Motion Capture

Synonyms

MoCap; Motion capturing; Motion tracking; Performance capture

Related Concepts

Kinematic Motion Models; Multiview Stereo

Definition

Motion capture is the process of recording the motion of a subject, processing it on a computer, and mapping it onto a virtual character.

Background

Parameterizing human motion is not just of academic interest, e.g., for studying the muscoskeletal system of humans, but has many applications in the industry. Historically, the first motion capture systems have been developed in the 1970s and 1980s to perform gait analysis in clinical settings. Today, however, sports sciences and the entertainment industry make heavy use of the technology as well. The setups are also not constrained to human gait analysis any longer. Instead, full-body motion of several humans, animals, stage props, and virtual cameras can be processed in real time.

When capturing motion, it is commonly assumed that the body or object can be decomposed into rigidly moving parts...