HID is a modular physical input device for 3D animation.
It replaces mouse-driven keyframing by capturing and controlling hundreds of animation parameters at once, using a stop-motion-style snapshot workflow.
How it works
HID is based on a snapshot principle inspired by stop-motion animation.
With a single button press, the current pose of a character is captured instantly. Timing is controlled via a joystick, allowing animators to stay in continuous interaction with the character instead of switching between UI tools.
This results in a faster, more intuitive workflow than traditional joint-by-joint keyframing.
Key features
• Simultaneous control of hundreds of animation parameters • Stop-motion-style snapshot workflow • Modular hardware design (expandable for non-humanoid setups) • Cross-software architecture (Blender, Maya, Unreal, Unity, Cascadeur) • Built on open hardware (Raspberry Pi) and Python • Designed for professional production, education and experimental use
Current status
The current prototype is fully functional and actively used with Maya.
The Human Input Device is developed by a professional animator with over 15 years of production experience. The system was designed from the perspective of daily animation workflows, focusing on speed, intuitiveness and physical interaction rather than traditional UI complexity.
The 3D VR Artist will paint live on a big screen for events like concerts, theatres and festivals. Our VR Live Paintings will massivly intensify your main act in a perfect symbiose.
A new professional field has emerged around VR-based artistic workflows. In these workshops, participants learn techniques and methods of virtual painting and animation in immersive environments.
Online Courses
VR Painting Webinar
The LAVAMUSEUM is the first easy access virtual museum that offers space for artists to present their work to a wide audience. During the VR Webinar we introduce you to the tasks of a 3D VR Artist and take you on a virtual tour through the museum. Finally everyone will create their own virtual artpiece.
In this basic course, you will learn how to create your own virtual meeting room (VMR) or exhibition space. As an example, we will together join a virtual museum with artworks from Studio LAVAMACHINE. There we will learn about the tools available. You create your first painting as a 3D VR Artist and finally your own virtual environment.
In the VR Painting Masterclass we teach you the different techniques and methods of virtual painting and animation as well as a high level of expertise about 3D VR Artist techniques in general. This course is suitable for VR beginners as well as for media industry professionals and results in your first entirely in VR animated artwork.
✔ SeveralDaysProgram!✔ IndividualSupport!
Upcoming Events
New courses are currently being prepared. Until then, take a look at https://www.facebook.com/Lavamachine/. Here we also make some announcements.
Eric Giessmann is a contemporary painter and multimedia artist from Germany. His work spans figurative and surreal paintings, immersive VR experiences and narrative animation. Across media, he explores perception, human emotion and the tension between inner and outer worlds. His art has been presented internationally, from galleries to film festivals.
The implementation of our ideas was very professional and the result of high quality. The participants of the conference were enthusiastic. You more than exceeded our expectations.
Nationale Agentur Bildung für Europa beim Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung -
Lavamachine was a great way to wrap up our meeting. You have visually processed the content aspects of the event and created an impressive three-dimensional closure.
Team weiter gelernt der k.o.s GmbH
Awesome, You created the mood of this scene very well! It resembles traveling through a painting.
Master of spatial storytelling, beyond just beautiful brush painting!
Life Painting of Moby Dick
LAVAMACHINE was a pleasure to work with. They showed up with value in their initial proposal, were highly proactive communicators and consistently delivered on agreed-upon work with exceptional quality on-time.
Tomas Quinonez-Riegos, koat.io
We would like to thank you once again for the great seminar on the weekend, the exciting experiences we had with a special world and way of implementation.
