CereProc, the speech synthesis company based in Edinburgh has signed a deal with Sweden’s Fanchinima and the KTN Centre For Speech Technology, to create a new toolkit for film makers, allowing the creation of advanced animation and virtual movies.
Fanchinima is a technology company which is producing tools to allow film makers to create animated movies using digital tools. The company is now partnering with CereProc to bring emotionally realistic voices to the avatar actors within these projects and allowing film makers to bring back some of history’s biggest stars.
According to the press release:
A partnership which is set to create the most realistic movie process simulation solution on the market, text to speech (TTS) company CereProc, Fanchinima AB and KTH Centre for Speech Technology, will blend innovative technologies to deliver advanced animated film making toolkit.
Creating opportunities for filmmakers – both amateur and professional – by enabling the cost effective creation of compelling animated films featuring realistic avatars with natural and characterful voices, the recently announced dynamic partnership between CereProc and Fanchinima is set to challenge the creative industries’ current animated film making processes.
Harnessing the power of CereProc’s unique speech synthesis engine, CereVoice, alongside Fanchinima’s advanced software, the synergy effectively delivers the toolkit necessary for filmmakers to deliver emotional digital content with synthetic voices, controlling movements and facial expressions in tune with the and characterful content expressed by the voice.
“Our partnership with Fanchinima is a truly pioneering industry offering. The opportunities presented to filmmakers and game developers using the set of tools – from leading film studios bringing the Golden Age of Hollywood back to life, to garage based independents producing films within the ever growing fan fiction genre, and competing with industry giants on a level playing field – are set to challenge and revolutionise the creative industries,” said Chris Pidcock, Chief Voice Engineer at CereProc.
Fanchinima’s software allows users to create movies by following a step by step virtual movie production process.
The new deal will allow Fanchinima to utilise CereProc’s CereVoice text-to-speech engine to give the avatar actors voices which are natural, and full of character.
At the KTH Centre for Speech Technology, research on auto-generated character motion including lip synch and non-verbal behaviours, will be implemented and tested in the Fanchinima product and integrated into the overall solution.
The collaboration between CereProc, Fanchinima and KTH Centre for Speech Technology establishes a complete process – from pre production scenography and script-writing to animation and post production editing – for all users seeking to create advanced and compelling animated movies.
Good news for developers, film makers, animators and virtual actors alike. We approached several key animated characters including Coyote from Road Runner, The Pink Panther and the train off of Magic Roundabout . None were available for comment at the time of writing.