Motion Capture Overview
1. What is Motion Capture (Mocap)?
- A technique to capture and record real-life movements.
- Converts physical motion into digital data, often for animation or analysis.
- Commonly used for animating human figures and reducing manual animation efforts.
2. How Does it Work?
- Tracks the motion of a subject.
- Maps these motions to a digital 3D model, typically a skeleton.
- Helps create lifelike movements in digital environments.
3. Types of Motion Capture Methods:
(A) Electromagnetic Tracking:
- Sensors are placed on body joints to detect motion.
- Data is transmitted to a processor to record the movement.
- Advantages: Accurate and real-time.
- Disadvantages: Can be affected by interference (e.g., from metal objects) and has cumbersome
wiring.
(B) Optical Marker Tracking:
- Reflective markers are attached to the subject's body.
- Cameras capture the marker movements and reconstruct joint motion in 3D.
- Advantages: Easier to use, affordable, and widely adopted.
- Disadvantages: Prone to marker occlusion (when a marker gets blocked from the camera's view).
4. Comparison Between Electromagnetic and Optical Tracking:
- Electromagnetic Tracking:
- More accurate.
- Requires wired sensors and is less portable.
- Optical Marker Tracking:
- More cost-effective and portable.
- Slightly less accurate due to visibility issues with markers.
5. Benefits of Motion Capture:
- Captures subtle, realistic movements that are hard to animate manually.
- Saves time and effort compared to traditional animation techniques.
- Increases efficiency and accuracy in animation workflows.
6. Challenges of Motion Capture:
- Electromagnetic Systems: Interference from external magnetic fields.
- Optical Systems: Occlusion of markers and dependency on proper camera setup.
- Equipment cost and setup time can vary based on complexity.
7. Applications of Motion Capture:
- Animation and Film: Used for creating realistic character movements in movies and video games.
- Medical Field: To study body movements and diagnose issues (e.g., gait analysis).
- Sports Training: Analyze athletes' performance for improvement.
- Virtual Reality (VR): Tracks real-world movements for immersive experiences.
- Robotics: Helps in programming robots to mimic human motion.
8. Why is Motion Capture Popular?
- It provides highly accurate and natural movements.
- Especially useful in industries like animation, gaming, healthcare, and VR.
Keyframe Animation Concepts
1. Misnomer of Keyframe:
- The term 'keyframe' in computer animation does not refer to a complete frame or image.
- It represents a set of parameter values (e.g., object positions, color values, light intensity).
2. Articulation Variables:
- These parameters, known as articulation variables, describe transformations between object parts.
- Animators manipulate these variables in animation tools.
3. Interpolation Techniques:
- In-between frame values are computed using interpolation methods.
- Types of interpolation include:
- Linear interpolation (simplest form).
- Spline interpolation (more advanced).
4. Principles of Animation:
- Interpolation helps implement animation principles like:
- Moving in arcs.
- Slow in and slow out.
5. Illustration Example:
- Fig. 11.4 shows an example of linear interpolation for motion between keyframes.
6. Articulated Figures:
- In computer animation, human-like characters are represented using articulated figures based on a
skeleton structure.
7. Skeleton Structure:
- The skeleton consists of two layers:
- Skin (outer layer).
- Skeleton (internal layer) with joints beneath the skin that control motion.
8. Hierarchy of Joints:
- The skeleton is a hierarchical structure of joints; each joint acts as a parent node to other
connected joints.
9. Forward Kinematics:
- This technique involves manually specifying the motion parameters (e.g., position) for each joint in
keyframes.
10. Keyframes and Motion Path:
- A motion path for joints is created by defining their positions at keyframes.
11. In-between Frames:
- The computer calculates the positions of joints in the intermediate frames between the keyframes
to create smooth motion.
12. Example - Lifting a Hand:
- In the example provided, three joints are involved in lifting a hand, and interpolation is used to
generate continuous movement.
