New Animation Technology :: Image Metrics

The New York Time's Sharon Waxman presented a video clip showcasing new animation MOCAP technology from Imagemetrics. The clip shows the ability to map video footage to already created 3D maps.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=650ff1e00d0677c95caaad8c9938664384ba9652

We had a discussion in my animation portfolio class about the impact this technology makes. The question of the day: Why do we need animators if this technology now makes it easy to animate facial features and movement? With this technology, there is little need for rigging.

The short answer to this, is that an artist must still provide cleanup and subtle refinements to either the mesh or movement in order for it to be effective. As an animator, it may not be a bad idea to stay abreast of this technology as we see it more and more.

The imagemetrics sight can be found here:
http://www.image-metrics.com/