LEGO WALL-E Stop Motion (WIP)
My current research is to merge stop motion animation with VP. My LEGO WALL-E Stop Motion VP project uses lessons learned in VP and scales it down for stop motion. To begin I built a physical model of WALL-E using LEGO bricks, I then created a digital twin of this model. Using Maya I created joints and attached the geometry to those joints before importing the model into Unreal. From there I created the control rig so WALL-E could be animated directly in Unreal versus in Maya (see video 1).
In collaboration with RIT Professor Tom Gasek, I created a new workflow for our industry. Tom created a stop motion animation of the physical / real world model of WALL-E (see bottom of video 2) which I reproduced on the digital twin (see top of video 2). Our next step is to attach Unreal to the motion control rig. Once we achieve that we will know precisely where the camera is, allowing us to change the image on the wall to give the illusion of parallax.
I am eager to bring this cutting edge technology to the world of stop-motion animation by finishing this film in fall 2022 by creating the production pipeline and collaborating with Apartment D, an alumni owned studio.
At a Glance:
•Project leader
•Rigging / modeling
•Animator
•Unreal pipeline research
•Hardware purchasing research
Presentations:
•Panelist: SIGGRAPH EDU Spring 2022 SOIREE
•Lecture Presenter: D.C. SIGGRAPH Chapter: Stop-Motion VP
•Presenter: Rochester Local SIGGRAPH Chapter Current Research Symposium
Ditogear Evolution motion controller
Ditogear Ominislider Servo
Ditogear control box
One to one scaling
Temporary setup with motion control rails.
LEGO donations from my kids!
(Video 1) Unreal Control Rig complete.
(Video 2) Animation Test. Bottom is stop motion animation from Tom Gasek, top is my virtual reproduction
(Video 3) Tim Stringer helped me get the tracks working correctly
(Video 4) DIY test of proof of concept of small scale in camera vfx (ICVFX)
(Video 5) Result of DIY ICVFX testing from above