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By RobertoColombo - 11 Years Ago
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Hello RL community,
I am creating this thread to collect some feedback from those who owns and used the Kinect with iClone 6.
The main points being:
1. system set-up: plug&play or plug&pray ?
2. usability: what can be animated and what can not?
3. outcome: how much adjustment is usually needed for the animations captured from the Kinect?
Thanks in advance for your kind help
Cheers
Roberto
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By Kelleytoons - 11 Years Ago
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I love using my Kinects (I have two) with iClone but I suspect your post should really read "RL Kinect Software" because using a Kinect or two with iClone and using the RL Kinect software are two very different things.
The RL Kinect software is *okay* -- not great and not something I'll ever use again, but has some uses. I would highly recommend checking out the ipisoft and Brekal as alternatives to it (and I give a run down on how all three compare in another thread).
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By RobertoColombo - 11 Years Ago
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Hi Kellytoons,
thanks for the answer.
From it, I understand that I know little about Kinect and Reallusion Plug-in :)
So, when you say that you love Kinect but when combined with RL plug-in it is "okay", I read into this (pls, confirm if am I wrong) that the camera works well, for other applications (XBox ? or which one?) but the process to convert a movement, grabbed by the camera, into an iClone iMotion is still not so smooth.
Is the above correct ?
Is it possible (and better ?) to grab the movement with the camera, use other SW to create , for example a FBX or BVH, and then convert it into iClone format with 3DXchange ?
Thanks
Cheers
Roberto
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By Kelleytoons - 11 Years Ago
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Right, what I'm saying is that the Kinect works fine to capture movement that you can use inside of iClone BUT you need to use the right software.
I did summarize this in another thread, but a very quick recap (again, all IMHO) is:
1) RL's Kinect plug-in does a horrible job at keeping the feet stable, a fair job at capturing arm movements. It's real strength is it allows you to capture upper body only (so you can sit in a chair and do your mocap if that's all you need). It works in real-time but the amount of cleanup you have to do afterwards makes it almost unusuable. I'd rate it a C-.
2) Brekel's Kinect plug-in is much better at capturing arm movements. It's fair at capturing feet (still has sliding feet but not as much). It also works in real-time but I could never get the feet stable enough to use it well. I'd rate it a C+.
3) iPisoft's Kinect plug-in is superb at capturing both arm and leg movements but it does not work in real time. There is zero time needed for post processing, however, so it's about a wash in terms of effort. I'd rate it a solid A as long as you understand it's a subscription model (which means you have to pay a yearly fee to use it). For a few years the cost will roughly be the same as either of the above two plug-ins but after that it will be more expensive (however, after that I do believe mocap will have a sea change and none of us will need anything like this).
I ended up buying not only the base iPisoft plug-in but the one that uses two cameras, so I can do complete turnarounds (none of the plug-ins mentioned above will handle that). I literally have no restrictions, other than single actor only (and no finger capture) on what I can mocap, and it's very impressive. The good news is that there are demos of the two alternatives (I don't know whether you can demo the RL plug-in or not -- I bought it without seeing). I would STRONGLY recommend you try at least the two (and perhaps RL's if there is a demo) before you buy any one of them.
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By RobertoColombo - 11 Years Ago
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Hello Kelley,
thanks for the detailed answers: very useful and I truly appreciate the time you spent to answer me.
I will pass your info to the person who asked me to make some research about the Kinect (I am just helping him with the English language).
Cheers
Roberto
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