Behind the passing glow of every street lamp that lights the way for thousands of people each night, there is a world that few have ever imagined. Not the seedy night life that is fodder for numerous novels, movies and television shows, but that of the keepers of the light, the Lampies. Their story can now be told with the help of Uli Meyer Studios, Spider-Eye and Cambridge Animation Systems' Animo software.

The Lampies is an animated series about the creatures who live in and maintain street lamps. But street lamp upkeep isn't just about checking fuses and removing burnt-out filaments. The Lampies have to protect their territory, HO32, from the nefarious Roons, enemies who often try to thwart their efforts. This conflict and a constant stream of visitors and catastrophes to HO32 provide endless adventures for the Lampies. The series of 26 11-minute episodes was produced by Uli Meyer Studios and composited by Spider-Eye using Animo.

The London-China Connection
Characters were created with traditional 2D animation and combined with 3D-generated backgrounds and camera moves in Animo. The software provided the standard work format and color models that overcame the obstacle of producing 260 minutes of animation in only 12 months between studios in London and China.

"If we produce a color model here in Animo, we know that the scenes painted in China are going to be the exact same colors every time," said Morgan Francis, director with Spider-Eye. "Likewise, if there is a painting mistake made in China, we can go ahead and fix it on-site rather than go through the re-shoot process."



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