Motion capture as subset of Motion Tracking

From: Lisa Naugle (lnaugle@uci.edu)
Date: 01/06/02


>How about calling the motion capture for animation "motion capture" and
>referring to the second form as "motion trigger."  The second form of
>technology is more about triggering a pre-scripted event, whether that be a
>sound, light, or video projection, while the first is about "capturing" or
>documenting precise movements made by the entire body through time.

The term "Motion Tracking" is often used to describe video based motion
"sensing" and in an environment where there is mutual influence
(interactivity) between movement and other media.    The object (presence
of the dancer) is "tracked" in space and time and influences the events.
The word "triggering" implies a control paradigm which is more limiting and
in my experience, less useful than a paradigm of tracking or mutual
influence.   Trigger means "this" causes "that" and is a one-to-one mapping
between a movement and an event.  Triggering implies a single thing is
happening...turing on and off...a  binary condition.  Whereas mutual
influence implies  more room for nuance and other forms of interactivty
rather than straight forward trigggering.  Motion tracking can be used for
interactivity, that is tracking the attributes of the motion in the video.

Motion capture  is a sub-set of motion tracking, that is, tracking markers
of a moving object or person.  It is a very specific method.   Motion
capture is a form of motion tracking that is speciialized for the needs of
3D animation.

Video based motion capture uses video motion tracking technology to make
itslef happen.    Magnetic motion capture uses magnetic motion tracking
technology.

Best,
Lisa
=====================================
Dr. Lisa Naugle
Assistant Professor
Dance and Technology
University of California, Irvine
School of the Arts, Department of Dance
MAB 300
Irvine, California  92697-2775
email:  lnaugle@uci.edu
tel:  (949) 824-3209
fax:  (949) 824-4563
http://www.arts.uci.edu/lnaugle/



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