Saverio Canu ｜ The creator of virtual characters — the product of the digital twin Era

theFOUND Virtual Art Center this TALK with Saverio Canu, a pioneer digital creator and artist from Bologna, Italy. Dirty Sabbyo is the stage name of Saverio Canu as a digital artist. The name also represents the product of the combination of multiple music and art cultures of a new generation of artists A new generation of creative groups growing up under the interweaving of multiple music, art and culture, hip-hop music, fashion ideas and new social ways have become his creative inspiration. The expression of new virtual digital surrealism is shown in every virtual digital person he creates.

At present, the theory and technology of virtual digital human are becoming more and more mature, the scope of application is expanding, the industry is gradually forming and enriching, and the corresponding business model is also evolving and diversified. The application of virtual digital human brings changes to traditional fields. Through the integration of virtual digital human products and production and life, its large-scale, customizable and reproducible ability can promote the improvement of traditional link processes, improve efficiency and reduce costs, greatly improve business experience and bring changes to traditional fields and art fields.

According to the dimension of character graphic resources, character images can be divided into two categories: 2D and 3D. In terms of appearance, they can be divided into cartoon, anthropomorphic, realistic, super realistic and other styles; The voice generation module and the animation generation module can generate the corresponding character voice and the matching character animation based on the text respectively; The audio and video synthesis display module synthesizes the voice and animation into video, and then displays it to the user. The interaction module enables the digital human to have the interaction function, that is, recognize the user's intention through intelligent technologies such as voice semantic recognition, determine the subsequent voice and action of the digital human according to the user's current intention, and drive the virtual character to start the next round of interaction.

theFOUND & Saverio Canu

Q1:

Does Dirty Sabbyo have any special meaning as your artist name?

Yes, dirtysabbyo has a little special story: “Sabbyo” is simply a nickname (Saverio->Sabbyo) that my best friends gave to me when we met years ago.“Dirty” instead, always comes from my best friends, but here the story gets longer. Since we were kids we have been linked to hip hop culture, we became dancers and we listened tons of music. Probably one of my friends, who was more hyped about old school hip hop, named our group chat "ol'dirtys" (from Ol'Dirty Bastard) and we haven't changed it since. So I connected the two things and voilà, DirtySabbyo is born!

I try to create in my mind an alternative and surreal world, where things can happen. It's like walking in this world and meeting people, seeing places and describing them through my art.

Q2:

You are from Bologna, Italy. Under the influence of classical and avant-garde multi-dimensional art environment, what are the differences in your artistic creation ideas?

It's hard for me to say. Probably the influence is hidden in my subconscious. In Italy we are born and grow up surrounded by these beauties. So for us Italians, or at least for me, it’s almost obvious to see them, and usually I try to find inspiration elsewhere. But all the paintings, sculptures and majestic architectures that are in my country, for sure have led me to want to become an artist. And to want to portray people, to paint landscapes, to sculpt things, to create.

Q3:

Where is the inspiration for your virtual characters? What do you think are the possibilities of virtual persona creation in the future?

I started doing digital art in september 2021. I had already tried before, but I didn't have the tools to do it and so I stopped.

ALIZÉE, as I told you before, is simply a girl that I met and I took a photo of her! she is a cool alternative girl that loves fashion :) Jokes apart, it was an exploration of digital fashion.

I think that we are already at a very good point for character creation. With some powerful softwares you can achieve a level of definition and realness that you can hardly understand if it’s a render or a photo. But who knows, maybe in five years it will be possible to create characters with AR or smart glasses! Things are going very fast lately!

Q4：

You have many excellent musician cooperation projects. Can you talk to us about your views on music and art?

I think music is one of the best things in life. As I told you before, as a dancer, I am used to researching and listening tons of music and analyzing it in the smallest sounds. So of course it’s one of the biggest inspirations for me. Usually to create my works I start from the feeling or from the emotions that a song gives me. In fact I can't wait to start animating my works, so that I can connect a song and show my vision even more.

Q5：

Among all your cooperation projects and personal works, which one has special significance?

Probably the work that overall has a special meaning is "API". I created that work for one of the first digital exhibitions that were done in Italy, to which I was invited. It was only a few months that I had started with digital art and so I was honored and delighted to be able to participate. But this is just the beginning and I still have a lot to learn!

Q6：

With the acceleration of the current virtual process, what obstacles or new opportunities do you think there are in the environment of virtual digital art and commercial art?

Since I was a child I have always been in favor of development and technologies to be able to explore any path, so all this is magical for me. I also think that these new technologies have given, as you said, new strength to the artists, who in the past decades had become a very small niche. But artists have always been there in history and there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the resurgence of digital and traditional art, as art.

Q7：

The diversity of art, the integration of multi-disciplinary art and technology, and the identity of 3D artists are also changing in this special "historical period". What do you think?

I think the opportunity for digital art is great. For years it was only considered "artwork" or "content" posted online. But now with this process the opportunity is to be able to consider ourselves artists, to truly live thanks to our art. Moreover, also in the commercial world I think there will be more and more opportunities, thanks to the credibility that digital art has been taking on lately. Already many brands are taking the step into the digital art world.

On the other hand, I am still not convinced about 100% virtual things. I would like to see an integration of the virtual on the real things, rather than thinking about a future like "ready player one”.

Q8：

What new attempts will you make in the future, and what new areas do you hope to challenge and create greater value?

My goal for this year is to continue learning and improving my technique. First of all I want to animate my works, in order to give even more life and sensations to my art. Secondly I would like to learn to model and sculpt, to be able to customize my characters even more.