Motion capture is one of those technologies that seems all hi-tech and futurey, until you see a grown man walking around a studio in a onesie with a bunch of ping pong balls stuck to him. Disney’s about to change that.
Working with Carnegie Mellon University, Disney Research has made a breakthrough in motion capture that lets actors wear cameras instead of the tracking balls. This lets directors take the action outside the studio and into the world at large. Sports games are a great example of complex motion sequences that are difficult to capture in the confines of a studio.
The new technique, called “Structure from Motion”, uses about 20 outward-facing cameras strapped to the actors, which are calibrated based on their placement on the body and external reference points. It’s not quite ready for actual use yet, since it’s not yet as precise as traditional motion capture, and just one minute of data can take a whole day to process. But it’s going to be pretty awesome when you can strap a bunch of GoPros to yourself and record motion data of you doing all maner of reckless, debaucherous, or otherwise irresponsible things. [Carnegie Mellon via TechCrunch]