{"id":2051,"date":"2009-11-13T17:46:06","date_gmt":"2009-11-13T17:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firedbydesign.com\/?p=2051"},"modified":"2017-04-28T11:00:32","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T10:00:32","slug":"no-strings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/firedbydesign.com\/?p=2051","title":{"rendered":"No strings"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

SpeakeasyFX has created the first 3D animated series to be part of the Sesame Street television programme.<\/p>\n

\"Sesame_Autodesk\"<\/p>\n

\n

SpeakeasyFX, an animation studio in New Jersey, USA, worked on thirteen 9-minute segments of Abby\u2019s Flying Fairy School.<\/em> The programme\u2019s 40th anniversary season debuted earlier this week, including computer-generated segments delivered by and made with Softimage.\u00a0These fully CG segments were created to foster preschoolers\u2019 critical thinking and problem solving skills.\u00a0The series features a digital version of the favourite Muppet fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby who,\u00a0along with an eclectic gang of new friends, attends Fairy School with Mrs Sparklenose.\u00a0Abby and her friends solve problems using rhyme, reason and cooperation.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUntil now, Sesame Street used exclusively hand-driven Muppets,\u201d explained Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer at Sesame Workshop. \u201cWe went the CG route with Abby\u2019s Flying Fairy School so that we could bring to life all the wonderful physical action our writers envisaged,\u00a0such as underwater scenes. As well, the CG format allowed us to produce many online game options for SesameStreet.org, extending the broadcast experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SpeakeasyFX used Softimage to model, animate, render and composite the series. \u201cWe\u2019ve been using Softimage since we opened our doors,\u201d said Scott Stewart, executive director at SpeakeasyFX. \u201cOur mandate was to bring movie-quality animation to Sesame Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

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SpeakeasyFX created more than 500 new props and characters for the series. The team\u2019s 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, \u201cTo 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\u00a0find the right balance between CG and traditional Muppet performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpeakeasyFX relied on Softimage\u2019s 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, \u201cICE gave us the bandwidth to include a lot of effects and magic,\u00a0allowing us to deliver a level of quality that exceeded initial expectations.\u00a0After building our ICE trees and toolsets we were able to easily customise and add effects and magic to shots in an extremely labour-efficient way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe feel fortunate to have collaborated with SpeakeasyFX on Abby\u2019s Flying Fairy School,\u201d added Sesame Workshop\u2019s Parente. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Stewart concluded, \u201cTwo 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.”<\/p>\n

View a clip of \u201cAbby\u2019s Flying Fairy School\u201d <\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

See more work by SpeakeasyFX<\/a><\/p>\n

Find out more about Sesame Workshop <\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SpeakeasyFX has created the first 3D animated series to be part of the Sesame Street television programme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":2052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,7],"tags":[2940,29,185,54,184],"class_list":["post-2051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animation-projects","category-inspiration","tag-animation-projects","tag-autodesk","tag-kids-tv","tag-particle-systems","tag-softimage"],"yoast_head":"\nNo strings - Fired By Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/firedbydesign.com\/?p=2051\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"No strings - Fired By Design\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"SpeakeasyFX has created the first 3D animated series to be part of the Sesame Street television programme.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/firedbydesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Sesame_Autodesk.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@FiredByDesign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@FiredByDesign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9360b626bf4ab4cde98ab739484b96e8\"},\"headline\":\"No strings\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-11-13T17:46:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-28T10:00:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2009\\\/11\\\/Sesame_Autodesk.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Animation\",\"autodesk\",\"Kids TV\",\"particle systems\",\"softimage\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Animation\",\"Inspiration\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/firedbydesign.com\\\/?p=2051\",\"name\":\"No strings - 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