Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain

CARTOON CHARACTERS COME ALIVE AT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS

Squeeze at McDermont House

PRESS RELEASE

Cartoon Characters Come Alive and Interact with Kids (& People) at Theme Parks and Attractions

McDermont Field House in Lindsay, CA completed it second summer season with "Squeeze" at the front door, greeting customers and welcoming them to the huge family entertainment facility south of Fresno. The athletic center uses live animation daily as part of its hospitality to arriving guests

Your next visit to a theme park or family entertainment center could include a conversation with one of your favorite cartoon characters, brought to life on a video screen, with a new live animation technology.

CHOPS & Assoc. Live Animation, headed by Gary Jesch, a 17-year pioneer in 3D live animation, is collaborating with award-winning animators, to help create interactive cartoon characters that can talk, see and hear their audiences in real time. Jesch's company has developed the Digital Puppeteer 3D system, which is operated by a performer/animator from a laptop computer, backstage, like the Wizard of Oz.

"People are seeing live animation as represented by Disney's "Turtle Talk with Crush" and "Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory," and really enjoying it. They've proved that live interaction is a real draw for children and adults alike, because everyone loves cartoon characters and animation. What is great is that other theme parks and family entertainment centers can now get their hands on the same technology," Jesch explains.

"You don't have to hire Pixar to do live animation, as if that's possible. Having access to live animatin software and skilled 3D graphics artists who know how to use it, allows us to better serve our clients' creative visions and budgets," Jesch observes.

The ToonMX software used by Jesch "Digital Puppeteer" (TM) system handles 3D animations with "digitally sculpted" characters efficiently and artistically, allowing actors to make their mouths and lips synchronize with the cartoon characters by simply speaking, while they select scenes and camera angles from a tablet interface. It was developed and first used in Europe to make cartoons and game shows for children, on TV shows which are broadcast live.

CHOPS & Assoc. , whose client list includes many of the companies who exhibit at large tradeshows , will focus on introducing unique characters that appeal to younger audiences, and powering the animation with computer-generated output that saves time and allows actors the flexibility to change their performances on the fly, improv-style.

CHOPS & Assoc. will also offer the ToonMX technology to customers in the corporate meeting and tradeshow venues, in addition to permanent installations. CHOPS, the "Cyber Human on a Performance System," got started in 1995 when Jesch dreamed of creating virtual reality experiences where people could interact with computer-generated personas, also known as "avatars," or "virtual characters."

SqueezeAt tradeshows, the virtual characters attract attention to companies' tradeshow booths and make a friendly first impression on prospective customers. At corporate meetings, the characters offer comic relief, ask the "hard questions" during the presentations, or serve as hosts and MCs, bringing a novel and unusual element that invokes delight and curiosity.

MIster at SM SCience Discovery Center




CHOPS has installed two Digital Puppeteer systems to date, one at the SM Science Discovery Center in Manila, Philippines, and the other at the McDermont Field House, a family recreation center in Lindsay, CA. These are the first installations of live animation technology outside of the Disney properties in Orlando and LA, where "Crush" has been meeting audiences since 2005.

Jesch will do the overall system design, character artwork supervision and animation system installations for customers, with his Digital Puppeteer technology, at theme parks, TV stations, schools, family entertainment centers, pro sports centers, casinos, museums, zoos and aquariums around the world. His specialty is integrating all the disciplines involved in live animation, including creating stories, designing characters, performing, designing hardware and software, staging and managing audio-visual display technology.

About CHOPS & Assoc. Live Animation:

Gary Jesch created CHOPS and the company in 1995, in order to bring live, interactive, animated 3D characters to the tradeshow and corporate meeting industries, helping marketing directors improve their lead gathering by attracting attention to corporate marketing messages. He pioneered the use of optical motion capture for facial expressions and lip sync with his first Digital Puppeteer system, and in 2006, introduced the first live animation system in the US to run on laptops, with software that uses the sound of his voice to drive the movement of the character's mouth. He has created a wide assortment of "stock" characters, in addition to custom ones his clients own, and has his own children's show in development, called "My Fish People."

He recently began building and installing complete systems, with characters, in the theme park and FEC industry, and has worked worldwide, doing shows and projects in China, South America, the Philippines, Mexico and Canada. Some of his clients include ExxonMobile, Florida Power & Light, Ford Motorcraft, BASF, Price Waterhouse, Chase Manhattan, Frito Lay, Hewlett Packard, Pennzoil, SAP, Jack Morton Worldwide, PGI and Pinerock Productions.

CHOPS & Assoc. is headquartered at 2201 Kansas St., Carson City, NV 89701. For additional information, contact Executive Producer Gary Jesch at gary@chops.com or by phone at 775-831-7451. Visit the CHOPS website at www.chops.com.