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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.11 - February 1999
A Roster of Motion-Capture Companies
Companies A-K | Companies L-P | Companies Q-Z
Qualisys, Inc.
148 Eastern Blvd.
Suite 110
Glastonbury, CT 06033
(860) 657-3585 (phone)
(860) 657-3595 (fax)
http://www.qualisys.com
webmaster@qualisys.com
STRoMBoLi Animation S.A.
Menendez Pidal, 31, 1A3
28036. Madrid
Spain.
34 91 350 4617 (phone)
34 91 353 3808 (fax)
http://stromboli.es
Contact: Luisma Lavin
Company Description: STRoMBoLi is an animation house working in Madrid, Spain. They use motion capture systems along with keyframe animation as their primary tools. Although they also do effects animation, STRoMBoLi's passion is character animation, from concept to completion. The company's portfolio includes mostly TV commercials and Real Time performance, as well as providing character animation and motion capture services to third party animation and post-production shops.
SuperFluo
2017 Vestal Ave.
Suite 2
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 666-2862 (phone)
(323) 666-2547 (fax)
Contact: Francesco Chiarini
TEVOX Realtime Animation
Neusser Strasse 772
D-50737 Koeln
Germany
49 221-974524-70 (phone)
49 221-974524-44 (fax)
http://www.tevox.de
tevox@netcologne.de
Contact: Dr. Stefan Lichter
Company Description: TEVOX Realtime Animation, in operation since 1988, creates and animates virtual characters in real time through both motion capture and other forms of performance animation. The company is particularly strong in creating sympathetic actors that do not only look, but also behave believably. Since all regularly appearing virtual actors on German TV are the company's products, TEVOX is the German market leader concerning real time animation of characters. "Clara", the talking 100 DM-Note on WDR, award-winning "Mr. Future" on RTL, and since October 28th, 1998, "Kira Day", appearing daily in her own show "Spot On" on nationwide broadcaster SAT.1 late night are TEVOX's best-known stars. Customers include Super RTL, Buena Vista, Arri, Siemens, Renault, Andersen Consulting, Henkel, BBDO and Daimler-Benz.
TEVOX uses SGIs running Maya and Typhoon, Acsension Technologies motion tracking data suits, datagloves and numerous other input devices for realtime animation. Even though TEVOX also owns a digital sound studio and an online editing suite, all installed in a fully equipped 700 qm studio in house (using Betacam SP analog), they also transport their equipment anywhere on-site in Europe.
The Motion Factory
39300 Civic Center Drive
Suite 240
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 505-5151 (phone)
(510) 505-5150 (fax)
http://www.motion-factory.com
info@motion-factory.com
Janice M. St. George
Company Description: The Motivate Interactive 3D Development System from The Motion Factory is a complete tool set for 3D games and interactive content creation. Motivate's powerful runtime engines integrate seamlessly with current technologies, providing Game AI, Motion Planning, Collision Avoidance, and Realtime Smart IK - features that free developers to focus on character interaction and game play.
Vicon Motion Systems
15455 Red Hill Ave.
Suite C
Tustin, CA 92780
(714) 259-1232 (phone)
(714) 259-1509 (fax)
http://www.vicon.com
moveme@vicon.com
Contact: Brian Nilles
brian@vicon.com
Company Description: Vicon Motion Systems is a privately held concern of professionals dedicated to the development and manufacture of cutting edge optical motion capture products for character animation. The company began in 1984 by providing surgeons with very accurate, moving skeletal models of Cerebral Palsy patients. Because this information was being used to make decisions on bone adjustments to be made in surgery, clinicians demanded the very highest accuracy available. As it turns out, artists who wish to capture the nuances of facial and full body movement to drive their CG characters require similar levels of accuracy. In 1994, Vicon built a software solution around the basic Vicon capture system which satisfied the needs of animators around the world. The company's list of customers quickly climbed to include the likes of Industrial Light and Magic, House of Moves, Nintendo, Westwood Studios, Sierra Dynamix and 30 or so others - with productions like "Titanic" (Digital Domain/House of Moves - Lightstorm Entertainment), Westwood Studios' "BladeRunner" game, and "The Borrowers" - by The Moving Picture Company.
1998 saw Vicon introduce the world's first optical motion capture system designed specifically for animators - Vicon 8. Vicon 8 features up to 24 cameras, 24 hours of continuous capture, SMPTE time code support, GENLOCK facility, synchronized audio and video capture, 2 minute calibrations, batch processing, a simplified lightweight cable design, rugged travel cases and unparalleled attention to hardware and software detail. In addition, Vicon just launched Mobius - a brand new package which allows for artistic manipulation of the motion capture data.
Virtual Technologies, Inc.
2175 Park Blvd.
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 321-4900 (phone)
(650) 321-4912 (fax)
http://www.virtex.com
info@virtex.com
Contact: Evelyn Chiang
Westwood Studios
(702) 228-4040 (phone)
http://www.westwood.com
Contact: Chris Rubyor
Windlight Studios
702 N. First St.
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 339-9091 (phone)
(612) 339-8991 (fax)
http://www.windlight.com
info@windlight.com
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.