Hi,

The next step to have more realistic / cool animations would certainly be "head tracking". The head tracking feature in iPi works pretty well (but requires quite a bit of extra processing time), and I have read about this guy with a Wii Mote on the head, with good results.

After watching several videos of mocap sessions using markers (and how data was cleaned in MB), I'm wondering if there are plans to use a few in a future version of iPi. For tracking the head movements, this would certainly be much more practical than using a controller on some sort of helmet. And since iPi is able to track a point in space (calibration with PSEyes), why not track 3 or 4 dots placed on the head?

This would make iPi a mixed markerful / markerless system, maybe impossible / very hard to implement, though...

What do you think?

Philippe

Thanks for sharing!
Currently we do not have plans to start using markers. Our thoughts tend more toward using easy-to-wear inertial sensors to provide supplementary data to video tracking.

Hum, looks good too!

Have you already found some "easy-to-wear inertial sensors" maybe?

Nothing specific yet.
There are some available on the market, for example these ones:
http://www.yeitechnology.com/product-category/3-space-sensor-products (they even offer a complete sensor-based mocap solution)
The sensors themselves are too expensive for the mass market we are aiming at. However, we may find it feasible to integrate support for these sensors in our software for the most demanding customers, who have a bigger budget.

Just a thought

Theoretically we can make a relatively cheap similar system using the iPi Studio available technology if it start to allow us to transfer the motion data to any bone. We only need to attach ps move controllers to each important part of the body (Head, chest, arm, forearm, thigh and leg), the iPi Studio will only need to track the pelvis, so it can track the character in 3d space.

already thought about that as well, but i think its not as easy as it sounds at first. just take the forearm for example. in real-life something like a forearm-twist happens, but when transfering the motion to a RIG, you dont really want your elbow-joint to twist itself. correct me when i'm wrong, but i think that problems like this would occur on many parts of the body.

but anyways, i'd be really interested into that as well, so keep us posted if you give it a shot! :)

The elbow only rotates when you rotate your arm, when you rotate your forearm only the wrist rotates, I don't think it will be a problem even when the 3d character forearm bone rotation comes from the elbow, it will only affect the wrist. I think the major problem will happen with the chest, besides it rotates it also moves, maybe if the iPi still track its transition but use the rotation data from the controller.

I'll make some tests with the limbs if I can borrow another ps move.

what i was trying to say is that when you mount a PS-move to your skin, the skin might slide in a way you dont really want the joints of your rig to rotate. anyways, it might not be much of a big deal and there are of course always workarounds for unwanted rotations.... so due to lack of experience with this from my side, i'd say the proof of the pudding is in the eating :).

keep us posted!

Yes, I agree, this is too expensive for ipisoft users. I guess we would need the 303 USD version. This would bring us to the price of ipisoft with 3 captors. This is too much.

Are you able to say if these captors really bring extra realism for ipisoft users?

What about this one?

http://www.ammsensor.com/

Their website is super-slow at the moment, I'm unable to get an idea of the price of their captor....