Experiments January 25th, 2011
Virtual Silhouette

Real-time Puppet Animation with Kinect

Virtual Silhuette

Virtual Silhuette

Real-time puppet animation with low budget motion capture solution using the Microsoft Kinect connected to a macbook.

The workflow for this project is based on the OpenNI driver frame work, using SensorKinect, the AVIN hacked PrimeSense driver for kinetic supporting OSX.

The OSCELETON from Sense Bloom routes the skeleton information through open sound control messages. This information reaches the real-time animation software ANIMATA giving life to the Silhouette.

This demonstration is part of a research project on real-time puppet animation called Virtual Marionette.

credits:

Silhouette figure – Luís Silva

Demonstration+Music – Grifu

Video Demonstration

INTERFACE: Microsoft Kinect

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Diary January 15th, 2011
Frágil

FRÁGIL – Puppet Show from Teatro de Marionetas do Porto

Collaboration (Setembro/2010-Janeiro/2011) with Teatro de Marionetas do Porto to create linear and interactive digital animation for the play “Fragile”. This was a challenging project oriented to my research, including the study of the relationship between digital and analog puppetry and linear animation and interactive animation.
The show debuted in January 2011 with great acceptance from the public. This project was very positive both in terms of work experience as well as developed investigation.

As a result for the research highlights the comparison between the relationship of the actor with a linear animation and actor with real-time animation. In both situations, the actors interacted with the animation.
In the first situation, the time for action had been memorized by the actor, been aided by the placement of sound marks to count the times in order to synchronizetheir movements with the animation.
In the second situation, the animation was reacting to real-time action of the actor, as if they were the opposite.
The animation in real time is therefore easier, more intuitive and allows the improvisation in the scene. However one does not preclude the other, there is room for both.

video preview