← Animation Glossary

Motion capture

Motion capture is a technology that allows animators to record the movements of real people, animals or objects and use them to create animated characters in movies, video games and TV shows. It involves the person wearing a collection of sensors so that when they move around, the sensors pick up their movements and the cameras record them. This movement is then turned into informaton the computer ca understand which gets applied to the animation characters.

Please note that Motion capture is not directly applicable to Brush Ninja.

Motion capture has revolutionized the animation industry by allowing animators to quickly create realistic movements that are true to life. Instead of spending hours trying to animate each movement frame by frame, motion capture technology can capture the movements of real-life actors and use that data to create digital animations.

One of the biggest advantages of motion capture is that it allows animators to create complex movements that would be difficult. For example, imagine trying to animate a character doing a backflip or a martial arts sequence. These movements require precise timing and coordination between different parts of the body, which can be challenging to simulate using traditional animation techniques. With motion capture, however, an actor can perform these movements in real life, and their movements can be translated into digital animations with ease.

Another advantage of motion capture is that it allows for greater consistency in character movements. When animating by hand, it can be difficult to maintain consistent movements across different scenes or episodes. With motion capture, however, the same actor can perform the same movements multiple times, ensuring that the resulting animations are consistent and cohesive.

However, motion capture is not without its challenges. One of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the data captured from the actor’s movements is accurate and reliable. Even slight errors in tracking or calibration can result in animations that look unnatural or jerky. Additionally, motion capture technology can be expensive to set up and operate, which may limit its accessibility for smaller studios or independent animators.

Motion capture is a powerful tool that has transformed the animation industry. By capturing the movements of real-life actors and objects, motion capture technology allows animators to create realistic and believable animations that would be difficult or impossible to achieve using traditional animation techniques. While it does have its challenges, the benefits of motion capture make it an essential tool for any animator or game developer looking to create immersive and engaging experiences for their audiences.

Animation Terms

2

2D Animation

3

3D Animation

A

Alpha Channel

Ambient sound

Animation

Anti-Aliasing

Anticipation

Aspect Ratio

B

Bezier Curve

Bitmap

Blue Screen

Bone Animation

Bounce

Broadcast Standards

C

Camera Angle

Camera Shake

Casting

Cel Animation

Character Animation

Character Design Sheets

Cinematic lighting

Claymation

Clean-up

Close-up

Color Correction

Color Grading

Compositing

Composition

Concept Art

Continuity editing

Cross-cutting

Cut

Cutout nimation

D

Depth of Field

Dialogue

Dissolve

Distributed Rendering

Dolby Atmos

Dope Sheet

Dutch Angle

E

Easing

Emitter

Exaggeration

Eyedropper

F

Foley

Follow through

Forward Kinematics

Frame Rate

Frame

Framing

Freeze Frame

G

Ghosting

GIF File Format

Golden Ratio

Graph Editor

H

High key lighting

Hue and Saturation

I

Inertia

Infographic Animation

Inverse Kinematics

J

Joint

JPEG File Format

Jump cut

K

Keyframe Interpolation

Keyframe

Kinetic typography

L

Layers

Lens distortion

Level of Detail

Lighting

Line of action

Lip syncing

Low key lighting

M

Match cut

Matte painting

Montage

Morphing

Motion blur

Motion capture

Motion graphics

Motion path

Motion trail

Mouth shapes

MP3 File Format

MP4 File Format

N

Network rendering

Non-linear editing

O

Occlusion culling

Onion skinning

Overlapping action

P

Pan

Parallel rendering

Particle system

Persistance of Vision

Phonemes

Playback speed

Plot

PNG File Format

Pose-to-pose animation

Props

Puppet animation

R

Render farm

Rendering

Resolution

Rigging

Rotoscoping

Rule of thirds

Run cycle

S

Safe zone

Scene

Score

Screenplay

Script

Shot

Silhouette

Skeletal animation

Slow Motion

Smears

Sound Design

Sound effects

Soundtrack

Special Effects

Split screen

Squash and Stretch

Staging

Stop Motion Animation

Storyboard

Straight-ahead Animation

T

Time Remapping

Timeline

Timing

Title Card

Title Sequence

Tracking shot

Tweening

V

Vector graphics

Visemes

Voice acting

Voice-over Narration

W

Walk cycle

WebM File Format

Weighting

Wide shot

Z

Z-depth

Zoom

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