{"id":1987,"date":"2022-09-04T09:08:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T09:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/?p=1987"},"modified":"2024-11-01T15:10:55","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T15:10:55","slug":"the-empire-wants-you-stefano-girardi-star-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/motion-capture\/the-empire-wants-you-stefano-girardi-star-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Empire Wants You: interview with Stefano Girardi, director of the Star Wars fan film"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Stefano Girardi, director and author, has recently created several shorts entirely in 3D. Among these, the latest is The Empire Wants You, a fan film dedicated to the Star Wars saga, to which the WondAR Studios team collaborated by creating all the animations in Motion Capture.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"The Empire Wants You - A Star Wars fan film made with Unreal Engine 5\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/riiTq-WyRNw?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\"><strong>Stefano Girardi<\/strong> told us about what it means to create a project like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How did the project of the Star Wars fan film come about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-1-1024x344.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars progetto\" class=\"wp-image-1912\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">The project for this Star Wars <strong>Fan Film<\/strong> was mainly born from <strong>three motivations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">First of all, from my passion for the saga and the desire to <strong>contribute to the expansion of this narrative universe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Secondly, from a <strong>professional challenge<\/strong>, as I wanted to make use of my skills as an author and director, as well as my competencies in 3D, compositing, and animation that I have developed in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Lastly, but not least, there was a need to send a <strong>message of peace<\/strong>, given the <strong>dark times<\/strong> we are living in with the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">For <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em>, I thought of the story of a <strong>Storm Trooper<\/strong> who recently joined the <strong>Legion<\/strong> following a recruitment campaign led by <strong>Darth Vader<\/strong> himself. A series of promises and good intentions that quickly melt like snow in the sun, especially when it comes <strong>to bringing peace and balance throughout the Galaxy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading translation-block\">What software did you use for <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-2-1024x340.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars software\" class=\"wp-image-1913\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">To create the CGI (<strong>Computer Generated Imagery<\/strong>) short film <em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/riiTq-WyRNw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Empire Wants You<\/a><\/em>, I mainly used Unreal Engine 5, and in addition, Blender 3.0, iClone 8, Character Creator 4, After Effects, and Replica Studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\"><strong>UE5<\/strong> is a spectacular software that allows creating hyper-realistic 3D environments thanks to an infinite library of 3D elements (<strong>Quixel Megascans<\/strong>) and, above all, a lighting system (<strong>Lumen Global Illumination and Reflections<\/strong>) that simulates the physical behavior of light in real-time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Therefore, all the virtual shooting sequences and environments for <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em> were created within this program. <strong>Blender<\/strong> and <strong>CC4<\/strong> were used for the customization of all the characters, <strong>iClone 8<\/strong> for cleaning up the motion capture animations, <strong>After Effects<\/strong> for compositing some scenes with many layers of effects, and finally, <strong>Replica Studios<\/strong> to bring the voices to life. In fact, this software works with artificial intelligence (<strong>A.I.<\/strong>) that allows transforming simple text into spoken sentences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did you implement Motion Capture?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-3-1024x344.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars motion capture\" class=\"wp-image-1914\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Animating a character in a credible and natural way is the key to the success of a <strong>CGI short film<\/strong> because, in the end, it's the characters and their behaviors that bring the viewer <strong>into the story<\/strong>. Artificial and unnatural animation, on the other hand, <strong>would distance<\/strong> the viewer, depriving them of an emotional experience of the story. Therefore, <strong>animation is a very important phase<\/strong> that requires a lot of work to be done well. <strong>Motion Capture<\/strong> makes this process much faster by allowing various <strong>modifications to be made on the fly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How was your experience with Xsens and WondAR Studios?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-4-1024x578.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars xsens\" class=\"wp-image-1915\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Thanks to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/motion-capture\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>Xsens suit<\/strong> from <strong>WondAR Studios<\/strong><\/a>, I was able to create, in addition to this Fan Film, another short film (<strong>Plan-E.T.<\/strong>), and in both cases, the result exceeded my expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Creating animations with them was easy and fast. The suit is much easier to manage compared to other motion capture systems. It has the advantage of having <strong>gyroscopic sensors<\/strong> that transmit the movements of the suit without the need for a set prepared for motion capture through cameras (<strong>optical system<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">In fact, if in the case of the first short film, we recorded everything in person in a studio, in the latest work, we <strong>recorded it remotely<\/strong> during a call. In less than an hour, I had all my animations, and I hadn't even left my house. A great advantage due solely to the technological features of this suit that can be used anywhere, from large outdoor spaces to small enclosed spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did you have to clean up the animations a lot?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-5-1024x567.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars animazioni\" class=\"wp-image-1916\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">The animations imported into <strong>iClone<\/strong> were perfect in the first project because, in that case, we had created a <strong>live stream<\/strong> between the <strong><em>Xsens<\/em><\/strong> program (Muppet MVN) and <em>iClone 7<\/em> (<strong>final character<\/strong>). In this way, both the actor wearing the suit and I could see the final result live and make corrections immediately. In the second short film, however, we worked only with the Xsens avatar, and once the animation was transferred to the character, some movements had to be adjusted to respect the actual dimensions of the character (e.g., helmet and armor). In any case, these were small corrections that took me about ten minutes per animation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How was the transition from UE4 to UE5, and what are the fundamental differences?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-6-1024x405.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars UE4 UE5\" class=\"wp-image-1917\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">The transition from one version of the software to another <strong>was not traumatic<\/strong>, despite the many changes between the systems, which represent a true <strong>technological revolution<\/strong>. Especially, as I mentioned earlier, regarding dynamic lighting thanks to the <strong>Lumen<\/strong> and <strong>Nanite<\/strong> system. In any case, to make a comparison, it's like switching from a good compact car to a sports car. The \"mechanics\" behind it are completely different, but the same interfaces are still needed to drive it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What differences did you find between iClone 7 and iClone 8?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-7-1024x544.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars iClone 7 8\" class=\"wp-image-1918\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">The same applies to the upgrade from <strong>iClone 7 to 8<\/strong>. The animation functions were implemented without overturning the method and philosophy of the previous software. In fact, all functions have been simplified to make animation work accessible to an increasingly wide audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did you have difficulty finding Star Wars 3D assets? What did you build from scratch?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-8-1024x342.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars asset 3D\" class=\"wp-image-1919\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Finding Star Wars <strong>3D assets<\/strong> for <em>The Empire Wants<\/em> You was very simple because being a mass phenomenon has led many 3D artists to create numerous elements ranging from characters to props, passing through objects and spaceships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">All the characters, props, and spaceships were taken from <strong>Sketchfab<\/strong>, and I made them animatable by creating a skeleton (<strong>Rig<\/strong>) with <strong>Character Creator 4<\/strong>. Some objects and structures were modeled and\/or customized with <strong>Blender<\/strong> and then assembled inside <strong>UE5<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Finally, the environments of <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em> were <strong>built from scratch<\/strong> using various Unreal tools and <strong>Quixel Megascans<\/strong> libraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How long did you work on this project? Can you tell us a little bit about the backstage?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-9-1024x450.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars backstage\" class=\"wp-image-1920\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">The project <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em>, which due to its <strong>non-profit<\/strong> nature, couldn't occupy my work hours, was conceived, developed and produced in a time span of about 3 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">There are no <strong>backstage<\/strong> stories to tell! Unfortunately, compared to the fun situations that can be created on a set in a <strong>Live Action<\/strong> project, <strong>CGI<\/strong> work is less thrilling as it involves only a computer throughout the production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">Perhaps in the future, with new machines equipped with <strong>artificial intelligence<\/strong>, we can expect some funny anecdotes to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What was the most complex part of the entire film construction?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-10-1024x342.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars film\" class=\"wp-image-1921\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">At the end, as in all films, in <em>The Empire Wants You<\/em> the most difficult thing was <strong>to find my story<\/strong> and, above all, to understand with what <strong>tone of voice<\/strong> to tell it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">From a <strong>purely technical point of view<\/strong>, the hardest thing (not the most complex) was all the repetitive work related to <strong>finalizing the video<\/strong>. I always prefer the creative part, I am not naturally super precise, and to do this 3D work, I had to force myself a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do you have any future ideas for upcoming films? Are you working on other projects?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/Stefano-Girardi-Wondar-Studios-The-Empire-Wants-You-Star-Wars-11-1024x497.webp\" alt=\"Stefano Girardi Wondar Studios The Empire Wants You Star Wars futuro\" class=\"wp-image-1922\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph translation-block\">I have many ideas, including a <strong>web series<\/strong> to continue the Star Wars vein with an even more <strong>comedic tone<\/strong>, and on the other hand, something with more dramatic tones. In any case, the next step is a film with characters to animate even at the level of <strong>facial expressions<\/strong> to further push the emotional aspect of the narrative.<\/p>\n<script>;<\/script><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stefano Girardi, regista e autore, ha realizzato di recente diversi corti interamente in 3D. Tra questi, l\u2019ultimo \u00e8 The Empire Wants You, un fan film dedicato alla saga di Star Wars, a cui il team di WondAR Studios ha collaborato realizzando tutte le animazioni in Motion Capture.\u00a0 Stefano Girardi ci ha raccontato cosa significa realizzare [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motion-capture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1987"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6574,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1987\/revisions\/6574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wondarstudios.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}