{"id":780,"date":"2025-12-13T13:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/?page_id=780"},"modified":"2025-12-13T13:21:37","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T13:21:37","slug":"azzurra-a2a-stylized-character-for-real-time-production","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/case-studies\/case-studies-character-creature-art\/azzurra-a2a-stylized-character-for-real-time-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Azzurra A2A &#8211; Character for Real-Time Live Event"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1080\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1920 \/ 1080;\" width=\"1920\" controls src=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/2025-03-05-17-09-42-Trim_1-Trim.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Project Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This project focused on creating a stylized character optimized for real-time rendering in <strong>Unreal Engine<\/strong>, blending vector cartoon aesthetics with modern 3D workflows. The goal was to achieve a unique, expressive look suitable for realtime interaction with the public in a live environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Role<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Look Development:<\/strong> Following the original concept for the character, develop the best Unreal shaders to ensure a balance between stylization and technical feasibility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rigging &amp; Expression scultping: <\/strong>I received the static 3D character, that I retopoligized and rigged in <strong>Blender<\/strong>, followed by the sculpting of the 52 ARKit shapekeys for Rokoko mocap facial animation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shader Research &amp; <strong>Realtime postprocessing:<\/strong><\/strong> Implemented custom NPR shaders in Unreal Engine to replicate the aesthetic of vector illustration while maintaining dynamic lighting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rigging &amp; Animation Prep:<\/strong> Built a production-ready rig for expressive poses and animation tests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Challenges &amp; Solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A challenge was achieving a hand-drawn look without sacrificing performance. I solved this by creating a hybrid shader system in Unreal Engine, combining flat shading with dynamic outlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the key challenges was managing the live, public nature of the event, where actors had to animate the character while interacting with the audience in a noisy environment for extended periods. To address this, I developed solutions in Unreal Engine that allowed the operator to seamlessly pause the live performance and switch to pre-recorded content that matched the aesthetic perfectly, enabling actors to take essential breaks without disrupting the experience. Additionally, I implemented a backstage feedback system, providing actors with a secondary screen to monitor their performance in real time, synchronized with what the audience was seeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n-576x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482019262_10235956976122332_3612734911043721625_n.jpg 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"460\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"787\" src=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n-460x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-787\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n-460x1024.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n-135x300.jpg 135w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n-768x1710.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n-690x1536.jpg 690w, https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/482220892_10235956935721322_474545744892503582_n.jpg 920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Outcome<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final character successfully demonstrates how stylized art can integrate into real-time workflows, opening possibilities for live events, games, VR experiences, and animated productions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video\"><video height=\"1920\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1080 \/ 1920;\" width=\"1080\" controls src=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20250307_104905-Trim.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Project Overview This project focused on creating a stylized character optimized for real-time rendering in Unreal Engine, blending vector cartoon aesthetics with modern 3D workflows.&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/case-studies\/case-studies-character-creature-art\/azzurra-a2a-stylized-character-for-real-time-production\/\">Continua a leggere<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Azzurra A2A &#8211; Character for Real-Time Live Event<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":691,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-780","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":791,"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/780\/revisions\/791"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.malisan.it\/site_2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}