Case study: optical or stretch for your hand capture?

Optical body & StretchSense hands

We compared  optical body and hand mocap, and optical body with StretchSense hands. Which solution is best for you?

ABOUT THIS CASE STUDY

We figured that our unique hand motion capture solution would save customers who need premium hands a lot of time. So we set out to test our theory.

SCOPE OF WORK

StretchSense cuts keyframing by 82%

We carried out an animation project using a combination of optical body with optical hands, and optical body with StretchSense hands for the motion capture component. On completion of the project we found that the StretchSense solution was over 4x faster.

Production time optical and StretchSense
0 %
Reduction in motion editing and polish pass for hands
0 %
Reduction in post-production data clean-up
0 %
Reduction across all production stages

A fair and equal test to find the fastest hand solution

Because StretchSense data provides a smooth FCurve straight from the glove, there was next to no hand data clean-up and the time spent keyframing hands was significantly reduced. 

The hypothesis

Content creators can produce high quality animated hand content faster by using StretchSense gloves, compared to an industry standard optical solution. 

The method

We simultaneously collected hand data from the motion capture performance using both the optical and stretch sensor solutions. 
• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-production data clean-up
• Motion editing and keyframe animation polish pass

The tests were conducted at the StretchSense motion capture stage in Seattle.

The project

Our dancer performed a complex finger tutting sequence, which we used to test the difference each solution made to production speed.
The motion data captured was then mapped to a MetaHuman character using MotionBuilder and then Maya.

Optical and stretch sensors compared
Play Video about Optical and stretch sensors compared

The FCurves

When we analyzed the numbers, even we were surprised at the final results. If your project needs nuanced, spectacularly realistic hands, the FCurves speak for themselves.

Pre-production

Setting up to capture finger data

Because StretchSense uses on-glove sensors instead of cameras, you don’t need to spend hours optimizing your camera setup to capture finger data.

Pre-production time reduced by 160 minutes using StretchSense for hands.

Production

A little bit of extra work upfront, saves a lot of time in post-production

Hand Engine lets you design key poses ahead of a shoot, then uses pose detection when you’re capturing a scene to output the hand pose keyframes you designed in sync with the performer’s body motion. This is a key part to how StretchSense is able to save animators so much time in the polish pass.

Post-Production

Speed through
post-production

StretchSense gloves don’t suffer from occlusion or drift, and the measurements taken by the sensors are consistently accurate, which means you can bypass the data clean-up phase of development and go straight to your animation polish pass, saving time in post-production.

Motion Editing / Animation Polish Pass

Stretch sensors are accurate and faithfully record performer movement.

This significantly reduces the amount of finger keyframe animation polish for animators. And by designing key poses ahead and capturing them using our Pose Detection technology you get challenging poses right on production day, and don’t have to spend hours fixing them in the polish pass.

Hands tell engaging stories

With a 50% lower production cost, studios can start using hands as a creative weapon.

Hands are central to human storytelling but are often marginalized in animated content due to the time and complexity they add to production.

This is no longer the case.

MetaHuman hands
Play Video about Hand potential. Unlocked.

All I can think about is the man-years I could have saved with a tool like this on GTA, Red Dead Redemption and Halo.

CJ Markham

Motion Capture Solutions Architect, StretchSense

How StretchSense helps studios use hands in their creative

Hands are a pillar of non-verbal communication and can be used to make your characters more expressive.

Less time to create

When hand content takes less time to create, it's easier to say "yes!" to including hands in your content

Dramatically reduced clean-up

Near zero clean-up means the data you collect using our solution is a truer reflection of the performer's motion. Lifelike realism is preserved, which improves the quality of your content

Competitive edge

The time you save creating hand content, can be spent finding new ways to increase audience engagement

CJ in Studio

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