Leading VFX house, Framestore in London took full advantage
of IKinema Action to produce accurate and realistic animation for complex
visual effects sequences, in recently released Wrath of the Titans. With
newfound flexibility and armed with a strengthened and dynamic pipeline, Framestore
are set to further tread new ground with Actions’ superior solver and animation
toolset.
Movement and
performance for three extremely different Cyclops characters was closely
researched before the mocap shoot. Motion capture is renowned for taking on a
‘mo-capped’ feel and detail can be lost during any stage of the data’s
lifecycle. Framestore found the solver proved incredibly accurate for matching
the solver to actors’ motion and performance. Actions’ unique
retargeting capability of mocap data transferal to creatures of varying scales,
helped towards the streamlining process.
Nico Scapel, Head of Rigging at
Framestore explains “the real challenge is to get the
most accurate and truthful reproduction of the actors’ motion. By overlaying IKinema’s
solver with calibrated witness camera footage, we can check how well the solver
matches the actors’ movement.”
The
software allows developers earlier creative control, and work ’under the skin’
of assets to freely fine-tune and fix a models behavior, compared to
traditional rigid methods. Scapel, “The key to great mocap
is how you give it to animation.
Many studios have a mocap department which has
a large motion editing team – they cannot do technical animation – and they
fiddle with the mocap to make it work in the shots and then it goes to
Animation, who are often less than thrilled with what they get. We wanted to
give as close as possible to the raw performance to the animators and to let
them work it up from there.” The team is keen to apply Actions’ diverse rigging
capabilities and StretchIK feature to their pipeline on further productions.
Alexandre Pechev, CEO
of IKinema, “We’re really pleased to lend a hand in Framestore’s animation
processes. We’ve developed a close relationship with the team at Framestore and
we’ll be there to support them. This is a great example where with the clients
input, we are able to bring new ideas and technologies to the industry”.
IKinema Technology
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. Additional features include StretchIK
for real-time marker solving with spine and neck stretch and bone manipulation,
real-time links to Vicon and Xsens motion capture systems for real-time
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: www.ikinema.com/Maya.html
About
Framestore
Framestore has more than 20 years of experience in digital film and
video technology, with offices in London, New York and Reykjavik. 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 for the polar bears and
environments they created for “The Golden Compass.” In 2009, it was nominated
for the same awards for 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, Part 1 and in 2012 Framestore was nominated for
a BAFTA for work on “War Horse.”
Current Film projects
include: “Gravity” and “47 Ronin”.
About IKinema
Based
in the UK, IKinema™ uses patent-pending technology for fast full-body solving
and animation.
With customers ranging from Framestore’s London Studio to
Twentieth Century 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.
©
Copyright 2012
IKinema is a registered trademark of IKinema LTD., in the UK
and/or other countries. All products or
brand names mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders.
Reader
contact:
Siobhán Hofma shofma@ikinema.com