Free MOCAP databases - Stage 1

alejandro escobar
Apr 4, 2019
1 min read

I’ve recently started experimenting with MOCAP animations. For my first test, I used a free MOCAP database from Carnegie Mellon University.

First, I placed my 3D dinosaur model in Blender.

Then, I downloaded a MOCAP database that was translated so it could be used with Blender (see link below). I selected a “walk” animation file (see .xlsx file database reference) and imported it directly as an armature

Then, I attached it to my mesh. It is worth mentioning that this MOCAP file was created to fit a regular human body, so I had to try different ways to attach it to my chubby character. Finally, after raising my model arms and also rotating the armature bones, I was able to get the hands moving without colliding with the sides of the belly.

The initial MOCAP animation only lasted for 344 frames. In order to get a longer animation, I decided to make four different renders, creating one camera for each take and rendering individual image sequences.

Finally, I imported all 4 image sequences into Adobe Premiere, added a soundtrack from the YouTube Audio Library (free) and rendered a video.