06.04 Mocap Retarget Animation Exercise Assignment

Assignment Deliverables

1. Rendered video of original 3D character retargeted to Motion Capture Animation with sound
   • Label file YYYY-MM-DD Lastname Firstname Motion Capture Animation (.mp4)

Requirements

• Minimum 1 retargeted Mocap Animation onto an original humanoid character
• Minimum 2 lights in the scene
• Minimum 2 additional 3D mesh objects in the scene (For example: a plane and a cube)
• Minimum 2 different camera angles
• Minimum 1 original sound effect created by you

Assignment Overview

Use Blender to retarget motion capture from Motive onto a character auto rigged in t-pose with Mixamo.

1. Prepare 3D Character for Export as FBX for Auto Rigging with Mixamo

1. Prepare 3D character for export from Blender.
   1. Create a duplicate Blender file of your character and save teh original version as a backup.
   2. In the duplicate Blender copy, apply all modifiers to your 3D character.
   3. Confirm your character is in a T-pose or A-pose with its textures connected.
   4. Join mesh objects into a single mesh by selecting all the mesh objects of your character and pressing Control + J or Command + J.
      • Blender Cylinder Character Single Mesh
   5. UV Unwrap and adjust and bake textures if needed.
2. Export an FBX version of your character from Blender. Make sure only your character is selected and you check the box to only export the selection.
   • Embed FBX Textures Blender

2. Auto Rig character with Mixamo.

1. Log in to Mixamo.com with your Adobe credentials.
2. Upload your FBX character that you exported from Blender to Mixamo.
3. Use Mixamo to auto rig your character. Choose the no fingers skeleton if your character does not have fingers.
4. Download auto-rigged T-pose FBX of your character from Mixamo.
   • T-Pose Armature From Mixamo

3. Retarget Motion Capture with Rokoko Plugin in Blender

1. Go to https://id.rokoko.com/account/sign-up .
2. Create a free Rokoko account
   • Create a free Rokoko Account
3. Open Blender.
4. Install and enable the Rokoko plugin.
   • Install Rokoko Plugin in Blender 5.0 / 5.1
5. Import the T-Pose Auto-rigged FBX character downloaded from Mixamo.
6. Import the FBX motion-capture file exported from Motive with the FBX (.fbx) (Legacy) import option. You need to use the Legacy version so you can automatically align the bones of the mocap armature on import.
   • How to import mocap armature with Aligned Bones
7. Optionally install Auto Bone Rename Blender Addon This optional Add-on automatically renames the bones before building the bone list with the Rokoko plugin. This makes bone list automatically match the bone pairs in the source mocap with the bones in the target mocap.
   • How to Install Bone Normalizer Rename Add On Blender
   • How to Use the Auto Bone Rename Addon in Blender
8. In the Rokoko tab, select your character T-Pose for the target armature and one of the Motive mocap armatures for the source.
   • Click Build Bone List
   • Review the bone mapping.
   • If you did not install the bone rename addon, then manually match the bone names from the source armature to the target armature.
   • How to Retarget Motion Capture Animation with Rokoko Plugin
9. Fix AttributeError: 'Action' object has no attribute 'fcurves'. If you get this error when clicking build bone list, then you need to install the Beta version of the Rokoko Plugin and restart Blender.
   • How to Fix AttributeError ‘Action’ object has no attribute ‘fcurves’
10. After matching the bones, then click Retarget.
11. Confirm that the animation plays.
12. Extend the length of the Blender animation beyond the default 250 frames so you can see the entire mo-cap animation.
    • How to Extend the Blender Timeline

4. Render and Export Animation from Blender

1. Trim the timeline to the strongest section by setting the beginning and end frames.
   • How to Set Start and End Frames in Blender
2. Add at least two additional mesh objects, such as a ground plane and a cube, to establish a simple 3D environment.
   • How to Model Simple Scenery Blender
3. Add at least two lights to the scene. Lighting is essential for rendering.
   • How to Add Basic Lights to Scene in Blender
4. Create at least two cameras. Switch camera angles with timeline markers. To bind a camera on the timeline, position the playhead on the desired frame, hover your mouse in the timeline, press Control + B or Command + B and that camera will be set on the timeline. Move the playhead to a new frame, select the second camera and press Control + B or Command + B.
   • How to Use Multiple Cameras in Blender Animation
5. Render the finished animation as a series of PNG images or as a video file.
   • How to Render Animation as a Video from Blender
   • How to Render Animation PNG Sequence Blender
6. Import the exported animation frames into Adobe Premiere as an Image Sequence. You need to import as an image sequence so it plays like an animation in Premiere.
   • How to Import Image Sequence into Premiere
   • How to Change Frame Rate Adobe Premiere to match Blender animation if needed to speed up or slow down animation in Premiere.
7. Add at least one original sound effect and synchronize it with the movement.
   • How to Add Music and Sound in Adobe Premiere
8. Export .mp4 with Sound Effects from Adobe Premiere.
   • How to Export Video from Adobe Premiere

Assignment Resources

Mocap Retargeting