What Happens Now? | Post Preformance Capture Pipeline

The first question most people ask after “wrap” is called on a mocap shoot is “what happens to my data now?” followed by “when does that mean I’ll get it back?”.

The last part is hard to answer as it depends on how much data you captured, how complex the actions were, how busy the mocap studio is and how many of the following steps you want them to work on.

But the first question is a little easier…

Below is an outline of a typical post production (after the shoot) motion capture or performance capture pipeline. It explains how thousands of frames of tracker data are transformed into a fully believable 3D character performance, what each stage involves, what they’re usually called, and some of the language used.

Although all mocap systems work in roughly the same way, some of this information will vary slightly depending on a couple of things:

1. The type of mocap hardware and software used to capture and process the data. For example, the data from inertial systems like the Xsens MVN Link System don’t require “tracking”. The sensors are “labelled” with unique IDs and “tracked” in the software using WiFi. So, unless the performer goes out of WiFi range, the system always knows where the trackers are and what they’re doing. HOWEVER, the data from these systems can require processing to correct other issues like floor contacts and positional drift, which is usually done at the “tracking” stage outlined below.
2. The pipeline and terminology used by different studios and departments. For example, I’ve avoided the phrase “clean data” as it can get used interchangeably throughout the process by different departments to describe different things. Sometimes “tracked data” is called “clean data” by the mocap department as all the errors have been “cleaned up”. Similarly, “motion edited” data is sometimes called “clean data” by animators as all the errors in that have been “cleaned up”. So, if you find out you’re getting “clean data”, make sure you check who’s doing it and what you’re actually getting.

If you want to know what that happens before a mocap shoot, like how to calibrate cameras, where to put markers, and perform a Range Of Motion (ROM), then check out How to Mocap a Performer using a Vicon Mocap System.