In some ways, animating Tinker Bell for this production is like being an air traffic controller. Unlike your average computer animation, you have to worry about Tink colliding with real-world obstacles, including people. While Tink crashing into Peter or Wendy won’t result in a fatal injury, it will decisively crush the audience’s faith that she’s a real character in this world. To that end, as seen in the GIF above, Tink’s flight path is something that’s being extensively planned out in detail well before the actual animations are layered on to her character model.
Here’s what else has been happening this week:
Set Design: More furniture has been built and more set pieces have arrived for the nursery. In addition the dresser we had already constructed, we now have the rocking chair, the bookcase, and the frosted glass jug Tink will hide in during the scene. All our effects lighting has arrived and they’re ready to be assembled into the completed set, which is being (partially) constructed this weekend and into early next week.
Programming: Work continues on both setting up the Spectator View (which allows anyone outside of the headset to see Tinker Bell) and the networking (which allows more than one HoloLens to share the same experience). We also overhauled our surface detection solution and imported the virtual set into Unity, which is how the entire experience will be able to run.
Art/Animation: As mentioned earlier, Tink’s flight path has been established within Unity. After the final rig is received this weekend, all of the detailed animation can begin in earnest. A sprint to the finish line!
Production: We had our first table read of the script with Will and Amara, who will be playing Peter and Wendy, respectively. It was delightful to hear all of the dialogue spoken by our talented cast and we had a productive discussion about how the unique rehearsal process will work in the coming weeks. Next week we begin rehearsals in the space with the set. It’s like a real show!
