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REQUEST: Motion Capture Support - Knowledgebase / Film & Animation - MAGIC Request & Support Center

REQUEST: Motion Capture Support

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Requesting Motion Capture Support from a MAGIC PA for your Production

MAGIC has trained student staff available to answer your questions regarding motion capture and are here to help support your projects.

If you are a student or faculty in need of advisement or support for a motion capture project, please review the information and request process below.


Note

All requests for motion capture support must be submitted at least two weeks in advance and are subject to MAGIC student employee schedule, availability, and bandwidth. A meeting with the MAGIC VP team is required before all motion capture projects.


Please Review the Following Information Before Submitting your Request

  1. MAGIC has two motion capture systems available in our mocap lab:

    1. Freemocap: Marker-less tracking used for quick capture and minimal set up.

    2. Vicon System: Maker-based tracking for higher quality capture which requires dedicated set up and tear down.

  2. After capture, MAGIC will return your animation data to you in two forms. We will send you the raw animation data, and we can retarget your animation to any standard mesh with an FK (forward kinematics) rig. After your shoot, we will send you a bvh file containing all the raw animation data, as well as a fbx file which will contain your animation retargeted to your provided mesh.

  3. If you have a mesh you would like to use that is unrigged, check out Adobe Maximo - a free tool that will automatically rig your mesh for you.

Note

At this time, we are unable to record facial animation, however, it is a work in progress. More soon!

Request Process & Required Information

  1. Navigate to https://helpdesk.magic.rit.edu/new-ticket to begin a new request.

  2. Be sure your Department is set to MAGIC Spell Studios, and under “Support Type,” select Production Support.

  3. In the subject line, include “Motion Capture Request” with the dates of your anticipated production.

    1. Ex. Motion Capture Request - 9/13/24

  4. For “Location”, please specify Motion Capture Lab.

  5. Include the following information and answer the questions below in the “Message” field:

    1. Faculty advisor, course, and project name requesting virtual production support.


    2. What is the application of your motion capture (games, animation, live action, etc)?

    3. How many animations do you plan to record, and how long will the each be?

    4. If you are using the Vicon (marker-based) system , we will need the shirt, shoe, and pant size of your talent so we can prep the suit in advance.

    5. Do you need any motion capture of objects, such as props, weapons, or virtual cameras?

    6. Will you need detailed finger tracking for your animation?

    7. Do you have an FK rigged mesh that will need retargeting?

    8. Any additional questions or information for our team?

Once your Request is Submitted

  • A MAGIC VP PA will respond via email to your request to schedule a pre-production meeting.

  • You may follow up on your request using the same helpticket. Please do not submit multiple tickets for one request.


Warning

Remember, our MAGIC VP staff are student employees and must follow all RIT employment guidelines, including taking a break if scheduled for more than 6 hours. Please keep this in mind as you plan the scale and scope of your production.

Requests can be declined if our team does not have the bandwidth to support your production.


Got General Motion Capture Questions?

We’re happy to answer your motion capture questions - even if you aren’t planning a film (yet)! Feel free to follow the submission steps above for a Production Support Ticket with general motion capture inquiries. Our team is eager to share their mocap knowledge with you!

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