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922 Chapter 14: Character Studio
Mot ion Captur e Conv ers ion
Pa r a met er s D i a lo g
Create or select a biped. > Motion panel > Motion
Capture rollout > Load Mot ion Capture File button >
Open a fi le. Load motion capture data. > M otion panel >
Motion Capture rollout > Convert from Buffer button
Motion-capture and marker data typically have
keys at every frame. Filtering motion-capture
data reduces keys, making the job of altering or
personalizing the motion data much simpler.
Other filtering options include footstep extraction,
apply ing the skeletal structu re stored in the
motion-capture file to the biped, looping the data,
importing a por t ion of the motion-capture file,
and selecting tracks to load.
Motion-Capture Buffer
Any file imported using Load Motion Capture
File is stored in its raw (nonfiltered) form in the
motion-capturebuffer. Thisbufferisusedto
try new filtering options with the Convert From
Buffer command, and to paste keys from the raw
motion-capture data to the biped using Paste
From Buffer on the Motion Capture rollout. The
Show Buffer command displays a stick figure that
represents the buffered data.
You can create your ow n library of imported and
optimized motion-capture data by saving .
bip
files for use with other characters or as part of a
longer script in Motion Flow mode. Use a biped
that has no mesh attached to it with Physique. You
import the data, adjust it to your li king, and save it
as a .
bip file. You can also run standard . bip files
throughthisfilteringprocesstocreateloopsorto
extract footsteps from a freeform animation.
Note: Marker files contain position data. Regular
motion-capture files contain joint
rotation data.
biped. ini Pa r ameter s
The biped.ini text file in the \plu gcfg directory
hasparametersforsmoothingthevaluesof
motion-capture joint angles for the body’s center
of mass, the spine, and the head during import.
The lines appear as below:
MocapHeightSmoothing=0
MocapBodyHorzSmoothing=0
MocapBodyRotSmoothing=0
MocapSpineSmoothing=0
MocapHeadSmoothing=0
Higher values of smoothing will cause the importer
to filter and "smooth out" the data using a gaussian
filter, ta k ing out spikes and jerks in the motion.
These values must be integers, and can range from
0 to any high number, but pract ical values would
probably always be less than 10. Fo r most cases,
smoothingisnotneeded,sothedefaultvaluesare
set to zero.
Procedure
To use Fit To Existing to impor t a motion-capture file:
Use a motion-capture file that contains footsteps
and other mot ion. A handspring motion would
be ideal for this example.
1. Select a biped.
2. Click Motion panel > Motion Capture rollout
>LoadMotionCaptureFile.
3. Select a motion-capture file.
The Motion Capture Conversion Parameters
dialog displays.
4. Se t Footstep Extraction to On, then click OK.
Themotion-capturefileloads.
5. Select Motion Capture rollout > Show Buffer to
display raw motion-capture data as a red stick
figure, then click Play.
During the “hand spring” period of the
playback, the hands on the red stick figure
representing the raw motion data touch the