Motion Capture Experience

Motion capture can capture and model motion in 3 dimensions, the system is very useful for capturing performances for animation and film. I find the system very productive, capturing fluent movement in real time speeds up the process of animating by hand.  It also gives animators a starting point for their animation, where they can edit any changes to a performance through motion builder or Maya after a capture session.

When we first set up the motion capture equipment we made sure all the cameras were positioned correctly. I was able to use the optical wand to help pick up data for the cameras. The wand has three markers which the software can identify. So I waved the wand in the space we created for the cameras. Movement of the wand allowed the cameras to pick up as much information as they can to fill their viewing frame which we can see on screen. Each camera view was filling with streaks of colored light, the effect was really nice.

So we managed to prevent as much distortion as possible and began shooting Juan who was our actor for the day. The markers on his suit were being picked up reasonably good except for his feet which the software had trouble picking up. Other then that the set up of the space was good but a couple of the cameras still had some problems with the bones. Glitching was happening as Juan was stepping closer to the outer circle of the capture volume. So we played it safe and had Juan act more in the center of the space. The experience was different, I learnt how motion capture is set up and and how it all works. Overall experience was great.