Motion Capture has become more commonly used across many industries to provide accurate and
organic movement of humans. One of the driving forces for mocap progres comes from the video
game industry. Ever since the Sega Model 2 arcade game - Virtual Fighter 2 in 1994 - motion capture
has rapidly increased throughout the years. Motion capture technology is able to provide easier and
smoother workflows for both indie game developers and larger games companies.
When it comes to mocap, there are multiple solutions available but it really comes down to what the
use-case is and budget. Systems vary in accuracy and price but all require a certain amount of clean
up to be done in post. Starting with optical systems, OptiTrack and VICON are the leaders in the
industry, providing solutions in animation, movement sciences, virtual reality and robotics. They are
most commonly used in AAA games as they provide the highest fidelity tracking available as well as
handle batch recordings in a more flexible way.
use-case is and budget. Systems vary in accuracy and price but all require a certain amount of clean
up to be done in post. Starting with optical systems, OptiTrack and VICON are the leaders in the
industry, providing solutions in animation, movement sciences, virtual reality and robotics. They are
most commonly used in AAA games as they provide the highest fidelity tracking available as well as
handle batch recordings in a more flexible way.
Inertial suits on the other hand such as Xsens and Perception Neuron, are mostly used in indie games companies as they are more affordable and do not require a large capture volume. They do tend to
require more post clean up as the data is easily interfered but with an ideal setup, game developers
can achieve smooth and lifelike animations for a fraction of an optical system’s cost.
Mostly every game nowadays contains a certain number of mocap animations, whether it is human or
animal animations. Rockstar games have taken mocap to the next level with Red Dead Redemption 2.
The particular game has around 2,000 page script that required 1,200 actors some of which had
mapped dialogue. To execute such a script, the game required 300,000 animations and 500,00 lines
of dialogue, which ended up taking 2,200 days of motion capture recordings. More games that are
usually narrative based such as Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil and World of Warcraft have an
outstanding number of mocap hours in their development using both full body and facial tracking.
animal animations. Rockstar games have taken mocap to the next level with Red Dead Redemption 2.
The particular game has around 2,000 page script that required 1,200 actors some of which had
mapped dialogue. To execute such a script, the game required 300,000 animations and 500,00 lines
of dialogue, which ended up taking 2,200 days of motion capture recordings. More games that are
usually narrative based such as Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil and World of Warcraft have an
outstanding number of mocap hours in their development using both full body and facial tracking.
Motion capture is a vital part of most video game development pipelines, and more and more developers are utilizing the technology to add more realism to their games. However, motion capture though utilized heavily in video games is really just the beginning. Animators must go back and add emphasis on areas and change poses to get the perfect performance.
This is commonly referred to as hybrid animation where both motion capture and keyframe animation
is combined to create the final animation. This allows the animators to exaggerate and push areas of
the mocap data to make it more appealing. What was once an extremely costly procedure that took a
huge amount of preparation can now be accomplished at a much faster and cheaper rate.
is combined to create the final animation. This allows the animators to exaggerate and push areas of
the mocap data to make it more appealing. What was once an extremely costly procedure that took a
huge amount of preparation can now be accomplished at a much faster and cheaper rate.