8

780 Chapter 14: Character Studio
Usi ng M otion-Capt ure Dat a
Besidesanimatingabipedwithfootstepsorwith
keyframing (freeform animation), you c an import
amotion-capturefile.Theoverallworkflowfor
motion capture is straightforward:
• Import the motion-capture data
See
Importing Motion-Capture Data (page
2–912)
.
•Filterthedata
Motion-capture files are typically dense,
w ith ke ys on every frame. Filtering the data
reduces the number of keys, resulting in an
animation with better performance. You filter
the data with the
Motion Capture Conversion
Parameters dialog (p age 2–922)
.Thisdialog
can reduce large numbers of keys at once. It is
displayed when you use the Motion Capture
rollout to load a BIP, BVH, or CSM file. Once
you have loaded a motion-capture file, you can
filter the data further by clicking Convert From
Buffer (also on the Motion Capture rollout),
which also displays this dialog.
See
Filtering Motion-Capture and Marker Data
(page 2–912)
.
• (Optional) Edit the data
Once you are happy with the converted
animation, you can use the freeform animation
tools to make specific changes.
Tip: The Motion Mixer (page 2–581) provides
another way to edit motion-capture data.
Motion-capture files can be one of three file
types: the native character studio BIP format, the
BioVision (BVH) format, or the Character Studio
Marker (CSM) format.
Foranintroductiontousingmotioncapture,see
the tutorial “Working with Motion-Capture Data.”
Correcting Posture
A particular motion file might position a biped
body part inappropriately. For example, the
collarbones might be rotated down too far,
affecting your mesh deformation. All you need
to do is go into Figure mode, rotate the biped
collarbones up, and then exit Figure mode: this
corrects the collarbone position for the entire
animation. The motion references the Figure
mode position, if the biped is adjusted, and this
adjustment is reflected in your animation when
you exit Figure mode.
Tip: Save a FIG file for the biped pose you used
whenyouappliedPhysique. Thenyoucanuse
the FIG file to reload this position if you need to
reapply the Physique modifier or reinitialize the
Physique settings.
How B i ped Us es Figur e M ode
When you animate the biped, the Biped plug-in
maintains the at-rest pose you have created for
these elements of the biped body:
•Spine
•Neck
•Clavicles
•Tail
•Ponytails
• Center of mass position, relative to the body.
WhenBipedadaptsthekeyframedmotionsstored
in BIP files to different characters, the keyframes of
the above elements are recreated as an offset from
the at-rest po sture a ss ociated with each character’s
figure. The at-rest posture associated with the
armsandlegsisalwaysassumedtobeastanding
posture, with str aight legs.