Auryn animates illustrations for iPad
Remember what it was like to read your favorite picture book as a child? The illustrations were evocative, bringing the story 
to life. Now, with Auryn, those illustrations can truly come to life, as full motion animation on an iPad.
So many of the creative tools for creating content for mobile devices comes from the traditional media world. So it’s fitting that Umesh Shukla, Robert Kalnins and Amit Agrawal joined together to create Auryn, a cool new way to give illustrations any style (oil painting, watercolor, pencil, crayon, 3D) desired and…animate them for the iPad and other app-based devices. The founders’ backgrounds are in digital visual effects, so it was a natural evolution for them to create a tool that brings visual effects to the iPad.
If you find the idea a tad difficult to grasp (as I did initially), the Auryn founders created a video to show it off, which you can see below.
The look of animation is often limited, to 2D with its familiar black pencil outlines and 3D computer generated imagery. Animation is also an arduous, labor-intensive and expensive art. “The idea was to create a technology to allow people to express themselves visually in all media,” says Shukla. “If I’m a storyteller and want to tell a story where the images are like oil paintings, I should be able to do that.” The genesis of the idea, says Shukla, came from illustrations in children’s picture books, each of which have their own style of illustration.
This patent-pending technology creates 2D and 3D worlds with none of the limitations of traditional techniques. Auryn’s rendering technology addresses segmentation (where to place the strokes), stroke properties and media simulation and provides coherence – frame-to-frame flicker avoidance. It is cost efficient because the models and rigs used are simpler than those needed for photorealistic approaches and a massive time saver when it comes to realizing the look of traditional techniques.
“We were looking for a device like iPad to come out so we could show it off to people,” says Shukla, who reports that Auryn was founded four years ago. “It’s a continuation of the multimedia approach, with animation, gaming a lot of elements.” Auryn’s software is aimed for tablet devices, says Shukla, but it also works on iPhones.
Auryn’s founders are looking for partnerships with publishers. “We are not a work-for-hire technology,” says Shukla. “New distribution platforms means new partnerships are required. We are open to exploring every possible variety.” How Auryn works with publishers or individuals is first to discuss what the app would be like, what kinds of experiences you want to bring to children. Once that’s decided on, we make the app for the device.”
Shukla says that Auryn is already working with numerous book publishers, doing tests. One illustrator they are collaborating with is Lisbeth Zwerger, illustrator of Little Mermaid; her app is scheduled for release in September.
Tags: animation, apps, Auryn, children's books, illustration, iPad, iPhone, Little Mermaid
This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 8:30 am and is filed under Content, Devices.
