MOTION CAPTURE SALES EXPLODE

IN THE last 12 months motion capture companies have seen growth in sales that can only be described as explosive.
The thirst of the Asian markets to adopt the best animation technology is set to have a serious impact on Western studios and post houses within the next 18 months.
It's still true however that the nature of motion capture's contribution to the animation industry is often misunderstood by those outside it.
Mocap isn't used to replace the traditional skills of animators developed over decades in cartoon production: 2D animation achieves much of its effectiveness by subverting the rules - making characters stretch and squash, and distorting them for comic effect.
By contrast, the value of motion capture to the animation industry is in its ability to capture the actor's performance exactly, and present it
almost immediately in a form the 3D animator can use. It's this ability to precisely reproduce what the performer did that is at the core of motion capture's appeal to directors, animators and special effects artists - even if the character they are creating looks nothing like the actor.
(GB)