Vicon launch head mounted mocap and say Kinect not a threat
Aug 16, 2013 No Comments
I recently got the chance to check out Vicon’s Cara HeadRig – a head mounted device that uses four cameras to track fine motion detail of an actor’s face.
Four 720P monochrome cameras running at 60fps track tiny markers on the user’s face. A logger unit, which can be thought of as a powerful compact PC, performs compression of that video in real time. This data can then be wirelessly transmitted into a solution called Cara Live which is a live monitoring system.
Cara Post is the offline suite that produces 3D motion data using the 2D information from the cameras. It features a lot of automation so is designed to dramatically reduce the amount of time required for manual intervention.
Audiomotion Studios is Europe's leading performance capture service provider which already own over 160 Vicon cameras and were part of the Alpha programme.
Framestore also spoke about using it for the production of Jupiter Ascending.
"Head mounted cameras are the way forward when it comes to large scale capture stages" said Ben Guthrie, motion capture supervisor, Framestore. "Through beta testing of Cara we've seen at Framestore that Vicon is an innovator in the industry. Cara offers four synchronised high-speed cameras with full wireless connectivity, and a robust dot tracking solution that integrates well into existing Vicon motion capture products as well as being a solid standalone system.'
After the press event, I exclusively interviewed Phil Elderfeld, Product Manager of Vicon, and started by asking if the increasingly popularity of Andoid/iOS games will reduce the demand for ultra-realistic animation in computer games…
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[PE] We’ve seen both the amount and quality level of mocap steadily rise in games as a percentage of output. Without doubt the rise of games with simpler graphics and gameplay has had an impact on the level of high end animation being produced in games in general but those that are still successfully producing this kind of output are using more and more mocap and the realism level is unquestionably increasing. In this sector we’re seeing the similarity between film production and game production growing in terms both of quality and production process and the desire to close this gap seems to be getting stronger.
3D Focus:What would stop a system like this being used for real-time character animation?
[PE] Real time facial animation form motion capture is already being asked for and there is no question in my mind that the demand will grow. There are systems which can produce RT right now but the need is largely for pre-vizualisation and virtual production rather than producing final animation which tends still to be an offline process. This is simply down to the achievable quality levels right now.
There are parallels to be drawn with the history of body mocap where, once creatives saw the potential and possibilities of realtime, the tech responded and good RT in body capture is now taken for granted.
So there’s nothing theoretically to prevent real time using head mounted facial capture systems (except of course for the hard work and skill of a lot of talented people!) and we have a close eye on this growth in demand. Right now we’re concentrating on getting the highest quality sourced data we can and offline processing to represent as truthfully as possible the performance which happened on the day. For us, as builder of motion capture systems, this has to be the starting point.
3D Focus: What feedback have you had from actors wearing the Cara system?
[PE] We’ve been testing Cara for some time with a large number of experienced actors and customers and the feedback has, as you would expect, improved as we’ve moved closer to release with earlier feedback being accommodated in the design. In fact, the cameras and recording system has been successfully used in production during development.
From the beginning however we’ve be been told that the openness of the head rig infrastructure is good, allowing clear visibility from the actor’s POV and a good view of the actors face by director and crew. This move towards keeping the tech out of the face of the performer, both figuratively and literally, was always a significant design goal.
3D Focus: What have been the biggest challenges in developing Cara?
[PE] One of the most challenging parts of developing Cara has been getting the head rig to fit a large number of head shapes and types out of the box. We’ve been working toward a compromise of tightness of fit, to supply rigidity, and looseness for comfort. From early feedback it was clear that we had the emphasis too heavily on rigidity and the rig was too tight. Having reacted to that, most recent feedback suggests that, for the vast majority of heads, we’ve got the balance about right.
This is helped by work we’ve done in software to account for some motion between the cameras and arms on which they’re mounted. We calculate the positions of the cameras on every frame during processing (dynamically calibrate) which means that it’s easier to cope with some of the motion which might be caused by taking the head rig on and off to take a break for example.
In terms of data output from CaraPost, the feedback has been very encouraging. We hoped to provide good data at minimal expense through automation and the feedback has suggested that, to reach comparable quality levels, Cara has saved a huge amount of time like for like against alternative methods to get to the same kind of data.
3D Focus: How does this compare to other facial motion capture solutions?
[PE] Cara is the first complete, everything you need in a box, head mounted capture system of this quality level that’s ever been produced. Many other systems are designed for one specific processing pipeline but Cara has been designed to provide choices so that the user isn’t forced down one path. They can use one, two, three or four cameras depending on how they want to use the captured data and we’re working with a number of other suppliers in facial capture to make sure Cara will work with their systems and processes.
We are however offering an output, if the user chooses it, which focuses on the highest possible quality 3D data. We’ve seen a move demand in the direction of 3D as opposed to single camera 2D data since this gives you the most truthful representation of the actual motion of the performance on the day. With 2D single cameras solutions, sometimes some interpretation or modelling has to play a role in order to infer the depth information whereas if you can capture the motion in all dimensions at source you’re more likely to get at the performance.
3D Focus: Do you consider low cost devices like Kinect 2 as a threat to your business?
[PE] The current state of the art for such systems is remarkable for certain applications like interactive control systems but the motion resolution it’s possible to achieve using these doesn’t yet come close to what’s possible with an optical motion capture system or high resolution video imagery from multiple cameras.
Having said that, there are some impressive facial systems out there right now which use this kind of depth sensor tech and do an extremely good job for applications which require lower motion resolution. Rather than a threat, we’re keen to work with those that produce these systems and find ways to cooperate to mutual advantage and that of the industry as a whole.
Also, we’re far from complacent and are always cognisant of what’s happening in the market and exploring what other techniques we might use to complement our current solutions.
3D Focus: You seem very focussed on games and VFX – why is this and are their medical (or other) applications for Cara?
PE] Cara is essentially a mini, multiple camera video capture system. This means that it could be put to almost any use that requires such capability. In this initial release we are focussing on facial capture in entertainment however, Vicon serves the Life Science and Engineering markets as well as the Entertainment sector.
I’m looking forward to seeing the ways in which Cara gets used as it gets into the field. For sure our users find ways to use the system we could never have imagined.
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