HOUSE OF MOVES BUILDS NEW MOCAP STAGE
The new HOM (www.moves.com) soundstage features a 30-foot-X-50-foot full-body capture volume designed with a rig that contracts down to a 30-foot-X-30-foot volume size for tighter and more detailed capture requirements. The stage can support up to 20 performers at once and can be outfitted with up to 270 Vicon cameras. The stage is fully enclosed, with all supporting CPUs housed in a soundproof room, allowing for clean dialogue recording.
In addition to the new stage, HOM also offers a 40-foot-x-70-foot-x-25-foot-high main stage. Clients can work on both stages simultaneously with or without first unit crews shooting alongside the motion capture cameras.
Sixteen new CG animators have been hired to deliver high quality, polished animated characters to clients — regardless of whether the characters were conceived using mocap or more traditional keyframing approaches.
"With these new services, House of Moves can truly help directors extend their storytelling capabilities," reports Scott Gagain, HOM's executive producer. "We have effectively mimicked the procedures of the traditional live-action set and tied them into the virtual environment. We can replicate almost anything that can happen on a live action stage-from the physical performance of the actors to the positioning of virtual cameras in realtime."
The new stage at House of Moves has already been operating on test projects for game developer Naughty Dog Entertainment and VFX company Zoic Studios.
The stage and camera rig was designed by HOM's head of stage production, Sean Stanek, formerly the motion capture producer on Monster House and Beowulf at Sony Pictures Imageworks.