Warner Bros Pictures and another co-producer have in the works, an animation feature titled 'Dynamic Duo'. The story is a bit confusing to me. It is not about 'Batman' per se, but instead it focuses on the origins of his partner 'Robin'. Apparently, there are two 'Robin' characters?? Here is a clearer brief description >> Dynamic Duo - Robin Movie Explained
Swaybox Studios in the state of Louisiana (USA) will be undertaking this feature animated project. What is unique is that it will not be fully CGI animation, however, it will still use CGI special effects, as most current movies do. Swaybox has not yet completely revealed their methods. From what I can piece together ... The overall animation appears to have elements of real miniatures & models, real live-action puppetry (similar to 'Muppets'), and the facial animation to be done using 'performance motion capture' super-imposed over the real puppet rubber/silicone heads. So, the final facial animation of the puppet might be labeled as Cgi. Swaybox is calling their proprietary effects technique, Momo Animation.>> Dynamic Duo - Mixed Animation
Some of the initial 'press releases' for 'Dynamic Duo' might have been unintentionally misleading, stating that it will also be using some Stop Motion. That is not correct. To quote Swaybox, they say, Dynamic Duo "... will use some 'practical effects' elements of stop motion". They are likely referring to the actual physical puppets which are handmade & real but they will be live-action controlled by the puppeteers.I am pretty much certain that the Swaybox puppets will not be stop motion hand-animated frame by frame.
Here is one of Swaybox's earlier demo reels >> Swaybox 2017 Demo Reel Remember that this is not
full CGI, but instead, using a combination of special effects mixed
methods. Of course, the animation in their reel is more 'cartoon
like'. I am certain that 'Dynamic Duo' will have more human realistic character designs. After watching that reel, I cannot be convinced the rubber/silicone puppet heads are the actual heads that were filmed as the final version? The texture is too smooth and has an airbrushed Cgi aesthetic to it. Here is a more recent one >> Swaybox Studio's 2022 Superbowl Ad
Behind the Scenes
Below Swaybox Studio video was posted by someone and he thinks it is a mechanical controlled animatronic puppet. So far, the information about how this was done is not fully revealed by Swaybox. You take a look ... the face of the puppet does not have the realism appearance of a rubber/silicone texture. It looks like that it is heavily filtered or having an airbrushed soft appearance or it's a CGI face swap produced by the real time performance capture software.
This is how I think Swaybox's proprietary Momo Animation live performance motion capture works ... the actual puppet head is like a muppet hand puppet with the puppeteer's hand/hands (inside the head) controlling the puppets internal facial movements, then the motion capture technology via the recording camera, instantly clones the real puppet's puppeteer-ed facial movements with a Cgi face swapped version. This is all observed on a monitor and done in real time 'live'. Afterwards in post-production, the puppet Cgi head animation is maybe tweaked & refined. Take a look below how Swaybox performance face motion capture method might work. In this example, a real human is the reference performance model for the Cgi to clone & do the face Cgi swapped version. If I am wrong with any of this, in my assessment or guesstimate, please feel free to correct me!
Other special effects elements ... some of the behind the scenes photos that I've seen from Swaybox's other projects shows that much Green Screen is used to composite/blend the real elements of the miniature sets & models, with the live-action puppets and I'm guessing, that also, 'motion tracking' of the the live action puppets entire general movements are then later in post production, digitally combined & blended with the background scenes (miniature sets & models) Swaybox photos >> Behind the scenes gallery
Dynamic Duo, is suppose to be released sometime in 2028. Sheesh 😕... that is sure a long way off. I think, that I will not be on the edge of my seat or waiting with bated breath for this. I got other life matter things to do! 😀
Swaybox Studios >> Website
Swaybox Studios >> Instagram
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