Recently I’ve tested magnetic motion capture solutions: Rokoko and Neuron. In whole honesty, I didn’t really see any difference between the two in terms of the quality of motion captured. If anything I was quite impressed by how well they performed. I would say that they get to maybe 80% of high-end optical studio performance. However, having said that there are some serious drawbacks to consider. Firstly, set up time, Rokoko comes in a form of a suit, so you just put it on like a jumpsuit, contrary to Neuron which is made from individual sensors. The sensors are on different stripes that you have to get into right position on your body. Then the suit has to be calibrated in order for the software to recognise where the trackers are. To calibrate series of positions have to be performed in particular sequence in order for the program to recognize the skeleton. This calibration process has to be repeated after some time. The reason for it is that the trackers after some time start to lose positioning and some limbs might start to jitter. To fix this issue re-calibration has to take place. No matter which system is used, even the optical one, the re-calibration will be required at some point during a full day of work.
The reason for re-calibration is related interference, each system whether optical or magnetic can be affected by different types of interference. One thing that causes magnetic systems to lose the tracking is metal, therefore you have to think carefully where you are doing the capture as you might have to re-calibrate it way too often. Things to watch out for are any sort of metal rigs on the ceiling, chairs, cutlery literally anything with metal. Due to ease of Rokoko suit calibration, it might seem like a better option than Neuron, however, there is one thing that currently makes Neuron far more superior over Rokoko - hand tracking functionality. You wouldn't think that hands can make such a difference but they do. I was surprised how much hand gestures can add to expression. At the moment there doesn’t seem to be a perfect low budget solution that will capture all body parts. I’ll probably stick to Neuron due to hand functionality, however, I have another test to do - streaming mocap into Unity, so let’s see how it performs then ;)
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I've been extremely busy since I got a green light to go ahead with the project. So far, the majority of time I've spent on upskilling for the project, and truth to be told I know that this year I will continue doing the same.
So, what is it that I've been learning? First on my list was the motion capture technique. If you are a newbie to animation here is a few things I've learned so far so keep on reading. I've been attending workshops and training sessions to learn about different solutions starting from high end expensive optical systems (you know, the ones where actors wear Lycra suits and dots around their bodies); to the cheaper options that use mechanical or magnetic systems. The substantial difference between the differently priced systems is that the former requires a studio with multiple cameras and the latter uses just the markers. Now, you might wonder why bother with the studio, it's expensive right? Truth be told, having seen both solutions in action, currently the optical solution is far more superior. I was amazed on how detailed the captured movement was. Every little movement which we might not be aware of, like shifts in weight or different twitches, all of that is captured. That is contrary to the mechanical capture system which records skeleton movement without that level of detail. Having said that, it all depends on what your budget is and how you intend to use this technology. If you just want to create simple animations, there is no need for high end solution unless you have some spare cash to burn - and you'll need a lot of it. Also, the number of alternative/cheaper solutions is increasing and it's hard to even call them all out. For now I've not made up my mind, however in the next couple of weeks I'll be testing Roko Suit and Notch Sensors so I should be able to make the final decision. |
AuthorI'm an actress, writer and producer. My mantra: write, perform, repeat. Archives
May 2023
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