Eva Schiffer

Animation from Observation - Draft from Unpublished Book

Summary:

This chapter discusses some of the general strengths and weaknesses of motion capture, as well as the process of collecting and using motion capture data. Special focus is given to warning the reader of the strengths as well as the common pitfalls of using motion capture in 3D computer animation.

Problem:

Motion is complex and finding a way to create or capture it for 3D animation is difficult. This chapter has a focus on how motion capture can partly solve the problem of creating realistic human motion data for animation.

Method:

This chapter discusses a higher level overview of what motion capture is, what is hard about motion capture, and what it does well. Special focus is given to each of the major issues identified in the beginning of the chapter. Also, the process of planning and capturing the right data is discussed as a powerful aid for improving some of the common issues of motion capture data.

Key Ideas:

The tools and technologies surrounding motion capture are still constantly changing. Human motion is complex, difficult to capture. Recording the "right" performance is essential. Planning before you go capture data is vital to getting data that you can actually use (that "right" performance). Motion data is hard to edit. Motion capture does not solve all 3D animation motion problems.

Contributions:

This chapter gives a good general overview of the issues in motion capture and is written in non-technical terms so that it could be a useful reference for many people working with projects that use motion capture data, not just artists or programmers.

Questions:

I did not have any specific questions about this paper.