Last week Move AI the real-time AI motion capture company released their latest product "MoveOne" a single-camera motion capture app, designed to harness the everyday consumer iPhone as a motion capture device. A bold move by Move.ai democratising marker less motion capture for all content creation markets.
Getting Started With MoveOne
The concept for MoveOne is anyone can get up and running with motion capture by simply downloading the MoveOne app from the app store. Once downloaded simply create a profile, set-up your phone in a fixed position and record your desired performance starting with a A-pose stance.
Users are able to record performances in 60FHD with support for both landscape and portrait configurations. (MoveOne Requires a iPhone 8 or newer and isn't yet available on Android devices)
Once performances have been captured, they're uploaded to the Move AI cloud where a animation file is generated. Users are then able to download animation files in various formats such as .FBX and .USD from the accompanying google chrome extension.
This ability does come at a cost with the starter plan being $30 (£24.40) per user, per month. Although don't panic there's a free plan offering 30 Credits to test and evaluate the software.
MoveOne to Unreal Engine 5.2 Workflow
Once the Move-one.fbx has been downloaded, we're ready to import into our desired 3D software. In this example we'll be using Unreal Engine and the UE5 Mannequin to demonstrate the overall workflow. (MoveOne IK Rig Download Here)
Step By Step Walkthrough:
Create a MoveOne folder where you will store MoveOne data
Import the move-one.fbx, check Import Animations
In the Windows explorer (not inside Unreal Engine) Copy IK_MoveOne.uasset to the created MoveOne folder of your Unreal project
If you're working inside the UE template project "Third Person", open Content > Characters > Mannequins > Rigs > RTG_Mannequin. If you're working in your own project, create an IK Retargeter and a target IK Rig files and setup them accordingly to UE documentation
In the Source IKRig Asset, select the IK_MoveOne file
Set the Retarget Pose to T Pose
In the Preview Scene Settings change the Preview Controller to the Use Specific Animation and select the MoveOne animation sequence
To remove bone mapping artifacts, click Auto-Map Chains and select Map All (Exact)
Further Resources:
Evaluating MoveOne Motion Capture Data
MoveOne stands out in the consumer motion capture market, presenting an accessible solution for 3D artists at any skill level. Its straight forward setup and consumer level hardware make it ideal for a range of users, from enthusiasts to small studios.
But how does the generated data hold up in a professional use case?
While the motion capture data produced by MoveOne is not flawless, it surpasses existing market offerings by providing higher quality outputs with reduced errors of drift, slippage and glitching, typically seen in competitor solutions.
Although the MoveOne generated data will still require some clean-up for final product, utilizing it in lesser finished use cases, like pre-visualization, effectively communicates desired motions very well.
It's important to consider, that the MoveOne workflow entails recording motion, uploading for cloud processing, and then downloading the animation file. Potentially taking up to 5+ minutes per second of captured motion. A very non-real-time friendly workflow. Unlike competitor solutions like ROKOKO Vision, which focus on live-streaming the data straight to your desired software's supporting a full real-time pipeline at the cost of the motion capture quality.
Hopefully, this is something MoveOne will grow to support in the coming months and we can start to see integrations with LiveLink allowing for real-time motion capture from our iPhones directly to Unreal Engine.