Once the moves are recorded, and the markers’ trajectories are reconstructed and labeled, our animators can proceed and import the data to MotionBuilder for retargeting and motion editing on the actual skeletal structure of your CGI character.

This is not just a technical process, it is an artistic process as well. Retargeting the moves is a difficult task. How should the character move, when it is 8 feet high but the MoCap actor was only 6 foot? Should it follow the actor’s footsteps or walk more naturally, with longer strides? What about the virtual room the character will be in, won’t he collide with furniture if he is taking longer strides?

MotionBuilder is a unique tool for accomplishing various demands from the director and even better, its output can be imported to most 3D packages.

• For games, developers often need to create perfect walk cycles, that is loops of moves that can be repeated again and again or connect to other moves smoothly.
• It is a tool where one can retouch moves, bind hands to props, lock feet to the floor, mix more moves together making new move timelines, synchronize action of more characters together etc.
• Among others, we have developed 120+ sec long action of 13 CGI characters on an tenths of meters large area interacting together in a game cutscene. The moves were appended to each other to enable walking over such a long distance, synced in time (retimed and shifted) so that all the action was happening in correct moments.
• We have designed complete animation trees for multiple skeletons in our own projects, thousands of often very complex moves. We are able to help You with designing the motion trees and more in advance.
• Please remember for real time purposes, e.g. computer games, the animation engine of the game and framerate achieved by the game renderer has great influence on the look and feel of the animation.

• When fps is too low, <30 fps, and no motion blur present, then fast moves such as running won't look nice, because the image will suffer from flickering, no matter how good the source animation data will be.
• The engine must alter the animations somehow to allow for running on steep surfaces, with various props in character's hands, also moves are usually organized in animation trees and so unnatural fast changes of a speed and stance of the character may (and very often actually does) occur.

Note: MoCap processing is a technical approach to reproduce exactly what was acted out on the stage; retargeting and retouching, on the other hand, retargeting is an artistic process, so close communication and approval of the moves being processed would be needed.

Find more on MotionBuilder on Autodesk’s web site»