Motion capture technology involves recording human movement through specialized cameras and mapping it onto digital character models. Historically, rotoscoping was used, which involved animators tracing live-action footage frame-by-frame. Now, motion capture uses optical, magnetic, or mechanical techniques to track markers on an actor's body in real-time. The captured motion data is then fitted to a digital skeleton and can be edited or processed before being applied to animations. Motion capture has applications in entertainment, medicine, education, science, engineering, and more.

1. Motion Capture Technology

3. Introduction
• Motion capture is the process of recording human
movement through specialised camera’s, and
mapping them onto a character model .
• Motion capture technology involves sensing,
digitizing, and recording that object in motion.
• It is also known as Mo-Cap, Virtual Theatre, Real-
Time Animation or Performance Animation.

4. The birth of motion capture
 Historically, Motion Capture
in animated movies was
created using the
extension of
"ROTOSCOPING" technique.

5. Rotoscoping
A Rotoscoping is a device that enables animators to
trace live action movement, frame by frame, for use
in animation.

6. Rotoscoping
Captured Video:
Rotoscoping works by first
capturing a video of a real
actor around props that
resembles elements of a scene.

7. Rotoscoping
Tracing:
Animators then trace over
each frame of the recorded
video, this would result in a
figure that moved in a
very realistic fashion.

8. Rotoscoping
Post Processing:
Finally, the animated figured
would be coloured and then
integrated with various
background layers to create
the final shot.

9. The MOCAP Pipeline
Calibration
Capture
Fitting to the Skeleton
Post Processing

10. Calibration
C 1
C 2
Triangulation C 1
= (x , y , z )
1 1
= (x , y , z )
1
principle!!!! C 2 2 2 2

11. MOCAP Techniques
There are three MOCAP techniques:
1) Optical
2)Magnetic
3)Mechanical

12. Optical

13. Optical
Infra Red
cameras

14. Marker Placements
Location should move rigidly
with joints
Stay away from bulging muscles

15. Multiple Hypothesis Tracking
C1
C2

16. Magnetic
Magnetic Transmitter

17. Mechanical
Potentiometers

18. Fitting to the Skeleton
Utopian approach
 10 – 20% length
changes
Markers on both
sides
Joint Displacement
θ
Use Rotation Angles
Only

19. Post Processing
Motion Editing
 Cut, Copy, Paste
Motion Warping
 Speed up or Slow Down
 Rotate, Scale or Translate
Motion Signal Processing
 Smoother Motions

20. Applications
Entertainment
Medicine
Arts / Education
Science / Engineering

21. Entertainment: Live Action Films
Computer generated characters in live action films.

22. Entertainment: 3D computer animations
Characters in computer animated files (e.g.
Avatar, Polar Express, Monster House)

23. Entertainment: Video Games
Video games by Electronic Arts, Gremlin, id, RARE,
Square, Konami, Namco, and others, (e.g. Enemy
Territory)

24. Games using Motion Capture

25. Medicine
Medicine (e.g., gait analysis, rehabilitation)
Sports medicine (e.g. injury prevention,
performance analyses, performance
enhancement)
Gait Analysis Service

26. Science / Engineering
Engineering (e.g., Biped robot developments)
Military (e.g., field exercises, virtual
instructors, and role-playing games)

27. The Future of MOCAP
• Markerless MOCAP
• Cheaper MOCAP
• MOCAP as Input to Large Displays
Bregler et al., 2002

28. Conclusion
Motion capture (MOCAP) is an
effective 3D animation tool for
realistically capturing human
motion.