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
- Motion capture
- Clean-up and polish
- Animation
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.
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.Â
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.
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.
“
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
Ready to get started?
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