And how much is this "cheap" alternative?

Yeah there is definitely options besides MotionBuilder and even Autodesk is downplaying MotionBuilder in favor of Maya now. iClone once it gets the graph editor will be a really solid option especially with direct live capture setups. For a future release I would love to see a "takes" option on the timeline so you can easily capture multiple takes into the same timeline clip and switch between takes. 

Hardware-wise there isn't a huge different in quality of the sensors themselves between various inertial suits. It really comes down to the intelligence of the solvers in the software that make a big difference and this is where Ikinema and Xsens shine over the others. Ikinema is by far the cheapest route, but there is no direct workflow with Perception Neuron so no current way to do live performance. iClone with Xsens is about as amazing as you would expect and iClone 7.1 with Xsens is a real game changer.

I would love to see Ikinema Runtime or LiveAction integrated into iClone which would make iClone pretty much the ultimate mocap setup.

Free Range
My IMDB

Agreed there is always post processing required. But it starts with solid mocap. Garbage in equals garbage out. So yes starting with the most accurate mocap (at your given budget) is the best place to be. For things like re-targeting and correcting motion errors, Ikenama offers a very cheap but useful solution, without the cost or learning curve or motion builder.

My "NEWEST" Latest:)  Movie Made With Amaaaazing iClone


—> High Noon”ish” in Narrow Valley<—

The idea that buying the most accurate and most expensive mocap solution means flawless motion capture is a myth. I have yet to read about any real use of mocap aquisition that doesn't entail a manual post processing clean up procedure. Of course the more accurate and hence more expensive solutions require the least amount of clean up. This is why there is the expensive and subscription only MotionBuilder which most higher end and even lower end mocap software export too. There just anyway of getting around it. If you can't afford or don't want to go the subscription route of MotionBuilder there is always the  LifeForms 5 alternative which recently has been released for FREE.

Not sure what the pricing is these days but the suit is going for about 1.5k. The plugin is a separate cost. Can't recall home much, $200-$300 maybe. The suit is buggy but still pretty awesome doing separate fingers. They just replaced my neurons, so perhaps it is less buggy now. I'll have to check. Just make sure you're adding up all total costs for PN. It's "affordable" but not all that cheap by any means. If you want to store it in a mag case, that's an extra $200.

My "NEWEST" Latest:)  Movie Made With Amaaaazing iClone


—> High Noon”ish” in Narrow Valley<—

iPi Motion Capture Studio Basic [not Pro] - 3 yr: $695

iPi Studio Basic (1-year subscription)  USD $345.00

Um, no.  I paid for three years for around $350.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

For the price of a years subscription to iPi you can buy yourself a PN and have it for life.

Yep, absolutely agree with this -- I *never* argue with someone over how they want to spend their hard earned cash (because we all have the right to do any damn thing we want with it -- and I've done much worse things then throwing it away on the PN).

Life is too short to second guess yourself all that much anyway.  Enjoy.

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Alienware Aurora R16, Win 11, i9-149000KF, 3.20GHz CPU, 64GB RAM, RTX 4090 (24GB), Samsung 870 Pro 8TB, Gen3 MVNe M-2 SSD, 4TBx2, 39" Alienware Widescreen Monitor
Mike "ex-genius" Kelley

It's your money. :P Good luck anyway and please do report back on your actual experience once you get sorted.