{"id":2664,"date":"2024-03-06T18:42:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T18:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/?p=2664"},"modified":"2024-03-10T13:09:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T13:09:42","slug":"stepping-into-the-digital-limelight-acting-in-motion-capture-for-virtual-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/ael3001-23\/2024\/03\/06\/stepping-into-the-digital-limelight-acting-in-motion-capture-for-virtual-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping into the Digital Limelight: Acting in Motion Capture for Virtual Production"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Introduction<\/strong>:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

On an ordinary Wednesday of my placement at HUMAIN, I was engaging in my routine tasks as a Junior 3D Modeller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything changed, once the following phrase; \u201cWE HAVE ALLYSHEA\u201d, was exclaimed and echoed into the main office, from the management space. Naturally, my internal panic started to creep in but I still tried to contain my external composure and emotions subtly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CEO approaches my desk and proceeds to explain the changes he intends to make for the company by creating their own inhouse studio for Motion Capture, or Mocap for short. He also mentioned his awareness of my current undergraduate studies in Drama, leading to the question that followed; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWould you like to be our first ever actor in our cutting-edge Motion Capture system for Virtual Production?\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sparked a thrilling blend of nervous excitement within me to which without hesitation, I responded \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to jump straight in without preparation or knowledge of how Motion Capture worked. This was an exciting and new learning opportunity for everyone involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will be using Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) to provide a clear description of the \u2018Acting in Motion Capture for Virtual Production\u2019 challenge, followed by an evaluation and analysis of what I discovered from that challenge. Finally, I will conclude this unique experience with professional and personal revelations with an action plan for future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: Gibbs’ reflective cycle (1988) as cited in Jasper (2013)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

DESCRIPTION<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
“What happened?”<\/em><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

I entered the Motion Capture room where Robert, my R&D work colleague, marked dots on my face. This was essential for the production team to study my facial movements when expressing different emotions as the real-life actor. The dots will then be used as a reference in post-production, to the digital version of myself, replicating the exact facial movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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HUMAIN, Belfast. (Own Photos).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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HUMAIN, Belfast. (Own Photos).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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HUMAIN, Belfast. (Own Photos).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was initially presented with 6 slides, as an example, of the type of emotions I\u2019m expected to \u201cperform\u201d for the recordings. The task consisted of myself performing 3 different sentences from each slide in the requested emotion displayed above. I had to perform around 30 of these slides in total. The recordings took about a whole day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n