Kinect for UDK..?

[SLI_Fallen]

Dear EPIC....

Please use your "Influence" to get Microsoft to allow you to write a plug-in to use the Kinect camera on a PC with 3DSMax/Maya for UDK.

Any of you out there trying to create character animation knows that we "laymen" are left with (basically) hand animating only since nearly all of us do not have access to $5-$30 grand motion capture systems.

Kinect would give us UDK (read free or low cost) developers at least SOME measure of biped motion capture tools to give our home grown games and characters life.

Thank you.

[Snufkin]

Yeah support for all the motion based products would be the alpha of my omega!

Or at least i think it goes that way i dunno, lmao!

[CrystalCore]

Motion-capture equipment isn't nearly as expensive as we're led to believe. I'm unsure if Kinect has the required precision to achieve animation capturing.

[Piranhi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgQjx...eature=related

[TheDopefish]

[QUOTE=CrystalCore;27763561I'm unsure if Kinect has the required precision to achieve animation capturing.[/QUOTE]
I'm veeery sceptical to this aswell, and that's after being at Gamex two days ago where they showed ALOT of Kinect.

Your best bet would probably to look up some university or studio in your proximity that could help you out, or hire a student on distance?

I know there's some group that developed a cheap functional mocap solution using webcameras, but I'm unable to find their home page atm

[Kinos]

If that were the case, then all you would need a digital camera. Kinect and eye-toy are essentially cameras, granted Kinect probably has more software embedded to make it work.

[ambershee]

^ This, pretty much. We've done simple motion tracking before using laser dots and regular household camcorders before; Kinect isn't strictly anything special in this regard, but it does have some rather nifty software attached.

[SLI_Fallen]

Believe me, I know of which I speak. Many..MANY years ago I had a fledgeling render farm buisness supporting Playmation/Animation Master and was quite close to investing into (what was at that time supported by that app) Prometheus motion capture products (in fact I saw the first real time demos of mo-cap way back in the early 90's then at Siggraph in New Orleans, but I digress, and show my age...)

Anyways. I have indeed looked at the university "experiments" and other home grown solutions and all of them require skills I do not possess. Not the least of which: programming. I'm a hardware guy ;-)

Just seems to me a logical extension of what Epic is trying to do with UDK. They have a good relationship with Microsoft so it's a win-win in my opinion. Mo-cap animation (of any kind) has been the achillies heel of home grown game/MOD developers. And here is a basic, yet accessible platform to give us SOMETHING we can use. Thats all.

Microsoft seems pretty intent on keeping thier technology to themselves (quite understandably so) and opening it up at all on the PC might not be viable. I just figured if they got together with a partner like Epic, and with what they are doing with UDK, seems a good fit to have that access, but maintain controls.

Hey, I can dream right?

[Sir. Polaris]

I know there's some group that developed a cheap functional mocap solution using webcameras, but I'm unable to find their home page atm

http://www.naturalpoint.com/optitrack/

[Hboybowen]

actually there is is a open source pc sdk out there already for kinect. saw the vids but kinect will be no cake walk for programming the controls for any title

[Chosker]

kinect for PC would be great
IMO though, kinect for making animations would be: weird (move, check, retry. kinda like voice acting when you don't know what you're doing), messy (lots and lots of unneeded keyframes all over your skeleton) and unflexible (imagine editing your animation when you have aaaaaall those keyframes?)

asking for kinect to create animations sounds to me like asking for a 3d scanner to make meshes. manual keyframe animation isn't the devil

[Hboybowen]

you dont make animations for Kinect you just focus on your rigging the animation is created by the player

[UnspoiledWalnut]

I'm veeery sceptical to this aswell, and that's after being at Gamex two days ago where they showed ALOT of Kinect.

Your best bet would probably to look up some university or studio in your proximity that could help you out, or hire a student on distance?

I know there's some group that developed a cheap functional mocap solution using webcameras, but I'm unable to find their home page atm

http://motion.capture.free.fr/

That it?

I haven't used it yet, we do most of it by hand and with some of our own scripts and whatnot in Max and Softimage, but I've been told it works fairly well.

asking for kinect to create animations sounds to me like asking for a 3d scanner to make meshes. manual keyframe animation isn't the devil

I've used 3D scanners for meshes... not that bad.

[Deranged]

(imagine editing your animation when you have aaaaaall those keyframes?)

You can layer and blend your anim's instead, in maya or mb, so tweaking the mocap isn't really that hard anymore at all. I think optitrack is the cheapest solution for realtime mocap atm, but it would be sweet if kinect could do half as good. I can see it working from the front, but the side animations is what I'm worried about since the lack of depth and only one camera. Hell if I'm going to pay 6 grand for motion capture, (even though optitrack is badass)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwy_7HKhCw

[UnspoiledWalnut]

You can layer and blend your anim's instead, in maya or mb, so tweaking the mocap isn't really that hard anymore at all. I think optitrack is the cheapest solution for realtime mocap atm, but it would be sweet if kinect could do half as good. I can see it working from the front, but the side animations is what I'm worried about since the lack of depth and only one camera. Hell if I'm going to pay 6 grand for motion capture.

Kinect does interpret 3D space. I'd be more worried about how weird the data coming in will be

They've announced Windows 8 should support it, although that isn't for a few years. But personally I still prefer hand animations for the most part. We usually set up an eight camera set up and act it out in there, and play the video in the workspace, match the chains up to it. Works pretty well, we're thinking about a plugin to do it automatically.

[TheDopefish]

http://motion.capture.free.fr/

That it?

Yeah, I believe it is

Here's a video of someone using Kinect on a PC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKhW-cvpkks

[Hboybowen]

You can layer and blend your anim's instead, in maya or mb, so tweaking the mocap isn't really that hard anymore at all. I think optitrack is the cheapest solution for realtime mocap atm, but it would be sweet if kinect could do half as good. I can see it working from the front, but the side animations is what I'm worried about since the lack of depth and only one camera. Hell if I'm going to pay 6 grand for motion capture, (even though optitrack is badass)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGwy_7HKhCw

You dont animate using kinect its basically real time motion capture. AGAIN YOU DO NOT CREATE ANIMATIONS WITH KINECT

[KingBadger]

Looks like Micro*oft have been building this for 20 years, saw a few vids a while back of people using it in dev to control the whole PC interface, can see 3D desktops becoming very relevant in the future with this kit and 3D TV tech, (Eye glasses etc), 3d TV's are a waste of money right now but 1-2 years could be very cool. Imagine windows with this and a custome 3d interface (game engine Graphics), anyone remember Jonny mnemonic and Disclosure with demi more and the 3d interface in that movie.

[Hboybowen]

yes combining kinect with 3D gaming is already on ppls minds

[Deranged]

You dont animate using kinect its basically real time motion capture. AGAIN YOU DO NOT CREATE ANIMATIONS WITH KINECT

Seriously, stop trolling. We obviously know what kinect is meant for, I mean WTF? The point of this thread is to discuss weather it can also be used as a cheap motion capture device for animators. I don't really like using kinect to actually play the game, especially in a shooter. Proceed.

[KingBadger]

That is the point, Maya for example has a new tool to use two cameras’ to do simple mo cap that comes with the build (when using mo cap sensors and just straight forward video footage). Not a big leap I think for this to work.

[Hboybowen]

Seriously, stop trolling. We obviously know what kinect is meant for, I mean WTF? The point of this thread is to discuss weather it can also be used as a cheap motion capture device for animators. I don't really like using kinect to actually play the game, especially in a shooter. Proceed.

I was not trolling believe me you will know when Im trolling. I was saying to those who think Kinect uses animations like the wii when in fact the player creates animations using the Kinect. Kinect is already MotionCap equipment on a fundamental level. But if it where to become a mocap tool it wont be some easy way to create animation you still have to know how mocap works but you would be turning all the different kinect data into a useable animation data for 3d application from their you would be still fixing and tweaking it. If kinect did become a mocap alternative you would still need say Motionbuilder (a mocap rdy app by autodesk). It wont be a easy way to create all your games animations. It will still require you know how to be a motion capture artist and know the pipeline and the new kinect pipeline.It may be cheaper but it wont be easier.

[flossyrobinson]

this was done using naturalpoint's optitrack systems

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uaq3CTKdl6A

[SLI_Fallen]

It may be cheaper but it wont be easier.

Yes, it will. With the RIGHT software/plugin Kinect camera mo-cap data would be totally usable for animation. Especially if it was saved to a common mo-cap/animation format like bms.

Would it need tweaking? Sure. Every animator tweaks

Natualpoint looks like a fine product. But here is (a potential) one that costs $4,850.00 LESS

[SLI_Fallen]

Here is a start!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QrnwoO1-8A

[strontium5]

And check this one out as well.
http://vimeo.com/17220351

[Piranhi]

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/679...ghlight=kinect

[Charli3]

Heya, for an api using Kinect for Windows SDK --> http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/...or-Windows-SDK