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Andre DeSouza Takes DIY Approach with Motion Control Rig

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Mill 3D Artist Andre DeSouza was working on a short film and needed a motion control rig. Dropping a big chunk of change on the gear wasn't an appealing option, so Andre went the DIY route and used his own recipe for a rig. At about the same time, The Mill needed to do a test with motion control, and Andre's colleague, Mill L.A. Head of CG Robert Sethi, saw an opportunity. "Andre happened to have built his own rig, and very cost efficiently," says Sethi. "It's also practical, and can be controlled directly from Maya, Houdini and Joystick. It can do both pan and tilt repeatable motion. We gave it a shot and were pleasantly surprised with the results."

Like any inventor, Andre saw room for improvement with his motion control rig. In development now, Andre's Motion Control Rig 2.0. "In a few weeks, we'll have a new version with a dolly so it will have another axel," Andre enthuses. "The rig will have 12 bit encoding on motors. It's getting more precise. The possibilities are exciting!"