Here are three 5 second samples of the animation work in progress. Rabbath is demonstrating a large descending shift - notice the left hand preparation and how the elbow leads the shift. Eventually audio will be added, ripped from the live video that was shot during the motion capture and then synced to the animation. There are minor tweaks that will be made. You may notice that Rabbath’s left hand is robotic - this is on purpose for two reasons, first, to show the detail of the joints clearly, and second, we just don’t have the money to come up with a sophisticated skin look for the hand. One issue with this particular hand, however, is that it appears to have super long fingers coming all the way from the wrist. In future versions bars will be placed between the knuckle joints to help show Rabbath’s virtual palm. The second minor tweak is the kind of thing that has be bedeviling the animators in this whole process - the dance between the bass, the left hand, the bow and the body. You may notice at the tail end of the clip that the first finger of the left hand seems to dip into the fingerboard. Finding and fixing these kinds of tweaks will continue to take time.

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Hans Sturm, Professor of Double Bass at Ball State University, began the conference bass sessions with a lecture/demonstration of the DVD “Art of the Bow with François Rabbath.” He presented a history of his collaboration with Mr. Rabbath and the Ball State University Biomechanics Lab, which resulted in this state-of-the-art audiovisual teaching DVD on Rabbath’s pedagogical approach to learning the intricacies of bowing. The session highlighted the instructional constructs and content in six sections on the three-and-a-half-hour DVD. Sturm explained the technical challenges Rabbath had to deal with - wearing a black bodysuit covered with two hundred points of light and not letting the constraints of material interfere with his playing by creating tension or movement limitations. This presentation provided a comprehensive overview to the creation of a revolutionary technological format.

BASSIST GETS ANIMATED

Syrian-French bassist François Rabbath is using state-of-the-art electronics to preserve his fingering technique for the next generation.

Rabbath has just finished filming a DVD that includes a set of 3D animations which can be rotated interactively to allow aspiring bassists to study his movements in greater detail. The motion-capture technology used to create these animations is similar to that used in films such as Lord of the Rings, tracking his movements using reflective spheres mounted on his body joints. The DVD also includes six lecture-demonstrations by Rabbath on fingerings, as well as live performances.

Hans Sturm, Professor of Double Bass at Ball State University and founder of the project, said: ‘François is a guru for many people in the bass world and he is also really into technology. Last April (2005, ed.) we were able to complete the DVD of his bow arm and this year we are working on capturing his left hand using the latest biomechanics technology.’

So now Rabbath is up to the fourth volume in his own series of bass method books, and he is the subject of a DVD, The Art of the Bow, which Paul Ellison of Rice University calls “revolutionary.” It employs multiple camera angles, biomechanics, and the technology of motion-capture to dissect Rabbath’s strokes. “Only Tiger Woods in the sports world until now has been able to put this sort of ‘swing doctor’ thing together,” says Ellison. “It’s the most profound teaching tool I’ve seen.”

Straight From the Heart by James Reel

Christian Science Monitor

USA Today