I have a potential mocap shoot that would involve a boy of about 10 yrs old. Does this software work with children?

In a few scenes he needs to interact with props, write with a pen, sit at a desk, and run up some stairs. Obviously he cannot be obscured from the camera's vision, aside from that are there any limitations to his movement? Can it handle a person sitting down?

Thanks

I've tried using some props (mainly a stick) with good results, and there's a few clips from LightDog where the subject is bouncing and tossing a basketball, so within reason I'd say you can use props.

You mention holding a pen, but since the software cannot yet track hands (and my guess is that it will probably never track fingers,) it really doen't matter--you will have to keyframe this joint manually anyway. Your actor may as well pantomime this action. (FYI, with the current software, the same goes for the head.)

As for any other props, I imagine this depends on the color and size of the prop, and how the actor must interact with it.

The best way to know for sure is to download the demo software and try for yourself. Since the demo is time-limited, make sure you have everything you need to do your tests immediately. (i.e, appropriate computer and graphics card, webcams and USB repeater cables, props, actor, location, etc.)

As for the age of the actor, I don't think this matters as you can scale the virtual actor in the program. It may be problematic if the body proportions are significantly different from what the software expects.

In any case, because this software is still a beta product, and because of the complexity of mocap in general, I wouldn't recommend using it for a real job until after you've done a few experimental sessions with successful results.

Greenlaw

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Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!

Michael - what's the timeframe for capturing head movements?

Thanks for the response greenlaw.

I may well test the beta, but before I plunk down money and time getting 4 cameras set up, I'd like to know if it can handle things like sitting in a chair and going up stairs.

So if anyone has experience with those actions -- I'd like to know your luck.

Also if it works with a kid its better than faking it with an adult, I'd say.

I would ask LightDog. He seems to have quite a bit of experience and success with iPi DMC, judging by his gallery examples. When you consider he used an older beta version, many of his examples are quite good:

http://lightdogfilms.com/mocap/

There are other examples on YouTube if you search for iPi Desktop Motion Capture. If you see something like what you need, ask the creator of the movie what was involved.

I wish I could be more helpful, but the production I'm on right now keeps me busy seven days a week, so I had to put off experimenting with iPi DMC for a while. I hope I can get back to it later next week though, and maybe I can post some samples then. (If they're not too embarrassing to show in public.) :)

G.

_________________
Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | My Demo Reels (2013,) (2015,) (2017,) and (2019)

Watch a one minute excerpt on Vimeo now!