The VR Business club in our motion capture studio
Fighting scene of Maren and Oliver in our studio
In preparation for the SparX presentation event “Holographic Storytelling in Live Entertainment”, Maren Courage and Oliver Autumn visited our MoCap Studio in Berlin. For the event they wanted to have themselves represented as avatars and animated with the help of our innovative motion capture technology.
Maren in the 3d body scanning system
Getting the avatar for animation
First they were scanned in our 3D scanner (the Instagraph©). The 3D body scanner consists of about 100 cameras and depth sensors which are triggered simultaneously. The individual photos are automatically rendered to a digital avatar with the help of a specially developed scanning system. ” The control software is programmed to recognize different patterns, dimensions and depths. This information enables it to combine the various images to create a perfect 3D model,” explains Marc Kneifel (Technical advisor for 3D Instagraph).
This avatar including the body measurements can later be used in games, movies, but also in fitness studios and clothing stores.
The body capture
Optical trackers are positioned on the mocap suit
The avatars of Maren and Oliver will be animated later. For this reason, the two were dressed in motion capture suits. As OnPoint Studios works with an optical system, these mocap suits are equipped with passive markers which reflect the light from the OptiTrack cameras. The positions of the markers will be transmitted to the computer via the cameras and linked to the avatars in real time. This happens with such speed that the captured data are projected almost simultaneously on the avatars. These can be sent into a virtual space and be streamed via a beamer onto the wall in the background. With the service of remote motion capture, the data can also be streamed in an Unreal scene which can be viewed on any device. This way, a director has no need to be on set and can watch the moving character from different angles in VR.
This is especially important for directors or producers, as they can see the actors or avatars directly in the scene in which they are to be inserted later. This way they can give the actors detailed instructions on how much they have to adjust their movements to get a perfect result.
In advance, Maren and Oliver discussed with the OnPoint Studio team a few movements or scenes that should be recorded and later placed on their avatars. These animated avatars can be used for movies or even games. “Those who know them personally will recognize them by their movements definitely”, Niklas Bothe (Head of Motion Capture) told us.
Motion Capture offers great possibilities for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (XR) to animate avatars. Not only can real people be animated, but also creatures, objects and anything you can imagine. These animations can be used for movies, gaming, trainings, services etc. in which a character is shown and with which you want to interact. This means, that avatars can be used for a virtual company tour, as a shopping guide, to discuss problems with a service agent, to do a training, hold a presentation or to integrate in a VR game. These are only a few of the possibilities in which animated avatars can be integrated using motion capture technology. This technology is a great help for character animators and saves much time in the production process.
At the event
Holographic Storytelling for Live Events & Location Based Experiences the results of the scan and motion capturing were shown. Furthermore, our team presented the remote directing workflow, where MoCap data was streamed live on stage.
