The Animator's Motion Capture Guide: Organizing, Managing, Editing (Charles River Media Game Development)

Character motion is one of the most critical elements in creating a believable look for a video game, animated project, or movie special effect. Good character motion can quickly take the viewer into the imaginary world and help sell the scene, while bad character motion can just as quickly ruin the believability of a game or scene. Without a doubt, motion capture gives you the most realistic synthetic motion possible, and for this reason many companies use motion capture as the source for many of their animations. The Animator's Motion Capture Guide is written for all levels of animators, artists, project managers, and companies who wish to handle their motion capture effectively and efficiently. It is written from a motion coordinator's (lead animator's) point of view and gives a plan for handling motion capture, whether on a single project or multiple projects. It provides you with a complete, start-to-finish plan for dealing with motion capture, hints on selecting a motion capture service bureau, how to cut costs, and how to streamline your process. It also gives you a motion capture glossary and lists of motion capture service bureaus and performers. This book is a "must-have" for animators, managers, and video game companies who want to approach motion capture in a uniform, thorough, professional, and efficient manner.