Astro Project – case study
Vicon are one of the leading body motion capture technology companies in the world, they’ve been used for blockbuster movies like Space Jam 2 and in helping develop robot intelligence in extraterrestrial environments.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that our friends at Astro Project are Vicon customers and are big fans of motion capture (mocap) solutions. Jesse and James, who you might recognize from YouTube (Jesse) and directorial (James) fame, when not chasing Pikachu are the creative geniuses behind Astro Project which seeks to tell stories with cutting-edge technology and “gamify” the experience. This lets users explore, interact, and experience content in a whole new way in virtual reality (VR). And the star of their first big video?
Snoop Dogg.
Snoop has a history of exploring new means of content, being the first celebrity to join Instagram (as confirmed by founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger) and having a lively Twitch presence (doggydogg20). He even joined FaZe Clan – one of the most popular esports and entertainment organizations in the world. In his usual spirit of exploration, Snoop partnered with Astro Project to take his newest music video to another level, and “Crip Ya Enthusiasm” (influenced by Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm) was born.
“The music video’s shot completely in Unreal Engine. I don’t know if that’s ever been done before but we’re going for it.”
Jesse Wellens – Youtuber/Producer/Director
Making a music video in Unreal Engine had its complications, but mocap helped smooth the process. Snoop Dogg himself came in for motion capture, suiting up with Vicon tech and StretchSense Fidelity gloves to lend his own authentic performance to the take.
One of the best things about mocap is that it doesn’t just capture movement – it captures performance. There’s no need to animate personality into the movement, because with Snoop himself being captured, charisma and personality is a given.
The guys at Astro Project made every effort to capture Snoop’s authentic performance, and that included his face, whole body, and hands.
“I basically did a lot of research and was trying to find a really good product to use for like, the hands right? Because like hands are so important in 3D and I found StretchSense – among others too – but I just looked at which ones I thought were gonna be the best and StretchSense was the ones I decided on. And it’s been amazing.”
James Defina – Filmmaker
StretchSense gloves pair amazingly well with Vicon technology, and allowed the guys at Astro Project to connect the hands to the Vicon skeleton in Unreal Engine.
People thought Jesse was dumb when he started on YouTube (his words, not ours), like he was never going to last. To him, it feels like that again with the Web3 space which Astro Project is looking to capitalize on. Their plan: take filmmaking and video gaming and merge it together to create a new way for people to experience content and empower people to join the metaverse.
Wait – what’s Web3? A new visionary version of a decentralized World Wide Web that works for its users, but it’s still a work in progress.
Each music video from Astro Project allows the user to manipulate and put themself in the music video. The idea is to empower people who want to create content using their favorite creator’s actual IP in a new era of transformative content – something necessary for this new generation of consuming content.
That’s Astro project.
Next up, Jesse and James are looking towards live streaming content in the future with their Vicon-StretchSense skeleton. But for now, check out the collab video below and “Crip Ya Enthusiasm” on their website.
“This is fully Ready Player One”
Jesse Wellens – Youtuber/Producer/Director
