Motion Capture In Video Games

Motion Capture

The animation process has changed a lot since the beginning. Early animations had no reference and looks of. Old animations started to trace real life videos and new use references and 3D motion capture on computer. There are a lot of steps like key poses, fixing issues and just getting actors to play out scenes for video games and movies.

What is motion capture?

In the past people did 2d and 3d animations without any references. Then a man called Max Fleischer came up with the idea of rotoscoping. This is where you project a video of a real person onto a screen and trace over it frame by frame. After this people developed the idea for 3D and we have motion capture today. This involves people in a black suit with dots on them. This is called a motion capture suit or ‘mo-cap suit’ with active markers.

The active markers track the position of the actor’s lips and sends it to a computer where an animation makes sure everything is correct. This is then put onto a tv screen or into a video game and people get to enjoy the realistic animations.

How does motion capture work?

First you will need an actor. This will usually be the one who voice acts the character you are animating, but if they cannot perform the physical movements then you may need someone else to play the role. The actor will get into the mo-cap suit with the active markers. They will then play out the role they have picked E.g. when Mia gets shot in resident evil or when two characters, in Detroit become human, are talking.

As they are acting, a signal will go to the animation team’s computers to be added to the character model and to fix any glitches or mistakes that were made (either by the actor or just a small odd glitch). After this the animation team put the model into the world or screen and make sure everything else is sorted and done.

Motion Capture History

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping can be found in old and new animations. It can be found in many films including Alice in wonderland, Cinderella and I lost my body. The first version of rotoscoping can be found in Alice in wonderland. What the animators did was project live action images onto a glass panel. The animations would then be processed to draw over this image for a more realistic outcome.

Rotoscoping in recent years is very similar to the ones they used to do. The only difference is they now do it on the computer. They place the video of the live action person on the bottom layer. On the next layer above it they then trace over frame by frame.

The animators don’t fully trace over the video. In cartoons characters have unique bodys. Some may be overly fat or have a large body and small limbs. The animators trace the main body and then make the changes to match the animated character e.g. big head, small legs.

Koko the Clown

One animation that has come back in the past months is Koko the Clown. This is an animation where a clown called Koko sings and dances and gets turned into a ghost. The first step they did was record a man named Dave Felsher in a clown costume in front of a white background. After the recording they had each frame and used a projector, hooked up to a car-light to brighten the image, to make the image appear on the glass panel which they then traced onto some paper. After this, they came out with a great animation even the newspapers were talking about it.

Advancement in Motion Capture

From 2D to 3D

From the first rotoscope to the newest tracking suits, motion capture has changed a lot. Once 3D models were being animated some people thought of rotoscoping but for something 3D instead of 2D. In the cold war a man named Lee Harrison III made the first mocap suit. With this a person could act out some movements and the singles would be sent to a monitor as a rough animation. As you can see from this image there is a wire that connects the suit to the computer. As amazing as this achievement was they still didn’t have the best technology back then. Now suits are wireless. They do not need to be connected to the computer by a wire; they just send signals.

The virtual reality world

In recent years virtual reality has been a big thing. Present day most people with virtual reality gear have a headset and hand controllers, although there are some people with full body suits and people even make their own gear. Most people believe that in the future we will have equipment like the VR Haptic suit described in Ready Player One. A suit where we can feel things and a platform which allows us to move instead of using a controller. As of right now, we have a virtual reality headset that is slowly becoming wireless, and that allows the user to see into the games world. They look to the left, in game they look to the left, and right is right and up is up. Then their hand controls have buttons and detectors to tell when you stick your finger out to point and when you pick something up. The head set and hand controls are the main pieces of VR sets you find. There are other pieces in the works or home made so we will be going into those later.

Motion Capture In Video Games

Resident Evil: Village

Resident Evil: Village was where the writer Eleanor first saw motion capture. She was watching a lot of playthroughs and ended up on a behind the scenes video. They found out that pretty much every cutscene and movements done in the game was made through motion capture. One of her favourite scenes from the game was the meeting the lords had after they had captured Ethan Winters. The main cast can be seen acting out with chairs and steps up to a new level. This blocks out the room for the actors who have to imaginate the rest of the room.

God of War

Another example of motion capture in video games is God of War. In this game the main two characters are acted out by Christopher Judge (Kratos) and Sunny Suljic (Atreus). These two actors will be in the whole game so will need to act out a lot. We have a scene where Kratos opens the floor to find his old weapons. The actor pulled up some foam and reached for his weapons. The camera moves to a new angle since there wasn’t a hole in the floor. Christopher then pulled the imaginary chains around his arms to finish the scene. This again shows how the actor has to use their imagination a lot while performing.

In Movies

Where else can we find motion capture? In movies. A lot of movies involving magic and non-human creatures use motion capture so they can get realistic movements on the non-human characters. For example, in Marvel Avengers Endgame where we have characters like the Hulk and Rocket Racoon who are not human. Unlike Hulk, Rocket Racoon had to be filmed separately from the rest since he is so small. This was then added in later and after fixing all the bugs and finalizing the textures you have a completed scene.

The Future Of Motion Capture

Virtual Reality

As we have mentioned, people believe the future of virtual reality is like the VR Haptic suit described in Ready Player One. We will have full body suits and a platform to move on. This is partly true. I don’t think we will ever have what ready player one has but we will have things that are very similar.

Since we already have motion capture suits it’s a matter of time before we have ones for virtual reality. The suit will be made with belts and other items to make in-game play better. We might have foam swords with tracking so in a virtual fighting game the player can get out a real sword and feel the true grip and properly swing it.

As for the platform, we may need to wait a little longer. A platform has been made called ‘Katwalk C’ and enables you to move left, right, forwards and backwards though it does not allow you to jump, fly or climb. This may come in the future with a machine that is strong enough to carry you so you can perform these actions.

More than just video games and movies

When people think of motion capture and its future they think of video games and films. Motion capture is not just these two things but it has also helped with other jobs. There is a YouTuber called Jazza and in one of his videos he was in virtual reality and designing a person. This shows us that motion capture mainly in virtual reality can help builders and artists build a 3D area to see what it will look like. Yes people can use 3D softwares like blender and maya but it may also be useful to see your creation in full 3D.

Motion capture is also used in a medical environment. Doctors use this to treat their patients and help before an incident even happens. To do this the doctor will ask the patient to get into a motion capture suit. They will then do a treatment exercise and the computer is able to tell both Doctor and patient whether they are doing the right form. This will help speed up the recovery process and can also be done before injury. How? It’s the same. An athlete will wear a motion capture suit and do an exercise. To avoid injury the computer will tell them if they are doing the right or wrong form.

Bibliography

Motion Capture – https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/how-motion-capture-works/

RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE – Lady Dimitrescu Motion Capture Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes – Detroit: Become Human (Motion capture)

Alice in Wonderland(1951) – The Dodo Bird

The trick that made animation realistic

Koko the Clown sings “St. James Infirmary Blues” in Betty Boop’s Snow White

Koko – https://bettyboop.fandom.com/wiki/Koko_the_Clown

History – https://motionanalysis.com/blog/an-evolution-of-motion-capture-the-fascinating-history-behind-the-movies-we-know-today/#:~:text=A%20lot%20was%20going%20down,actor’s%20movements%20in%20real%2Dtime

Resident Evil: Village – https://www.theverge.com/22585020/resident-evil-village-mocap-motion-capture-capcom-lady-dimitrescu

Resident Evil: Village – Mocap Sessions

GOD OF WAR RARE BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE FOR BLADES OF CHAOS SCENE FT CHRISTOPHER JUDGE *EMOTIONAL*