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Entertainment

Short Film Uses Kinect To Create An Animated Character

The device was used to motion capture movements which were built into a simple stick figure using modeling software.

Since its release we’ve seen the Kinect being used for all manner of applications, from art installations to music videos to live visuals, and even robotics. With the release of this short film, the Kinect demonstrates once again that it’s so much more than a humble motion controller for playing video games.

Torben Sko used the off-the-shelf hardware to create an animated character for a short film titled All Nighter. The film itself is simple but fun, and features a narrative that will be familiar to students everywhere, and pretty much anyone who has ever pulled an all nighter to finish a project they had completely neglected. After completing his work sprint to finish the short, the animator falls asleep, whereupon his stick figure creation selflessly steps up (and out) and sets about awaking his maker so that he may hand in his homework.

The stick character was built using 3D animation software Maya and animated using movements captured via the Kinect, then overlaid on a separate live action video. As well as the feat of creating one of the first Kinect-based animated characters used in a short film, what’s also impressive about this project is that the whole thing was completed in 10 days in accordance with the rules of the Australian film festival Lights! Canberra! Action!.

Should you wish to try your hand at some motion captured Kinect animation Torben Sko has provided the details of the scripts along with a tutorial on how to accomplish it over on his website. Now, who’s going to create the first animated feature using this device?