MoCap for the Archive mm

Class Time and Location

Thursdays, 6:00-8:30pm from 10/24/2024 - 12/12/2024

370 Jay Street | Media Commons Room 220 (2nd Floor)

Instructor: Ami Mehta

Course Description

How can motion capture (MoCap) be used to archive, preserve, and share intangible heritage forms, such as performing arts, rituals, and other social practices and traditions? This course approaches motion capture through the lens of ethnography – drawing on observation, participation, and qualitative design research methods. This class will offer an overview of different motion capture technologies, such as 2D-3D pose estimation and depth mapping, with a practical focus on learning the OptiTrack system at ITP. We will start by covering the basics of OptiTrack and build up to other workflows and techniques used across animation, game design, and virtual production (OptiTrack to Unreal Engine).

Course Objectives

• Explore motion capture technologies (body and hand capture) and their applications in animation, game design, and virtual production.
• Develop practical skills and best practices for using OptiTrack and Motive to capture, edit, and render motion capture data.
• Become familiar with motion capture-related animation, game design, and virtual production workflows in MotionBuilder and Unreal Engine, including character retargeting, rigging, and scene creation.
• Understand the importance of highlighting social and cultural contexts when documenting meaningful movement practices.
• Learn about ethnographic research and design methods (advantages and limitations), including observation, conducting fieldwork or interviews, audiovisual explorations, and working with archives and collections.
• Create a personal or collective narrative archive that is culturally informed, ethically sensitive, and combines motion capture and ethnographic approaches to represent a chosen movement practice.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this class, however, it is recommended to have taken Hypercinema.

Equipment

Hardware

• [ ] PC with Mouse - Media Commons or HyperLab by Appointment
• [ ] External Hard Drive or SD Card (I recommend buying one to back up your files for class)!