After doing some quick scanning of topics on this forum, I suspect I know most answers to my questions but will ask them anyway in case I'm wrong.


Hello. I was made aware of your product via a forum for iClone, a product of Reallusion. I'm very much interested in your product
but tend to move with caution on new merchandise. In the case of iPi Soft it's a matter of not really being able to find enough
information I need before buying the product. A few questions I have are below:

1. Why is a SM4.0 GPU required and can other graphic cards made by ATI or nVidia be used? (ignore as I now understand why)
2. Where can I locate actual samples of videos made with iPi Soft?
3. What format does iPi Soft output for its animations?
4. What is the minimum RAM one must have on their computer?
5. Consistent mention is made of using webcams, does this exclude regular cameras such as
camcorders or HD cameras?
6. I'm a sign language teacher thus my interest. can iPi Soft capture intricate motions used in fingerspelling
and follow natural speed motions used in conversational sign language? Be advised these motions can
be both complex and people non-fluent in the language can have difficulty tracking these motions so
possibly a motion capture program have the same difficulty due to speed and subtle movements.
7. On the same note as above, can iPi Soft capture facial expressions? Sign Language's grammar tends
to exist on the face and body language.
8. Another issue is motion fluidity. Sign Language requires movement to be fluif because all motion has meaning.
Anything that disrupts that flow changes the message in either readability or meaning.

Hello!

• http://ipisoft.com/gallery.php
• http://ipisoft.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12&sid=86aad5509250081acf69c8edcfe1ffb0
• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ipisoft&aq=f

My favorites:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK2H-9HhAVA
• http://www.youtube.com/user/LGDTestTube#p/a/u/0/qo4bz4ucCM4
• http://mpmaxwell.com/IPI_Anim.mov

BVH, COLLADA, SMD
And we plan to add support for FBX.



Under WinXP - 1Gb
Under Vista and Win7 - 2Gb




You can use regular cameras, but in this case you should synchronize between cameras yourself. Here you can find appropriate discussion.




No




No

I hugely appreciate the time given in answering questions i have about iPi Soft.
Hopefully, I'm not taxing anyone's patience with my additional questions.

Primarily, I want to use mocap to provide motion to avatars found in iClone. Specifically, motion relevant to using sign language. I'm pretty sure iPi can capture signing motions. It was clarified that it can't capture the subtle finger actions associated with fingerspelling which though an accompanying aspect of American Sign Language (ASL) isn't exactly signing and can be eliminated in many cases. So my questions are as follows:

1. What would be involved in transferring BVH files to iClone from the iPi end?

2. I have two webcams lying around. if I opt to use them instead of my Panasonic HD video cam and Canon FS10, doe sit matter if the webcams are different brands? One, is a Logitech, the other a Philips, I don't see what models. I suspect I have a third one packed away somewhere but will look for it later.

3. Some here have talked about video quality and that was a factor in my earlier question about using my videocams. But after reading, I wonder if based on how I plan to use iPi if I should be concerned about video quality. All I want to do is transfer motion to iClone avatars. Does video quality impact the appearance of avatars or is the issue actually video quality and iPi's ability to track or record the motions?

_________________
---My favourite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty days hath September' because it actually tells you something. [Groucho Marx ]---

Well I'm no expert but I think I can say...



No particular problems using different webcams, but it can be tricky. they must record with similar fps and resolution. If you have one that is low quality, the others will have to be adjusted accordingly. Not all webcams have manual controls, so it can become hard mixing them.

So, it's possible to use different cameras but it's generally easier to use one model.



If I understand your question correctly, video quality will ONLY impact the tracking process, not your model. if you have reaaaaally poor quality iPi might have a hard time tracking your actor. But still, a decent webcam isn't really hi-quality and is still enough.

As for iClone, I don't know but there are others users here that use it, I think.

Thank you. Your responses pretty much answer my questions and are helpful as I mull the possibility of buying iPi. It doesn't fully fit my needs but it's the most affordable mocap software out there. And the people selling it actually answer my questions instead of being arrogant so I'm seriously considering a purchase. Thanks again, I'm sure I will have other questions later.

_________________
---My favourite poem is the one that starts 'Thirty days hath September' because it actually tells you something. [Groucho Marx ]---