Blogology is a glimpse into the work being done at Imaginology. Follow in the pursuit of its mission to improve the human condition with imagination technology. Articles in this blog are contributed by Imaginology staff, leaders in the imagination technology industry, and collaborators working on projects with Imaginology.
Imaginologyhas taken on three new interns in the Digital Culture program from the ASU School of Arts, Media, and Engineering; Christy Caldwell, Ivan Mendoza, and Andrea Stoica. With tutelage from Artist, Animator, Producer Nathaniel Jack Greene, Fabrication Artist Ryan Gallagher, and Public Relations and Marketing Imaginologist Renee Aguilar we look forward to fantastic projects to come. Keep an eye out on this space over the next few weeks as we will have a series of posts, to better get to know our interns and the projects they take on at Imaginology.
Hi! My name is Andrea Stoica, and I am a senior at ASU, majoring in Communicationwith a minor in Digital Culture. I transferred to ASU from Mesa Community College, after completing my first two years of college. Since coming to ASU in the fall of 2019, I’ve been enjoying every aspect of the Digital Culture program. Back in the olden days of the spring 2020 semester, the media lounge would be full of people on their laptops, bringing ideas to life and discussing new discoveries in their work. It was a great environment to work around, in my first few semesters of Digital Culture and trying to get the hang of learning code.
To me, digital culture is about discovery and play and finding new ways to share ideas with people. For the past few years, I’ve been a music photographer. I have always enjoyed going to concerts and experiencing the magic of live music while trying to capture it with my lens. However, since shows are no longer part of the “new normal” that we are all adjusting to, I’ve had to think about other ways that I can participate in art and music.
My photo of Doll Skin of Phoenix, AZ performing at the Van Buren Jan 22, 2020.
“Improving the human condition” for me is going to be sharing information and resources with others while being receptive to the new experiences currently being shared online. The shift that is ongoing in our norms today made me realize how important it is to be receptive to other people’s stories. There is a need to focus on what each of us as individuals can do to make some kind of impact. I want to contribute what I can to strengthen our communities, whether that’s through mutual aid, or volunteering my time.
It has been great working with Imaginology in ways that are new to me. I’m excited to be able to work on video production and be able to see how the flow of creative works in a studio. More than anything, Digital Culture feels like it is about connecting with others to bring forward some sort of vision, and I’m excited to be a part of that. I think, especially now, more and more people are looking to video as a means of sharing and being connected to the world. I can’t wait to learn more about how to make help people stay connected in this new time.
Live Animation and Video Production Studio
in the Grand Avenue Arts District
The Imaginology studio is the newest creative resource in the Grand Avenue Arts District offering live animation and video streaming production services. A collaborative venture between Artist, Animator, Producer Nathaniel Jack Greene and Fabrication Artist Ryan Gallagher, the studio aims to provide a creative space to produce anything the imagination can dream up. From character design, creature creation, set design, and puppetry to producing a web series, creating commercials, or turning yourself into an animated character that can perform in real-time, these Imaginologists will make it happen.
Located inside the Grand ArtHaus on the corner of Grand Avenue and Roosevelt Road, the fully equipped studio opened its doors in June 2020 assisting with the video production of a live streaming event organized by Cultural Coalition, Inc, a local arts and culture non-profit organization.
According to Greene, “Working with Cultural Coalition was an honor for Imaginology. The studio offered solutions to provide additional capabilities, enabling pre-recorded video playback and custom graphic switching during the event. We helped remove technical concerns so the staff could focus on content, donations, and bringing attention to Cultural Coalition’s mission of education, promotion and development of Indigenous artists in Arizona.”
The Summer Solstice Celebration Facebook Live 2-hour program reached over 9,000 views and streamed to homes in over 15 different countries and included performances from a collection of artists known in the Valley, and internationally including Ken Koshio, Zarco Guerrero, and Tony Duncan.
Gallagher and Greene are clear, "Community collaboration is an integral part of Imaginology." Gallagher continues, "Working on projects with organizations like Cultural Coalition, supporting the diverse artists and businesses of the Valley, reinforces our commitment to provide a variety of opportunities to our community. Whether it's artist talks, design workshops, video production, or a space to build a creation, the Imaginology studio is a resource for everyone."
Gallagher and Greene are excited to continue collaborative projects with artists, businesses, and non-profits throughout the Valley. Visit www.imaginology.com or call (602) 510-3563 to find a full catalog of services provided by Imaginology.
When you think of the term "performance animation" you probably think of images of Gollum in Lord of the Rings, hunched over and creepily repeating "my precious". Or if you're like me and enjoy all of the behind the scenes, making-of content that fulfills my rock-n-roll, film maker fantasy, you are familiar with images of Andy Serkis hunched over and embodying every bit as much of Gollum as resulted in the film.
Either way, most people are familiar with the concept of people performing in blue or green screen rooms with motion capture "balls", velcro attached to spandex jumpsuits as computers analyze and record location information.
However, with the recent gaming industry boom and resulting hardware and software developments, some basic motion capture technology has fallen into the consumers living room, likely without them even realizing it. Enter the Microsoft Kinect Camera. No longer do you need to dress like you are riding in the Tour de France to capture motion data or even perform live animation. Granted, the professional solutions in the industry are still top notch and by no means does the Kinect camera replace these technologies, rather offers a piece of it to the general public.
Naturally there's a world full of engineers, tinkerers and dreamers who will tap into available technology and tools to create brilliant experiences. Many people are plugging the Kinect camera into computers and writing code to use this technology for fun, educational, experimental, medical and many other applications. Our interest was to determine if performance animation is ready for live streaming and new business opportunities.
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting a seasoned professional in the field of real-time, interactive animation - Gary Jesch of CHOPS & Associates. A referral from our LinkedIn network of media professionals (Freelance Audio Visual Technicians), it was suggested that I look into his business after discussing real time animation with a video engineer.
Turns out, Gary is one of the pioneers of live, performance animation. Creating virtual characters and performance animation solutions for numerous industries and clients for nearly twenty years. Although his most prominent character is his "CHOPS(Cyber Human On a Performance System)" character, among his dozens of various characters, his true character is himself. He was immediately open and easy to communicate with. You could certainly sense that Gary had a great "ear" for people. His live performances and interactions with people over the years has certainly created a polished experience and you can tell he truly enjoys his work.
His offered to participate in a networking luncheon we were having the following week was a no-brainer. We had planned an Imaginology open house to demonstrate live character animation streaming and CHOPS (http://www.chops.com/) was a perfect fit. His performance animation plugs directly into teleconferencing software to allow him to interact in real-time on your desktop or laptop computer. The best part may simply be that the system just worked. No crashes, no delays, no issues. This truly helps make the experience immersive. You are simply conversing with an animated character. I suppose this is the best form of technology. The technology that you don't even notice as technology, but rather as technology that just works and stays out of the way.
We set him up to engage people at the door as they came in and he stopped almost everyone in their tracks. His characters entertained, inspired dozens of questions and kept everyone on the edge of their tongue as they watched the characters in awe and wonder. This is where Gary truly shines, as he keeps the momentum and engages everyone in the room, simply continuing the conversation and interest. I can see where this technology has tons of potential for business. Not only do you get great value in attention and retention of your brand, but the animation can be recorded to create character animation sequences for other materials as needed (think live animation production services).
It was a true pleasure to see a professional performance animation artist at work. I now look forward to my next experience with performance animation on either side of the camera.
Overall, performance animation seems to be ready for the business world, as well as the consumer. The question remains: is the consumer more ready than the business world?
