This document provides an overview of using the Kinect motion capture device with KinectToPin software to capture and import motion data into After Effects. It discusses the hardware and software needed, including the Kinect sensor, OpenNI driver, and KinectToPin application. It then covers the motion capture process from setting up the capture space to acting for the Kinect and importing the tracking data into After Effects. Guidelines are provided for rigging characters and using the Puppet Tool for animation. The document concludes by mentioning some other free and commercial tools for motion capture and animation beyond After Effects.

1. DIY Motion Capture
12/5 Volumetric Society of NYC

2. How does the Kinect work?
Photo by y3rdua

3. Getting Started: Hardware
You will need:
• A Kinect, or generic equivalent such as the Asus Xtion
• USB adapter cable, if you have a Kinect that was bundled with
the Xbox (don’t buy the Microsoft adapter, the cheap ones work
fine)
• Enough space to perform

4. Getting Started: Software
OpenNI driver bundle:
simple-openni.googlecode.com
KinectToPin:
kinecttopin.fox-gieg.com

5. KinectToPin
Kinect Motion Capture for After Effects

6. What is KinectToPin?
+
A standalone motion
A UI panel for After Effects
capture application

7. What can you do with it?

8. Rig 2D character models in 3D

9. Setting up your space to record
6 – 10 feet

10. Capturing
• Record 15-point 3D skeletal
tracking data
• Capture in sync to dialogue
• Remote control with a standard
presentation remote
• Open source and cross-platform:
runs on OpenNI, built in
Processing, also works with
generic sensors like the Asus
Xtion

12. Acting for Kinect
• The Kinect can’t record what it can’t see.
• Keep your entire body in the camera’s range
• Face the camera when capturing
• Watch out for occluded joints (sitting down, putting your hands behind
your back etc. can cause it to lose the track)
• It’s surprisingly good at picking up subtle posture shifts, but not
smaller motions like laughter.
• Use a different performer for each character if possible

13. Importing tracking data
Native import or copy & paste

14. Getting data into After Effects
Data format options:
• 3D Point Controls (CS5.5+)
• 2D Point Controls (CS4+)
• Puppet pins
• Raw XML and JSON

15. UI Panel
• Create character
templates
• 2D and 3D setups
• Native XML import
(SLOW)
• Automatically add
expressions to smooth
tracking data
• Automate rigging

16. Building a Character
Rigging with the UI panel

17. The Puppet Tool
THREE OR MORE PINS ON ONE LAYER: TWO PINS EACH, MULTIPLE LAYERS:
Elbows don’t bend this way. Ow. Rotation with stretch and squash!

18. AE Puppet best practices
• Work BIG. Start high-res, scale down in the puppet comp, then
scale back up in the project comp (enable Collapse
Transformations).
• Precompose if you’re using vectors or shape layers
• Keep multiple angles of the same character in sync
High-res
Start big. Character
Layers
Project Comp
End big.
Rigging
Template

19. Retargeting for arbitrary character
shapes

20. Quick auto-lip sync
1. Convert audio amplitude to keyframes
2. Connect to mouth animation
3. Size the audio data to fit. Use this expression:
linear(source,sourceMin,sourceMax,targetMin,targetMax)

21. Beyond After Effects
Motion capture for live production

22. One last thought:
Embrace the limitations of
the format.

23. Further non-K2P tools
FREE COMMERCIAL
Brekel Kinect iPi Soft
Open-source capture for 3D Uses two Kinects to record
animation (Windows-only) www.ipisoft.com
www.brekel.com
NI Mate
Duik
Kinect for OSC/MIDI/Blender
Inverse kinematics plugin for AE
www.ni-mate.com
www.duduf.net

24. Questions?

25. kinecttopin.fox-gieg.com
Download the software!

26. Contact Us
Nick Fox-Gieg Victoria Nece
www.fox-gieg.com www.victorianece.com
@N1ckFG @FakeGreenDress