FOOTBALL star Michael Owen was turned into a skeleton by an Oxfordshire company which has recorded his techniques for posterity, writes David Duffy.

AudioMotion, of Banbury, worked with the Liverpool and England player to produce lifelike computer graphics for the forthcoming World League Soccer 99 computer game.

Owen visited the firm - which has Europe's largest motion capture studio - so that reflective sensors could record his footballing movements for the cameras, which plot the information using computers. The data is then used to produce a moving wire-frame "skeleton" which is then overlaid with animated 3D images, to be developed into a game by Audio Motion's sister company Silicon Dreams.

Managing director Mike Cox said: "By using these top-end techniques we are able to produce an incredibly faithful and lifelike representation of Michael's moves.

"Our motion capture work will provide Silicon Dreams with an enormous amount of animated material."

Audio Motion uses special equipment, including Vicon optical capture systems developed by Oxford company Oxford Metrics, to create computer special effects for TV, film, games, pop promotional material and commercials.

The company, based in Beaumont Road, used footballer Les Ferdinand to model movements for its World League Soccer 98 game.

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