The Sony Pictures movie Lyle, Lyle Crocodile brought the lovable childhood story to life by the crew at Actor Capture, responsible for the motion capture over the 16 week film production. The team worked with the VFX department and VFX producer, Kerry Joseph and VFX Supervisor Joe Bauer on Mocap and virtual production on location in New York City, at Shadowbox Studios, and locations in Atlanta. Actor Capture provided motion capture with Movella Entertainment – Xsens for the on-set stage performances, over 40 locations, and while even hanging out of taxi cabs in Manhattan.
Virtual Production with in-camera VFX visualized the dancing crocodile in real-time allowing the directors and VFX crew to see the Lyle, Lyle’s, performance as it happened through the simulcam.
The actors trained in real-time to personify and get familiar with Lyle using Reallusion iClone for visualization.
To bring the character of Lyle Lyle Crocodile to life, Actor Capture relied on Xsens motion capture suits, Reallusion iClone and Unreal Engine. These powerful tools enabled the team to visualize Lyle in real-time with mocap animation, and quickly meet the needs of the VFX crew for Sony Pictures’ blockbuster musical.
One of the most significant advantages of iClone for the Actor Capture team was the ability to give performers like Rudie Bolton, who played the young Lyle, the opportunity to see themselves as Lyle in real-time. Reallusion iClone helped them get into character more easily during their performances.
James Martin, Technical Director at Actor Capture, highlighted the importance of Xsens as their preferred body motion capture tool and Reallusion iClone for visualization . “The combination of Xsens’ Link Suit, Gloves, and Faceware enabled the team to capture full-body data with best-in-class quality. Enabling our dancers to see Lyle in real-time with iClone Motion Live was valuable to preparing for the dance sequence mocap. From stunt Lyle actors to the main Lyle actor, Ben Palacios, Actor Capture captured every take for Lyle Lyle Crocodile”
Actor Capture’s success in bringing Lyle Lyle Crocodile to life was a testament to the power of Xsens motion capture, Reallusion iClone, Vanishing Point and Unreal Engine. As digital technology continues to advance into AI motion and other machine learning solutions, these tools still remain a vital solution for capturing and delivering authentic and endearing character performances on set or in the studio.
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