05.06 Motion Capture Movement Preparation Assignment

Assignment Deliverables

1. Submit a list of three possible motion capture movements or actions
   • Write a 1–2 sentence description of each movement.
   • Label the file YYYY-MM-DD Lastname Firstname Motion Capture Movement List (.docx, .pdf)

Assignment Overview

Next week, we will use the OptiTrack system in the XR Studio to record full-body motion.

Develop three possible movements that would be interesting to perform, capture, and transfer to a digital 3D character. Each idea should be a brief, repeatable action or movement sequence rather than an entire scene. Consider how the motion might look when performed by a character with a body, scale, personality, or purpose different from your own.

The XR Studio record as many as five performers wearing motion-capture suits at the same time, so solo, partner, and group movements are possible. For a movement involving multiple people, clearly describe what each performer does and how their actions relate.

Movement Descriptions

Write 1–2 sentences for each of your three ideas. Each description should identify the number of performers, explain the main action, and indicate how the movement begins and ends. Also consider whether the action could loop, repeat, or become part of a longer animation.

The description does not need to specify every gesture. It should provide enough information for the class to understand the movement.

Example

Two-person mirrored greeting Two performers approach one another, stop, and perform increasingly exaggerated mirrored bows before returning to a neutral standing pose. The final motion could be retargeted to two very different characters to explore how scale and body proportions change the interaction.

Potential Movement Ideas

You do not need to use these examples, but they may help you begin:

• a walk, run, sneak, march, or other form of locomotion with a distinct personality
• an idle movement that could loop while a character waits, thinks, or observes
• a short dance phrase or rhythmic gesture
• an exaggerated emotional reaction expressed through the entire body
• a robotic, creature-like, or otherwise nonordinary way of moving
• reaching, lifting, pulling, pushing, or carrying an imagined object
• a sports, martial-arts, or performance gesture that can be completed safely
• a transformation in posture, such as gradually becoming heavier, older, larger, or more mechanical
• a two-person greeting, argument, chase, exchange, or synchronized action
• a coordinated group movement, chain reaction, tableau, or repeated pattern

Capture Feasibility

Avoid actions that depend on leaving the tracked volume, moving at an uncontrollable speed, colliding with another performer, or making unsafe falls.

Complex floor work, overlapping bodies, and tightly clustered group actions may hide reflective markers from the cameras and produce incomplete motion data. These movements are not automatically prohibited, but you should be prepared to simplify or adjust them during the capture session.

Grading Rubric