Ninja Toy - A Motion Capture Feature by Motus Digital

[QATPERSON]

If you go to the Motus web site the short video does not have Noah's name on it, it is someone else. I think this is just a case of photo shop

[MegaRonaldofan]

Wow...I at first thought the whol thing was CG, and that y'all used mocap for the camra movement, Ninja and the objects he touches. then I thought that only him and the things interacted with were the only CG things, and that you had to do some serious motion tracking. then I saw the credits! Wow, very realistic shading/modeling/textering. have y'all tried working with Blender 3D at all using mocap?

[dendec]

wow what a motion

[Melkorx5]

So, the general consensus is that Noah Ringer is pretty damn good and that LeggySpunk is a douche. amiritegais?

[Hukeyohi]

I'd say you were right.

[LeggySpunk]

His staff moves are kinda mediocre.

[SuperAl19]

ur mediocre

[LeggySpunk]

you are fucking retarded. I went to this video since everyone was saying OMG his staff moves are amazing! yet i watched the video and im not amazed. so you are one of those people that are not exposed to martial arts and have no idea what truly is amazing.

[SuperAl19]

ur less than mediocre

[SuperAl19]

his staff moves are amazing

[LeggySpunk]

have you seen anyone else's staff moves? I didn't think so. Dumbass

[SuperAl19]

oh yaaa tons of em, there are 12 yr old staff masters on every street

[ProDreamer3]

I would just like to put it out there that I support the casting of Noah as Aang 110%. :p

I mean, the kid's adorable, and he's great with a staff.

I mean, race shouldn't matter. Until the whole race thing was brought up with the casting, I didn't see specific races in Avatar. I saw PEOPLE.

[Madmax72485]

lmao to all the Asian people who feel like the chracters should be asian; even though they live in a fantasy world where which elemental region describes your look, culture, etc.

It is never once mentioned that Aang, Sakka, or even Katara is Asian.

[paracletelux]

"It is never once mentioned that Aang, Sakka [sic], or even Katara is Asian."

They don't need to mention it. Every detail in the series points to the fact that the Water tribe sibs are Inuit and the others are Asian.

Can you prove to me, that despite all evidence to the contrary, they are not Asian and Inuit?

[ScabbedAngel16]

Noah Ringer is awesome with that staff :3

[aucontrairemydear]

I may not agree with the casting choices, but I feel sorry for Noah Ringer being caught in all this, he's just a kid and he, despite my personal opinions on casting, is very talented (from what I see here and from the teaser trailer). i only wish him the best.

[alexiox55]

where is noah ringer

[MotusDigital]

He is the ninja. His movement drives the ninja character. Watch it through the end and you can see how it works.

[commandershadereturn]

Ew Noah Ringer! I have nothing against Noah Ringer personally, but your friend was chosen to play a character who was essentially Asian/Tibetan. Your friend has been involved in another character getting whitewashed sadly.

[SuperAl19]

aang is white

[sweetangel1927]

Wow. Wowowow. Amazing. The 3D rendering was flawless as far as I could see, at least the first time watching it. Maybe if I watched it a couple more times and paid close attention I would be able to catch a few quirks, but very very well done.

Seriously. Awesome. Great job. :)

[PurpleSparkle2007]

He'll be the perfect Aang ^_^

[MRCAB]

No, the "perfect Aang" would have been an asian kid.

[PurpleSparkle2007]

So it doesn't matter to you that Noah has the skills to pull this off? He auditioned for the part and earned it. End of story.

[MRCAB]

When did he audition?.. Pretty sure that he was given the part.

[PurpleSparkle2007]

He submitted a homemade DVD of himself practicing the sport of taekwondo. They liked what they saw. They saw he had what it takes to pull off the character. To pull of the Airbending. Not to mention the fact that he looks so much like much like Aang!

[MRCAB]

Aang is not white. Ringer looks like a generic white kid with his head shaved bald.

Original Main Cast Casting Call: "'Caucasian or any other ethnicity'' -how fair is that? LOL

[MRCAB]

You can be part German Shepherd, for all I care. Ringer is white, Aang is not. Have a good life.

[AaminaATLA]

Dude, last time I checked there was no Asia in the world of Avatar, so how can he be Asian?

This is an American show with Asian influence. But that's it. Besides Aang doesn't look Asian.

I look in the mirror and I see an Asian girl, I look at Aang and I don't see Asian. He looks British, Dutch, American, Canadian, and maybe even Spanish.

You are the one who sounds racist, thinking only and Asian kid could play Aang.

[MRCAB]

So if this were a show based on European influences and mythology, like, lets say "The Lord of the Rings", then would it be safe to say that the characters were all Caucasian? Yes.

AaminaATLA, go look up "The Face of the Other" by Matt Thorn, it might expand your mind a bit.

[AaminaATLA]

If they got actors form other ethnic groups (african, american, korean, chinesse, whatever) I wouldn't care, because I'm not racist. Unlike you it seems. Whoever is best for the role is all I care about.

[MRCAB]

Why is is racist to think that the characters in the show were Asian, and that they should be represented, in the movie, by Asian-American/European actors? You can't just call someone racist, to piss them off; you need something to back it up.

Like I said before: go look up "The Face of the Other" by Matt Thorn.

[AaminaATLA]

None of the characters are Asian. Aang does not belong to any of our Ethnic groups, he is just an Airbender from an American show.

I call you a racist because you are so against a white boy playing Aang. Can you deny that Noah has talent? Talent enough to play the role?

[MRCAB]

I AM white! So how can ME being against a white kid getting a role that should have gone to an asian kid, racist? How can I be racist against whites when I am white myself?!

"Aang does not belong to any of our Ethnic groups..." -if that were the case, then why is he being played by a white kid? LOL

Look up "The Face of the Other" by Matt Thorn.

[AaminaATLA]

As in Aang is neither Asian or American.

And he's being played by a white kid because that particualr kid is talented, looks like Aang, and earned the role.

[MRCAB]

So "American" equals "white" to you? LOL

[AaminaATLA]

If a black boy had auditioned for the role and gotten the part I would have been glad. If a Latin boy auditioned and gotten the role I would have been glad.

If they had found an Asian boy to play Aang then that would have been great too!

All I care about is the talent.

Noah is a very talented kid and I'm glad he'll be playing the part.

[MRCAB]

Good for you :-p

[paracletelux]

But how often does that happen? It doesn't. "Colorblind" casting only happens one way. Harry Potter, Superman, Frodo and the Pevensie children all come from European/white source material, and in the film adaptations they are OF COURSE cast as white. But when a hero is brown, black or Asian, suddenly it "should be about the talent!" Which is how Shawn Ashmore ended up in Earthsea, and Noah (who is not to blame) is playing a kid in Shaolin robes with an Indonesian name.

[paracletelux]

AaminaATLA:

1) American =/= white.

2) Aang is a character with an Indonesian name, a Buddhist philosophical approach, a Shaolin upbringing, who reads and writes Chinese, practices Chinese martial arts and is based on a Hindu deity. One might quibble about what sort of Asian he is, but he is Asian.

3) It is not racist to say Will Smith shouldn't play Robin Hood or Halle Berry would be a poor choice to play Arwen. They're white characters. Aang is an Asian character and should be played by one.

[AaminaATLA]

Katara and Sokka also read Chinese and they are certainly aren't Asian. They are Eskimos.

My point is simply who cares? Who cares if a Black person plays a White person, or if a White person plays an Asian? Let it be. I like that the movie has a diverse cast.

[paracletelux]

It doesn't have a diverse cast though. The three heroes are white. Only bad guys (The royal family and Zhao) are brown. Sure, Asians are allowed to be "in" the story, as extras, love interests or stock villains, but the people who matter are white. Like I said, the "let's diversify!" argument never comes up when it's a European story. It happens to the brown and Asian ones like Dragonball and Earthsea. Even though I'm white, it really bothers me to see all Caucasians and no Asians in Avatar.

[AaminaATLA]

I am Asian and was quite surprised that it didn't bother me. I guess because Avatar is an American show and not an Anime it doesn't bother me if white people play the characters. If it had been Anime I might have.

Dragonball did disturb me because it is an Anime, so the characters should have been portrayed by Asian, imho.

[msbapette]

the cast is diversed, have you seen the water tribe, their a mixure of whites, native americans and mexicans. and not everyone in the fire nation is evil that has dark skin, your practically saying that Iroh is evil, and mai and ty lee (sure we dont know who will play them next but we can guess)

besides the director is indian, and the creators of avatar are 2 white guys, and if they cared about the race part they would have said it, cause their actually working with M.Night on this.

[GloomySunset]

How do you know Noah isn't Asian?

[mayhem9024]

he's half asain you can really tell when he was a kid i've noticed what happened to him happened to me i was a really dark kid but got really light as i got older noah looked very asain as a kid but slowly that changed.

[GloomySunset]

Oh. I mixed and the opposite happened to me. i used to be pale and I looked more Spanish Puerto Rican than black but now most people think I look more black.

Dominant genetic traits don't always, well, dominate.

[AaminaATLA]

I too think he earned it fair and square.

[MotusDigital]

About a year ago. He was all decked out with an arrow panted on his head and everything. They basically saw his skills and the way he carried himself and told him he was perfect. Its great to see this discussion though. I'm not going to take any sides but will shed light wherever I can.

[PurpleSparkle2007]

The first time I saw a picture of Noah I instantly thought "Omg, it's Aang come to life!" And when I saw him Airbending in the trailer I was speechless.

[XxducksXrulexX]

This is so awesome!

Yes, yes yes! Noah Ringer = Aang. YAY :D

[SuperAl19]

Noah Ringer gots some skills

[psfrag26]

awesome

[PurpleSparkle2007]

Awesome!

[ArtisticArts]

Very cool, very very nice!!

[jeremiahjw]

Wow...I at first thought the whole thing was CG, and that y'all used mocap for the camera movement, Ninja, and the objects he touches. Then I thought that only him and the things he interacted with were the only CG things, and that you had to do some serious motion tracking. Then I saw the credits! Wow, very realistic shading/modeling/texturing.

Have y'all tried working with Blender 3D at all using Mocap?

[MotusDigital]

Thanks for the kind words and feedback! We really appreciate it.

Once we capture the motion data, we primarily use MotionBuilder for all our characters/props.

[falconhead67]

cool

[WoodsUlmann]

Why was this more interesting and cool that a lot of stuff in theaters today?

Great job!

[triShotFilms]

Awesome stuff!

[TheDonBurroni]

Thanks for the support, I'm a one man CGI studio, I do the lot, sculpt, act, mocap, render, write the stuff, and now tryin to sell the show

[TheDonBurroni]

Nice Ninja! i'm looking at tracking cam shots/matchmoving in Puppets season 2 , Good action, did you guys make an HDRI for that too?>