Hasta La Motion!

Recognized for its outstanding contribution to the film industry, OptiTrack’s Insight VCS virtual camera system has been selected to receive the Award for Innovation in Media Arts by Oregon’s Governor’s Office of Film & Television. This prestigious award will be presented to OptiTrack developer, NaturalPoint®, at the Office of Film and Television’s Annual Meeting at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17, 2010.

The Oregon Governor’s Award for Innovation in Media Arts recognizes the significant achievements of local businesses and media professionals working on the cutting edge of the industry. The third company to receive the award, NaturalPoint joins the ranks of previous Portland-based winners LAIKA, an animation and visual effects studio, and Ensequence, an interactive television company.

"We developed this award to celebrate the local businesses creating innovative products and techniques within the entertainment industry," says Vince Porter, executive director of the Film and Television office. “Their efforts will truly lead the way as this industry continues to grow in Oregon. When we heard about the exciting new products NaturalPoint was bringing to market, we knew they were the obvious choice for this year’s award.”

The Insight VCS is a virtual camera system that enables users to track their physical camera moves using motion capture technology, perfect for articulating organic cinematographic realism into a virtual film environment. Ideal for previsualization and production in film, game and commercial projects of any scope, the Insight VCS is available for a third of the price of competing systems.

“OptiTrack has transformed the media and entertainment markets by bringing high-quality motion capture technology to the masses at a competitive price point,” said Jim Richardson, NaturalPoint co-founder and lead engineer for the OptiTrack motion capture line. “The Insight VCS continues this effort by providing an affordable solution to one of the most exciting trends in virtual production. We are proud to accept the Governor’s Award for Innovation in Media Arts for the Insight VCS as it further solidifies OptiTrack as a pioneer within the film industry.”

The 2010 Office of Film and Television’s Annual Meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. PT on Dec. 17, 2010 at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall as well as teleconferenced to remote sites in Ashland, Bend, and Eugene, Ore.

About Oregon’s Governor’s Office of Film & Television
The Governor’s Office of Film & Television has been helping productions find, secure and utilize our magnificent locations since 1968. Our mission is to promote the development of the film, video, and multimedia industry in Oregon and to enhance the industry’s revenues, profile, and reputation within Oregon and among the industry internationally. For more information, visit www.oregonfilm.org.

About OptiTrack
OptiTrack™ is the leading brand of affordable, high-performance motion capture technology. The OptiTrack product line includes: ARENA™, Expression™ and Tracking Tools™ motion capture software; the S250e, V100:R2 and V120:SLIM high-speed motion tracking cameras; and the Insight VCS virtual camera system. Used by facilities worldwide in a variety of markets ranging from film and games to sports training and biomechanics, OptiTrack customers include Halon Entertainment, Nvizage, Electronic Arts, Microsoft Game Studios, Method Studios, Lockheed Martin, NASA, John Deere and other top studios and developers around the world.

OptiTrack is owned by NaturalPoint®, one of the foremost companies specializing in optical tracking technology. For more information, visit www.optitrack.com.

About NaturalPoint
Based in Corvallis, Ore., NaturalPoint® is the creator and manufacturer of the OptiTrack™, TrackIR™ and SmartNAV™ family of brands. NaturalPoint specializes in providing innovative control solutions through optical tracking technology, and has developed tracking systems for computers, video games, military simulators and unique display systems. For more information, visit www.naturalpoint.com.

If anyone out there has used Ocula before I am curious as to how long it takes to fix shots? My company is tying to budget time for this and we are not sure if it can be done in a matter of minutes or hours. I know every shot will be different so assuming that the majority of the shots will need fixes for verticle alignment, keystone, color, about how long would each shot take to complete?

Hi, I’m working on a shot at the moment which is very tricky (to me at least…). There is a fair amount of camera movement, and in addition the subject is also moving quickly and flailing their limbs around – at the moment I’m having to adjust shapes every other frame which is massively time-consuming.

I’ve tried doing just a single-point track on various parts of the subject to minimise the translational adjustment of the shapes at least, but this is near impossible as there is too much motion blur and not enough contrast for the tracker to stick – plus the movement of arms & legs means they get obscured too 🙁

Is this where a planar tracker would be better? e.g. Mocha? Or is this just one of those shots that requires a lot of patience and/or coffee?

Any advice greatly appreciated