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"Slate3" 3D Short Film-making Research Project - Newsletter 6 - Updated 27 Nov 2010
(27 Nov) Improved "Run" mocap and revised documentation.  (17 Nov) Add "2-ways" video

We love the Carnegie Mellon University Graphics Lab MOCAP Database

We are now publishing our DAZ Carrara NLA conversions, favourite BVHs and customised BVHs on this page.

Download Package 9 x Conversions to Carrara NLA Clips (1.3 Meg) - Zip file including documentation.

Documentation (pdf, 0.6 Meg) - List of Clips. Howto use them. Production methods.

Download Package of our BVH Favourites and Customisations (1.7 Meg) - Zip file.

 

Video - linked from Youtube. Optional: right-click on video to get "Watch on Youtube"
1 x sequence of 40 sec done 2 ways. (1) basic, then (2) adding CMU MOCAP "77-02 standing" and "16-15 walk".

 

Video - linked from Youtube.
3 x work-in-progress clips featuring CMU data. 
The CMU MOCAPs are:  "134-02 Skateboarding",  "91-53 Jump 180 degrees",  "05-02 Dance".

 

"MOCAP"is "MOtion CAPture" - In the case of this project, the researchers have filmed human actors from a variety of angles and built computer files of movements from there.

The project home page is:
http://mocap.cs.cmu.edu
There are video clips to help you preview the movements.  I recommend the "Animated" links as the most useful. 
But - the downloadable data formats there are for software and character models which we do not have access to.
In July 2010, Bruce Hahne has published DAZ-friendly BVH files at:
https://sites.google.com/a/cgspeed.com/cgspeed/motion-capture/daz-friendly-release

MOCAP often needs "cleaning up", that is detail editing to get it to fit your situation.  We have a challenge with cycle work such as "walk" and "run" where we have a need for the subject to return to the same pose at the end of a repeatable step.  The real life humans of MOCAP do not quite do that.  Fortunately for us, both "CARRARA NLA" and "aniMate plug in for DAZ STUDIO" have "blending" or "smoothing" which we find are working well as a solution.  Anything else takes us to the level of individual keyframes editing in "Carrara".  More details in the pdf document included with the NLA download.

Also of interest is the sharecg website of  "mojodallas" who has converted this data for "Poser". 
Some of the mocaps here have come through the pipeline mojodallas --> Poser --> DAZStudio --> Carrara
http://www.sharecg.com/pf/full_uploads.php?pf_user_name=mojodallas