SpeakeasyFX Delivers “Abby’s Flying Fairy School” Computer-Generated
Series for TV and Web
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 2009--
For the first time, a 3D animated series is part of the “Sesame Street”
television program. The program’s 40th anniversary season
debuted today, including computer-generated (CG) segments delivered by
SpeakeasyFX and made with Autodesk
Softimage software from Autodesk,
Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK). The series features a digital version of the
favorite Muppet fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby. “Sesame Street” is the
longest running children’s program on television.
SpeakeasyFX, an animation studio in New Jersey, worked on 13 nine-minute
segments of “Abby’s Flying Fairy School.” These fully CG segments were
created to foster preschoolers’ critical thinking and problem solving
skills. Abby Cadabby, along with an eclectic gang of new friends,
attends Fairy School with Mrs. Sparklenose. Abby and her friends solve
problems using rhyme, reason and cooperation.
“Until now, Sesame Street used exclusively hand-driven Muppets. We went
the CG route with ‘Abby’s Flying Fairy School’ so that we could bring to
life all the wonderful physical action our writers envisaged -- such as
underwater scenes,” explained Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer at
Sesame Workshop. “As well, the CG format allowed us to produce many
online game options for SesameStreet.org, extending the broadcast
experience.”
SpeakeasyFX used Autodesk Softimage to model, animate, render and
composite “Abby’s Flying Fairy School.” “We’ve been using Softimage
since we opened our doors,” said Scott Stewart, executive director at
SpeakeasyFX. “Our mandate was to bring movie-quality animation to
‘Sesame Street.’ Of course, we needed to do it quickly, easily and on
budget. Softimage was key to achieving these goals, because we were able
to do everything we needed to in the software. It was essentially a
single software workflow -- we love Softimage for its versatility.”
SpeakeasyFX created over 500 new props and characters for the series.
The team’s greatest challenge was the development of digital characters
that behaved like real-world Muppets. This required advanced fur and
cloth simulations, and complex rigging. Stewart said, “To preserve the
creative vision, we decided to build our digital Muppet models as if a
hand was manipulating them from inside. This was a breakthrough
modification to our workflow and was critically important in helping
us find the right balance between CG and traditional Muppet
performances.”
SpeakeasyFX relied on Softimage software’s Interactive Creative
Environment (ICE) to quickly generate magic effects. ICE was used to
simulate particles, bubbles, a genie in a bottle and even a macaroni
twister. Stewart added, “ICE gave us the bandwidth to include a lot of
effects and magic, allowing us to deliver a level of quality that
exceeded initial expectations. After building our ICE trees and toolsets
we were able to easily customize and add effects and magic to shots in
an extremely labor-efficient way.”
“We feel fortunate to have collaborated with SpeakeasyFX on ‘Abby’s
Flying Fairy School’,” added Sesame Workshop’s Parente. “They developed
the digital characters with fantastic furry detail. Doing the series in
CG, using Softimage software, provided the freedom to showcase different
types of storytelling, while preserving what viewers of all ages love
about ‘Sesame Street’.”
Stewart concluded, “Two of the big success factors for this project were
great people and great technology. The Sesame Workshop staff clearly
communicated their design ideas and vision with us. Miranda Barry and
Carol-Lynn Parente were excellent at helping the project stay true to
the Sesame heritage."
To view a clip of “Abby’s Flying Fairy School” visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rKQUtrQsHo.
About Sesame Workshop
Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization that changed
television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. As the
single largest informal educator of young children, local Sesame
Street programs produced in countries as diverse as South Africa,
Bangladesh and India are making a difference in over 120 nations. Using
proprietary research to create engaging and enriching content, Sesame
Workshop produces programs such as Dragon Tales and Pinky
Dinky Doo. In addition, multimedia needs-driven initiatives provide
families tools for addressing such issues as children’s health, military
deployment and emergency preparedness. As a nonprofit, product proceeds
and philanthropic donations support Sesame Workshop’s educational
research and creative content for children around the world. Learn more
at www.sesamestreet.org.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D
design, engineering and entertainment software for the
manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment
markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk
continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software
to help customers experience their ideas digitally before they are
built. Fortune 100 companies -- as well as the last 14 Academy Award
winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software
tools to design, visualize and simulate their ideas to save time and
money, enhance quality and foster innovation for competitive advantage.
For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
Autodesk, AutoCAD, and Softimage are registered trademarks or
trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates
in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered
trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other
brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective
holders.
© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Source: Autodesk, Inc.
Autodesk, Inc.
Roohi Saeed, 514-961-7296
roohi.saeed@autodesk.com
or
Rama
Dunayevich, 415-547-2472
rama.dunayevich@autodesk.com