40Acres MikuFest! 2026

III. Animation, Motion Capture & VFX Pipeline

A main-focus feature for our 2026 production was our ability to create custom 3D choreography for songs that did not originally have motion data, alongside producing six (6) narrative cutscene acts (Animation Acts I–III, Act IV, and Acts V–VI) that bridged the 2-hour, 28-song setlist.

Motion Capture & 3D Character Pipeline

Working inside AET's LIM Lab, I served as Motion Capture Advisor, Data Wrangler, Digital Imaging Technician (DIT), and Animation Cleanup Artist:

1. Live Capture: Working with Choreography Lead Nayeon Heo and our choreography dancers, we recorded custom dance routines using the Captury markerless motion capture system.

2. Retargeting & Cleanup: Once I wrangled the raw skeletal data, we brought the motion files into Autodesk Maya, Blender, and Unreal Engine (alongside MikuMikuDance / MMD pipelines) to retarget the animations onto 3D Vocaloid rigs (including Clockwork Miku, Kasane Teto, Megurine Luka, Kagamine Rin & Len, v flower, and KAFU) and clean up foot sliding, joint occlusion, and hand and facial animations.

2D/3D Hybrid Cutscenes & Visual Effects

For the narrative segments and song transitions, I worked as a VFX Artist and 3D Concept Coordinator. Using Derivative TouchDesigner, Resolume Arena, Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop, I composited visual effects, edited the final render passes, and coordinated audio fixes for the 2D animated cutscenes so that the hand-drawn sequences transitioned cleanly into the 3D holographic projections on stage.

IV. Stage Architecture & Live Show Execution

Moving into the B. Iden Payne Theatre allowed us to expand from a single-projector setup into a dual-projection and live stage lighting environment designed to give the stage true spatial depth.

Projection, Audio & Lighting Pipeline

We built the live show architecture around two (2) dedicated projection surfaces (D1 and D2), dividing our control stations between back-of-house and backstage:

Concert Filming & Archival Recording

To document the full concert performance, I set up a tripod-mounted Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 (BMPCC 6K G2) in the front of the house. For the 2026 event, the camera recorded the performance using its internal on-board audio without a dedicated external audio capture pipeline, which we plan to do for future iterations of the show.

Physical Set Design & Front-of-House Operations

To ground the digital projections inside a tangible Victorian Clockwork environment, we combined our own DIY crafted pieces with 48 theatrical set dressings rented from the Texas Performing Arts Fabrication Studios Prop Stock:

• DIY Fabricated Props: Our team built custom standing cardboard gears and suspended cardboard gears hanging directly from the screen platform, arranged alongside electric floor candle lamps for warm theatrical contrast.

• Timepieces & Clockwork Accents (TPA Rental): Ornate brass wall clocks with rose gold faces, large dark brown wooden desk clocks with hollow gold clock faces, a small tarnished brass clock, a golden Roman numeral desk clock and pen holder, a wooden hourglass with white sand, tarnished bronze desk decor, gold treble clef statues, and white and gold ornate wall plates with key accents.

• Furniture & Architectural Pieces (TPA Rental): A large vintage globe with a wooden base, a large wooden coffin with silver detailing, weathered columns on square bases, ornate plush armchairs, wooden benches, a round wooden side table, a large wheeled wooden table, grey-painted wooden barrels, and a mossy wood-and-metal chest.

• Lighting, Greenery & Atmospheric Props (TPA Rental): Cylindrical white LED seats, tarnished brass handheld lanterns, silver three-candle candelabras, white bulbs, dark green paper vines with pink flowers, large potted plants, and boxes of greenery.

Outside the auditorium, we organized the B. Iden Payne Theatre entryway to handle high-volume student and community turnout (reaching over 400 attendees). We routed the queue line along the exterior ramp, established door ticket checks and bag-check tables, positioned the artist merchandise table by the glass doors, and set up a decorated lobby photo zone before ushering attendees into the house.

Setlist Structure

The 2-hour performance featured 28 musical numbers bookended by our custom narrative animations and custom-tuned MC segments:

• Opening & Narrative Intro: Show Announcement → Intro → Animation Acts I–III → Cendrillon 10th Anniversary Ver. → Animation Act IV

• Main Concert Block: Deep Sea Girl, Fake Heart, Brain Revolution Girl, Viva Happy, Shanti, Daughter of Evil, Servant of Evil, Donut Hole, Children Record, Meltdown, Monitoring, Villain, Igaku, Retry Now, Karakuri Pierrot, Skeleton Orchestra and Lilia, Kyu Kurarin, Ochame Kinou, Leia, Romeo and Cinderella, Magnet, Liar Dancer, King, Manhattan, DaiDaiDaiDaiDaikirai, Newly Edgy Idols, Propose, Charles, My Love Is A Hellfire, Phony, Rolling Girl, Static

• Climax & Finale: Animation Acts V–VI → Machine Love → Manic (Miku & Teto Cover) → Odds & Ends → MC Ending & Credits