Efeitos visuais, da trucagem óptica à captura digital de movimento

Abstract

This thesis describes the development of an open source real time motion capture system - the OpenMoCap - and its applications and impact to audiovisual, inside visual effects and digital image production. The various steps to produce, from scratch, motion capture data to animate characters for cinema, television and games are related. The software carries out the entire pipeline for acquisition of motion data and its output in appropriate formats to modeling and animation software. The expertise to work with motion capture and visual effects is presented, step by step, with examples from mainstream production. A web portal has being constructed, centered in character animation and augmentedreality with motion capture, to disseminate its use and to attract contributions from developers to improve its source code. Motion capture is a valuable technique for character animation in motion pictures, games and augmented reality. Unfortunately, most of the motion capture systems currently available are expensive and proprietary. In face of this reality, an open source application for optical motion capture was developed based on digital image analysis techniques. The defined architecture is designed for real time motion analysis of markers, being flexible and modular. It allows the addition of new optimized modules for specific functions, as different cameras sets and marker-less motion capture, taking advantage of the existing ones. Three applications in character animation with motion capture and OpenMoCap are being done at the present moment to show the feasibility of the software to different types of uses. The first one is a short movie with the theatrical company Galpão, the second is for character animation in Dango Balango, a telecast from Rede Minas de Televisão, and the latter is a digital game.