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<\/figure>\nAnthony Evans \/ Digital Puppets UK<\/h3>\n
Hi, my name is Antony Evans, and I am the co-founder of Digital Puppets<\/a>, an animation studio based in the United Kingdom. I have worked as a character designer for many years, specializing in real-time animation, and collaborating with studios such as Disney, Warner Bros, and the BBC. In addition to creating real-time performing avatar puppetry, I focus on developing and designing custom characters for clients in a wide range of styles. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n My team and I can replicate any existing licensed character or company\/product mascot. Our studio not only creates motion capture characters for online entertainers, educators, and marketing\/advertising agencies, but we also produce fully animated shows for our clients using the characters we design.<\/p>\n Recently, we completed a 50-episode series for the UK nationwide radio station \u2018RADIO X\u2019, where we animated the hosts and transformed their weekly podcast into engaging content for their online audience. We also work with globally recognized broadcasters such as the BBC and Cartoon Network, among others, though many projects remain undisclosed due to NDAs.<\/p>\n Antony Evans\u2019s ArtStation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Last year, we submitted a clip of \u201cMonkey Band\u201d to the Reallusion 2024 Character Contest<\/a><\/strong> and won \u201cBest Mocap Use\u201d in the \u201cSpecial Awards\u201d category. This contest allowed us to explore new workflows and integrate our existing practices with innovative technologies and techniques. It\u2019s also the inspiration behind this article, where I\u2019ll be sharing the full creation process. <\/p>\n The decision to create the Monkey Band stemmed from our desire to explore fur creation within Character Creator<\/a><\/strong>. Additionally, monkey characters provided a unique opportunity to utilize the humanoid base mesh, granting access to the clothing and hair systems. This allowed us to design distinctive outfits and looks for each band member, thereby, enhancing their individuality.<\/p>\n The concept was inspired by our long-standing interest in virtual bands that can perform in real time. To achieve this, we ensured the characters were equipped with detailed facial morphs to maximize performance during live facial capture. The band was specifically designed to enable real-time virtual avatar control for the lead character, allowing us to stream pre-recorded performances seamlessly. You can see an example of this in action here<\/p>\n \nConcept & Character Creation<\/h2>\n
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