Have there ever been any mocap animations for SL

I know the cost would be astronomical, but is there anything like mocap technology used for animations in SL?

I just got my new computer set up and SL ROCKS for me again. To celebrate, I thought I'd try to flesh out my inventory with some new animations now that I have a frame rate in the double digits. Motion capture could make some top of the line dances and walks. Is there such a thing?

Sine Wave Island.

Tons of 'em.

And some very cool ones at that. I want the male AO.

Several of the "big name" animation merchants use cleaned-up mocap, so it's definitely not something which is "out of league".
I remember Sine Wave and Animazoo off the top of my head. That said, mo-cap is definitely not the "be-all, end-all" of SL animation, and for example Craig Altman's Bits and Bobs animations show that with careful attention to detail, "classical" animation is just as good.
(Mocap or not, Sine Wave has bunches of great dances, though

Stroker Serpentine uses mocap for his sex animations, right?

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A couple of low cost Mo-cap systems are being developed. Give it a few years and it will be common and 79.95 at Fry's Electronic.

Gee -- I had no idea. I'll go check out Sine Wave. Thanks.

All of the animations now produced by Abramelin Wolfe of Abranimations are made with high quality motion capture, including the sex animations! Yes real life sex movement!

...do they have that typical "not today honey i have migraines"?

Sine Waves and Animazoo are the two big suppliers of mocap animations - but remember that mocap can only be as good as the person wearing the mocap suit. They really can score where you want a movement that an ordinary human being is capable of - but if you want an olympic gymnast or a prima ballerina, then you may well have problems locating one willing to put on a mocap suit.

You may also find that your looped mocap dance has more of a jump back to the beginning then you might like, because looping relies on going back to the exact position as you started from - unfortunately human beings are never that accurate; even trained dancers can't get themselves exactly back to their start position.

Of course, synchronising couples animations is a problem, even if you have two mocap suits and can capture two animations simultaneously.

AOs are another issue because you have to animate "on the spot" - i.e., no travel - to make an ao. You have to mocap someone walking on a treadmill and the movement is never quite the same as a normal walk - and the looping problem remains.

A lot of mocap information just can't be shown in an SL (human) avatar. Your avatar has just 19 joints in its skeleton - a human body has many more, and the mocap detail can't be fully reflected in SL.

Animations for non-human avatars are another area outside of mocap capability - eg, tinies and quadruped avatars. So it's a matter of the best tool for the job, rather than mocap is better.

Already mentioned, but ya - Animazoo. They have some great dances thanks to mocap.

Mari

There may be such a thing as mocap for quadrapeds.



http://www.mastudios.com/services_animal.html

Oh bless! What a wonderful idea - but I'm afraid it is all to do with the SL avatar skeleton and it's just not the same as a real 4 legged animal.

[EDIT: - for anyone interested. To make an SL avatar into a quadruped, like my little pony avatar in my pic for example, the avatars legs and arms are folded over so that the avatar is effectively walking on the knees and elbows. The rest of the body is folded over to make a small shape that will fit inside the avatar prim attachments. The head may be bent down into the chest, for example. You still have the same 19 joints available to animate, but some are fixed in anatomically impossible positions whilst others are moved in ways that they would not normally move, so as to simulate a tiny avatar or a quadruped.]

i agree you can see the joints twist in sort of strange ways if you look close enough in some really wild dances but the looping is easily fixed by either importing moves that are close to the finish of the loop or editing the file..the closer the dancer makes it back to the X on the floor where they started the less work in adjusting the animation..but taking it straight into sl i'm sure it would be pretty jumpy if they didn't edit..i think when you see nicely done animations like say sine waves..they have spent alot more time editing after to make sure they look just right..some just plop them out there and go with it..you can really see the difference..

Vise-versa! Sine Waves animations are poorly done, they could be so much more, they do not ease in or out and are at a bad priority that don't play well with other anims sadly.

You often see this in clubs with their dances in dance balls or dance machines, in the midst of the dance the dancer will suddenly disappear and instantly appear elsewhere. Also if you try to hold a purse or drink or something else, the dance will break it and your drink will spill or look preposterous.

Animazoo and other makers' animations DO ease in and out, so smoothly transition from one dance to another AND you can hold things and combine other animations with them happily!

Ironically, you just set three things when uploading to have anims work so nicely in SL, it's really a shame they didn't do that properly with such popular dances.

Where do I sign up to be the guy in the suit ???????

Im also using mocap technology for Animations.
It was a challenge to make this stuff compatible to sl cause of the limited file size, but now the results are fantastic!

Everyone would say that, but i am sure that my animations are using 100% of the sl potential. You cant do it better atm.

If you guys want to see how we record dances you can watch our youtube clip from the studio: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=1jx0krR1YIw

Im currently working on 100 new dances who will be finished at the end of juli.
If you want to test them you will find the first dances and sex animations in my store with daily updates.

I have well into L$5000 invested in Sine Wave animations loaded in my Chimera, and I gotta say, it's monies well spent when visiting a club with friends. Especially when the club owners don't put much effort in their own dance ball and everyone else is stuck settling for "dance 14". (=_=)y

Yes.
That's why the animations work great if your avatar is wearing a gimp suit, but not so convincing if you're naked.





eh.....


I just made that up about the gimp suit!
I really wouldn't know...

I tend to buy a lot of the animazoo ones, and some Sine Wave ones (the hopper, ftw!). unfortunately, these are more for 'dults, so I have to be picky, an are usually just dances. I would love to see some AO-worthy kid walks, stands, etc.

Mari
(Really, I'd pay for them an everyting!)

Please may I put in my request for some good acrobatic pole dances? I like Sine's for smoothness but they're not very exciting for actual pole work.

Similarly, I know there's a demand for a GOOD lapdance set. All that's out there seem to be the belly dance and variations on it which is nothing like a good lapdance system.

Please get some mocap on some good lapdancers and for male poses, you seem to already have volunteers.

Huh? I have over 30 sine wave dances on my Chim and never *pop* around at the end of each cycle, I also have a few owen's on it and even they mesh with the Sine wave well....only time I see things like you discribe is on Dance balls that come with 25 "free" dances included.

A problem arises when those controllers switch animations. They have to be designed to take account of the timespan of the animations, and the animation has to return the avatar to start point at the end.
If the timing it not in synch with the animation cycle or if a cheapo animation ends away from the start point, unreality bites.

I agree, Kyllie...Sine Wave dances are very high quality.

They're expanding, too. They now have pole dances, couples dances, and lots of teeny animation clips you can collect for various purposes.

Mocap is getting more affordable. I saw a system recently that started at under $5,000. This is still pretty pricey, if all you plan on doing with it is making animations for SL. I think most of the people using mocap for SL have access to a system that was purchased for other reasons.

problem is allways to find good & affordable dancers...

but i will do some lapdance stuff soon