Motion capture for the rest of us

  • Authors:
  • Margaret S. Geroch

  • Affiliations:
  • Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, WV

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

We are all aware of the increasingly realistic computer-generated human motion that abounds in movies, advertisements and especially games at present. This natural-looking appearance in many cases is attributed, as it has been for years, to the fine skills of professional animators in the Disney tradition. But more and more these realistic motions also involve the use of motion capture. We present the case that motion capture concepts and techniques are not the exclusive domain of big movie studios such as Industrial Light and Magic[11], or companies like House of Moves[10]. As educators in computer science and even other fields like graphics, art, mathematics, physical therapy, physics, we can and should introduce our students to the intricacies of this phenomenon. This paper will explain some of the basis of motion capture data and suggest ways it can be explored in courses or in research, even in a small college department without a big equipment budget.