Plug-in Media Launches Big 3D website for Small People

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Plug-in Media and Kindle Entertainment have delivered a groundbreaking immersive 3D website for top-rated kids’ TV show: Big and Small, starring Lenny Henry and Imelda Staunton. The website, developed using Papervision3D technology, invites children to enter the house and engage with animated versions of Big and Small. The project is the first to emerge from this successful collaboration between TV production company and digital media agency.

Big and Small burst onto the CBeebies schedule at the start of October and is already a huge hit. The two best friends are opposites in every way: Big is cautious and careful whereas Small is an impulsive drama-queen. The show celebrates differing perspectives and by extending the brand online we can deliver children a practical experience of this: the website is a real-time rendered 3D world that allows its users to switch views at the click of the mouse and experience Big and Small’s house from the perspective of either character.

The website has been built using Papervision3D, the latest innovation in delivering 3D on the web. Plug-in’s technical director Seb Lee-Delisle, himself an integral member of the international Papervision3D development team, has led our developers to push the boundaries of this hugely popular open source project. The environment created accurately reflects the bright and cosy, familiar world of these two pre-school characters.

Animated versions of the show's main characters are seamlessly embedded into the 3D environment responding to the user’s interaction. The site is packed with a huge range of activities to enhance the broadcast offering and to reflect the lives of its young users: players can use the Band Game to create up to 105 different variations of the show’s theme tune; or they can make a hand-painting using either Big’s purposeful paw prints or Small’s squelchy, paint-splattered imprints. Upstairs they can wake Big up by throwing cushions at him or sooth Small to sleep by carefully placing his teddy and setting off his musical mobile. Finally, the bathroom provides a chance to clean Big and Small’s teeth as they rush around the bathroom, with plenty of opportunities to leave a messy trail of bright pink toothpaste.

Plug-in Media started its fruitful collaboration with Kindle Entertainment when both companies took part in SEMN’s Digital Horizons scheme last year. Each company has played to its strengths: Kindle’s TV series provides fantastic characters, storytelling and humour, Lenny Henry’s epic voice-talent and some brilliant musical interludes. Plug-in Media delivers ground-breaking expertise in Flash and 3D technologies, its long-established experience in producing work aimed at young children and its skills at translating linear narratives into interactive experiences. Together we feel we’ve delivered a project whose production values really promote the benefits of good collaboration.
Take look:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/bigandsmall
(Click on the intro sequence to launch the full site)