<p><span style="font-style: italic;">New Plug-in Enables Users toCreate or Retarget Data Inside Maya in Real-time</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Guilford, UK </span>– September
19, 2011 – Bringing a new age of motion capture processing to the industry</p>
<p></p>
<p>IKinema™ LTD announced today
that the leading VFX house in London, Framestore, has incorporated IKinema
technology into its motion capture production pipeline. Chosen for its
powerful, fast and remarkably controllable design, IKinema’s inverse kinematics
(IK) solver is now the key motion capture solving and retargeting tool
that Framestore uses to create special effects and animation for both its
broadcast and VFX projects.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"The IKinema solver is a
fantastic solution for a wide range of skeleton control issues,” said</p>
<p>Nicolas Scapel, head of rigging
at Framestore. "By using IKinema’s advanced solver settings</p>
<p>and its extremely flexible
constraint system, we have been able to iteratively improve our solving
solution and accuracy. With the ability to easily reproduce this same setup
script on many shots, we will be shaving days and weeks off our production
time.”</p>
<p>Once Framestore integrated
IKinema into its core motion capture pipeline, the results they had been hoping
for began to appear. It is now possible to take tracked and filtered point
cloud data from mocap software and easily animate a high-resolution skeleton by
assigning their data to a linked set of joints. This process can be scripted
via IKinema SDK and reused on every future take, which saves time by producing
high-quality results.</p>
<p>For a recent VFX project, it was
extremely important for Framestore to obtain the most accurate and truthful
reproduction of a particular actor’s motion. By overlaying IKinema’s solver
with calibrated witness camera footage, Framestore was able to determine how
well the solver matched the actor’s movement. Not only did the solver prove
incredibly accurate, but it also gave the studio a newfound flexibility that
streamlined the entire mocap solving and retargeting pipeline.</p>
<p></p>
<p>"IKinema’s strength lies in that
it is very generic, not hardcoded for a simple biped or</p>
<p>quadruped,” continues Nicolas.
"On top of supporting any skeleton topology, the solver speed is really
amazing. The advanced skeleton controls, such as joint limits and the flexible
constraint system, make it very easy to adapt to a wide range of IK production
circumstances. IKinema is really unique in what it does, and how it does it –
it’s like something we have always beenmissing without knowing it…”</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">IKinema Technology</span></p>
<p>IKinema technology enables users
to create and retarget data directly inside Maya, in real-time and for a
fraction of the cost of alternative solutions. IKinema converts virtually any
skeleton model to a full feature rig while generating fluid and life-like
full-body animation for a wide range of characters. Retargeting can also be
executed from other models, for rapid customizations of existing assets, or
directly from motion capture data such as position markers and joint data.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Additional features include
real-time links to Vicon and Xsens motion capture systems for realtime
streaming, retargeting and recording of data, as well as automatic balance and
center of mass control for rapid animation. For more information and a
technology video, please visit:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ikinema.com/Maya.html">http://www.ikinema.com/Maya.html</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span></p>
<p><sub><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">About Framestore</span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub>Framestore is one of the largest
visual effects and computer animation studios in Europe, with more than 20
years of experience in digital film and video technology. It has won and
received nominations for dozens of international accolades for work on major
feature film productions. In 2008, Framestore won a BAFTA and an Academy Award
for best visual effects in recognition</sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub>for the polar bears and
environments they created for "The Golden Compass.” In 2009, it was nominated
for the same awards for their work on "The Dark Knight.” Framestore was also
the only UK facility awarded shots on James Cameron's "Avatar,” a film that
went on to win the 2010 Academy Award for best visual effects. In 2011,
Framestore was nominated for a best visual effects Oscar again, for work
completed on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part1.”</sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Current Film projects
include</span><span style="font-style: italic;">: "War Horse,” "Gravity,” "Johnny English Reborn,” "Captain</span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub><span style="font-style: italic;">America: The First Avenger,”
"Clash of the Titans 2,” "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of</span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub><span style="font-style: italic;">Shadows” and "Tinker, Tailor,
Soldier, Spy.”</span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub><span style="font-weight: bold;">About IKinema</span></sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub>Based in the UK, IKinema™ uses
patent-pending technology for fast full-body solving and</sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub>animation. With customers
ranging from Framestore’s London Studio to Twentieth Century</sub></p><sub>
</sub><p><sub>Fox’s pre-visualization
department, IKinema’s technology enables animators to rig characters and
stream, record and retarget motion capture data in a fraction of the time and
cost of alternative solutions. Available as game middleware, standalone
software or an online solution, IKinema’s technology is poised to radically
simplify the motion capture workflows for professionals.</sub></p>