“Visual Human” Popular in Hollywood

On August 22nd, the Digital Kingdom held an annual strategy conference entitled “Oasis” in Beijing, and announced the development of its Greater China business in the four major areas of visual effects, virtual reality, virtual people and original IP. “Oasis” originated from the film “Top Player”, which won the market reputation in the first half of the year. The Digital Kingdom provided visual preview, virtual production, motion capture and visual effects production services for the film. In the film, Spielberg built a crazy and bursting virtual world – “oasis”, and the “oasis” presented virtual scenes, content and technology, digital avatars and other cutting-edge technological elements, just in line with the vision of the digital kingdom And combined.

At the press conference, the Hollywood visual effects giant demonstrated its determination to create an “oasis” for the consumer market with a series of dazzling achievements. A few minutes of virtual human show became the highlight of the day: film celebrities Wang Weizhong, Lin Xinru, Nicholas Tse has personally visited the scene. Xie An, CEO and executive director of the Digital Kingdom, even realized the “virtual avatar”. At the same time, piano and flute were used as the legendary Tian Li Deng Lijun. Meitu founder and CEO Wu Xinhong and Tang Lijun sang “Red Dust”. The inn”… The virtual reality is difficult to divide, time and space subversion, and the scene of the infinitely fit “oasis” concept is amazing through the virtual human technology.

In fact, virtual human technology has long been highly regarded in Hollywood, and has been used in “Rejuvenation” (2008), “Beauty and the Beast” (2017), “Avengers 3: Infinite War” (2008) and many other blockbusters the film. Regarding how the power from Hollywood is integrated with the future development of Chinese film and television dramas, Xie An said: “This technology may be the key to change.”

Replicating “live” and reappearing “legend”

Virtual human technology combines holographic projection technology with computer imaging (CGI) technology to create realistic three-dimensional images of objects through motion capture and instant modeling. According to Xie An, the application and exploration of the digital kingdom around virtual human technology is mainly concentrated on the three levels of living, legend and creation.

Replicating “live” is the life of the people, such as the actor group to create a “replacement.” The resulting virtual person is no longer bound by the schedule, the same actor can complete multiple shooting tasks at the same time and in different time and space; more flexible integration with other visual effects technologies, providing more choices for image creation.

Reappearing “legend” refers to the resurrection of legendary celebrities who have passed away through virtual human technology. In 2012, the digital kingdom created a virtual image of the late American rapper Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The true and false performances sparked a heated debate among the world’s fans; and the virtual person Deng Lijun hologram presented by the prismatic entertainment The concert “Teng Lijun Legend” was held in Hangzhou on August 17th, and the commercial application of virtual people was practiced.

“Creation”, as the name suggests, refers to the creation of virtual IPs that do not exist at all, such as the Hatsune Miku. Brad Pitt, the anti-growth in “Rejuvenation”, the beast prince in “Beauty and the Beast” and the villain of “Reunion 3” full of sense of existence are all “created” by the digital kingdom through virtual human technology.

Virtual people, using technology to make the imagination of Chinese film and television dramas

Since 2018, the Chinese film and television industry has experienced different industrial upgrading. According to data from the National Film Bureau: in the first half of 2018, the Chinese mainland film market received a total of 32 billion box office receipts, more than 2.8 billion yuan in the same period last year, about 4.8 billion yuan, creating a new box office record; continued expansion in the Chinese film market Under the circumstances, the investment cost of the local head film single film is close to the level of Hollywood; as the Chinese film industrialization system is gradually formed, the demand for visual effects production continues to grow.

In this regard, Xie An stressed: “The digital kingdom has always focused on gathering Hollywood power to help local visual effects to connect with the international. The digital kingdom has the largest motion capture studio in North America, and we plan to introduce it to China in the near future, upgrading the technical facilities. Coupled with the digital kingdom’s grasp of superior technology and talents, as well as the close cooperation model between China, the United States and India, we will bring unprecedented quality content to domestic consumers.”

On the basis of machine learning, virtual human technology can create new faces and characters, so that the image that does not exist at all appears in the scenes of film and television dramas and even interact with the public. This has a far-reaching reference to the visual expression of film and television works and even the creation of original IP.