Figure 2: Real-time tracking in Version 4.1 allows you to immediately preview the motion of the actor on your 3D character. Most of the time, they require actors to wear complex sensor-laden suits. One problem with traditional motion capture, however, is the fact that motion capture systems are often expensive and involved. Today, it’s used extensively in the motion picture industry for visual effects.

James Cameron was, in fact, an early pioneer of using motion capture in feature films when he used it as early as Titanic (1997). However, if you want truly life-like movement, or want to integrate 3D characters into live-action shots alongside human actors (think motion pictures like 2009’s Avatar or 2001’s Planet of the Apes), then motion capture is your best bet. That is what the art of animation is all about. Just be prepared to spend lots of time doing so. If you are looking for stylized, exaggerated or cartoonish motion for your characters - the kind of motion you would expect to see in a Looney Tunes animation - you’ll get the best results by manually animating them. So if motion capture is so fast, why not use it all the time? Why bother animating digital characters by hand at all? The answer to those questions lies in the kind of work you are doing.

Computer animation, unlike motion capture, can take days or even weeks to accomplish. Unlike time-consuming 3D computer animation, in which an animator must manually manipulate the poses of a digital character’s skeletal rig (its underlying virtual armature), motion capture allows you to capture the movement of a character in real time.

Motion capture, or MoCap, is the technique of capturing a human actor’s physical performance and applying the captured data to a 3D computer-generated character so that it moves in the same convincing, life-like manner. Figure 1: iPi Soft Motion Capture is a markerless motion capture system that allows you to capture human performances and apply them to 3D digital characters.

Ipi mocap studio patch