MOSCOW, RUSSIA — iPi Soft (www.ipisoft.com), the Moscow-based developer of the markerless motion capture technology, has entered into a partnership with The Mocap Vaults, an educational resource that offers online tutorials and live workshops. As part of the partnership, iPi Soft will provide the latest versions of their iPi Motion Capture technology for use during the Vault’s live workshops and online educational resources. The tutorials are aimed at both actors, directors and development/production teams.
The Mocap Vault was founded by Oliver Hollis-Leick, a mocap acting veteran who’s worked on more than 80 videogame and movie titles, including Iron Man 2, Stardust, Total Recall, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Godzilla, and Hercules. Hollis-Leick explains that mocap-created character motion is nowhere near as intricate as human movement, and to compensate for that, actors have to learn to use physicality as their primary tool for expression.
"We will be using iPi Motion Capture primarily to demonstrate the way that acting performances can be tailored for specific mocap settings," Hollis-Leick says. "We also want to use different character models and rigs to show how characterization is important. If you are playing some kind of mythical creature or an animal then you need to physicalize that performance to fit the animated model that you are working with."
On June 13th and 14th, iPi Soft will sponsor The Mocap Vaults' “Motion Capture Summit,” a two-day intensive learning experience taking place in Los Angeles.
“As more and more videogames, feature films and other entertainment content comes to rely on motion capture to tell their stories, today's actors, directors and producers realize the importance of learning the techniques and principles for creating with this very specific technology," says Michael Nikonov, iPi Soft’s founder and chief technology architect. "We are excited to partner with The Mocap Vaults team, who have the expertise to help the range of creative professionals – from the novice to expert – learn how to work in this relevant medium."