What is motion capture

                        Motion Capture

 Motion capture is one of the most popular computer-generated imagery (CGI) techniques. Motion capture data allows for the creation of characters that seem to come straight out of a comic book and can be found back in many modern movies, games and television commercials. But how does this technique actually work?

In short, motion capture is the technique of copying (capturing) human movements and transforming them into realistic computer simulations. Within the movie industry motion capture is often referred to as “mocap"

The reason why directors, computer animators and game developers use motion capture to create their computer-generated characters is because of some clear advantages over traditional 3D computer animation:

1.The possibility of rapid, real-time results. This can reduce the costs of keyframe-based animation.
2.Actors don’t need to be in hours upon hours of make-up to do their performance.
3.The amount of work doesn’t vary with the complexity as when using traditional techniques.
4.Complex movements and realistic interactions such as weight and exchange of forces can be easily recreated in a accurate manner.
5.The amount of data that can be produced within a given time is extremely large when compared to traditional animation techniques.
6.A potential of using free software and third party solutions reduce costs.

There are also some disadvantages to motion capture that should be taken into account.

1.You need specific hardware and software to obtain and process the captured data.
2.Most small productions do not have the money to aquire the software, equipment and personnel to use motion capture.
3.The motion capture system being used may have specific requirements for the space it is operated in.
4.When problems occur, it is easier to reshoot the scene rather than trying to manipulate the data.
5.The first initial results are limited to what can be performed within the capture quantity without extra editing of the captured data.
6.Movement that does not follow the laws of physics generally cannot be captured.
7.Traditional animation techniques must be added after the motion capture process.

8.If the computer model has different proportions from the capture subject, artifacts may occur. For example, if a cartoon character has large, over-sized hands, these may intersect the character’s body if the human performer is not careful with their physical motion.


An optical technique to capture the motions of actors is to place little lights or LED’s on several places of an actor’s body. As the movement of these light spots are captured by specialized motion capture software, it becomes possible to create a motion capture simulation.


Every movement is tracked by a set of more than 100 fixed cameras. Each reflective marker or light will be tracked by every single camera, at any time of recording. All of the captured data is send to a computer, on which the motion data can be attached to a desired 3D character.

One of the most famous motion capture studios is Weta Digital who is responsible of the motion capture in movies such as: The Lord of the Rings trilogie, Avatar, King Kong (2005), I Robot, X-Men: The Last Stand, Eragon, Bridge to Terabithia, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, The Water Horse, Jumper and many more.