Hey everyone,
I'm new to mocap and currently working on a pipeline that involves capturing motion in iClone 8, exporting it as an FBX to Blender, and aiming for a final implementation in Unity.
My main goal is to reduce the storage size of animation files while preserving animation quality. Ideally, this could also improve performance, but that's a secondary benefit. Here are a few things I've tried and some issues I’m facing:
1. **Keyframe Density & Storage**: I’ve experimented with cleaning up mocap data to reduce keyframe density and save storage space. However, most methods I’ve found either significantly reduce animation quality or alter the frame rate, which I want to avoid.
2. **Frame Rate Adjustments**: Another approach I tested was exporting at different frame rates (like 30 FPS) from iClone 8, which saved around 40% storage space. But this led to timing inconsistencies—animations appear shorter in Blender but are correct in Unity. I can scale the timeline in Blender, but this raises concerns about how well the files will integrate post-export, especially for facial animation adjustments.
3. **Decision to Keep 60 FPS**: Given these issues, I’m currently leaning towards keeping animations at 60 FPS and sacrificing storage savings to maintain quality. However, I want to avoid any technical pitfalls down the line and ensure this approach is sustainable.
Here are my main questions:
- **Is maintaining 60 FPS without cleaning methods a smart choice for retaining quality in Unity?**
- **Are there any effective ways to reduce mocap storage without compromising frame rate and animation quality?**
- **Could this approach lead to future issues that we aren't upfronting? We also concern with Unity's storage plan,.** (We may need an upgrade with Unity’s Plastic SCM storage limits.)
Any tips, advice, or warnings would be very appreciated!
**Specs**:
- Unity 2021.3.3f1
- Blender 4.1
- iClone 8