| Motion Capture For Games | | | | interaction of multiple 3D characters, or characters |
| Motion capture is a great tool and great way to | | | | engaged in sports activities. Simple animation, such as |
| create animation for certain types of games. Like any | | | | a character standing around is much easier (and more |
| tool or piece of software, if you learn how to use it | | | | realistic) when captured than if these animated by |
| properly, it can make your life easier and produce | | | | hand. |
| best results. If you try to spread it, chances are you'll | | | | Who use it? |
| end up wasting time and money and may come | | | | Game development is the largest market for motion |
| away with nothing useful. Since motion capture | | | | capture. With games drawing as much revenue as |
| happens to be a relatively expensive tool, it's worth | | | | movies, it is easy to see why game development |
| spending a significant amount of time up front | | | | often calls for enormous quantities of motion capture. |
| planning your shoot and visualizing the end results. It's | | | | The competition to produce the 'coolest game |
| most useful for a 3D game with tomes of character | | | | possible' means that greater production capabilities |
| animation, assuming you have an appropriate budget | | | | mean higher quality. More time is left for visual |
| and schedule. It depends on the game engine and the | | | | finishing touches and fine-tuning of game play. |
| style of animation you are looking for. But by no | | | | Generally there are two main types of 3D character |
| means does motion capture make animators | | | | animation used in games: Real-time playback vs. |
| unnecessary; in fact, animators are critical to planning | | | | cinematics. Real-time allows the game player to |
| the shoot and then turning the data into something | | | | choose from pre-created moves, thus controlling the |
| useful. Over 150 of the world's finest video games | | | | character's moves in real-time. Cinematics are the |
| have been captured on Motion Analysis Corporation | | | | fully rendered 'movies' used for intro and 'cut-scenes'. |
| equipment, including those produced by Electronic | | | | Often the last part of game production, or a process |
| Arts, Gremlin, RARE, Square, Konami, and Namco.The | | | | that is sub-contracted to a separate studio, |
| real-time motion capture systems by Motion Analysis | | | | cinematics are generally not essential to game-play, |
| have changed the game. Data is now produced three | | | | but do add a lot of appeal to the game, and help |
| to five times faster than with "post-process mocap". | | | | immensely with story development and mood |
| The MAC system is popular because it is fast and | | | | generation. |
| adaptable, allowing for capture of elaborate moves, | | | | Motion Capture Workflow |
| including two-players with props. Newly introduced | | | | Motion capture involves recording rotation or position |
| technology has greatly simplified the task of intimate | | | | of joint sensors on a performers body. This |
| two-person capture, such as football and wrestling. | | | | information can be recorded frame-by-frame and |
| Why use motion capture? | | | | subsequently applied to a character's skeleton |
| Motion capture can make the animation process | | | | (post-processing). Post-production, can be combined, |
| much easier, especially when trying to recreate | | | | along with animation generated 'by hand' to get just |
| character animation that is realistic, such as the | | | | the right effect. |