Research on a method of creating digital shadow puppets based on parameterized templates

Abstract

Shadow play is an ancient traditional folk art in China and a precious Chinese artistic treasure. However, with the continuous diversification of entertainment forms, traditional shadow play art is gradually fading out of sight and even facing the possibility of having no successor. A fast method of creating digital shadow puppets based on parameterized templates is proposed in this paper. Adopting this method can transform the materials of a shadow character designed by an artist into a digital shadow puppet that can be interactively controlled by hand gestures. This paper classifies digital shadow puppets based on an analysis and summary of traditional shadow play art and designs the corresponding parameterized template for each type. In addition, a control method for shadow puppets based on the Leap Motion device is designed and implemented in this paper in accordance with common human hand gestures and the requirements for controlling shadow puppets. Based on the above work, we design and implement a platform for digital shadow story creation and performance and test the proposed method on this platform. The experimental results show that the method proposed in this paper can quickly create digital shadow puppets that can be interactively controlled and allow shadow plays to be performed based on gesture control. The research ideas and achievements of this paper help promote the development of digital shadow play technology and have great significance to the inheritance and development of traditional shadow play art.