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Witch Cat image in Snapchat
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Using a simplified lens in Snap Camera (for item ## What's next for Witch Cat Lens)
Inspiration
I timed this lens to coincide with the upcoming Halloween and one of the reasons for this is that this is one of the most mystical and magical holidays, many people around the world love it and adore trying on various images, which increases the chances that people will be interested in using it and making magical content for the Spotlight section. And the second reason for creating this lens is that since childhood I have loved everything related to magic and adored the series Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Now I have grown up, but I have not stopped being inspired by the theme of magic, especially in my field of work, where I can realize any idea I have. Therefore, I decided to take my favorite childhood TV series as a basis and based on it create my own version of a small magical world through a lens for Snapchat. That's how my idea of the Witch Cat lens was born. Thinking about creating this lens, I recalled the events in the series, where Sabrina could not reveal all her secrets to anyone, tell the whole truth about herself, and her faithful friend with whom she could discuss everything was her cat...And only one day, when Halloween was coming, she was allowed to tell her friends about everything and show her abilities, because the next day everyone would forget about it. On this day, she didn't have to hide anything, she could take off her mask of an ordinary girl and just be herself without fear of anything. And now every user will be able to plunge into childhood and feel the very presence of magic in his life through the camera when using my lens and become someone who can transform from a person into a cat at the wave of a magic wand like a real witch or wizard!
What it does
All the user needs to use the lens is a smartphone and a Snapchat app. When opening the lens, the user is shown hints of what needs to be done in order to launch it (find a face and then smile). There is atmospheric color correction in the background and ghost cats, fog and fiery particles are flying through the air. After the user smiles, the lens starts: music starts playing, a magic wand appears on the screen from which magic sparks come, then a mystical fog appears on the screen and the user turns into a beautiful cat in a hat. After that, a prompt appears on the user's screen that you need to open your mouth and when he does, the cat will meow. As a result, the lens is a magical transformation of the user into a cat in a mystical Halloween atmosphere.
How I built it
Using Lens Studio, I used many technologies to create my lens: particle systems, blendshapes, shaders, VFX assets, animation, audio, segmentation, and more. This allowed me to create a mystical atmosphere and a complete immersion in the world of magic when using the lens and the ability for the user try on an image of a cat that looks quite realistic and partially repeats the user's facial expressions (eyes and mouth). I also created a 3d model, textures and materials to create a realistic cat character and all the other details of the lens. In addition, I analyzed a lot of sounds and melodies and selected the most suitable ones for creating a mystical atmosphere and the cat's voice. I have done a lot of tests to make sure that the lens works smoothly and users will not have difficulties in the process of using it. Users just have to follow the instructions, enjoy the magic that takes them back to their childhood and create wonderful content for Spotlight and not only!
Challenges I ran into
I think the biggest challenge is that until recently I had been working for several years only in Spark AR Studio and not so long ago I got there and decided to study Lens Studio, and here everything is quite different from the software I am familiar with and I had to first study a lot of documentation and understand the device of this software, but the desire and desire for self-improvement, knowledge and creativity have surpassed the fear of the new and unknown.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
I am proud that I was able to fully realize my idea and make it even better and better than it seemed to me in my head, despite a number of difficulties that I faced, but I did not give up because of this and brought the matter to a victorious end. I hope that my efforts will be appreciated by the users who will use my lens, as well as undoubtedly by the judges and sponsors of Spotlight Lensathon 2022.
What I learned
I studied for myself in a short time a lot of new technologies provided for Lens Studio, for example, such as blendshapes, shaders, particle systems and VFX effects, in order to realize my idea to the fullest.
What's next for Witch Cat Lens
Thinking about how else you can use this lens and for what purposes other than entertainment, I came up with the following idea. If you remove all unnecessary details, and leave only the image of the cat and so that the real voice of the user can be heard, as well as make an additional variation of this lens with 3d body tracking, where the user will completely overlap the full-length body of the cat recreated in 3d (as costumes of various growth characters for holidays do in reality), then you can use this lens via the Snap Camera desktop app:
1) To create interesting, entertaining, informative content for children on YouTube by recording videos in this image inside the Snap Camera app;
2) To conduct online classes with children through various services with video calls, where it is possible to use Snapchat filters by connecting Snap Camera (for example, Zoom is such an application). For children, the learning process will become much more interesting and exciting and they will be even more drawn to knowledge by interacting with a teacher character, because it is much more interesting than studying with an ordinary human teacher and the child's attention will be more focused on the learning process, he will not be distracted;
3) To stream on Twitch and other various sites for streaming and live broadcasts, where you can also connect a Snap Camera (both for some educational purposes and for entertainment).
These are some of the best and most useful applications that I can single out, but of course you can use such a lens and just to communicate with friends and colleagues in video calls to make it fun and interesting.
In the same way, I recently created a 3d unicorn character for one of my clients, who was involved in several lenses: with full-length 3d body tracking overlapping a person and in a small format in front of a person also with 3d body tracking, which the client used for his show in the metaverse, as well as video calls using Snap Camera.
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