OptiTrack announces that Cloud Imperium, Animatrik Film Design and ChAIR Entertainment have each deployed the OptiTrack high-performance Prime Series motion capture system for upcoming projects.
Corvallis, OR -- Motion capture provider OptiTrack announced installations of its Prime Series motion capture systems at several top entertainment production studios, including Cloud Imperium, Animatrik Film Design and ChAIR Entertainment.
Cloud Imperium is an independent video game developer founded by industry veteran Chris Roberts, creator of the Wing Commander series. His current title in the works, Star Citizen, is supported entirely by crowd funding, to the tune of $18M and counting. Star Citizen combines classic space simulation gameplay and stunning visuals, with closely engaged fans providing feedback on every aspect of development. After researching numerous motion capture technologies, Cloud Imperium installed a 32 camera Prime 41 system to drive game animation and cinematics.
“We spent a lot of time looking at motion capture options and felt like OptiTrack was the next generation. Their cameras are high quality and low cost – it was a no-brainer,” said Chris Roberts, CEO, Cloud Imperium Games. “We’ve already done a few shoots – the system was easy to set up, easy to calibrate and makes for a much more fun and pleasant motion capture experience.”
Vancouver-based Animatrik Film Design specializes in motion capture, previsualization and virtual cinematography for the film, television and gaming industries. Commanding a spacious 15,000 square foot sound stage with full performance capture capabilities, the independently owned studio boasts credits on sci-fi feature Elysium and zombie comedy Warm Bodies as well as contributions to Thief 4, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Animatrik purchased 30 Prime 41 cameras to help take their capture capabilities outdoors and first deployed their setup on a demanding A-List action sports shoot in which the cameras were often looking straight into the sun.
“Our first experience with OptiTrack was with their virtual camera system, and when we took a close look at their camera designed for the big volume, high end guys, we were impressed,” said Brett Ineson, President and CTO of Animatrik. “The performance of the Prime 41 is amazing. The OptiTrack team did their homework, and it shows. The very first shoot we did with our system was on an extremely difficult outdoor project that we never would have attempted without that kind of camera range.”
Video game production company ChAIR Entertainment, a division of Epic Games, Inc, gave rise to one of the most memorable entertainment franchises in gaming – the Infinity Blade series. Heaped with critical praise, the action-packed, sword-fighting adventures for iOS – Infinity Blade and Infinity Blade II – have been downloaded over 40 million times and have generated more than $60 million. As a company constantly on the lookout for technological advancements, ChAIR built Infinity Blade with Epic’s Unreal Engine technology – a mobile game first. Recently released Infinity Blade III harnesses the 64-bit architecture and faster processing speeds of the iPhone 5S for graphical resolution that is unprecedented for a mobile title. ChAIR’s next project in development will undoubtedly feature equally impressive visuals now that the studio’s workflow is bolstered by 24 Prime 41 cameras for tracking and two additional Prime 41s for reference.
These high profile installations punctuate an industry-wide move toward OptiTrack for production motion capture, with additional recent installations at Remedy Entertainment, Disney, The Moving Picture Company, Scanline VFX, Larian Studios, and others.
Source: OptiTrack
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
