I would like to set up mocaption with cameras as cheaply as possable. Any suggestions?

Dale

There's a programmer who goes by the name "Yoshi" who has a system he put together for under $2000 and has samples on his site that look pretty darned good to me. http://www.geocities.com/mocap_is_fun/ The system uses Optitrack cameras (http://www.naturalpoint.com/optitrack/) which are cheap enough for the serious hobbyist, but Optritrack doesn't provide a software interface so you can use them (duh?), so you'd have to write your own software. Yoshi has been doing just this, and his samples look very encouraging, but he has not released his software interface, and his progress seems sporadic. Personally, I'd kill for an affordable mocap solution (okay, maybe an animated kill) and, seeing the next cheapest solution I've seen out there runs about $30,000, I'd think Yoshi's system/softare would be very popular. Perhaps if we all email him, we could encourage him to work on it... email Yoshi at: mocap_is_fun@yahoo.com --Tim http://www.auroratrek.com

Nice!  Yoshi's UI looks terrific.  thanks for sharing this info.  Have you looked at a Gypsy suit? I've seen some on ebay before.

I've been drooling over the Gypsy suit for years, but it's still pretty steep for somebody working at the hobby level--heck, I just bought a car for less! The good news is that I was actually just on the Naturalpoint/Optitrack site, and it looks like they're finally working on providing an interface/software along with their cameras. Says their forum monitor: "Well, your ideal solution is almost here, just not quite yet. Currently, the OptiTrack camera comes with an SDK that would be the base for the motion capture program that you describe, but you would have to code it yourself. Due to great feedback like yours, we are working on a full body BVH compatible system. We are working hard on this and hope to demo something at SIGGRAPH this year! Please stay tuned." He means SIGGRAPH 2007, so that's not until next August, tho in another posting he says: "The new OptiTrack C120 camera should be out in December, along with a new web site and then software will start being released as it is finished, fun stuff is ahead." So, hopefully that means they'll have something out sooner. I don't know what this means for Yoshi, if he'll continue to work on his software. In any case, it looks like one way or another, affordable mocap may be on the horizon...!!!

A friend gave me a demo of some piece of software that uses standard video cameras.  I'm at work right now and I can't remember the software, but we did a test and works pretty damn well.  I think it might be a Maya or XSI plugin.

Anyway basically, you set up video cameras on your subject from different angles and record.  Then you load your sequences into the software, sync up a start point, assign bones and let it calculate.  You need at least two video cameras, and the more cameras you have the more accurate the software is.

We tested it with just everyday clothing, walking, hopping and such and it worked nicely.  We never tried exporting it or applying it to a mesh, mind you.  I've been meaning to play aroudn with it again, but haven't found the time yet.

We also concluded that it might be best to have someone wearing a body stalking or tight clothing of a solid colour and then to apply an opposite colour in lines and or dots (using tape) to mark limbs and joints.  Not required, but we figured it would help in getting a really good alignment from camera to camera.

This software can also be used in conjunction with green screening to record camera movement for later getting abackground to match in compositing.

Anyway, I'll have to double check what the software is.  Yeah, it sounds expensive, now to think about it.  I only played with the demo.

Cheers

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