MO-CAP SPECIAL | BETA


is here and ready for use, and the consoles can easily make use of the fidelity of the animations that can be provided. It’s time to take really advantage of it. “


RAISING STANDARDS Wright believes that developers have also become too comfortable with the progress made on current generation systems, and are reluctant to move on. “I think we are at a plateau of


standardisation where developers have


The need in the future will be on


software improvements over the current solvers and


retargeting tools. Alexandre Pechev, Ikinema


Vicon’s Elderfield says that developers also


need to collaborate more in advance to find out what is possible with mo-cap and perhaps even discover tech they weren’t aware of before. He insists that whilst customer feedback often provides a list of specific functionality and detailed workflows, providing the information on the intended end goal would be more useful to animators. “Tell us what you’re trying to achieve and let us find the technology. Ask yourself what are the important areas now, and what will they be in three years time?,” suggests Elderfield. “It may be that a particular button or workflow can be completely superseded by a new approach or piece of technology that we have up our sleeve.” Comstock agrees that motion capture studios should be involved in development earlier, adding: “Spend more time working with the facial capture providers to integrate them into their productions. The technology


The Cinemotus project being developed at Abertay University is a piece of tech that allows gaming motion-controllers to recreate established virtual camera techniques. Matthew Bett, who leads the project, says


that concept was originally developed to allow gamers more flexibility when viewing and recording action-replay sequences. “The user can actually ‘film’ the replay with the motion-controller rather than be limited to static camera work,” he explains. “This has grown into a fully-fledged


tool used with industry-standard 3D modelling packages to create camera work in CGI productions.” He says it can also be applied in the games industry producing similar cinematic content and in-game cut scenes, whilst also potentially offering applications in education and gameplay.


Bett adds that the chief benefit of the


tech is giving the user a gameplay mechanic that is: “like its real-world counterpart. For


settled into a commoditised world of what motion capture brings to a project and aren’t looking to jump in the deep end again. They understand how it fits into their production and budgets, and aren’t looking for a new way of doing things right now.” He states, however, that progress in the


last two years on presenting characters moving within their environments will “definitely spur on a revolution” in the sector over the next few years. As for the future, the experts in the mo-


cap sector believe progress will be made in a plethora of areas. Clapperton says the biggest area for


progression is in markerless technology. “We’re seeing markerless facial mo-cap increasing fast at the moment, and markerless technology has the biggest potential for progression, as it’s still in its infancy,” he says. “For most however, the costs involved are currently prohibitive


CREATING A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE


compared to the more established technologies such as optical capture.” Richardson echoes these sentiments,


further stating that NaturalPoint is anticipating the eventual hybridisation of all technologies, with the best approaches converging and filling the gaps between the current democratised models of mo-cap. “This could result in a single system that utilises both marker-based and markerless tracking via optical sensors that are combined with inertial, fibre optic, and ultrasonic sensors for added redundancy, accuracy, and tracking range,” he explains. Ikinema’s Pechev says that for the


technology to really progress, a number of improvements and current technical issues will need to be resolved. “It feels that most of the need in the future will be on software improvements over the current solvers and retargeting tools with emphasis on real-time,” he says. As motion capture moves forward, as well


as potentially merging techniques, the systems used for the process will no doubt continue to become faster and easier to use. “Certainly the tech will drive toward ease of use and the ability to be productive in mixed environments,” predicts Elderfield. “An idea I find interesting is the marriage of various differing capture approaches in a way that exploits the benefits of each and overcomes the limitations.” Mo-cap studios should be wary then that


through all the advances, if the technology begins to merge and progress away from its current democratised state and into a new realm of high quality and realism, there will be increased competition as companies compete more and more. Whilst the future looks bright for the


sector, game developers and console manufacturers need to work more closely with mo-cap studios to take full advantage of the tech that will already be in place, and present film quality animation that the developers and players crave, taking gaming into a new era of realism.


Above (top-to-bottom): Audiomotion’s Mick Morris, Ikinema’s Alexandre Pechev, Peter Clapperton from The Creative Assembly, and Vicon’s Phil Elderfield


creative uses the importance is the organic nature of the input – jitters and all – that allows the effects that make real camera work so much more compelling than a robotic motion.”


The team is currently talking to a number of game, film and 3D effects companies, and says that the hardware will cause little disruption when used in development. www.abertay.ac.uk


DECEMBER 2011 / JANUARY 2012 | 31


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