First Outdoor Sonar Motion Capture Shoot

The 'Motion in Place Platform' University of Sussex project has chosen Animazoo Sonar Hybrid technology to research and record the movement and interaction of humans at a variety archeological sites in the United Kingdom, beginning on a site near Silchester, Hampshire.

Previously when creating digital visualizations of sites or reenactments motion capture data would be recorded indoors with a mock up of the site. By utilizing an Animazoo 50 sensor sonar hybrid system along with two IGS-190 capture suits, MIPP can capture movements outdoors on location for the first time. This not only speeds up post production time but can also help researchers gain better understanding of the environments they are uncovering.

"By using the Animazoo Hybrid system we can really begin to see the link between humans and the historical sites. Shooting on location allows the digital animators, motion capture actors and archeologists to all visualize the site, the end result of course being highly accurate digital representations of archeological sites of interest." Martin White, School of Informatics, University of Sussex.

Animazoo IGS-190-M used in two new animated films.

Animazoo is pleased to announce the use of the IGS-190-M to capture movements for characters in two new animated films.

3 al Rescate, is a full length feature directed by Jorge Morillo and Luis Morillo produced by Dominican Republic animation studios Raycast Dominica and Antena Latina. It tells the tale of three friends, Frank the Chicken, Mauricio the Pig and Enrique the Goat who don't feel their destinies lie on the dinner plate. The IGS-190 was used to capture full body movements to be applied to a variety of characters throughout the film.

El Duelo, a 4 minute short film created by Venezuelan visual effects and animation company Amorpheus C.A. impressed audiences at international animation festivals throughout June 2010 with its cast of gun slinging cows, a good-old Spaghetti Western style shoot outs and beautiful character animation.

With it's superb accuracy and ability to be previewed in real-time, the Animazoo IGS-190 is the perfect motion capture solution to attain high quality data capture for animation. “We can make incredible animations thanks to Animazoo” says Jorge Morillo, director of 3 al Rescate. “Animazoo rocks!” added Morillo.

Check out the trailer for El Duelo...

Check out the trailer for 3 al Rescate...

And head over to the 3 al Rescate movie site at www.3armovie.com/

Animazoo Launches Gypsy 7 Motion Capture System

Animazoo UK Ltd is pleased to announce the release of its latest professional motion capture system, the Gypsy 7. The Gypsy 7 is the latest incarnation of Animazoo’s state of the art Gyspy exo-skeletal gyroscopic hybrid technology. Fitted with military grade gyroscopes and no lag and no noise joint sensors the Gypsy 7 is ideal for any motion capture environment.

Gypsy 7 supersedes the Gypsy 6 (released in 2008) and offers increased data accuracy through its new ball-bearing shafts and ease of use as well as a 3x cost reduction on it's predecessor. The standard Gypsy 7 comes complete with Animazoo's unified version 10 operating software which combines all the necessary tools for system calibration, online streaming, multi-actor synching, key frame editing and dynamic capture features with the ability to preview capture data in real-time. New drag-n-drop actor-calibration features mean faster and more efficient system set up times, with minimal need for bio-mechanical knowledge.

Animazoo also offers real-time driver packages for MotionBuilder as well as Unreal, Unity and Panda 3D game engines allowing live visualization of data on characters. Captured BVH data from the Gypsy 7 can be imported into all leading desktop animation packages making the Gypsy 7 a powerful motion capture tool for animators, game developers, engineers and ideal for teaching the fundamental concepts behind motion capture.

As well as increased performance on previous models, the Gypsy 7 provides 18 new non-mocap control triggers in the form of buttons and thumb sticks. Located on joysticks at the end of each arm these controls add triggering capabilities which can be captured in addition to BVH data. This new Extended Event Control (EEC) will prove indispensable for real-time animation, online streaming, bio-mechanical, robotics, medical and computer game development applications opening new dimensions for motion capture.

''This system marks a big leap in bringing motion capture equipment to the creative and educational masses. By manufacturing reliable, affordable systems we can increase the scope of the need for motion capture products in areas we didn't even venture into a few years ago. Soon school kids will be doing mocap.” Ali Kord – Director of Technology, Animazoo.

The Animazoo Gypsy 7 will be shipping in August 2010 with packages starting at USD $8,000.

For more information visit the Gypsy 7 page of www.animazoo.com