RIGS & MOTION CAPTURE By: Jennifer Marcial and Juan m. lopez A presentation on animation film-making, and how it works.

DEFINITIONS Rigs * Rigs -Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface. The Steadicam was invented by cameraman Garrett Brown and was introduced in 1975.

DEFINITIONS Motion Capture * Motion Capture -Motion capture (Mo-cap for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics. In filmmaking and video game development, it refers to recording actions of human actors, and using that information to animate digital character models in 2D or 3D computer animation.

HISTORY You probably know motion-capture as the thing with the ping pong balls and the silly lycra suits. Well, you're not wrong. In actual fact, rudimentary motion-studies have been around since the 19th century, pre-dating cinema itself, and were primarily used for understanding better how humans and animals move. Late in the 20th century, before it was co-opted by Hollywood, motion-capture was a photogrammetric analysis tool in the field of biomechanics, and was used for sports, education and even videogames.

CONTINUATION  Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists was the first movie made primarily with motion capture.  The first fully computer generated feature film was 1995's Toy Story however the first animated film to use CGI was 1983's Rock & Rule.

WHAT MAKES A MOTION CAPTURE MOVIE?  You need a specific camera in order to capture each move the actor/ subject makes. It looks like this.

HOW THE MOTION CAPTURE WORKS  The simplest rundown is that live actors' motions are digitally recorded and then applied to 3D models. The physical recording itself can be done through one of two methods: the actor can wear a cumbersome bodysuit wired with complex sensors that detect their movements, or they can attach smaller singular sensors at pivotal points to capture the motion of those particular joints and interpret it into full-limb motion. these digital readings are fed into linked computers, where they are recorded and interpreted into motion sequences by programs like MetaMotion's Kaydara. From there the recorded sequences can be imported into 3D animation programs such as 3D Studio Max, and then applied to character models by mapping recorded motion data onto key points defined on the 3D models. There is still a great deal of work involved in interpreting the data correctly, and if even one mistake is made in recording the motions, sometimes the entire scene must be re-shot.

WHAT MAKES A RIG ANIMATION?  The process of making a rig animation is by using a computer. It looks like this.

HOW RIG ANIMATION WORKS  The animator uses a computer to generate a sequence of still images, that give the illusion of motion through three dimensional space when you play them. You require a 3D animation software, such as 3DMax or Maya, and a good computer. Instead of drawing every detail in the frame by hand, you draw every frame using a computer! The animator gives the software a set of parameters that describes how the elements should look and move.

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