Tamil
superstar
Rajinikanth's
magnum
opus
Kochadaiiyaan,
which
releases
on
Friday
worldwide,
is
a
lot
better
than
several
earlier
films
made
using
motion
capture
technology
in
the
west,
says
Phil
Stilgoe,
founder
of
Centroid
motion
capture
company,
which
worked
on
the
movie.
Soundarya
Rajinikanth
Ashwin-directed
Kochadaiiyaan
is
India's
first
motion
capture
photo-realistic
3D
animated
film.
"I've
been
in
this
industry
for
nearly
15
years
and
I
have
seen
the
technology
evolve.
I
can
confidently
say
that
Kochadaiiyaan
is
a
lot
better
than
several
earlier
films
made
using
motion
capture
technology
in
Hollywood," Stilgoe
told
IANS
in
an
exclusive
interview.
"I've
also
heard
some
criticism
about
the
film
but
it
has
to
start
somewhere.
I'm
more
interested
in
how
will
this
technology
be
in
a
decade
from
now
and
how
India
will
use
it
to
make
it
their
own,"
he
said.
Stilgoe
also
says
that
the
film
should
not
be
compared
with
any
other
film
made
using
the
same
technology
because
the
factors
involved
are
different.
"It's
unfair
to
compare
Kochadaiiyaan
with
other
films
because
you're
talking
different
budgets,
different
time
frames
and
different
experiences.
But
I
don't
think
these
comparisons
will
be
there
in
five
to
10
years
time
because
people
will
realize
they
were
wrong
to
jump
to
conclusions,"
he
added.
While
Kochadaiiyaan
was
made
on
a
budget
of
Rs.125
crore,
Stilgoe
clarifies
that
not
all
motion
capture
films
incur
high
costs.
"The
perception
that
you
need
to
have
high
budget
to
use
motion
capture
technology
is
wrong.
For
instance,
if
you
were
to
go
to
a
location
and
need
a
crowd
of
thousand
people,
you
can
create
that
with
just
two
people
in
a
studio
in
a
few
hours
using
this
technology
and
save
a
lot
of
cost,"
he
said.
In
that
case,
why
did
films
like
Avatar
and
Tin
Tin,
also
made
using
the
same
technology,
cost
so
much?
"Initially,
it
was
for
big
budget
films
during
the
technology's
experimental
phase.
A
film
like
Avatar
was
made
on
thousands
of
crore
using
this
technology
because
it
was
during
its
nascent
stage
and
the
makers
were
exploring
it,"
added
Stilgoe.
"The
west
invents
new
technology
and
works
on
it,
so
there's
also
invention
cost
involved
besides
production
cost.
Whereas,
India
wants
to
just
use
that
technology
to
make
some
money,"
he
said.
For
motion
capture
technology
to
become
more
accessible,
Stilgoe
believes
Kochadaiiyaan
is
the
best
film
to
set
the
ball
rolling
because
it
has
megastar
Rajinikanth
in
it.
"Indians
have
become
ultra
conservative
and
feel
it's
wrong
to
explore
and
that's
where
I
think
Kochadaiiyaan
is
a
landmark
film
because
it
dares
to
explore,"
he
said
"To
be
able
to
turn
heads
in
a
direction
needs
a
clout
of
Rajinikanth
and
that's
why
I
think
this
is
the
best
film
to
introduce
us
to
motion
capture
technology
especially
to
Indian
cinema,"
he
added.
In
order
to
help
India
make
the
best
use
of
the
technology,
Stilgoe's
company
has
collaborated
with
Chennai-based
company
PixelKraft
to
launch
its
Indian
arm
Centroid
India.
PixelKraft's
director
Siddharth
Kumar
says
a
few
Tamil
films
are
gearing
up
to
be
made
soon
using
motion
capture
technology.
"We
are
on
the
verge
of
announcing
a
few
titles
in
Tamil
which
will
be
made
using
this
technology.
We
hope
these
films
will
usher
in
visually
a
new
breed
of
films.
We
hope
our
collaboration
will
bring
a
certain
visual
style
to
storytelling,"
Kumar
said.
He
feels
the
reason
why
Kochadaiiyaan
is
considered
an
animated
feature
for
children
is
because
our
visual
literacy
is
low.
"It's
unfortunate
that
we
see
Kochadaiiyaan
as
an
animated
film
for
children.
This
is
because
our
visual
literacy
is
very
low
as
the
majority
of
us
have
missed
reading
graphic
novels
and
comics.
If
we
don't
embrace
this
film,
we'll
never
appreciate
the
technology,"
he
said.
Jointly
produced
by
Media
One
Global
Entertainment
and
Eros
International,
"Kochadaiiyaan
also
features
Deepika
Padukone,
Jackie
Shroff,
Aadi
Pinisetty,
Shobana
and
R.
Sarath
Kumar
in
important
roles.