The term “motion capture” (or “Mo-cap”) refers to a collection of technologies that record the movements of people and objects and then transfer the data to another application. It has been put to use in a wide variety of contexts, ranging from cinema and gaming to farming and healthcare as well as sports rehabilitation. Motion capture is the process of mapping movement from the actual world onto computer-generated frames to achieve lifelike dynamics in a computer-generated environment. Its history of it and how it operates are outlined below.
The birth of mo-cap
Lee Harrison III, an American animator, is credited with making the first significant advancement toward the development of mocap in the 1960s. Harrison came up with the idea for a system that could capture and animate in real-time the movements of a person by using a number of analog circuits, cathode ray tubes, and adjustable resistors. Harrison’s invention was called the Harrison Motion Capture System.
In the late 1960s, Harrison’s Animac and Scanimate technologies were developed. These technologies enabled real-time animations to be made and processed by a computer and were named after Harrison’s companies. When working with Animac, actors would don what was variously referred to as an “electrical harness” or a “data suit,” both of which were connected to a computer. Potentiometers, which were linked to the suit and picked up the actor’s movements, allowed for the actor’s actions to be translated into primitive animations that were displayed on a monitor.
Even though the outcome was very unremarkable, it was quickly put to use in a wide variety of television shows and advertising all around the United States. The abstract visuals that could be produced with the Animac and Scanimate’s crude mocap technology were, however, just not good enough to grab the attention of the general public.
The development of mo-cap
In the decades that followed, Harrison’s ideas witnessed a number of modifications that resulted in bodysuits that recorded movement more accurately. They were also assisted by the creation of enormous tracking cameras, which were quite helpful despite the fact that each one was almost the size of a refrigerator.
In the 1980s and 1990s, films such as American Pop (1981) and Cool World (1992) made limited use of mocap technology. However, Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists was the first film to make extensive use of the technique (2000). The movie did not do well at the box office, but Peter Jackson took inspiration from it while he was creating The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in the early 2000s and used mocap extensively in those films.
Actors, while wearing their bodysuits (complete with retroreflective ping-pong balls), were able to perform in the same scenario as their non-animated colleagues for the very first time. The computer-generated character Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” is widely regarded as one of the most spectacular examples of its kind that Hollywood has ever made. An outstanding motion-capture portrayal was achieved by Andy Serkis thanks to the mix of the character’s speech with the nuanced facial expressions he delivered. Bay Raitt, who works for Weta Digital, conceived of both the character and the technology on the spot.
Facial capture
More and greater people are becoming aware of the ways in which motion capture techniques can improve productions, and as a result, more focus is being placed on facial capture in particular. A number of businesses have created incredibly precise systems, which, when combined with potent graphics engines, may produce photo-realistic facial images that are virtually indistinguishable from the subjects themselves. One of these is Cubic Motion, which has worked on a variety of high-profile games and virtual experiences, such as Spiderman, League of Legends, and Apex Legends. Cubic Motion is now linked with Unreal Engine and is one of these companies. For more information visit our website.
Motion capture techniques
The following are the four primary motion capture techniques used today:
- Optical (passive) – This method involves affixing retroreflective markers on bodies or objects, which then reflect light generated from in close proximity to the camera lens. After being reflected, the light is next employed to determine where the markers are located inside a three-dimensional space and their coordinates are recorded.
- Optical (active) –This method is identical to the previous one, with the exception that the markers produce light rather than reflect it. Therefore, the markers require some kind of power supply.
- Marker-less – This method does not require any kind of markers to be used in any stage of the process. It follows moving persons and objects using depth-sensitive cameras and specialized computer software in order to do so. Although it may be more convenient in certain respects, it is widely acknowledged to have a lower level of accuracy in comparison to its optical or mechanical-tracking competitors.
- Inertial – Inertial refers to a method that does not require the use of cameras in order to function properly. Inertial measuring units (IMUs), which contain sensors to monitor rotational rates, are used to record movement for the purpose of analysis. Gyroscopes, magnetometers, and accelerometers are the types of sensors that are most frequently found in IMUs.
What is the purpose of motion tracking?
There are numerous applications for motion tracking and capture, including:
- Motion capture is a technology that records the movements of actors and then transfers them to computer-generated or enhanced figures in film and video games.
- Motion capture can be used to analyze patient movement and diagnose abnormalities, such as in gait analysis in sports therapy and healthcare.
- Military training has benefited from the integration of motion capture technologies with virtual reality.
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