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Posted on: Tuesday, May 14, 2002

Hollywood embraces 'motion capture'

By Mike Snider
USA Today

Motion-capture technology —computer-aided animation based on the recorded movements of real people — has been a staple of the video game world for years. But the techniques have gotten so sophisticated and the computational power has increased so dramatically that motion capture now also stars in some of the biggest movies of the year.

The technology is essential to realizing George Lucas' vision for "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones," due in theaters this week, and integral to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Motion-capture techniques, although used sporadically before, gained prominence by catching the eye of special-effects wizard John Dykstra ("Spider-Man," "Star Wars," "Battlestar Galactica") when he was working on 1995's "Batman Forever." He was impressed with the process that video-game company Acclaim was experimenting with (based on medical applications developed by a company called Biomechanics) so he used it to create a "digital double" for Val Kilmer's stunts in the film.

In "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1999), Industrial Light & Magic created entire "mocap" armies of Gungans and battle droids. To create Jar Jar Binks, Lucas had actor Ahmed Best do live scenes and also motion-capture footage as a reference for the 3-D animators.

For "Attack of the Clones," Lucas and the special-effects team are relying on motion capture in making the Republic-shattering armies of clone troopers. "They are computer generated and mostly done with motion capture," said supervisor Jeff Light. "On 'Episode I,' it was an experiment. Now, many of our films, not just 'Episode II,' will use motion capture."

Capturing the future

As motion-capture technology advances, look for even more magic in movies and video games:

• A lifelike computer-generated main character that blends in with live actors. "The trick is going to be producing a full-length feature film with a digital star and not to be able to tell the difference," said Jarrod Phillips of House of Moves, a Los Angeles motion-capture studio. "That's the Holy Grail."

• The return of film favorites. House of Moves and visual-effects studio Digital Domain have already created a 30-year-old digital double of James Brown for the Experience Music Project in Seattle. "There is talk around Hollywood about being able to resurrect John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart," said Light of Industrial Light & Magic. "If you had an actor who could do them dead-on, you could put him in a film by putting (the impersonator) in the motion-capture suit."

• Video games that play even more like movies. In making its "Lord of the Rings" games that will be available next year and in 2004, Electronic Arts is using motion-capture information gathered in the making of the movie.

Ubi Soft's Red Storm division has increased the use of motion capture for its Tom Clancy "Rainbow Six," "Rogue Spear" and "Ghost Recon" games.

Players "really sense a lethal attitude" because the characters use moves captured from ex-Special Forces soldiers and SWAT team members, said Red Storm's Jonathan Peedin.

Tiger's moves

Tiger Woods shimmied into a skintight black Lycra jumpsuit last spring to help software designers capture his masterful swing for the latest version of his computer and video games. The process took five hours, "but I was 'in' the suit for eight hours," Woods said with a wan smile. Under the bright lights that reflect his motions to a ring of cameras, he said, "it gets hot."

The session was worth it because "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002" now accurately reflects the improvements the golfer has made in his swing in the past few years. "That's how you know it's authentic," he said. "My swing has changed quite a bit."

Because the latest game systems have increased storage capacity, game designers can incorporate even more motion-capture models, said Sony's Ron Eagle. "It's the best way to add realism and authenticity."

Realism is great for the masses, but if it's you being brought to life, it can be downright spooky.

"I don't play as myself," Woods said. "I get too weirded out."

Populated by computer

In 1997's "Titanic," Digital Domain filled the doomed ocean liner with computer-generated passengers. "There's no better way to populate scenes like that," said Phillips of House of Moves, which assisted. "You can generate hundreds of thousands of people from a fairly small set of (captured) motions."

House of Moves teamed with Centropolis FX, the computer graphics arm of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's production company, to enlist thousands of virtual soldiers for the battle of Camden scene in "The Patriot" (2000). In the end, the computer-generated soldiers "were indistinguishable from the real performers," Phillips said.

In preparing to make the "Rings" trilogy, director Peter Jackson asked New Zealand-based Weta Digital and Giant Studios to push the envelope. Each race, including men, elves, Orc and Uruk-hai warriors, had separate motion-capture sessions. Smaller sensors were deployed —not the common mothball-size markers — so sessions could be easily done with costumed actors, four or five at a time.

The vast Mordor battle scene in "Fellowship of the Ring" had 45,000 combatants. The Weta team developed a program called Massive that allowed each individual motion-capture character in the scene to have its own artificial intelligence. "They are programmed to find the enemy and attack or defend themselves," Osborne said. The program "had the ability to randomize motions so that not all the soldiers are doing the same thing. They look like a real army."

"Digital doubles," often created using motion capture, also helped the filmmakers execute impossible sequences, such as Frodo and the rest of the fellowship's escape from the fiery Balrog monster while crossing the perilous bridge in the mines of Moria.

In the next two "Rings" films, "The Two Towers" (Dec. 18) and "The Return of the King" (slated for December 2003), the character of Gollum, seen only in shadows in "The Fellowship of the Ring," will take center stage thanks to motion capture.

Scenes of Gollum, who will be entirely computer-generated, with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), will be eagerly anticipated — and scrutinized — by "Rings" fans. "Gollum is a major supporting character in movies two and three and has a lot of screen time," said producer Barrie Osborne. "It's crucial that he come across realistically."