Engadget features a great article on the history of 3D motion capture, with plenty of sample material.
Close your eyes and go back... back in time. Picture Jar Jar Binks or Polar Express, movies that put the "Uncanny Valley" on the map. I know these aren't pleasant memories, but new technology like motion capture (mocap) can be... awkward in its youth. Now, let's forget all that and move forward to a time when the tech started hitting its stride -- from Lord of the Rings' Gollum to Avatar to The Avengers' Hulk. And let's not forget games -- The Last of Us has some of the best mocap done in any medium and Electronic Arts has used the technique since Madden NFL '94. But what is mocap, exactly, and how is it done? Will it ever replace live actors or put 3D animators out of business? To answer all that, let's head back in time 100 years.
1 Comment
I don't normally comment on non-Blender articles. That said, I liked the story at the link until I got to the comments section on the webpage. Someone was trying to fanboy up Blender by posting the Sintel Makehuman Mocap video, which of course got jeers because it's a very raw and unpolished demo. It probably wasn't someone from this community but it still gave me a case of the cringies. Nothing good comes from bringing a rough demo to a discussion about top movie effects.