Guides And Motion Capture

Overview

Guides is the category which allows the user to insert either static images or dynamic video into the scene. At the basic level, these entities serve as guides to aid in animation. More advanced features like extracting motion from video for the purposes of motion capture are also available.

Image Guide

This is a static image file that can be added into the scene. The image is added into the background of the scene(behind the character). There are controls that allow the translation and scaling of the image via mouse manipulation.

Video Guide

This is a dynamic video file that can be added into the scene. The video is added into the background of the scene(behind the character). There are controls that allow the translation and scaling of the video via mouse manipulation.

As you scrub through the frames, the video also plays back the corresponding frames. A Video Guide is essentially a Rotoscoping aid for the animator.

Motion Extraction/Capture

Video Guides allow motion extraction. Click on Motion with the guide selected to start the process.

Once in this mode, click Compute to start motion extraction. The application will attempt to identify and track features in the image that are ideal for motion extraction. Please note that noisy video/jumpy streams/distorted frames will result in suboptimal output. It is recommended that the background of the video be as clean as possible for good results.

Once extraction is completed, the set of feature markers identified is showed on the left. You can click on the markers on the left to pick the desired marker to extract. The video feed on the right shows how the marker is tracked over time. You should scrub through the frames on the right to determine is the tracking gave reasonable results.

Click on Extract to extract the selected marker motion. A new Motion Path will be created. Go into the Path mode to see your newly created Motion Path. With this new path, you can then select your bone in Bone mode and perform a path transfer. This completes the Motion Capture process.