Image Metrics, Xsens Partner To Combine Facial, Full-Body Animation Capture

3D motion tracking tech company Xsens is teaming up with facial animation services provider Image Metrics to integrate their respective mocap and animation technologies into a single, game development-oriented solution. The partnership aims to offer clients the ability to capture facial and body movements together in a single shoot, instead of having to visit a specialized facility. The body and facial motion data is then given to developers for integration into the appropriate 3D software programs. Xsens makes an inertial motion capture suit it says is easy to use and cost-effective for full-body human motion capture. It works via inertial sensors, biochemical models and sensor fusion algorithms intended to give studios freedom to capture movement efficiently and independently of location. As for Image Metrics, its process develops facial animations from standard video, without requiring markers, makeup or sensors. The head cameras it has developed allow for simultaneous facial and full-body capture, then videos recorded with Image Metrics' head cameras are transferred onto a CG character using the company's proprietary tech. "We have been on the lookout for partners focused on specialized solutions for facial animation," says Xsens CEO Casper Peeters. "As Image Metrics' video-based technology also allows actors to move freely during the capture session, we see the company as a natural partner." Imge Metrics EVP Brian Waddle adds: "Combining our facial animation technology and Xsens' MVN full body motion capture system will allow studios to rapidly record and review both facial and body motion simultaneously." Adds Waddle: "This allows artists to quickly and affordably produce results that are based on natural, real-world motion, with no restrictions on capture location."