Loading...
> >

Daz Motion Capture and Kinect Sensor Question

Mag_bfaa50c8dfMag_bfaa50c8df Posts: 99
in Daz Studio Discussion

I am interested in experimenting with some motion capture animating in Daz and have come across some older posts about the topic. One of the posts that stands out is http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/15404/motion-capture-kinect-and-daz-studio --mCasual had a solution in this thread which can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/mcasualsdazscripts2/kinect-mocap-basics  

Is this still a good solution? Also, I'm a little confused about the Kinect sensor. Every one I look up has to do with Xbox. Do I need an Xbox to use it or is it possible to use it on my pc? For short, what do I need to do motion capture animation using Daz in 2017 cheaply? Any help and information would be most appreciated and my apologies if there is already a recent thread on this topic. I couldn't find it. 

Comments

  • caiguisecaiguise Posts: 3

    I'm still learning about mocap with kinect, but I can answer part of your question.  The kinect sensor can be plugged into your computer (leaving the xbox tower alone).  You can but a sensor on ebay at a relatively low price ($30-50).  Some of the earlier versions have an odd USB, which will not attach to the computer directly, so you either need to buy an adapter which ataches to the sensor's plug and separates into a power adapter and regular USB.  The kinect sensor was built to work with the xbox, but with free drivers, will work in Windows.  Store which sell second hand video games are a good place to check for second-hand sensors.

    There are two main versions of the sensor (one for xbox 360, the other for xbox one).  The xbox 360 version seems to be the one suitable for windows 7, while the xbox one version seems to work with programs installed in Windows 10 (possibly 8 as well).  I use Windows 7, so I can only use the xbox 360 version.  In the meantime, there are libraries of motion data already available (Carnagie-Mellon University and the Motion Capture have collections which are free to download and use.

    There are many programs, but most are out of my price range.  When my sensors arrive, I'm trying out Brekel (body, face, and point cloud programs available).  The basic drivers to get the sensors working with Windows are available from Microsoft for free.  Brekel body costs around $100, but you can download and test it first. iPiSoft costs at least $95 per year.  Brekel face, and the pointclous are also around the $100 mark.  There are versions for xbox one sensors on the Brekel site.  Check if there is a plug-in for the newest version of Daz.  If there isn't, and you are using windows 8 or 10, there are inexpensive programs in Unity (under $50, I think).  You can capture the motion as a BVH file and import it into a program which allows 3D animation.  You might want to look at Blender for creating the motion files.  The program is free, and I've heard the new version has a mocap plugin.

    As far as I can tell, there are no inexpensive set-ups which can capture the face and body movements at the same time.

    I hope this helped.  

    Cai

  • Mag_bfaa50c8dfMag_bfaa50c8df Posts: 99

    Thank you so much Caiguise! Exactly what I was wanting to know.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,921

    has anyone tried this?

    its called F-clone obviously cannot link but here is a youtube video

  • kitakoredazkitakoredaz Posts: 3,526

    thanks wendy,, smileyIf F clone work well for genesis3 character,, I finally plan to get web camera, (I afraid  my pc is controlled even though I shut down,, then auto-photo my room serisously)  I feel,,, daz seems to be sponser compnany of F clone,, can not attach link still?  

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,921

    I have no idea if DAZ involved at all they have a DAZ logo up but I am careful not to step over the forum TOS

    many commercial links can be found here but I cannot post any

  • Kevin SandersonKevin Sanderson Posts: 1,643

    Seems like the company just ramped up from this week's dates on the You Tube video and their facebook. Maybe an anouncement is coming. I like the idea of using a webcam as I don't have a Kinect.

  • jaebeajaebea Posts: 454

    This is exciting!  Going to give it a try.  I do own the non-commercial version of Faceshift but it is hard to work with Daz models.  I messaged them on FB to see exactly which cameras they support.  I have a Windows Kinect and a MS Lifecam VX5000 so we will see.

  • WendyLuvsCatzWendyLuvsCatz Posts: 37,921

    according to a poster on the Reallusion forum where I first saw it, it's a bit suspect, so I am unsure

    http://forum.reallusion.com/FindPost326842.aspx

    I have liked the Facebook page, there is one

    I would be holding off a bit I think on this

  • mindsongmindsong Posts: 1,693

    curious as well..., anyone play with the trial?, given the PZ2 format option, what does it offer for target figures?

    you could assume the PZ2 would work in Carrara and Poser, and be convertable to Iclone/Blender/... from there.

    webcam data can come in a variety of resolutions and data-rates - let alone quality levels.

    waiting... watching... (thanks for that post, btw...)

    isn't mjcasual actively working on un updated version of his (kinect) mocap stuff right now?, He had some activity in a freebie thread last month, and I think he wanted to get things right before releasing it 'soon'.

    cheers,

    --ms

  • jaebeajaebea Posts: 454

    I have played with it and couldn't get it to work.  After badgering them repeatedly, they came up with several different versions and finally I was able to get the face to work.  Unfortunately, the trial will not allow recording so how in the &#@$ are we supposed to find out if it works?  The sample pz2 they sent doesn't work on Generation 4 and Genesis 1 models, only moves the eyes and mouth on Gen 2 but fully works on Gen 3 & 8.  I let them know!

  • Kevin SandersonKevin Sanderson Posts: 1,643

    It must use the bones in the face. Gen 2 only had a couple.

  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,944
    edited June 2017
    th3Digit said:

    has anyone tried this?

    its called F-clone obviously cannot link but here is a youtube video

    LOL, desparately in need of the Genesis 8 expressions improvements

    Post edited by nonesuch00 on
  • nonesuch00nonesuch00 Posts: 17,944
    kitakoredaz said:

    thanks wendy,, smileyIf F clone work well for genesis3 character,, I finally plan to get web camera, (I afraid  my pc is controlled even though I shut down,, then auto-photo my room serisously)  I feel,,, daz seems to be sponser compnany of F clone,, can not attach link still?  

    Just put a heavy piece of painter's masking tape over the video camera when not in use, although microphone could be used when you don't want you can also muffle the sound of that too by using masking tape.

  • ChrisSerketChrisSerket Posts: 202

    Does anyone know if this works with genesis 8 female and male?
    What if it really works?
    I have heard very bad things about this product, and when I tried it in its trial version it made me believe that it is a pyramid scam. Even so, since I moved the gestures of my face, I did it even using my android cell phone as a webcam (I used MANYCAM to use it as a webcam on my pc).

Sign In or Register to comment.