You say:

"The purpose of animation is to create a representation of life. Animation is supposed to make the characters move and react naturally. The animator uses expressive poses, exaggerated expressions and dynamic actions to give personality to the characters. Mocap does the complete opposite of what it's supposed to do."

Well, if that's true, which I think it is, by the way, then there'll be a place for keyframe animators.

Gollumn in LOTR was captured for a large part by mocap, but it was the artists that made it lifelike by manipulating the mocap data by keyframing. I hope you agree that Golumn and even more so King Kong where very lifelike?

And stuff like the Incredibles (which is supposed to be cartoony, whereas Beowulf, Polar Express etc is decidedly not) is all keyframed and it shows, so what's your fear?

If people want to make movies using mocap it's their right. If it turns out lifeless than that's their problem.
And what is wrong with puppets on a string? Tell that to Geppetto :)

I agree that I would like to see Zemeckis do another 'normal' movie, but if he wants to make mocap movies (which IS an exiting technique, although maybe not fully fledged out) it is his right. He raises the money for it, he makes money of it and there's nothing you can do about that. That's just the way the world works. Deal with it.

Dear Jasper,

I see your point, but I do not agree at all. The point I was making is that motion capture has it's place in other aspects of film making (stunts), video games, etc. Yes, using motion capture is a tool and it may be easier, cheaper and faster, but you get a poor quality "animation". The purpose of animation is to create a representation of life. Animation is supposed to make the characters move and react naturally. The animator uses expressive poses, exaggerated expressions and dynamic actions to give personality to the characters. Mocap does the complete opposite of what it's supposed to do. Rather than making the character move realistically, the characters look robotic, lifeless, like puppets on strings. The proof is in the films, compare Polar Express to The Incredibles. The humans are more believable and accepted in The Incredibles. We as an audience connect more with The Incredibles than with Polar Express. The Uncanny Valley is in effect. It's doesn't make sense to me that movie makers would rather use realistic CG characters and use motion capture to copy human movement instead of using humans!

You said that you can't blame technology for problems... well tell that to millions of people who have lost their jobs to a easier, cheaper, faster machine that has replaced them.

Just because mocap is a tool, it doesn't mean it's the right tool for the job.

I understand what you're saying. While I don't think motion capturing will replace keyframe animation and it will have it's own funtion next to mo cap, I think you cannot blame a new technology for your problems.

That's like saying bread machines are putting bakers out of business. When bakers make better bread then machines, they will have their place.

If mo cap delivers the same results as your work for a fraction of the price and effort, then yes, it will affect you. But if you are good, you have tons of experience and insight to movement and emotion that mo cap machines will NEVER have.

Listen to Phill Tippet's reaction to the arrival of computer animation when Jurassic Park came about in this clip:

Start at around 8.00 min:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6WpgosOXNs

and then part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdNy5MeMWFA

Interesting, no?

I agree with Juan. Motion capture has taken the place of animators' work. And I've been studying animation for 8 years. I've gone to school for it, I've paid thousands of dollars to earn a degree in it and I'm still trying to pay it all back. All of sudden this technology begins to take out the "hard working" individual (almost like a worker on an essembly line who has put in 20 years only to be replaced by a computer) who create performance for a film, game, commercial, whatever. You just don't understand the impact this has to artists in this field. YOU REALLY DON'T!!

Dear Juan,

You are of the opinion that the way you should make an animated movie, is that you should make it in a specific way and using specific tools. This of course, is nonsense.

Any tool, be it mo cap, or keyframing, can be used to make wonderful films. It is not the tool that makes a performance of a character great, it's the use of that tool.

So if you don't like the result of Zemeckis's films and find them lifeless, you should attribute that to his USE of the tools.

You are being dogmatic. It's like saying that color photography doesn't have a place, and everything should be in black and white.

Mr Zemeckis,

Stop! Please stop your mad obsession with motion capture. You are misguided with placement of motion capture. While I agree with the usefulness of motion capture in other mediums, it does not belong or should be categorized with animation. Animation is the illusion of life, not a copy. Animation is created by highly skilled and talented animators, who create a unique and personality driven character. Animation is key framed, not an actor in a suit with dots all over it. Motion capture is what it is, capture motion - it is not performance. I am an animator, I feel that you are spitting on my art form by using motion capture. How would you like if someone invented a computer program that automatically would direct an entire film?
I have seen all the movies you have been involved with the use motion capture. I leave with the same feeling, the feeling of disgust and that my soul has been ripped from my body. I look at the screen and I see a lifeless and soulless moving corpse trying to tell me a story. Motion capture has it's place in video games, simulations, and in movies that have stunts too dangerous for a normal stunt person. Please stop, stop, STOP making mocap movies. You made wonderful movies in the past. Back to Future and Forrest Gump to name a few. Make more of those, the world will love you for it.
Before I finish, do not make a Roger Rabbit sequel! Thank you

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