World of Sketchbot

‘Elevator Pitch’

CoCo VR meets the World of Sketchbot!

I love being in VR. Most notably, the sense of awe and wonderment when allowed to roam freely, explore and interact. This VR piece falls into a non-game vertical, with emphasis on interaction, non-linear progression and DIY creation. Narrative unfolds as the user visits and explores a variety of galleries at their own pace. Introduction of specific, date timed exhibits will compel the player to re-visit and continue progress by unlocking achievements unique to that particular “opening”, while gathering components for their own, custom DIY creations in the Art Lab.

Users new to VR, including the headset manufacturers, are starving for original, high-quality content.

This MegaGrant proposal is geared for Phase One of expanding the Sketchbot brand to current and next generation followers, and providing fellow artists a platform to showcase their creations via cutting-edge technology. Deploying to VR is the first preference, with eventual ports to PC and Mobile. Working closely with Oculus will ensure proper optimization for a stable release on the tether free Quest 2 platform. 

Phase Two will see the Eye Pilots star in their own game - maneuvering through levels comprised of vibrant, color theory puzzles, art historical challenges, and overcoming fun, creatively themed hurdles to reach the sacred Buddha Bot.

Phase Three is slated for short-form TV series. Unreal Engine will play a crucial role in bringing these environments to life, veering gameplay and narrative into visually stunning, cinematic results.

Explore

Explore the world of Sketchbot in this self guided, non-linear, interactive VR experience inside a multi-gallery, museum setting. Located inside the world of Sketchbot, each gallery visit will engage the player in unique, animated vignettes.

Revisit when a new exhibition opens, and unlock achievements as you discover exciting, new 3d creations curated from a roster of fellow robot creators and character designers.

Discover

Learn more about these curious, cycloptic characters and their creative endeavors. Chose to use an audio guided tour accompanied by a friendly, AI driven robot docent, or simply listen to specific recordings located throughout the experience.

The main galleries will feature a diverse collection of original robot designs, categorized by when they were created - the history and creation of the Sketchbot Designer Toy, for example - and, for specific social media events and publications such as: Inktober, March of Robots, and Nuthin’ But Mech, to name a few.  Additional galleries will feature a curated group of international artists.

Two candidates on board for launch are Dacosta Bayley, aka Chocolate Soop, the originator of the yearly March of Robots event, and Brandt Peters, artist, former Art Director for Meow Wolf, and Director of the Circus Posterus collective.

Create

Create your own custom DIY robots in the Art Lab, piecing together parts and materials obtained throughout the museum, for a truly unique, exportable collectible. Save and export STL files for 3d printing. View your creation, with animation, using the AR app on your mobile device. Output animated gifs for sharing on all your social mediums. Return to create more!

The potential for hosting virtual, DIY custom shows via this format has amazing potential, and will engage the community to return, participate and contribute.

Funding Needs

As a freelance 3D professional, I find myself caught in the constant cycle of taking on work while attempting to continue with development on my original IP. Being an individual developer, MegaGrant funding will enable me to focus my resources full-time on continuing the build out of assets and animation.

Funding will also ensure working with a dedicated UE Programmer who can handle the more technical aspects, and a Sound Engineer to score and bring the virtual museum to life.

Working as a professional 3d artist over the past 30 years, i’ve developed great relationships within the 3d community. I am envisioning collaborations with various vendors for hosting animated clips and 3d models - Sketchfab and ArtStation immediately come to mind. I also have great associations with both Adobe and Autodesk, as well as Wacom and Pixologic, and it would be great to get them on board for some form of sponsorship.

Project Breakdown

MegaGrant funding will cover my expenses for the next 6-8 months and to pay for my small team, which consists of a dedicated UE Engineer and Sound Designer.

Environment layout needs consist of:

1. Contained exterior that focuses on the architecture of the museum and some modest surroundings the player can explore before moving inside. Environment will be “live” with AI characters milling about and bright, sunny atmosphere.

2. Lobby/reception area, with a central robot greeter that gives an introduction to the space, provides a virtual map, assigns AI robot docent, etc. Interaction will be inspired by Oculus First Contact.

3. Six to Eight galleries. Some will be open, others closed “for exhibition prep” until ready for release as a scheduled update. Two levels: Lower Level more traditional (NY Metropolitan Museum) Upper Levels more modern (MoMA). Wanting to keep the world grounded in a recognizable reality, while the individual galleries can exhibit more experimentation with time and space.

4. Art Lab. This is the end of the experience, where the player gets to create their DIY creation and prep for export.

In addition to designing and art directing the world, I will continue to work on character modeling, rigging and animation for the main characters and supporting cast. Please refer to the submitted video for additional WIP.

Meet The Team

Steve Talkowski - Creative Director, Modeler, Animator

Sketchbot Studios

A veteran of the computer animation scene, Steve has worked as an animation director and character animator on hundreds of national brands ranging from Google, Adobe, Autodesk, BMW, Pepsi, General Mills, Target, Reese's and M&M’s. A most productive stint as senior animator at Blue Sky Studios found him working on the ground-breaking feature films Joe's Apartment, Ice Age, Alien Resurrection and the 1988 Academy Award winning short, Bunny.

In 2008, Steve launched Sketchbot Studios and self-produced his first foray into the designer toy scene - the retro-styled, pencil-wielding robot, Sketchbot. In 2010, the Sketchbot platform served as the basis for two highly successful DIY custom art shows held in NYC and LA.

Currently residing in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and daughter, Steve continues to design original characters for toy and branding properties, freelances on film and commercials, and continues developing his world of robots into a 3d animated TV series.

Erik Anderson - Unreal Engineer

http://eriksgames.com

Erik has worked as a contract and full-time engine programmer for 10+ years. Highly proficient with both UE4 and Unity, he specializes in developing for VR and AR, with traditional and mobile game development experience.

Erik was Lead Engine Architect on the VR Project TreeVR, which won a Lumiere award for best location based short animated VR experience, and was featured on "The World According to Jeff Goldblum". He also served as XR Developer at Meow Wolf for three years, where he helped develop some of the tools and experiences that are currently being featured at the new Las Vegas Exhibit. He has also worked on virtual environments and scripting for director Sam Rolfes on multiple music videos, some of which have been featured on Adult Swim, etc.

Erik Desiderio - Composer and Sound Designer

https://www.anomalyaudio.com/

Erik is a groundbreaking composer and sound designer for film, TV and video games.

Video game work includes music for the VR games: Adventure Time VR, Ben 10 VR, and Jest to Impress by Cartoon Network. Other VR content includes Discovery TRVLR (Discovery Channel travel experience), Remember Remember (an alien invasion experience featured at the Tribeca Film Festival), and Quarterback Snap. Non VR games include Star Trek Fleet Command (Music was nominated for a Game Audio Network Guild Award (G.A.N.G.) and a Hollywood Music in Media Award, PUBG, and Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer by Blizzard Entertainment, an expansion for Diablo III, the fastest selling PC game of all time.

Additionally, he has worked on more than fifty films, including ten features. He produced the score for the Academy Award winning film, The Moon and the Son, and created the music/sound treatment for the HBO Max logo, and the theme for The Hot Zone which was produced by Ridley Scott.

Thank You!

Thanks for the opportunity to pitch, and for generating the MegaGrant Fund for the community. I’m excited at the possibility to grow and expand my IP into a virtual experience using Unreal Engine to its fullest potential!