HENDERSON, NV — Movella Holdings Inc. (www.movella.com), a full-stack provider of sensors, software and analytics that enable the digitization of movement, is providing its enabling technology to Pakistan-based 3rd World Studios (https://3rdworldstudios.com) as part of an effort to upgrade its animation workflows.
“We knew that we had to find a way to animate characters quickly, but without compromising on quality,” says Uzair Zaheer Khan, co-founder of 3rd World Studios, which was founded in 2016. “The only viable solution for us was to find a way to create lots of movement variables in a controlled manner and iterate on them, which is why we turned to motion capture.”
By using mocap technology, Khan and his team were able to bypass the normally laborious process of animating characters by hand, liberating their workflow from the constraints of needing a large team of professional, experienced animators.
"Utilizing motion capture gave us a lot of time to experiment, and we quickly found that Xsens is the perfect tool for what we need," continues Khan. "Our performers could simply put on a suit and animate all of our characters in realtime. Because the data we got was so clean, we could focus on developing the look of the world and characters themselves. And it was obvious from the get go that inertial motion capture was the best approach."
Inertial motion capture provides a cost-effective alternative to frame-by-frame animation without the restrictions of a dedicated studio and cameras, which are required when using optical mocap systems. Movella’s MVN Awinda gives creators the ability to conduct mocap sessions anywhere in the world without the need for a full studio environment. Using the latest in gyroscopic motion recording, MVN Awinda accurately tracks movement to the finest details without the need for powerful computers to process data or cameras to follow the action. In essence, creators can record digital action anywhere that has a little space to move around in.
For 3rd World Studios, inertial motion capture opened up a new realm of possibilities. Without the need for weeks of manual animation, and with any new equipment costs easily absorbed by gained efficiencies, the team has been able to create visually compelling stories without compromising on quality or time.
"We’re excited to collaborate with 3rd World Studios and to be a part of the burgeoning animation industry in Pakistan," notes Dale Pistilli, VP of marketing at Movella. "By providing high-quality motion tracking services, we are helping global filmmakers bring their creative visions to life."