XR Stories brings new technology to action-figure animation

XR Stories is providing guidance, expertise and equipment to help action figure animator, Arfaan Amini, diversify his content.

In 2019, Arfaan’s animations of WWE figures caught the eye of a senior representative from toy manufacturing and entertainment company, Mattel, when they were posted on Instagram.

Arfaan was commissioned by Mattel to create an animated scenario with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe action figures that featured at Comic Con 2019. Since then, Arfaan has continued to work for Mattel, providing content for various campaigns including a recreation of the Jurassic Park Legacy Series set, a WWE animation for Smyths Toys, and an international social media campaign.

Arfan creates various scenarios for the action figure toys using stop-motion animation, a filming technique where the camera is repeatedly stopped and started, to give the impression of movement. The technique brings the figures to life whilst also showing the range of articulations and limitations of each model in its plastic form.

In 2022, Arfaan signed up to attend an XR Stories 3D masterclass to explore how to develop his content using new technology.

Arfaan comments: “The XR Stories masterclass introduced me to photogrammetry software and I started to explore different elements of 3D scanning and how I could apply that to enhance the content that I was producing to present the figures in a new and exciting way.

XR Stories provided me with the opportunity to use state-of-the-art equipment that I wouldn’t normally have been able to access. The technologists were really helpful, providing advice and insights on how to use the equipment to probe different elements.” Arfaan continues.

A test video from the XR Stories lab shows the possibilities of 3D modelling Mattel’s WWE action figures using XR photogrammetry equipment.

Find out more about Arfaan’s work on Instagram.

Published on 25 January 2023