The Faces of Target3D Series: Meet Miyu

Miyu Matsumoto came to Target3D with a passion to create and a desire to learn. Today we chatted to her about what led her here, from barbecue restaurants to ballet.

Miyu comes all the way from Osaka, Japan, joining our team as a Motion Editor. She is proud to be

part of Rose Bruford College’s first cohort of “Virtual Theatre and Digital Experiences” students, and is excited to be graduating next year into such a rapidly growing industry.

The first time Miyu was exposed to motion capture was when she watched James Cameron’s Avatar, although she admits that at the time, she didn’t really know what it was. However, she has been fascinated by the human form her whole life, with ballet becoming a particular interest. This love of ballet, combined with her talent for drawing, led her to choose an arts degree.

However, she didn’t begin studying straight away. In Japan, she had a Summer internship with Evernote, which introduced her to corporate infrastructure. She then had a stint as an administrator and then a waitress where she attributes her success there as a salesperson to her rapport with customers. She also illustrated the mascot for a chain of barbecue restaurants - her cheeky monkey is still being used to this day!

It was quite an adjustment for Miyu coming from Japan for university, as although she had studied English in school, she felt that it was quite limited. However, she was determined to prove herself, eventually drawing the attention of James Simpson from Copper Candle. James was aware of a position open at Target3D, and in May 2022, we welcomed her to our team as a Motion Editor!

Miyu’s primary role is cleaning up data following shoots then retargeting 3D characters to ensure that the motion capture and 3D characters are matched up and the animations look realistic. Her continued love of drawing and ballet is what fuels her work.

"As a Motion Editor I work with movement and I love being able to feel that human energy - the flow of a person as they perform. It's really powerful."

However, Miyu says she is keen to keep learning. She has worked on some of our most exciting projects, including our ongoing MetaHuman scanning, and most recently motion capture for Lady Gaga's Chromatica Ball Tour 2022. She says the expertise of Sam, our Technical Artist and Animator, and Petros, our Motion Capture TD, have been vital in her success.

"I'm excited to go back to school because what I've learnt just in the time I've been here - there's really huge progress, I think."

We're expanding! View our current vacancies or read more about our team.