Monday, March 4, 2013

Replica Dr. Light Capsule is a Vision From the Future



Currently on display at the Mega Man Boss Battle Tribute show in San Francisco, Andrew Butterworth's scale model replica of Dr. Light's capsule from Mega Man X. No, it's not a real hologram -- it's actually a 2D video cleverly projected using an old parlor trick. 

Here's what Andrew had to say about his creation:
"This piece was printed on solid white PLA filament using a replicator 2 from makerbot. It was first modeled in Maya using the original SNES sprite as reference. I got the idea of using the pepper's ghost technique after talking to a friend who has done similar art installations on a much larger scale. Once printing was done, I got to sit down, relax and paint. It reminded me of building model airplanes on my mom's kitchen table. The movie was all taken from a sprite sheet and animated in After Effects. If you get to see the piece in person there is an cool easter egg animation loop. Anyone that has ever played and cleared Mega Man X will get it."

If you're in the area, swing on by the Gauntlet Gallery and check out this amazing piece in person!

13 comments:

  1. Dang thats neat.

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  2. That thing was so cool to see in person. I wish I took a video of it though.

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  3. Neato! I was unfortunately unable to attend the opening of the MMBB exhibit, but I'm hoping to make it there this weekend. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for this!

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  4. Very cool! I hope the easter egg is Light in his gi!

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  5. @Cucumber: I'll bet you 50 zenny it is.

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  6. Yes, the easter egg of Dr. Light in Ryu's gi is in it too!

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  7. Dramatic video. XD Would have much preferred for it to just jump right in to showing us.

    Very cool! Wonder how it works.

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  8. I take it there's a screen or something in the bottom that it's reflecting. Wish we could see more detail about it--kind of want to try to replicate the effect!

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  9. There's a number of ways this could work. But this trick is one of the more common. Check it:

    http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Hologram

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  10. If this was in a figure size and had that X d-arts figure on the side, man that'll be an epic!

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  11. Anybody know what this song is?

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  12. The screen is in the top. It works like a teleprompter. If you look very carefully at the beginning you can see the third angled piece of glass between the front and back pieces, that reflects the LCD screen. I am assuming that the viewing angle is quite important to achieve the illusion.

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  13. X, IT WAS MY DREAM THAT YOU COULD LIVE IN A WORLD OF PEACE

    THAT'S WHY I BUILT TWELVE DIFFERENT SUITS OF CRAZY SUPER ARMOR WITH HIGH-POWERED PLASMA WEAPONS AND HID THEM ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE

    HOPE THIS INHERENT CONTRADICTION DOESN'T TURN YOU INTO A NEUROTIC BASKETCASE OR ANYTHING

    LOVE DAD

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