WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?
We’ve received some questions about how we cast the talent needed to generate our scans, mocap and voice data. It turns out, the answer to this question is fairly involved and reveals a complex juggling of requirements, goals, ethics, and opportunities. We appreciate receiving these types of questions (as they force us to think about the kind of experience we want to build) and are posting our thoughts here to include our Patrons in on the process.
Creating virtual humans is a complicated endeavor. The process involves capturing all aspects of a person; their look, their movement, and their voice. Each attribute requires precise hardware setups to capture properly, and none of these processes are easy or take a short amount of time.
It is important to note that it is not possible for us to capture an actor in a photogrammetry rig, suit them up for a robust mocap session, and capture their voice performance in a single shoot. Life would be much simpler for us if we could capture all of this data at the same time, but life is cruel.
So the question becomes if these shoots all happen on separate days, why use the same talent for each performance?
SCANNED TALENT
Scanning an adult star is a costly endeavor. We fly stars to our studio and scan them over the course of a day. Transport and accommodation costs are a major issue to a self-funded project, so we only get one shot to get the data that we need. Adult stars have fairly tight schedules so timing their visits can be difficult. Considering the global nature of adult entertainment, it’s equally problematic to schedule a reshoot if required. Some of the most beautiful and enigmatic people in the world demand a good chunk of change to perform (as they should), so we really need to be choosy about the content we produce.
For now, we don't have any other option but to scan globally recognized talent, but in the future, we'd love to explore the opportunity to work with local/independent adult entertainers.
ADULT WORK IS STIGMATIZED
Many people choose not to be involved in the adult industry for societal reasons, whether that would be acute disapproval from parents or friends or a future conflict with their personal career path. We’ve all heard the story of a public figure’s time in the adult industry coming back to haunt them. The stigmatization of sex work is not fair, and it’s something we hope changes immediately, but it is a current problem we face while recruiting talent. Fortunately, MoCap and voice capture work provide a fair level of anonymity (the former more so the latter) and open up a massive pool of new talent to work in the adult industry.
MOTION CAPTURE TALENT
MoCap offers us much more freedom in who we can cast. We require physical actors who are comfortable performing sexual movements, who roughly fit the height and weight of our Holodexxx models. We tend to focus on local talent for our MoCap to cut down on overhead costs, but any major city will have dozens of talented performance artists. In the future, we hope some intrepid MoCap artists will begin to specialize in this type of erotic performance and becomes rockstars in their own right!
VOICE-OVER TALENT
The realm of voice offers us the most freedom in casting. It doesn't matter what someone looks like, how physically able they are, or where they are located. The realm of voice performance is the perfect equalizer. The world is full of brilliant voice actresses who make a living spitting out mundane corporate dialog. Not surprisingly, the opportunity to voice a virtual pornstar has been met with enthusiasm by the actresses we have approached. We’re excited to discover even more talented V.O actresses as Holodexxx grows, and offer adult industry opportunities to those that traditionally have been left out of the party.
ADULT ENTERTAINERS VS. ALTERNATIVE TALENT
We have weighed the pros and cons of using professional adult entertainers for each aspect of Holodexxx, and it has helped us understand where the possibilities are found. To compare the finer points of utilizing adult entertainers vs. alternative talent, I had some guys in the R&D department whip up this fancy chart.
Adult Entertainers
Larger talent pool
Global fan base
Professional and candid
Mocap
Experienced with all sexual acts, and fantastic at improving scenes
Voice
Uninhibited vocal performer
Voice matches scan
Alternative Talent Scans
No room and board for locals
Flexible shoot schedule and availability for pick-ups
Mocap
No room and board for locals
Flexible shoot schedule and availability for pick-ups
Anonymity allows access to highly experienced MoCap talent pool
Voice
Can be recorded anywhere
A massive pool of talent
Pick-ups easy to schedule
Can perform in various languages
THE BOTTOM LINE
Professional adult entertainers are talented, sexy performers who are worth their weight in gold. We are stoked to produce the most realistic virtual humans in VR and represent these adult entertainers in their best light.
That being said, the opportunity to accentuate the look of gorgeous adult entertainers with the movement skills of professional MoCap artists and the acting talent of professional voice-over performers is enticing. By casting the best from multiple talent pools we will be able to create virtual humans that surpass reality and become something more. We look forward to employing talent that may not have previously had an "in" to this industry and making this space more inclusive. We're stoked to discover talent that may not think that they have a place in porn, and convince them otherwise.
The future is sexy :)
