Motion capture animates heroic horses By Sarah Bell How did DreamWorks make the hit film War Horse without harming any horses? Computer generated imagery (CGI) was mixed with real footage so that the most dangerous parts of the movie were animated. But
Motion capture animates heroic horses By Sarah Bell How did DreamWorks make the hit film War Horse without harming any horses? Computer generated imagery (CGI) was mixed with real footage so that the most dangerous parts of the movie were animated. But according to horse-lover and computer scientist Karl Abson, some of the animation sequences in War Horse are a bit rubbish. “Animation is very good at skin texture and materials” says Karl, “but when it comes to animal motion, we are still in the dark ages”. Karl and colleagues at the University of Bradford are changing that with their work to improve motion capture of animals for the film industry. Motion capture works by reflecting infra-red light off reflective dots stuck on a moving object, and recording it in cameras from different angles. If three or more cameras capture light reflected from a particular dot, its location and movement can be recorded in detail. Turning the movement of dots in space to realistic motion requires a good understanding of biomechanics – how skeletons and muscles work together to create movement. The software for humans is pretty good but for animals the technology is lagging behind. “We are a team of software engineers and animal biomechanics specialists” says Karl. They are 