MotionBuilder Tutorial: How to Create Shots in Story Tool

[@FredWeimer]

Excellent video for putting the scene together and blocking!

[@mocappys]

Thanks, Fred. Hopefully there were a couple of useful tips in there for you

[@AlexKongMX]

HOOOLY MOLLY DUDE! This was such an eye opener! And such a great scene that you picke to do it too. Thank you thank you so much man!

[@mocappys]

Thanks again, Alex. Glad you liked it. I’m just in the middle of adding props to all the character, so there’ll be a new tutorial soon. Stay tuned!!

[@AlexKongMX]

I can't imagine how much time it took you to put this together and give it out for free, wow, you are crazy man, you should create a patreon and an online course for pay, I would sign up right away!

[@mocappys]

I’m not that crazy…we’ll maybe a little. I do have a course you can sign up for though academy.mocappys.com/p/how-to-animate-character-with-mocap

[@AlexKongMX]

@@mocappys looks really cool! Although looks like a big part of it is already here on your KZbin, does it contain a good part into sequence building like the matrix scene you did I feel like I need to watch more of that since most of the intro and basics I feel that I have covered.

[@mocappys]

I would say half is on the channel - I need to update the page ;) There's no sequence building in this course, that's planned for later. But, the course does contains lots of other stuff that isn't on the channel: - How to transfer optical marker data (e.g. Vicon, Motion Analysis, Opti-Track ) to your character - How to quickly T-pose a character using IK, and automatically complete the Character Mapping with a Skeleton Template file (XML for Unrela characters included in the course). - How to map mocap to a more traditional IK character animation rig. - A deep dive into the Character Settings to map human motion to a more complex non-human bipedal character. - How to quickly and easily realign mocap in your scene. - How to use Story to split takes containing multiple actions into separate takes. Plus all the assets I use in the videos and some bonus docs on How To Rig Character For MotionBuilder, MotionBuilder Keyboard Shortcuts and Motion Editing in MotionBuilder.

[@AlexKongMX]

@@mocappys sounds awesome and super complete, I'm taking a deep dive today into the story editor, many of the things you mention sound very advance and for a bit further down the road, I'll probably snatch in about a month. Say, would you mind sharing your opinion on why MotionBuilder is better than Maya for Mocap? Like, Maya now has the humanIK, the camera sequencer and the time editor, is it mostly because of the filters it has for mocap? What do you feel that can be accomplished faster and easier in Mobu? Thanks!

[@mocappys]

That’s a big question! You can edit motion capture in Maya with the tools you mentioned. But MotionBuilder is designed from the ground up to handle mocap data and the dense key frame data it creates on multiple characters, objects, cameras, takes, constraints in almost real-time with timecode I’m not saying you can’t do any of this in Maya, it’s just once you get over the initial learning curve, MotionBuilder makes it a lot faster and and easier…but then I would say that;)

[@scotthuster3531]

SO GOOD! This scene has been seared into my brain the first time I saw it. The camera shots line up so well to the original and the motion is great!

[@mocappys]

Thanks, Scott. Same here. It never gets old no matter how many time you watch it - and I’ve watched it a LOT now, making this. I just hope I can do it justice

[@dannyking46]

Subscribed !!!

[@kreeslak]

I work everyday with MOBU for this same purpose and I learned some stuff here and there, thanks!

[@mocappys]

Excellent! Its the reason I make these videos

[@BlazeZ__]

Hey there i need some help you said here to alt and drag the camera but when i try doing that the camera starts rotating. Please let me know how can i do it properly Thanks 20:18

[@mocappys]

Are you using Maya keyboard shortcuts in MoBu? If so, you’ll need x-drag instead of alt-drag.

[@BlazeZ__]

@@mocappys Oh yes, thanks a lot

[@hotsauce7124]

Is there a way to combine multiple clips in Story into one long clip?

[@GUTOMOFFICIAL]

Why can't see see Enable Rotation DOF in my MotionBuilder 2022? I have the camera selected and looking at the properties but don't see it. thanks

[@mocappys]

Couple of things you could try: 1 - In Properties window you need to set "Select Property View" drop down to "All(Type)" - if you haven't already changed this, it will probably be say "Default (Type)" 2 - "Enable Rotation DOF" Should then be available under "Degrees Of Freedom>Enable Rotation DOF"

[@avtpro]

This is so Pro! How many films have you worked on? You know how much this was needed in 2007? Over 10 years ago? I know you are "Mocappy" an Advance MotionBuilder specialist along the lines of Brad Clark. So what's going on? A Previs Specialist said that UDK will take over mocap editing. I don't see how that's going to happen. Nothing is like MotionBuilder.

[@mocappys]

Many thanks! I've worked on quite a few films over the years www.imdb.com/name/nm3021193 I think UDK will end up being another tool people can use for motion or mocap editing - I haven't tried it myself so I can't say how good or easy is it - but it has a lot of catching up to do with MotionBuilder;)

[@avtpro]

@@mocappys Yes, Lots. BTW, that link isn't work, but I look at your about on Mocappy. You're DNEG? Wow. Even more of a boss than the boss I thought you were Boss! ;-) So do you know Keith Kamolhz? He's a Houdini Destruction Masters. He was at DNEG last I recall. He studied here in Upstate Western NY where I am, Buffalo NY. He's a great guy too. I'm an indie artist, I bought an OptiTrack a decade ago, but use the Vicon Mocap Lab at the Univ here instead. I'm focusing on storyboarding now, put drag drop thumbnails into MoBu instead film reference. However, I want to use very practical film camera backs and Pre-Vis workflow so this video is invaluable. I'll keep you up to date on any progress I make. Also since I'm an indie, if you know any indie budgets that need a 3D Generalist for their low to mid-range production, I'm available. I hope to do digidouble stunts with destruction or RBD prop interaction. Thanks.

[@avtpro]

BTW, I visited Acclaim when it was in GlenClove NY. It's what inspired me to do Mocap in the late 90's.

[@mocappys]

That's a lot of "bosses" I'm not sure I'm worthy of ;) I don't know Keith. DNEG's a big place and unless he's in anim, pre-viz or crowds, I probably haven't worked with him. Look forward to the updates. Be great to see what you're up to. And I'll keep an ear out for anyone looking for an indie generalist.

[@djkingyahudah7526]

One or 2 days? That still dont tell me how many hours. What,......48hrs or 2 hours one day and 1 hour the next day to build a previs prop?

[@avtpro]

control to get window from docking. 💯👏 -999 Instead of groups or visibilty💯❤️ Insert animation instead of Groups or visiblity💯💯 Fixing paddle Hands!! 👏🔥Thanks.

[@mocappys]

Ha! Glad you found those tips useful. Ctrl to stop window docking is always handy. Really need to get back into this…