Thursday, February 24th, 2011 Posted by Jim Thacker

OptiTrack announces two sub-$2,000 mocap systems

OptiTrack has announced two new budget optical tracking systems aimed at indie studios.

The V120:Duo and Trio systems cost $1,499 and $1,999, respectively, and will be on show at GDC this month, before an expected commercial release later this year.

PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
As the role of motion capture in virtual production expands, OptiTrack™ continues to offer game developers and animation studios optical tracking technology that is priced to meet an independent budget, but powerful enough to drive AAA development. GDC 2011 marks the release of a new advancement in accessible motion capture: the OptiTrack V120:Duo and V120:Trio tracking systems.

Designed for desktop-friendly motion capture, the Duo and Trio offer the power of multi-camera, six degrees of freedom (DOF) object tracking in a single, plug-and-play package. Each tracking system is self-contained and factory calibrated for out-of-the-box tracking that is simple to use, but still offers the leading accuracy and flexibility of optical tracking technology.

“As game developers are increasingly under pressure to create compelling content within shorter development cycles, motion capture technology offers animators a tool for rapid, realistic content creation,” said Jim Richardson, NaturalPoint® president and OptiTrack’s lead engineer. “But only OptiTrack provides that production efficiency at a price that is accessible to studios of all sizes. And with our new tracking bars, we are offering users our most affordable and convenient motion capture system to date.”

Additional Features:

  • Free license of Tracking Tools™ motion tracking software (a savings of $799)
  • Compatibility with OptiTrack’s Insight VCS virtual camera plugins
  • Simple I/O, with a single cable for power and data transmission
  • Stream (VRPN, trackd, NatNet) or save (.C3D, .CSV) motion capture data
  • External sync in/out via the included I/O-X sync box, for compatibility with shutter glasses and other hardware
  • Support for OEM integration via the Tracking Tools API

The V120:Duo and V120:Trio will ship in Q2 2011, and are priced at $1,499 and $1,999.

Visit the OptiTrack website