Part One of a series how to use Vicon V-file in Maya.
So far, you need to use Autodesk Motionbuilder for transfering motion capturing data on a model created with Maya. Because of speeding up the workflow we want to research if there is a easier way. During our research we discovered Vicon Peak's V-file format which is worth to have a closer look at. We will publish our research on web3dnews.org.
PeelMocapTools
There is a plug-in called peelMocapTools for Maya 7.0, 8.0 and 8.5 (2008) available on highend3d.com which imports c3d files into Maya. This plug-in runs only on Windows Systems AND includes a bug where c3d files will come in flipped in the X axis. This bug should be fixed but there is still no newer version on highend3d.com. Entry's date is 2006/10/08, so quite old. You can download version 1.1 on mocap.ca. But the installing instruction says that this plug-in is for Maya 7.0 only.
We are now trying out to use this plug-in.
V-file format
The V-file cannot be read by Maya. You need a plug-in for V-files. Vicon Peak provides this plug-in but you have to contact them first which is now in process.
The V-file Format includes:
- trail information
- kinematic models, including skeleton data or bone segment hierarchy and marker placement
- analogue data
- motion, data in the form of joint angles and/ or marker positions
- and other parameter
The document http://mocap.cs.cmu.edu/mocap/ViconVFileFormat.pdf shows detailed information about the format.
If we have installed V File plug-in we will try out the instructions on following webpage: http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~alexk/mayaexport.html
So far our research. Please stay continued.