Actor Machine: Our Technology

The Actor Machine^TM Technology

Using Actor Machine^TM Technology, animators takes on the role of an acting coach. In fact, Acting Coach^TM is the name of the Actor Machine^TM software product used to train digital actors.

Using revolutionary procedural animation techniques, movement, gestures, body language, as well as emotional relationships are expressed parametrically and then simulated rather than as animation clips. Unlike hand animation, procedural animations assets can be 'dialed up/down', controlling their intensity, as well as concurrently be combined with any other procedural asset

Integrating into an existing pipeline should be simple. As far as an animation or rendering engine is concerned, we are just providing movement bone transformations based on input from the client application (Game Logic or Linear Animation tool such as Maya). These would look to the animation/rendering pipeline like similar transformations generated by current blended animation techniques

The core Actor Machine Engine can be embedded in linear animation tools, such as a Maya Plugin or custom pre-visualization tool, or within in interactive entertainment application (Game, virtual world, etc) for real time animation. Within an application, the Actor Machine Engine considers things in the following layering

Response to other actors:
Get angry when your date checks out another character
Emotional Direction:
Act Angry, confused, wistful, weary
Physical Direction:
Shoulders back, knees bent
Physicality:
Joint movement

The top layer would be part of a game AI, director's authoring tool (text based or some other GUI), etc, while the bottom three layers comprise the Actor Machine Core layering

Integrating into an existing pipeline should be simple. As far as an animation or rendering engine is concerned, we are just providing movement bone transformations based input from the client application (Game Logic or Linear Animation tool such as Maya). These would look to the animation/rendering pipeline like similar transformations generated by current blended animation techniques

Emotional direction for each character
Inter-Character Relationship
Character Blocking Goals (including things like, 'meander')
Character Action Goals (pick something up, sit down, embrace another character, etc)
Terrain
Obstacles
Props (augmented with, for example, grasping handles)

Of course our Engine can be queried and/or events generated about its current state. On the flip side, because we appear like blended animation to the animation pipeline, our animations can be blended in/out with linear animation clips or ragdoll animation.