’s large workload a little lighter. “The process also allowed us to create some high-quality, cinematic trailers,” adds Ronald. “That gave us the polish we need to get noticed.” The natural next step was to fully integrate the Xsens tool into Klan of Kings’ current and future projects.Because there is no established Ugandan game development industry, the team felt that they had to get it right the first time. The pressure to stand out from the crowd and prove themselves was immense, leading to development staying under the radar so it “can really be looked at from a Western, developed point of view,” Hans van Linschoten, entrepreneur and collaborator, explained. Due to some perceived prejudices, the team had to prove themselves to the larger games industry. Finding a sense of unity in the project was proving difficult, due to a lack of belief in the project and the entities in their own skills, resulting in a smaller team and a whole lot of work in front of them.&nbsp;An abundance of dataMotion capture helped Ronald and the team transform the game's animated elements, giving Sunjata a true AAA feel. While the game is currently around halfway through development, the team has access to tools that will help them to capture 3D motion free of needing a stage or cameras. This, paired with the Xsens demonstration videos and support, gives the team the ability to develop high-end content despite the lack of resources in Uganda.&nbsp;Previously difficult-to-execute tasks were made easier by having the tools to digitally replicate human motion, posture, and gait to uplift their animations and gameplay to AAA status competitive with the Western industry. As the game is completely original and high-concept, anything they wanted to add to the game was now simple due to the use of motion capture sensors and instant digital data transfers.What’s next?Sunjata is halfway into development, with the second half predicted to accelerate thanks to Unreal Engine and Xsens.&nbsp;Klan of the Kings remains a small team of four permanent members, but Ronald notes that the amount of talent he comes across in Uganda is immense, and “there’s not enough high-level content coming out yet.” With that, Ronald and the team wish to “push that agenda and really make sure that content does come out of the country on a high level.”&nbsp;With Xsens, Klan of Kings was able to deliver high-quality gameplay that matched their expectations. In a sector with currently limited options, we could provide the gear to enable a higher level of technological creativity.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21QAEYErJsc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trailers</a> for the game are available now, featuring gameplay, a hint to the story and, of course, beautiful introductory visuals created with Unreal Engine and <a href="https://www.movella.com/products/motion-capture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Xsens motion capture</a> technology.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/21QAEYErJsc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true">&nbsp;</iframe>

with Xsens Motion Capture

Motion Capture Revolution in Uganda

Nestled amidst the quaint towns and rolling hills of England lies the fictional town of Anghenfil, a place where whispers of a long-forgotten legend echo through the cobbled streets. However, the legend is about to become a terrifying reality in Every Legend Ends, a captivating fantasy film written and directed by UK-based filmmaker Ryan Garry.A Monster Awakens, a Hero EmergesThe film delves into the heart-pounding tale of a monstrous entity, slumbering for centuries beneath the earth. When the creature awakens, its rage unleashes a wave of destruction upon the unsuspecting town of Anghenfil. As fear and chaos grip the community, an unlikely hero emerges, determined to confront the beast and protect their home.Garry envisioned the film as a high-concept film, drawing inspiration from the epic grandeur of "The Lord of the Rings" and the action-packed thrills of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, achieving this level of visual storytelling presented a significant challenge for an independent production.Xsens Mocap: Breathing Life into the Monster<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QfXj0KFSUI8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>Behind the scenes: Xsens mocap brings monster vs. soldier fight to life!Creating a believable monster on screen is no easy feat. It requires careful consideration of both storytelling and technical execution. Garry anticipated challenges in syncing the monster's movements with live-action performers and ensuring realistic and fluid monster movements.Garry turned to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.movella.com/products/motion-capture" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">motion capture</a>, and Xsens became the secret weapon for bringing the film to life. Xsens offered the freedom to deploy the technology in various environments, a crucial factor considering the film's diverse shooting locations. From the damp and cavernous depths of Crank Caverns to the historic brickwork of the Williamson Tunnels, Xsens' lightweight and portable design allowed for seamless filming without technical limitations.The nature of the production needed efficient use of time and resources. With quick and easy setup, Xsens' self-powered system eliminated the need for bulky generators or cumbersome electrical setups, enabling the crew to work efficiently and capture scenes swiftly, even in remote locations.Unlike optical motion capture that requires separate recordings and post-production adjustments, Xsens allowed for simultaneous capture of the monster and live-action actors on set. This resulted in seamless interaction between the characters, enhancing the film's realism. A prime example is the thrilling fight scene between the monster and an armed response soldier, where Xsens' real-time capabilities eliminated the need for extensive post-production work.Capturing the nuances and complexities of the monster's movements, especially during fast-paced fight scenes, was crucial for creating a believable creature. Xsens mocap's accuracy ensured smooth and natural movements.The system's precision minimized the need for extensive post-production adjustments, saving valuable time and resources. The high-fidelity mocap data ensured the monster's movements appeared natural and believable, significantly contributing to the film's immersive experience.Every Legend Ends stands as a testament to the power of imagination and the ability of Xsens mocap technology to empower independent filmmakers. By embracing this cutting-edge technology, Garry has defied the limitations of independent production and crafted a visually stunning and captivating film, proving that even with limited resources, one can breathe life into a captivating story and create a truly immersive cinematic experience.The film is expected to be released later this year. &nbsp;Here is the trailer:&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_fcgLke8mc0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>

with Xsens motion capture

Breathing Life Into A Legend With Xsens Motion Capture

Imagine a world where the physical and digital realms blend seamlessly, creating extraordinary live experiences. This fusion, driven by Augmented Reality (AR) and enhanced by Visual Positioning Systems (VPS), is revolutionizing the way we interact with entertainment across sports, music, and leisure activities. AR transcends mere visual enhancement, by overlaying digital information onto our real-world environment that can be interacted with and manipulated, allowing for deeper audience engagement and comprehension. VPS plays a crucial role in this transformation, enabling precise and context-aware positioning of augmented elements, thus making the AR experience more realistic and interactive.This article dives into the significant impact of AR and VPS in entertainment, focusing on their joint capability to deliver real-time analytics, boost audience involvement, and craft captivating, immersive experiences.&nbsp;In a sports stadium, AR could offer spectators live, in-depth analytics overlayed on the field of play, while in a concert setting, it could synchronize elaborate visual effects with live performances.&nbsp;The synergy of AR and VPS is reshaping entertainment, offering personalized, enriched, and dynamic experiences that were previously unimaginable. This piece aims to unveil the innovative potential of combining AR with VPS, highlighting how they are collectively setting new benchmarks in interactive and engaging live entertainment experiences.<h2 dir="ltr">Exploring the Essence of Augmented Reality</h2>Augmented Reality (AR) integrates digital components like images, information, and animations into our physical environment, viewable from devices such as glasses or smartphones, enhancing our perception of reality. Central to its effectiveness is the Visual Positioning System (VPS), utilizing sensors and cameras for accurate real-time interpretation and localization of the environment. To generate impactful AR experiences, careful planning is essential. This includes conducting detailed spatial mapping to ensure the accurate placement of virtual elements within the real world, thus creating a seamless and interactive user experience. This integration of AR and VPS marks a significant step in merging the digital with the physical, opening new dimensions in our interaction with technology.<h3 dir="ltr">Elevating the Sports Experience with AR</h3>AR is redefining the sports landscape, seamlessly blending the electric ambiance of live events with the analytical depth of broadcast media. For fans in the stands, AR offers an enriched viewing experience by delivering real-time statistics and instant replay capabilities right before their eyes, enhancing their connection with the game. Simultaneously, it provides coaches with a powerful tool for gaining deeper insights into player performances and strategies. This innovative fusion of live action and digital intelligence by AR not only elevates the spectator experience but also revolutionizes coaching techniques, setting a new standard in how sports are played, coached, and enjoyed.<h3>Enhanced Case Study: Immersal's Collaboration with Major League Baseball</h3>In a groundbreaking initiative in July 2023, Immersal, in collaboration with Nexus Studios, T-Mobile, and Major League Baseball (MLB), unveiled a cutting-edge AR experience during the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and the MLB All-Star Game. This innovative venture brought to life the MLB Next app, powered by Immersal's advanced VPS. The app offered spectators an immersive experience with live vivid 3D visuals and up-to-the-minute data, significantly elevating the traditional sports viewing experience.This AR application successfully overcame various environmental hurdles to provide an engaging and interactive platform for fans. The real-time data and striking 3D graphics not only enhanced viewer engagement but also brought a new dimension to the understanding of the game's intricacies.In recognition of this technological marvel, we are thrilled to share that the <a href="https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2023/12/11/sports-business-awards-tech.aspx" target="_blank">MLB Next App has been shortlisted for the prestigious Sports Business Awards in the “Best in Extended Reality” category.</a> This nomination underscores the app's significant contribution to enhancing sports technology and fan experience, setting a new benchmark in the sports entertainment industry.<hr><h2>What will you build?</h2>Whether you're building an AR experience for a large commercial space, a factory, or an industrial setting, or even if you'd just like to create an AR app for fun, Immersal is the way to do it.Immersal has released its SDK 2.0 and new Mapper App.&nbsp;<a href="https://developers.immersal.com/?WEVOLVER=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="button-main-action">Sign up for your free account here.</a><hr><h2>Advancements in Athlete Training with AR</h2>AR is revolutionizing athlete training by equipping coaches with sophisticated, real-time analytics. This cutting-edge technology facilitates more targeted and effective training approaches. Through AR, coaches and athletes can access a wealth of data, including biomechanical analysis and performance metrics, right at their fingertips. This level of detailed feedback allows for a more nuanced understanding of an athlete's strengths and areas for improvement, leading to tailored training programs that maximize efficiency and effectiveness.A prime example of AR's impact in sports training is the case of renowned long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge. By leveraging AR-driven data, Kipchoge was able to fine-tune his training regimen, focusing on specific aspects of his performance. This personalized approach, enriched with detailed AR analytics, played a crucial role in his outstanding achievement at the 2016 Olympic Games. Kipchoge's success story not only highlights the potential of AR in elevating athletic performance but also serves as an inspiration for how technology can be harnessed to push the boundaries of human potential in sports.<h2 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Transforming Fan Engagement with Gamified AR Experiences</h2>In the dynamic realm of sports and entertainment, AR is a game-changer, creating captivating fan experiences through innovations like virtual stadium tours and interactive games. AR allows fans to delve into additional game insights and unique perspectives right from their devices. Significantly, the integration of volumetric video into AR environments is enhancing this experience, bringing a rich, three-dimensional depth to content, making virtual interactions with players and mascots astonishingly realistic and immersive.At home, AR transforms the viewing experience, enlivening broadcasts with elements like team mascots and interactive ads. These mascots, once just a part of the field, now come to life in 3D, bridging the gap between the stadium and the living room. This not only adds a fun, interactive twist to home viewing but also leverages the power of volumetric video to make these virtual interactions incredibly lifelike. Furthermore, AR's application in advertising offers interactive, engaging commercial experiences, heightening the overall game-watching experience. These advancements in AR, augmented by the realism of volumetric video, are reshaping fan engagement, turning passive viewing into an immersive, interactive event.<h3 dir="ltr">AR in Live Music Events</h3>Augmented Reality is swiftly becoming an essential element in live music events, enhancing concerts with immersive, interactive experiences. While AR has been part of concerts for some time, its role is growing more significant and transformative. A notable example is Childish Gambino's innovative use of an AR app during his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY1Mr0b_I4Y" target="_blank">2019 Coachella performance</a>, which added a new layer of engagement for the audience.In a recent landmark event, the popular rock band UVERworld performed at Yokohama Nissan Stadium on July 29-30, 2023, to an enthusiastic crowd of 70,000 fans. In a collaborative effort, Immersal and Realize Mobile Communications crafted a unique AR experience for this concert. Utilizing the technology, around <a href="https://youtu.be/Fgxj19pEaqg" target="_blank">20,000 people sent messages from across the stadium</a>, which were then visually aggregated to form UVERworld's iconic logo. This interactive feature not only fostered a communal atmosphere among the audience but also visually encapsulated their emotions and passion, elevating the collective experience. Remarkably, over 7,000 individuals engaged simultaneously in this large-scale, real-time social interaction, showcasing the immense potential of AR in bringing together and amplifying the concert-going experience.<a href="https://youtu.be/Fgxj19pEaqg?feature=shared" target="_blank"></a><h2 dir="ltr"><a href="https://youtu.be/Fgxj19pEaqg?feature=shared" target="_blank"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pf2KWpmqgnY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> </a>Revolutionizing Theme Park Adventures with AR</h2>Theme parks are universally adored for their thrills and excitement, but long lines can dampen the enthusiasm. AR emerges as a game-changer in this context, significantly improving the visitor experience. AR is adept at providing real-time estimates of ride wait times, ensuring that guests can manage their time more efficiently. Through strategically placed AR markers and location-based triggers, the physical environment of the park is enriched with interactive virtual content.Advanced VPS technologies, like those developed by Immersal, offer a plethora of enhancements to the theme park experience:Interactive Maps and Customized Routes:&nbsp;These features cater to individual preferences, allowing visitors to plot their journey based on their interests and the attractions they wish to see.Virtual Walls:&nbsp;An innovative way for visitors to interact with the park, where they can contribute to a virtual mural at iconic landmarks. A notable example is what Immersal did at Disney Hong Kong in 2022.&nbsp;Digital Signage: This offers updated information about essential aspects like ride wait times, show schedules, menus, and more, all in a virtual format that's easy to access and understand.Wayfinding:&nbsp;Combining VPS with smartphone sensors and computer vision, systems like Immersal's provide real-time navigation help, guiding visitors with vibrant virtual arrows and cues on the ground.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA3NDg1OTE1MzU4LWdhbWUgaW1tZXJzYWwuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Friend Finding:&nbsp;This useful feature assists in locating and navigating to friends or family members if you get separated, enhancing the social aspect of the park experience.AR in theme parks transcends mere entertainment; it opens doors to personalized and interactive experiences. It encourages visitors to engage more deeply with attractions and characters, enriching their overall experience.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNzA4MzQ3ODk0OTU0LWhrZGxfd29ybGQgb2YgZnJvemVuXzEwbSBnaWFudCBvLmpwZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">To illustrate, Disneyland Hong Kong's "World of Frozen" campaign celebrated the new attraction's opening by featuring Olaf, the beloved snowman, in various forms across East Asia. These included a massive 10-meter installation, appearances in shopping malls, and <a href="https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/worldoffrozeninvitation/index.html" target="_blank">innovative augmented reality experiences</a>, showcasing the diverse applications of AR in enhancing theme park adventures.<h2>Conclusion</h2>Augmented Reality, enhanced by Visual Positioning Systems, is revolutionizing the entertainment landscape, merging digital innovation with real-world experiences. This technology has transformed sports, offering fans immersive, interactive experiences and providing coaches with in-depth performance analytics. In the music industry, AR has elevated concerts into engaging, social events, fostering a deeper connection between artists and audiences. Additionally, theme parks are utilizing AR to personalize visitor experiences and streamline navigation, making every trip more engaging and efficient. As AR continues to evolve, it's redefining entertainment, moving it from passive observation to active, immersive participation, blurring the lines between reality and digital realms in exciting new ways.<h2 id="isPasted">What will you build?</h2>Whether you're building an AR experience for a large commercial space, a factory, or an industrial setting, or even if you'd just like to create an AR app for fun, Immersal is the way to do it.Immersal has released its SDK 2.0 and new Mapper App.&nbsp;<a href="https://developers.immersal.com/?WEVOLVER=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="button-main-action">SIGN UP FOR YOUR FREE ACCOUNT HERE.</a>

Augmented Reality (AR) and Visual Positioning Systems (VPS) are transforming live entertainment by blending the physical and digital realms to offer immersive, interactive, and personalized experiences across sports, music, and leisure activities.

Augmented Reality: The Transformative Impact of AR in Entertainment

With the growing world population and the rising temperatures, droughts or floods resulting from climate change, water resources are becoming scarcer, while pollution is on the rise. At the same time, with the relevance of water and hydrogen as energy carriers, our need for ultra-pure water is increasing. &nbsp;There are other problems besides water scarcity: &nbsp; Water forms the habitat of countless organisms in seas, rivers and lakes. The flourishing global trade via sea routes increases the risk of the introduction of foreign organisms that displace native species and can cause economic and health problems.&nbsp;No matter what industry: An important key in dealing with water is the process of water&nbsp;treatment.<h3 id="isPasted">Are you also striving for sustainable water filtration solutions?&nbsp;</h3>Then join us: With the production of water filters made of metal wire mesh, our focus is on efficient mechanical water filtration and, thus, the preservation of one of the most valuable resources for people and nature across all industries.&nbsp;Because what many people do not know: Filter elements made of wire mesh in the smallest and largest dimensions provide answers to many questions. We will explain to you the added value of our metal mesh for various areas and how you can benefit from it for your specific requirements.<h3>Filtration with wire mesh - your solution for clean water&nbsp;</h3>In numerous applications in the water industry, the optimum combination of throughput and filtration fineness is crucial: for the retention of microplastics, for the treatment of wastewater and sewage or for the prevention of the introduction of foreign organisms by shipping.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1685550376820-Drahtgewebe-Musterkarten-1366x768.jpg" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Metal wire mesh enables the filtration of even the finest particles &gt; 5 &micro;m and is also convincing from a sustainable point of view due to its regenerability and recyclability.&nbsp;Corrosion resistance, suitability for welding and stability are further examples of concrete requirements for the development of water filters that we have already been able to successfully meet with the use of metal wire mesh. This is because the mechanical, chemical and physical properties can be optimally adapted to the respective installation situation by selecting the type of weave, the material and the processing of the mesh.We invite youOn our website, in addition to an overview of clever solutions in water management, you will find comprehensive technical articles on selected areas of application:&nbsp;<ul><li>Microplastic filtration</li><li>Wastewater filtration</li><li>Ballast water treatment</li></ul><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-a0hRXJOERI?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-gtm-yt-inspected-9="true" id="953323101" title="Words on Water - Tim Gerdes" data-gtm-yt-inspected-8="true"></iframe>Tim Gerdes, project manager for water filtration at Haver &amp; Boecker, also discusses in the podcast &quot;Words on Water&quot; with the Water Environment Federation the possibilities of using wire cloth and screens for the filtration of water and especially for the retention of microplastics.&nbsp;Click <a href="https://www.haverboecker.com/en/industries/energy-and-the-environment/?lso=wevolver-wasserfiltration-beitrag&utm_campaign=wasserfiltration&utm_source=wevolver&utm_medium=beitrag&utm_content=_kw19" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> to visit our website.We look forward to your visit and invite you to contact us directly if you have any questions about our product solutions or your specific requirements - even beyond the areas mentioned.

Water is one of the most valuable resources on our planet. As process water, it is indispensable in our households and almost every industry. And above all, in the form of drinking water, it is probably the most precious commodity for us humans. 

The Future of Water - It's Time to Rethink

As one of the rising AAA metaverses, <a href="https://www.yabal.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yabal</a> is the perfect example of how motion capture technology is becoming critical to the future of live entertainment.&nbsp;Yabal is a metaverse specifically created for live entertainment and its current focus is to deliver weekly live concerts. Users are immersed in a 3D virtual world where they can attend these shows, setting a new bar for artists and their performances.Movella's <a href="https://www.movella.com/products/mvn-animate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Xsens Animate</a> motion capture technology empowers Yabal to deliver seamless interaction between physical and virtual worlds, providing the highest quality experience to their users.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ohH82hIJVoc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe> The importance of motion tracking and captureLeading the way on the journey to become the gamified and interoperable high-fidelity metaverse for live entertainment is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikfaber/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dominik Faber</a>, Yabal's Founder. Dominik recognised the importance of excellent motion tracking and capturing to enable artists to create authentic, intimate in-game live shows which led to the discovery of Xsens, and their array of Xsens motion capture products. &nbsp;The main reason the team decided to adopt and implement Xsens technology was the overall data quality it provided, and how it went above and beyond its competitors' capabilities. Dominik says, "we saw the VR headset market was crashing and started to investigate screen based virtual environments to develop and create performances. We found Xsens to have excellent positional tracking with stellar graphics, and there was no magnetic interference. All round, it was a much better, more reliable suit than the others."Thanks to the capabilities of Xsens motion capture technology, Yabal has delivered a vast variety of live shows and with its infinite scalability, this number is set to increase. Currently in pre-series A, the team's next steps are to expand their presence globally and fully embed Xsens technology within their framework and infrastructure.&nbsp;Getting up close and personalVirtual environments provide a new level of intimacy around artist engagement, something that's unattainable in the physical world. By capturing authentic facial movements with a device as simple as an iPhone, and realistic body movements with the Xsens suit, and displaying these in real-time, the user experience is elevated and makes individuals feel much closer to the artist. The goal here is to combine entertaining live shows with engaging gameplay.&nbsp;This is why magnetic interference is important. Magnetic interference, which happens around vital pieces of equipment such as speakers and distorts the animation. This distortion removes this newly created level of intimacy and ruins the immersive experience. Sadly, this is prevalent in many pieces of motion capture technology, and Movella is the only inertial motion capture company that has managed to overcome this.Furthermore, this is why the reliability of the suit is essential. With live performances and real-time entertainment, there is no luxury of time. Creators and performers can't wait for debugging so the technology needs to be reliable and work first-time. When the technology is unreliable, as with magnetic interference, the immersive, intimate nature of the experience is ruined, and there is a risk of reputational damage, leading to a loss of audience going forwards. &nbsp;When discussing the process for performances, Dominik explains how there is no blueprint, and every show is a different, fun, creative, and–at times–experimental process. Nothing is ever pre-recorded. Live means live.&nbsp;Reflecting on some of his favorite performances Dominik comments, “one of our first ever shows was with Aetna, an upcoming German band consisting of two people playing live synthesizers and drums. We created their avatars and, using Xsens motion capture suits, they delivered a virtual, real-time live performance. The reception, and reaction, from the fans was fantastic."Another great performance was from European DJ, Hugel, in the midst of the pandemic. It was his birthday and all his previous plans fell through. At short notice we were able to organize a globally accessible performance and he was over the moon to be able to play to, and interact with, his fans."<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjc1OTIxODAyNzAyLVlhYmFsIGltYWdlIHJlc2l6ZWQucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3 id="isPasted">Creating the future, today</h3>It's clear to see that the metaverse will be a fundamental part of humanity’s future. From social interactions, to education applications and the entertainment industry, the metaverse and rise of companies such as Movella and Yabal working collaboratively, will completely disrupt and re-engineer the world as we know it.&nbsp;With Movella already being a leading innovator within the motion tracking industry, combined with the possibilities of multiple metaverses and the Unreal Engine, this boundary-pushing company has already begun its journey to becoming an intrinsic component for success in the metaverse.&nbsp;

with Xsens MVN Animate

Bringing Live Entertainment to the Metaverse

Adapting the vibrant imagery of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile from the page of a children&rsquo;s book to a Hollywood blockbuster is no simple feat. First, you need to bring a six-foot-one singing and dancing crocodile to life. Then you have to make it believable; performing alongside Academy Award-winning Javier Bardem while capturing the magic that made the book so special. Lyle the crocodile needed to be completely authentic, and completely endearing.&nbsp;That&rsquo;s the challenge faced by motion capture experts,&nbsp;<a href="https://actorcapture.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Actor Capture</a>, when Sony asked them to take on the project. With work on productions such as Suicide Squad and Cardi Tries, Actor Capture is a leading consultant in creating 2D and 3D characters across film and game.&nbsp;James Martin, Technical Director at Actor Capture, led his team through the production process to bring Lyle to life. For this story of a boy who befriends a walking, talking, and singing crocodile, the team had to develop a full performance capture of Lyle &mdash; from teeth to toes &mdash; that could share the screen with Oscar-winning talent.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjc1OTIwNzg1NzkyLUx5bGUgTHlsZSBDcm9jb2RpbGUgMS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3>Getting ahead</h3>Actor Capture knew they needed to be involved early in the process. By coming on board during pre-production, James and the team could identify exactly what was needed to bring Lyle to life. Lyle himself would be developed from a combination of performers &ndash; each representing different forms that he takes throughout the film: starting as a child, growing up, and then for the more stunt-heavy moments.&nbsp;A scale-accurate performer, Ben Palacios, was utilized for the emotional and more performance-driven captures. For a young Lyle, James proposed a scale-accurate child actor to secure a realistic performance and capture the youthful energy of the original story. And for the stunts, there would be some challenges. A particular wrestling scene came to mind when James spoke about the process.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T0ZIStVHSjI?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-gtm-yt-inspected-7="true" id="786230741" title="Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile - Behind-the-scenes using Xsens motion capture technology"></iframe> &ldquo;Mr. Primm, the character played by Scoot McNairy, has a background as a high school wrestling champion,&rdquo; says James. &ldquo;And he takes on Lyle &mdash; or Lyle takes on Mr. Primm!&rdquo; For these moments the singing, dancing, and stunts were all made from two entirely separate (and acrobatic) Lyles who could deal with the physical demands.Actor Capture worked closely with each actor to ensure their performances were just right. The cast had a month of training to ensure they were aware of the different workflows involved and how to perform in the suits when on set. It also gave them a good grounding in relevant techniques and terminology.<h3>The Right Capture</h3>Working in a team of four, Actor Capture was involved for the duration of the production. From calibration of suits to laundry, getting them to the right people, and into post-production they made certain that the motion capture process was entirely prepped and ready. Which also meant having the right motion capture tools for the right moments.Having a motion capture setup that enabled the team to go back and effortlessly match existing footage at a 24fps framerate was paramount. Whenever complex interactions take place between a live-action performer and an animated principal character, it becomes a data-heavy pursuit. Being able to capture the most accurate data possible enables the CGI elements to work seamlessly with live-action. Without it, there was no guarantee of creating a believable character.&ldquo;We choose Xsens for our body motion capture every time,&rdquo; says James. Data quality is key to generating the best performance capture possible. For Actor Capture, Xsens consistently produces that quality. By using a combination of tools - including the Link Suit, Manus and Facewear - Actor Capture were able to cover the whole body and receive best-in-class data output.&nbsp;Being able to rely on accurate data that could be shared with teams around the world meant that they could rely on the final product being exactly what was needed. Xsens&rsquo; Link Suit in particular was used for a variety of reasons along with providing a high level of data output. This suit was vital when filming all of Lyle&rsquo;s movements on set &ndash; it&rsquo;s widely preferred by performers and, crucially, is simple to use.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjc1OTIwODQ5MzY4LTIwMjEwOTE3XzA5NTMxMy5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3 id="isPasted">Adaptation</h3>Working on a fast-paced set comes with its own challenges, and when you&#39;re adding a CGI character into the mix these grow exponentially. It&#39;s important to be able to adapt and modify your process as production progresses.During filming it was clear that capturing the live-action hands (on account of Lyle being a crocodile) wasn&#39;t going to deliver an authentic result. So, in consultation with producers, Actor Capture recommended an entirely separate capture session and post-production involvement to construct the hands as an additional component.Being able to utilize tools that provide that extra level of flexibility was an essential factor in that decision-making process. Actor Capture knew that with the Xsens Glove by Manus, they could simply capture the hands separately and offer the production team the right advice to ensure they ended up with the right results.<h3 id="isPasted">Award-winning standards</h3>Actor Capture was excited by the prospect of having the motion capture of a crocodile hold up alongside the performance of Javier Bardem. Making sure that the animation was going to live up to award-winning talent was a determining factor in knowing exactly why Xsens needed to be involved.&nbsp;Actor Capture is known for delivering AAA results. Having access to the highest quality motion capture tools ensures that the processes involved are as convenient as possible for the production team. That convenience enables them to focus on generating a complete, authentic performance that suspends all disbelief when audiences sit down to enjoy the final movie.

Crocodile antics opposite Javier Bardem

Over the past few years, there has been a rapid rise of digitization and significant advancements in high-end &lsquo;Hollywood style&rsquo; production technology. These developments have unveiled numerous opportunities for organizations in the entertainment industry, enabling them to make improvements in efficiency, costs, and resources.This &lsquo;Hollywood style&rsquo; production technology is now so advanced, portable, and intuitive that an experienced solo content producer, with the right tools, can produce consumer-ready content without a full production team of the same (if not better!) quality.Through combining expertise from the gaming industry, visual effects and premium motion tracking technology the future potential of content and immersive entertainment experiences seems limitless. If we can dream it, the chances are we&rsquo;ll eventually be able to do it.The challengeAs a full-stack visual effect and virtual production studio, specializing in innovative visualization solutions,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aoefx.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Area of Effect (AOE)</a>&nbsp;was approached by Loud Robot, a joint venture record label between RCA Records and Bad Robot.The project involved creating a music video for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sallyboy/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sally Boy&rsquo;s</a>&nbsp;new single, i Love U, with a unique challenge: can one individual with the right technical ability, create a music video in-engine, using high-end modern tools such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate?hsCtaTracking=0031f976-823a-4074-8cc4-d6f2347422ae%7C584bb7ed-596e-4dd6-992d-245825acf04f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN Animate</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://facewaretech.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Faceware</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/?utm_source=GoogleSearch&utm_medium=Performance&utm_campaign=an*3Q_pr*UnrealEngine_ct*Search_pl*Brand_co*UK&utm_id=17086214830&sub_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_term=unreal%20engine" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unreal Engine</a>?<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y7xCp0fTng0?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> Diving in at the deep end<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brycecohen/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bryce Cohen</a>, Real-Time VFX Associate at AOE was tasked with discovering just how much an individual was able to do to create a music video in Unreal Engine, from the very initial conceptual stages to final editing and production. The project gave him the opportunity to showcase his impressive technical abilities by utilizing cutting-edge Hollywood-style technology.The first stage was discovering what technology needed to be used to create the desired end result. For example, the video was going to be based around a character, who would be talking and moving their mouth to react, so face tracking was a must. The character was also going to be moving around a lot, so camera tracking was required. In the end, a decision was made to use all available technology and really push the boundaries of what was possible through motion capture.&ldquo;When I was first approached about this project, I was nervous about the entire thing since it was nothing but variables,&rdquo; said Cohen. &ldquo;Creatives with the right technical abilities have a whole new world of virtual production available to them through utilizing new and improved technology such as mocap.&rdquo;Lights, camera, action! A lot of the technology used within the video was brand new to Cohen and he only had hours to familiarize himself with how to use it.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s so user intuitive and straightforward, with all the brilliant tutorials available online, you&rsquo;re able to learn solo in-studio,&rdquo; said Cohen. &ldquo;However, it&rsquo;s important to note that due to the cost and level of skill required, these are not consumer or hobbyist tools.&ldquo;The production of this project was full of little moments of discovery. My favorite of which was trying to figure out how to animate butterflies to bring more life to one of the scenes. The solution? Taping a camera tracker to the director, Jake Zaoutis&rsquo; head and having him run around my garage, acting like a butterfly.&rdquo;A key piece of high-end technology that made the whole video production possible was the Xsens suit. This enabled real-time referencing of the video shots for a quick production pipeline.The <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate?hsCtaTracking=0031f976-823a-4074-8cc4-d6f2347422ae%7C584bb7ed-596e-4dd6-992d-245825acf04f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN Animate</a> suit provides accurate, production-quality results, similar to what an optical system can provide results every time, from anywhere in the world. This boundary-pushing technology provides clean, production-ready data from both inside and outside a studio. Cohen found the collection of real data to be crucial to the success of the video.Cohen said: &ldquo;That was another bonus in terms of the way the suit itself was structured. At no point did we worry about breaking the suit or find it limiting&mdash;at times, you forgot you were wearing<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1670573992281-iloveu+3.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Making the impossible, possibleIn Cohen&rsquo;s opinion, there were two main challenges to overcome. The first was a software problem and the second was a more general one, regarding &lsquo;how to work&rsquo;.For the software problem, Cohen needed to build a custom facial rig for the character. This was a very difficult process that took trial and error to get things right, but it became easier after discovering and using the tool in practice.For the &lsquo;how to work&rsquo; challenge, the main issue was translating creative direction from Zaoutis, who&rsquo;s never worked within an environment such as the Unreal Engine before, into actions, processes and outcomes. Cohen found he was responsible for not only solving the problem but explaining the reasoning behind whether or not it was an idea to move forward with, predominantly due to time constraints and resource dedication. Compromise was key.There were many scenes within the final video that wouldn&rsquo;t have been possible to create without the use of mocap, specifically the Xsens suit. For example, when the character is running down a street, the graphics and motion were so realistic, the team couldn&rsquo;t have looped it as a running animation and also didn&rsquo;t have a treadmill standing by. It wouldn&rsquo;t have been possible to do this with markerless mocap as the camera field of view would have been too wide and there were no other suitable alternatives.With the intuitiveness of the technology, Cohen had as much control and customizability as possible in order to make it feel like a &lsquo;real&rsquo; production. This resulted in the movements recorded being tailored to the exact shot required for the video, with no authenticity lost by automating parts.&ldquo;When you&rsquo;re trying to make something real in a digital space, you need everything that&rsquo;s being put into that space to be real. It&#39;s the imperfections and happy accidents that make things feel real.&rdquo; Cohen explained.In terms of preparation, the artist and face behind the character, Sally Boy, had none. He was shown the character for approval and then arrived in the studio (garage), put on the Xsens suit and had a list of over 100 different physical movements to do. Those actions were then applied to the character.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1670574064513-iloveu+4.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The final music video was an extension of Sally Boy&rsquo;s art and a reflection of the emotions in his music, not just a piece of marketing material.This technology has the potential to bridge the gap between the gaming and film industries. When they start to work hand in hand, individuals can produce, as Cohen said, &ldquo;some really exciting stuff.&rdquo;About AOEArea of Effects is a full-stack visual effects and virtual production studio specializing in innovative visualization solutions for feature films, television, and commercial production.Based in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Honolulu, our academy award-winning crews aim to change the way content creators think about the entire pre and post-production processes. We work with some of the biggest names in film, television, and gaming in order to achieve and drive our creative and technical goals, including the multi-Academy Award Winning VFX Supervisor Rob Legato.

Creating a Hollywood-style music video with a one-man team

<a href="https://reopera.ca/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">re:Naissance Opera</a>, a collective formed by a group of digital and opera artists looks to answer the question:&ldquo;What would opera look and feel like if it were invented today?&rdquo;. For founder <a href="https://reopera.ca/debi-wong/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Debi Wong</a> and the team, it started with giving artists the tools&ndash;including the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN Link</a> suit&ndash;which they could use to bring the ancient art form of opera to a whole new audience with virtual reality.As Debi explains:&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s about building the platform first; performance second. At re:Naissance we&rsquo;re empowering artists to co-create with us, by providing them platforms and tools to create genre-defying works, which is our whole ethos. And that extends to the audience too. We want them to come in and also be co-creators with us.&rdquo;Working closely with 3D Artist Conrad Sky, re:Naissance Opera began developing OrpheusVR, an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure, virtual-reality opera for a modern audience. The inspiration for the project stemmed from Debi wanting to break away from the traditional methods of operatic storytelling, and her own personal interest in video games as an art form.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY2MjQ5NzU5MDk1LUV1cnlkaWNlIGluIHRoZSBVbmRlcndvcmxkLUJvYiBLcmV1dC5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;It might be surprising, but I&rsquo;m a big gamer - so I was inspired to think: what are the intersections between the world I engage with on stage, which has these huge stories and big ideas and amazing characters that we don&#39;t run into in everyday life, and video game worlds? In opera, I feel like I&#39;m doing the same thing, embodying these larger-than-life characters or playing through these worlds and stories, and I started thinking about how these two could cross over.&rdquo;After a prototype was successfully released in 2021, the re:Naissance Opera team produced <a href="https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailstat.us%2Ftr%2Ft%2Ff3n84myjla0m3cub%2F1%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Freopera.ca%2Flive-from-the-underworld%2F&data=05%7C01%7CLeon.Chen%40movella.com%7Cc9d77d290fd7438b364808dabd72bff1%7C0d9644303c5f4a6990b984cee624918a%7C0%7C0%7C638030597845781089%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qwBV3eNIhVQGYFCA8W2WX57Y91ItwnxV5FVVBnifhF0%3D&reserved=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&lsquo;Live From The Underworld&rsquo;</a>, a two-part immersive operatic experience with computer-generated sets and mythological avatars brought to life by the remarkable collaboration of opera, video game professionals and dancers in Xsens suits. The series featured the work of award-winning script writer and voice actor <a href="https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailstat.us%2Ftr%2Ft%2Ff3n84myjla0m3cub%2F2%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Fname%2Fnm1191973%2F&data=05%7C01%7CLeon.Chen%40movella.com%7Cc9d77d290fd7438b364808dabd72bff1%7C0d9644303c5f4a6990b984cee624918a%7C0%7C0%7C638030597845781089%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=YEPjNV6zU3Tb7iPmXzhLMblM0USzQ2P4Pwb5KctbnMo%3D&reserved=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omari Newton</a>, who played the voice of Corvus on Netflix&#39;s <a href="https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailstat.us%2Ftr%2Ft%2Ff3n84myjla0m3cub%2F3%2Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt8688814%2F%3Fref_%3Dnm_flmg_act_12&data=05%7C01%7CLeon.Chen%40movella.com%7Cc9d77d290fd7438b364808dabd72bff1%7C0d9644303c5f4a6990b984cee624918a%7C0%7C0%7C638030597845781089%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1eV7YJes77PMpPNN7R9o3oIVhl%2Fyl1VB9rtXQZYzJKo%3D&reserved=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Dragon Prince</a> animated series and whose IMDb includes a roster of VR games. &#39;Live From the Underworld&#39; has been nominated at the 2022 AUREA Awards, happening this December in Germany at NTR &ndash; The Metaverse Summit.For &lsquo;Live From The Underworld&rsquo; to succeed, it was essential that the digital characters were able to convey the emotions of the performer behind the avatar. Each of the show&rsquo;s performers would make distinct motions while recording, so it was important that re:Naissance had the motion capture technology in place to bring their individualistic behaviors into the show, which is why the team turned to Xsens.&ldquo;The Xsens suits are just so easy to throw on and you can become any avatar or mythological creature you want or can think of&rdquo;,&nbsp;Debi Wong explains. Working with Xsens meant that performers could act as they usually would on stage, thanks to the accessibility and robustness of the MVN Link suit.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY2MjUwMDI2ODQ4LUVyaWthIE1pdHN1aGFzaGkgaW4gWFNlbnMgc3VpdC1waG90b01hY2tlbnppZUxhd3JlbmNlIHJlc2l6ZWQuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Part one of the series, &#39;Eurydice: Live from the Underworld&#39; premiered online in the Fall of 2021. Part two of the series, &#39;Live from the Underworld II: Eurydice&rsquo;s Descent&#39; is the continuation to the story and was live-streamed in Spring 2022. On November 16, 2022, audiences can experience the first ever in-person performance of the series with &#39;Live from the Underworld II: Eurydice&rsquo;s Calling&#39; which features an alternate ending, where Persephone&rsquo;s avatar is unveiled. This live performance kicks off <a href="https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmailstat.us%2Ftr%2Ft%2Ff3n84myjla0m3cub%2F4%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Freopera.ca%2Findiefest&data=05%7C01%7CLeon.Chen%40movella.com%7Cc9d77d290fd7438b364808dabd72bff1%7C0d9644303c5f4a6990b984cee624918a%7C0%7C0%7C638030597845781089%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LMHKJZ2cEtfGmk6gxung91HOkLC7FGTlMsfgzuJvrGQ%3D&reserved=0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">IndieFest</a>, a festival that celebrates performing arts and emerging technology in Vancouver, Canada.Alongside bringing ancient stories to life through modern technology, Debi and the re:Naissance team continue to develop modern-day operatic performances to empower storytellers, and ensure the artform is accessible to future generations.&ldquo;The growth of opera has never been about one person coming up with an idea. It was about many different people from many different sectors&ndash;from philosophers to singer-songwriters to scientists to musicians and composers and performers,all throwing their ideas and riffing off each other. The future of opera will largely depend on accessibility, not just in terms of hardware, but in terms of being able to access your ability as an artist and create your own story, your own inspiration.&rdquo; <img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjY2MjUwMDQ1MDg4LUVyaWthIE1pdHN1aGFzaGkgaW4gWHNlbnMgc3VpdCB3aXRoIHRoZSBBdmF0YXIuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Watch &lsquo;Live from the Underworld&rsquo; Ep. 2 Performance <a href="https://youtu.be/CHndV-0qiUs?t=1789" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VOD</a> as well as <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/107WnKN1VuhrlXpGl8ilWG3U6AIPoQhCg/view" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BTS footage</a>.

By Using Movella’s Xsens Motion Capture Technology 

re:Naissance Opera Reinvent Opera for the Next Generation

<h3>How Unlimited Motion used Xsens technology to bring mixed-reality into Strictly Come Dancing</h3>In November of last year, the phenomenon of Strictly Come Dancing was the latest major television show to take a step into the metaverse with a mixed-reality performance that wowed audiences worldwide. <a href="https://www.unlimitedmotion.ltd/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unlimited Motion Ltd</a>, who specialise in digitising performances with motion and performance capture, 3D scanning, and virtual production, were tasked with adding a digital layer to the iconic show. Using Xsens technology, they created metallic robots, built with a combination of motion graphics and motion capture, who appeared to join the dancers on stage, to the dance tracks of Kraftwerk and Yazoo. Ryan Garry, director of Unlimited Motion, and long-time collaborator of Xsens talked us through the process of creating the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOLUVLSK0bs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">futuristic routine</a>, and the unique obstacles he and the team had to overcome.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YOLUVLSK0bs?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&ldquo;Strictly was the quickest turnaround project I&#39;ve had to work on, because the broadcast requires the footage way in advance of the rehearsals. The brief had to be executed in the same week.&rdquo;<h3>Finding a dance partner</h3>Despite being a well-established show with a celebrated format, Strictly Come Dancing is continuously looking for new ways to innovate their programming. In 2020, aspiring to push creative boundaries and pandemic-enforced restrictions, the show introduced augmented reality elements, created by their long-time collaborators <a href="http://potionpictures.co.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Potion Pictures</a>. Hailed as a rousing success, the producers wanted to take the technology even further in 2021, which is when Unlimited Motion waltzed into the picture.&ldquo;I worked with Potion Pictures on a project prior to Strictly, which was for a cruise ship also using motion capture, where an animated Mona Lisa would dance alongside physical dancers on the cruise ship,&rdquo; explains Garry. &ldquo;After that, Potion introduced AR into Strictly, with motion graphics on the big screen behind the dancers and two track cameras using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mo-sys.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mo-Sys</a>. This year they wanted to introduce another element, which in this case was motion capture. Each year they want to do something different and build on what they did prior. So this year, they wanted to do motion capture work.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjU2OTE3NDg4NjQyLTY0MC5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">One of the major attractions that pulls viewers into Strictly Come Dancing each week is the unpredictability of the live shows, and the dramatically different themes that each episode deals with. For the production team, this often means that there is little room to experiment, which is why Ryan and the Unlimited Motion Ltd team initially had issues with communicating the capabilities of the motion-capture technology to the producers.&ldquo;We found the dancers were comfortable with using the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens Link Suit</a>, as it was similar to performing with a costume, plus it was relatively low profile, so it felt invisible to them,&rdquo; Garry shared. &ldquo;The set director and the dance choreographer hadn&#39;t used this kind of technology before, so myself and the people from Potion Pictures were trying to explain to the directors what was possible and what wasn&rsquo;t possible, but also that you can utilize it for any kind of movement, not necessarily for a specific dance. Previously they&#39;d be limited to what they could do in AR, but the motion capture can be turned around rather quickly so it gives them flexibility.&rdquo;As motion-capture is still relatively new to much of the broadcast industry, questions were understandably asked during production. While performers as a whole were quick to take to the technology, a shift in mindset from the directors was needed before they really came on board with the process.&ldquo;It was just a matter of how you could see the preview of the dance in real-time. I think they had to get over the fact that what you&#39;re seeing on the preview window isn&#39;t necessarily what you&#39;ll see in the final delivery, because they were used to seeing a dance on the dance floor in front of them, live,&rdquo; explains Garry. &ldquo;They were worried that any glitches seen in the preview would be reflected in the final performance, but we had to explain that we could clean it up afterwards. Once they understood that, they were keen to experiment with the technology.&rdquo;After the success of the robot routine, Unlimited Motion Ltd carried on their collaboration with Strictly, and used the same process to create dancing penguins for the show&#39;s <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/unlimited-motion-ltd_motioncapture-mocap-activity-6883742669428809728-Hepj" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Christmas special</a>.<h3 id="isPasted">Adoption of technology</h3>The use of mixed-reality performances continues to grow year-on-year, and the continued development of the technology, and the increasing interest in all things metaverse, indicates that this is a trend that has no signs of slowing down. Big-budget shows like <a href="https://www.fox.com/alter-ego/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alter Ego</a> highlight the technology as a major selling point, while performances such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=borCiOzRfew" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ShiGGa Shay</a> at Global Esports Games 2021 showcase exciting innovations within the sector. For Ryan, &ldquo;programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing implementing motion-capture will help open up the use of the technology throughout the industry&quot;.&ldquo;Mixed-reality is becoming more well-embedded within top-tier shows such as Strictly Come Dancing in the UK, and Alter Ego in the US. I think it&rsquo;s good that these type of shows are stepping into this area, as this will result in (motion-capture) technology trickling down more and more into mid-to-low level budget shows, films or any kind of entertainment properties/his will only increase further as the rendering becomes easier, quicker and cheaper.&rdquo;Whilst the metaverse sounds like a futuristic vision on the horizon, mixed reality performances are already embedding themselves into the rosta of mainstream entertainment, with hybrid &lsquo;real world&rsquo; and digital shows becoming commonplace. From <a href="https://www.xsens.com/cases/how-xsens-technology-brought-the-21-pilots-virtual-concert-to-life-in-the-roblox-metaverse" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">21 Pilots&rsquo; virtual concert within the Roblox</a> metaverse to miniature musicals in people&rsquo;s homes with AR and VR, the demand for - and curiosity in - digitally enhanced performances is clear. However, Ryan believes a gap in knowledge must be bridged before there is wider use of motion capture technology for live events.&ldquo;At the minute, I think there is an awareness and skills gap within the industry. There are a lot of CGI artists specialized in programmes like Maya, but not so much in games engines such as Unreal Engine, and Unity, which is able to implement this technology a lot easier. I think calling them games engines holds them back. &lsquo;Real-time&rsquo; engines is a term that is starting to be used more, which is more appropriate, as they are being used for more than just games, but also for other real-time experiences such as mixed-reality and extended-reality. Plus the tools themselves are all free or relatively cheap. Most people who work in motion graphics or VFX are probably still using programmes like after effects, but in five years time, there will be more people using real-time engines.&rdquo;&ldquo;We found the dancers were comfortable using the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate?utm_term=xsens%20suit&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=3DCA+%7C+Europe+%7C+Search&utm_source=adwords&hsa_cam=15270117545&hsa_src=g&hsa_mt=e&hsa_ver=3&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_tgt=kwd-462456347252&hsa_acc=1306794700&hsa_grp=129340474946&hsa_kw=xsens%20suit&hsa_ad=561737494949&gclid=Cj0KCQiAosmPBhCPARIsAHOen-PW8_8wuRCgpEQQrNIRj3_DnUq_AZp5_-VnW0heC0RW34-eVoQnA9caAh55EALw_wcB" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens Link Suit</a>&hellip; it felt invisible to them&rdquo;<h3 id="isPasted">Xsens Collaboration</h3>One of the key drivers of success for Unlimited Motion&rsquo;s execution of the Strictly Come Dancing performance digitisation was the use of Xsens - specifically, their usability. Xsens suits used by the dancers were able to adapt to the environment of the ballroom stage: &ldquo;they had Magnetic Immunity. The stage-floor had its own wi-fi, there were metals in the decorations, there was always a level of interference - it wasn&rsquo;t a clean environment at all. What I found from using previous suits was that there was too much time spent cleaning up data versus doing creative work. This was essentially one of the reasons I chose to use Xsens in the first place. I think it&rsquo;s paying off now with the fact that I can operate on such a quick turnaround.&rdquo;The exploration and experimentation of motion capture in mixed reality performance will pave the way for more creativity and connection. Unlimited Motion&rsquo;s Strictly shows that when you have access to tools, such as the Xsens Suit, that can be swiftly adopted within production, then less time is spent explaining and more time creating. Motion capture opens up a new form of creation for artists and digitising performance is another expression of art that captures the attention and imagination of both viewers and performers.To learn more about Unlimited Motion Ltd, visit their <a href="https://www.unlimitedmotion.ltd/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a>.

How Xsens technology bring mixed-reality into Strictly Come Dancing

<a href="https://rolfes.team/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Team Rolfes</a> is the 3D and image making studio headed up by brothers Sam and Andy Rolfes. Abstraction and surreal imagery are a constant throughout their art, whether they&#39;re designing an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CTNLrhPrsLO/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">album cover for Lady Gaga</a>, a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMMs2AvEIIA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">music video for Danny Elfman</a>, or performing live on stage. While to some studios and creators motion capture is simply a tool, for Team Rolfes, it&#39;s been a mainstay throughout their creative journey thus far.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUzNjQwODAxMjM5LWxhZHkgZ2FnYS1EYXduIG9mIENocm9tYXRpY2EuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Cover of Dawn of Chromatica, credit: Lady Gaga&#39;s official websiteAs Andy Rolfes says, &ldquo;There&#39;s been a little bit of keyframed animation here and there, but I think a lot of our studio work has been really focused on real-time and performance technology. This is what we&#39;ve been rooted in, even looking back to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02k126v3Zu4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amnesia Scanner</a> music video, which was done with the Oculus headset. And we very much rely on these performances created by these tools to give some humanity and life to our work. We&#39;ve gone into more traditional animation just to round things out, but we&#39;ve stayed pretty firmly rooted in real-time performances&rdquo;Their unique art stems from constant experimentation undertaken by Team Rolfes, and the stability that Movella&#39;s <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens suits</a> brought them allows them to operate without too much time being spent thinking about the gear involved.&ldquo;What I&#39;ve been doing for the last few years is taking the Xsens MVN Link suit and recording myself going through different poses and gestures, and then retargeting afterwards. Andy Rolfes continues, &ldquo;It&#39;s sort of similar to sculpture work, trying to find a way to utilize the figure as a strong strong standpoint, and then from there, I can go through other explorations. My personal practice is highly figurative and basically using the Xsens suit allows me to be able to build out a very core pillar for my practice.&rdquo;Sam and Andy Rolfes have always done things differently, and with the Xsens suit they are able to explore areas of creativity that would not be possible without the security and accuracy of Xsens. For creators like Team Rolfes who are continuously looking to innovate, whether through gaming, live performances or artwork, having a robust set-up is essential. As we enter into the next stage of the internet with the metaverse, having reliable tools, such as the Xsens Link suit, available to artists will result in more time spent experimenting and creating, and less time worrying about tech restrictions.As the capabilities of motion capture widens, the value of movement for creators increases, with the growing interest in emotes in games such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, and <a href="https://www.xsens.com/blog/creating-nfts-with-motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">motion-captured NFTs</a> just being some recent examples. In Team Rolfes&#39; case, the intricacies of movement are an essential part of their artistic craft and how they express themselves in their work.<h3>Dynamic creativity without compromise</h3>Team Rolfes has a wide reach of creative outlets, often meaning they are juggling client work alongside their live performances worldwide. What this means as creators is that they have to be able to work anywhere, anytime, and the flexibility of the Xsens suit allows Sam and Andy to set up for motion capture work wherever they are.As Sam Rolfes explains, &ldquo;If we&#39;re booked for a festival or something like that, we often set up the Xsens suit out of a conference room or hotel room and test it out there, which is a very nice element of Xsens, knowing that we can just pop it out wherever we are at it use it to its full extent.&rdquo;Practicality is at the forefront of Xsens design process. In the world of flexible working set-ups, it&#39;s no longer enough that tech, in this case Xsens suits, are capable of high-quality performance, but also that they are able to be easily transported and set-up on the go.The challenges of music touring means that performers have to be flexible in their approach, particularly when working in a wide range of venues that each have their own unique qualities. While usually, this presents questions of space and lighting, with the added element of motion capture, performers have to account for magnetic interference for the stage that threatens to disrupt the show - as it had for Team Rolfes in the past.&ldquo;When we started out, we used a simpler suit that didn&#39;t have the same level of shielding,&rdquo; Sam Rolfes explains. &ldquo;For certain animations it was fine, but for stage shows, we certainly had to have Xsens. In past shows using different suits, we would get on stage and have issues with characters flying all over the place because of electromagnetic interference with speakers. So adopting the Xsens suit was an upgrade to another level of stability. And just so we didn&#39;t have to clean up animation quite as much. But especially for stage stuff, it really made it possible to do much bigger performances.&rdquo;Andy Rolfes adds further, &ldquo;One of the reasons we&#39;re using the Xsens suit specifically is because when you&#39;re touring all over the place, and you don&#39;t know what kind of metal is in the building, or where the speakers are, then you need a solution with a lot of magnetic protection&rdquo;.Creators such as Sam and Andy Rolfes want to spend as little time as possible thinking about the limitations of their technology, and more time experimenting and creating, which is why the Xsens suit was perfect for their shifting needs and demands. The magnetic immunity suit removes the headache that often comes with performing in unknown environments, allowing Team Rolfes to smoothly translate their show no matter where they are performing. The low maintenance set-up of the Xsens suit allows creators like Team Rolfes to stay dynamic on the road, removing the boundaries of having to operate in a traditional studio space.<h3 id="isPasted">The relationship between Motion Capture and VR</h3>The key to Sam and Andy&#39;s craft has always stemmed from a harmonious relationship between motion capture and VR, and how they take the realistic data from motion capture and blend it with unrealistic elements created with &lsquo;VR puppetry&rsquo;. The success of the two technologies can be clearly seen in Danny Elfman&rsquo;s music video for &lsquo;Insects&rsquo;, on which Team Rolfes served as Directors and Character Designers.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PMMs2AvEIIA?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> Sam Rolfes goes on to explain more about the making of the music video, &ldquo;It was a blend of performance, being captured in VR, and also the Xsens suit. We set up the actors in the Xsens suits and had different Unreal games running in the background, just to get a more genuine performance out of them. Plus it&rsquo;s always fun to strap a bunch of stuff to a performer and see how they react to it - you get a lot of interesting footage from that. And then there&rsquo;s the element of VR puppetry, which is added after the fact. This meant choreographing each scene, doing the camera work with VR, filming additional motion capture if needed. So there was always an element of real-time involved here, whether it was recording an insect character or adding in extra scenes&rdquo;.On the Danny Elfman project and beyond, the Xsens suit served as a basis for Team Rolfes&rsquo; creativity. The reliability of the software&rsquo;s motion capture data means they can spend more time creating experiences rather than worrying about technical faults, while the flexibility of the suit perfectly meets the dynamic demands that come with their work.The creativity of Team Rolfes&rsquo; work shows how high-quality motion capture data can enable innovation and experimentation for digital artists. Just as with <a href="https://www.xsens.com/blog/creating-nfts-with-motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Veronica Lynn Harper</a> and her NFT collection or Cory Strassburger&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQVmHLuCnok" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">metaverse</a> based character &lsquo;Blu&rsquo;, Xsens technology opens up new areas for creators to explore.To find out more about Team Rolfes, click <a href="http://rolfes.team/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>

How Team Rolfes use Xsens to create out-of-this-world experiences

<a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ubisoft</a> Annecy delivered the ultimate winter sports game with 2016&rsquo;s Steep, a sublime simulation that recreated the wide-open slopes of the Alps that players could explore on skis or snowboards, or even by paragliding or soaring with a wingsuit. Whether you wanted a quiet solo jaunt down the side of a mountain or a raucous race against online rivals, it was all there.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxODA0ODIxNzA1LXN0YXJ0LTExLnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">It was the first wholly original project from Ubisoft Annecy, the global publisher&rsquo;s French studio, and after shipping extensive add-on content, including collaborations with the 2018 Winter Olympics and ESPN&rsquo;s X Games, the team turned its attention towards the next big thing.This next big thing is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/riders-republic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Riders Republic</a>, a multi-disciplinary sports sandbox game that features skis, snowboards, snowmobiles alongside wingsuit, and mountain biking in a vast world that mashes up various American landmarks, including Yosemite Valley and Grand Teton. It&rsquo;s also punched up with a lot more personality and flair and takes a massively multiplayer approach with dozens of players competing together at once.&nbsp;For the Riders Republic, Ubisoft Annecy wanted to tap into the latest technology to deliver precise and realistic-looking tricks and animations. That&rsquo;s why the studio turned to the <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN</a> inertial&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">motion capture system</a>, with robust suits that could be easily transported to the slopes to capture professional athletes and translate that action into the game.&nbsp;<h3>Capturing the pros</h3>Ubisoft Annecy had previously worked with optical motion capture for indoor shoots, but camera-based systems aren&rsquo;t ideal when it comes to real-world and large-volume capture demands. When it was time to work with professional skiers and snowboarders on-location to capture tricks and actions for the Riders Republic, the studio turned to Xsens. The suit&rsquo;s durable sensors can work anywhere.&nbsp;<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xapNAdQcPVg?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&quot;We started using Xsens in 2018 because we wanted another option. It&#39;s easier to use in specific conditions, like the sports we have in Riders Republic,&quot; explains Julien Beilles, Lead Animator at Ubisoft Annecy. &quot;The biggest point for us in using Xsens was being able to use it on the snow. That was the first time we used it for that. It&#39;s really hard to do optical motion capture on the snow, so we chose Xsens for that.&quot;&nbsp;Another reason Julien selected the Xsens suit for the job was the ability to set up and get ready to capture without needing to bring an additional team to manage technical support. There&rsquo;s significantly less fuss and setup with the Xsens MVN inertial motion capture suits, which the skiers and snowboarders could wear beneath their usual gear and perform unabated. Clean data can be captured anywhere, even using a laptop.&ldquo;It was quite easy, I would say,&rdquo; he explains. &ldquo;For optical capture, we used to have technical directors with us, and they are in charge of most of the technical stuff. With Xsens, we are able to go on a shoot without any TDs with us, and we ended up shooting by ourselves with a couple of animators. In the end, we managed to do what we wanted with a small team, so it went great.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUxODA0OTc0NTY4LVJpZGVycyBSZXB1YmxpYyAyLnBuZyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Although Annecy has ample slopes to choose from, the team opted to shoot at a covered, real-snow, ski facility in Landgraaf in the Netherlands to ensure consistent conditions and access to electricity. It was a five-day shoot that included pro athletes, and while their availability was limited, the rapid setup and recording with the Xsens suits meant that no time was wasted as they captured every takeoff, landing, and rail trick they could.&ldquo;We shot pro athletes that had very limited time to offer in their schedule, so Xsens sounded like a better solution for us to go with,&rdquo; says Julien. &ldquo;In the end, I think we made the right choice.&rdquo;<h3>Just like real life</h3>Julien&#39;s team used the clean inertial motion capture data to translate the realistic dynamics of various tricks and movements and combine that with keyframing to input into the game&rsquo;s animation system. The Xsens suits not only helped deliver on the impressive realism of the real-world actions but also significantly cut down the amount of work that would&rsquo;ve been done if they had fully keyframed the animations.&ldquo;When capturing full rotations, Xsens was stellar,&rdquo; Julien affirms. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a strong point of the system. We captured a lot of different rotations in the air: spins, flips, and combined rotations.&rdquo;Ubisoft Annecy continued to use the Xsens suits for other purposes in the game following that initial shoot, including prototyping animations for other activities and developing the fun emotes that players can have their characters perform. The studio has two suits that it turns to regularly, as they don&rsquo;t have to book a mocap session: the technology is always ready.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1651805676381-Riders+Republic+3.png" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">&ldquo;One of the big advantages of Xsens for all of the shooting and prototyping we did is that you can hit record and let it roll, and you have all of the data,&rdquo; says Julien. &ldquo;For the shooting in Landgraaf, we were able to capture data across the whole snow park, and we were surprised because it was like 50 meters long or more. That was one of the big advantages. Xsens is also much faster to use for prototyping than some tools, and we use it a lot for that.&rdquo;Xsens is Ubisoft&rsquo;s global partner for inertial motion capture technology, and the durable MVN suits have been used at other Ubisoft studios across an array of blockbuster video game projects. Ubisoft Annecy plans to support Riders Republic extensively after its release, as it did with Steep.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really useful to have Xsens in the studio when you don&rsquo;t have your own mocap studio,&rdquo; Julien concludes.

with Xsens MVN suits

Ubisoft hits the slopes for the Riders Republic

<a href="https://www.twentyonepilots.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">21 Pilots</a> have performed for thousands of fans at the Grammys, Wembley Arena and Reading festival, but they have never had an experience quite like taking to the virtual stage in <a href="https://www.roblox.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roblox</a> and their 35 million daily users. As the media and technology industries attempt to find their &lsquo;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/blog/creating-the-metaverse-with-motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metaverse</a>&rsquo;, the digital world of Roblox provides a window into what the concert-going experience might look like in the next internet&rsquo;s next stage.Virtual concerts aren&rsquo;t new, but previous renditions have had their share of challenges, with the biggest hurdle being trying to encapsulate the energy of an in-person show in the digital realm. Despite this, it was essential for 21 Pilots that the emotion of their performance transcended across into the virtual space. This is why Actor Capture and <a href="https://www.gsu.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GSU</a>&rsquo;s <a href="https://cmii.gsu.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CMII</a> Studios sought out Xsens, implementing our inertia-based technology to bring the concert experience into players&rsquo; homes.We sat down with long-time Xsens collaborator, and <a href="https://actorcapture.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Actor Capture</a> Technical Director, James Martin, to discuss how the project came about, and he was quick to point out how essential Xsens technology was in capturing the 21 Pilots&rsquo; performance.&ldquo;It is essential for drummers and specifically for musical performances to utilize inertia based and furthermore, a hand solution that allows you to get the grip or things like notation on a fretboard or on a keyboard. It&#39;s very, very, very important. All of these things are prevalent and this performance.&rdquo;<h3><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HOo2NbSRxjA?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe></h3><h3>Making use of Xsens&rsquo; tools&nbsp;</h3>Lil Nas X&rsquo;s Roblox show was a rousing success for Symbol Zero, but with their next virtual concert, they wanted to take things to the next stage, and engage the player at an unprecedented level. Having built up an in-depth understanding of Xsens through his work on past projects &lsquo;Suicide Squad 2&rsquo; and Cardi B&rsquo;s &lsquo;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/cases/how-cardi-b-created-a-video-game-with-xsens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cardi Tries</a>&rsquo;, James knew that our technology was the best way to address the challenges 21 Pilot&rsquo;s virtual performance might have brought.&ldquo;We knew that the work would have over 15 minutes of animation. We also knew that they were very interested in doing face bonding and hands because instruments would be involved. They (Symbol Zero) weren&#39;t just looking for somebody who was versed in the moves and the Xsens workflow. They were looking for somebody who could utilize things like the Manus gloves that now carry the timecode over, which is very important to get the finger articulation. And then, of course, a face solution that was robust enough to get all of the lyric performance.&rdquo;Capturing the articulation of the performance was an important factor for Roblox and 21 Pilots. The band wanted to carry across the emotions of a concert to the virtual space, so it was essential the right tools and methods were chosen. MVN Link suits were worn by the band as they performed, while <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/xsens-gloves-by-manus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens Gloves by Manus</a> were also used to ensure hand movements were accurately captured. Alongside this, James made use of the iPhone&rsquo;s ARkit to track the face movements of 21 Pilots.<h3>The Metaverse experience</h3>In the virtual spaces that will make up the metaverse, it will be the individualities that the user will seek out to make themselves stand apart. For now, these come in the form of digital clothes, or NFT art, but as the user base grows, so does the adoption of aspects of reality. This is where the 21 Pilots Roblox concert might serve as a preview for the role Xsens can play in the metaverse. During the recording process, it was clear that there was value attributed to the movements of 21 Pilots. It was essential for the player that the way the drums or the guitar was played, matched that of the band. It&rsquo;s not out of the question that the metaverse will see similar demand for realistic, and unique avatar movements, which is where technology like the Manus gloves will come into play.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjUwNDM4NzI2MzAwLTIxcGlsb3Rfc2NyZWVuc2hvdF8wMDHljovnvKkucG5nIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3>Recording the performance</h3>Whether the stage is real or virtual, 21 Pilots have always sought to have a connection with their loyal fan base. As explained by Mark Eshleman, the band&rsquo;s Creative Director, they wanted <a href="https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/twenty-one-pilots-21-roblox-concert-experience-1235058749/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&ldquo;to honor the band&rsquo;s fans, its lore, and history to make sure this experience aligns with what people can expect from a show.&rdquo;</a>The question is no longer whether performance can be captured for the virtual space, but more so, can the virtual concert capture the sophistication and emotion that comes with an in-person show? Thanks to Xsens&rsquo; inertia-based solutions, James was able to address these concerns and created an environment that allowed 21 Pilots to perform just as they would in any arena around the world.&ldquo;In the behind-the-scenes, you&#39;ll see that we had all their instruments in the CMII Studios stage, and we didn&rsquo;t hinder their performance. That&#39;s really the true magic of inertia-based solutions; we bring a solution to a performer and meet them in their own native environment.&rdquo;The success of the metaverse will be dictated by the ease of adoption and use. It will be the technology, like the Xsens tools that allowed James and Actor Capture to record the essential, intricate details of performing, that will be necessary for the metaverses&rsquo; ability to maintain a sustained suspension of disbelief.<h3>Engaging the player</h3>Hosting a concert within the world of Roblox allowed 21 Pilots new opportunities to interact with their audience in a way only possible in the virtual space. It was important for Symbol Zero that the player remained a part of the performance, rather than being a passive spectator.&ldquo;Where at first you&#39;re just a captive audience member just watching a performance, the interactivity that is offered through Roblox engages the game player. In the opening track that they utilized, one of the options was that the player would go up and down alongside the hook of the song, and if the player did not jump when Tyler said the lyric &lsquo;up&rsquo;, then they would fall through the floor. It&#39;s smaller interactivity that makes the game player have a little bit more of an intimate experience with the performance.&rdquo;Users will venture into virtual worlds in the metaverse for an enhanced experience of their reality, not just a 1-1 depiction of their reality. Roblox implemented quests, rewards and virtual merchandise into the 21 Pilots concert, not just as a way to sustain and market the performance but to keep players engaged in a way that differs from an in-person experience.

with Xsens MVN animate

How Xsens technology brought the 21 Pilots virtual concert to life in the Roblox Metaverse

&#39;What are we actually adding to a live performance?&#39; asked Ben Kee, founder, creative director, and executive producer of <a href="https://www.anomalyst.studio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anomalyst Studio</a> in Singapore, as his team embarked on the mixed reality live performance of ShiGGa Shay at the opening ceremony of the <a href="https://www.globalesports.org/post/singapore-2021-global-esports-games-breaks-the-meta-with-opening-ceremony" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Global Esports Games 2021</a>. Mixed reality performance is a hybrid between virtual production and traditional, real-time production, and was brought to life in this show with <a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">motion capture</a> technology powered by Xsens. Kee explains how people are increasingly demanding that the virtual concert is not just a digital imitation, but an experience in its own right.<h3>How gaming facilitated a Promising Pivot into virtual production</h3>&ldquo;Anomalyst is a multimedia company that mainly produces content for live events. Over the last two years, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been no live events.&rdquo; Finding a solution to this problem, Anomalyst Studio had to change focus. &ldquo;We have had to pivot, in a strange way, into virtual production. We started with green screen solutions, virtual backdrops and experimenting with Unreal Engine and other game engines to create content.&rdquo;<a href="https://www.xsens.com/motion-capture" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Motion capture</a> was already in Anomalyst Studio&#39;s pipeline when they decided to shift their focus to virtual event production. &ldquo;Our partners and friends are performers and musicians who have been looking to stream their performances, so they would still be able to work during the pandemic,&rdquo; said Kee. &ldquo;The demand for virtual productions gave us the idea of improving the way we live stream performances using a games engine, a performer, and motion capture.&rdquo; In creating the mixed reality performance of ShiGGa Shay at the Global Esports Games 2021, the studio had to think on its feet to bring the performance together, as the new format meant there were new challenges in meeting their objectives for the opening ceremony.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/borCiOzRfew?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>ShiGGa Shay performs to his song, uTopia reimagined: chasing.<h3 id="isPasted">The highs and lows of being first</h3>To be the first to produce a mixed reality performance live was a feat itself, but to be the first in an industry that&#39;s growing as fast as Esports was phenomenal. In 2021, the global worldwide esports audience reached 474 million people and is estimated to reach 577 million by 2024. Anomalyst themselves were effectively performing to a large audience. Being the pioneer brings its own set of challenges. &ldquo;Knowing how to plan was difficult, but thankfully, our clients gave us creative freedom.&rdquo; From the timing and setup of virtual assets to real logistical issues, Anomalyst Studio took up the challenge: &ldquo;A virtually produced performance was a new creation for us and our client&rdquo;, explains Kee. &ldquo;Our setup on-site, at the Global Esports Games, was only three days before the event when we got entry to the event grounds. The content for the show could not be made before seeing the space at the event grounds. We had to run and test the performance to make sure it worked with the rest of the show and the requirements of our clients.&rdquo;Kee and his team, whilst challenged by the logistics, were also inspired by their own high expectations, as well as their creativity: &ldquo;Anomalyst has the objective of ensuring that we are working beyond just the expectations of the content produced.&rdquo; For example, Kee wanted to have virtual assets that added to the vibe and movement for the performance, so he &ldquo;enlisted a colleague who is a dancer and pre-recorded some of the dance moves to use as an additional asset in the environment. I think we just decided what felt right and looked at our toolset and saw what we could build and what we were able to pull through with the dancers.&rdquo; While the logistics were challenging for Anomalyst Studio, the team had the help of <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens suits</a> which they had specifically chosen for their reliability, to bring the mixed reality performance to life.<h3>Xsens&#39;s role in realizing live movement in the virtual world</h3>The creative direction of the Anomalyst team and their experience in event planning and execution made the project feasible, but Kee highlights that the technology they opted for was important in realizing the movements they imagined. Movella&#39;s mission to bring meaning to movement aligned with the energy that Kee&#39;s team wanted to bring; the technology served as a tool to create digital movement that imitated the natural flow of the dancers: &ldquo;Xsens captures motion in a way that gets the vibrancy of the movements across.&rdquo;&ldquo;The Xsens suit has the feature that allows the performer to jump off the ground without having their legs clipped into the ground after they land&rdquo;, elaborates Kee. &ldquo;There is less sliding. The suit can convey the power and agility of each movement. Having tested other suits, we needed a suit that was a lot easier to set up because we were creating this illusion for an in-venue event. I think Xsens came across as a superior motion capture solution that is more of an inside-out tracking rather than outside-in like others available. &rdquo;The Xsens suit was key in projecting the energy of the mixed reality performances across to viewers at the Global Esports Games. The performance has amassed attention for its unique format and ability to engage viewers. For Anomalyst, the attention created around the event has confirmed the power of mixed reality performances to share ideas.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1647609857715-ShiGGa+Shay+-2.JPG" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><h3 id="isPasted">The art of storytelling through virtual production</h3>&ldquo;I believe mixed reality can be a storytelling mechanism, which I think a lot of traditional show directors and filmmakers are looking into right now.&rdquo; shares Kee. The digitisation of live events is bright, but the first examples being set will be key to maintaining and driving interest: &ldquo;We were able to capture the attention of the national broadcaster in Singapore, they were very interested in visiting us and understanding the mixed reality performances we&#39;re able to create. People are excited about these technologies, it&#39;s just that they don&#39;t yet know what&rsquo;s been done,&rdquo; explains Kee.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ3NjA5MjEzMjQ1LVNoaUdHYSBTaGF5IC0zLkpQRyIsImVkaXRzIjp7InJlc2l6ZSI6eyJ3aWR0aCI6OTUwLCJmaXQiOiJjb3ZlciJ9fX0=" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">

An Interview with with Ben Kee, Founder Anomalyst Studio

Live Movement in a Virtual World with Xsens x Anomalyst Studio

3D Positional Aiding and Object Tracking complete MVN Animate, revolutionizing inertial motion capture <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pno_NuhXzKg?&amp;t=28s&amp;wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" style="width: 788px; height: 466px;"></iframe> &nbsp;We proudly present the release of Xsens MVN Animate 2020 – a major update to complete Xsens’ inertial motion capture solution for studio professionals. With this development, <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel=" noopener" target="_blank">MVN Animate</a> can use positioning data from HTC Vive and fuse it with Xsens motion capture data for persons and objects.The new release also enables massive motion capture shoots with the new Remote On-Body Recording feature and deeper third-party hardware integration with the new Network sync. Process exact positions in a spaceThe new 3D Positional Aiding functionality is embedded within the MVN Animate engine, allowing users to process exact positional data. The Positional Aiding tracks positioning using HTC VIVE lighthouses, the leading positional tracking technology. The exact positional data from VIVE is then processed within MVN Animate software and fused with body motion capture data to present one clear picture. This new development unlocks new opportunities for studios – two or more people can be measured in a space at the exact same time, meaning groups of actors in a scene can be recorded with their relative positioning tracked. Track Objects in the FieldUsers can place sensors on objects within a space –&nbsp;such as an actor’s prop – and process the objects’ exact location in relation to an actor. When recording the body motion data of a group of people, animators can plot the position of the objects, contextualizing the motion and positional data within the environment. Remote On-Body RecordingIn any location, users can track the body motion of an unlimited number of actors simultaneously. Large, group animations can now be completed accurately with ease, and Xsens automatically transfers your data, negating the need to manually download it after the session. Synchronous motion and facial captureUsing other motion technology alongside MVN Animate has never been easier. With the new Network Synchronization feature, other tracking devices, such as <a href="https://www.xsens.com/watch-webinar/Xsens-and-Faceware" rel=" noopener" target="_blank">Faceware’s</a> and <a href="https://www.xsens.com/watch-webinar/xsens-full-body-plus-Dynamixyz-Facial-MoCap" rel=" noopener" target="_blank">Dynamixyz</a> facial capture technology can be managed from one interface. Just press record on MVN Animate to begin capturing from all devices simultaneously. International usabilityThis release includes the addition of Japanese and Korean languages, alongside the Chinese and English language options, expanding global usability.MVN Animate 2020 now offers animators around the world one of the most comprehensive multi-sensor motion data integration systems, demonstrating a degree of precision and ease-of-use that takes motion capture to the next level.&nbsp;Xsens MVN Animate 2020Learn more about <a href="https://www.xsens.com/products/mvn-animate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Xsens MVN Animate 2020 here</a>.

entertainment industry

Latest Posts