IKinema ships LiveAction 3.0
Made with LiveAction: Ninja Theory’s 2016 Siggraph Award-winning real-time cinematography demo made use of IKinema’s mocap solving and retargeting system, version 3.0 of which has just been released.
IKinema has released LiveAction 3.0, the latest update to its mocap solving and retargeting software for real-time production, adding automatic bone mapping and support for custom mocap systems.
Stream and clean mocap data in real time for viewing in UE4
LiveAction enables users to stream data from standard optical and inertial motion-capture solutions and retarget it directly onto CG characters, viewing the output in Unreal Engine 4.
The software includes automated real-time filters to reduce noise, fix dropouts, and minimise common problems like foot slippage or characters interpenetrating the floor or surrounding objects.
Users include game developer Ninja Theory, which made use of LiveAction in its Siggraph Award-winning real-time cinematography demo based on its upcoming PC and PS4 title Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (above).
New in version 3.0: automatic bone mapping, support for custom mocap systems
LiveAction 3.0 include a range of new features for automating the process of matching the target character’s rig, along with support for custom mocap systems via the open-source VRPN VR device framework.
The software previously only supported OptiTrack, Vicon and Xsens systems.
We can’t find a detailed description of the functionality on IKinema’s website, but the company’s press release lists the new features in LiveAction 3.0 as follows:
- Automatic bone mapping
- Template editor – custom name matching
- Skeleton matching on target rig
- Improved work flow for ACP [IKinema’s automated Animation Cleaning Pipeline – Ed.]
- Supports custom MoCap systems through the MoCap Streaming Protocol (VRPN based)
- Fast setup – see results within a few minutes
Pricing and availability
LiveAction 3.0 is available for Unreal Engine 4 running on Windows only. Both node-locked and floating licences are available on a rental-only basis, priced at £2,500/year (around $3,015/year) excluding VAT.