Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Of course, recording and playing back in real time are options that present
the most accurate timing and reflect exactly the movement of the action.
However, footage viewed in real time may be less good at showing the full
details of an action and may in some regard limit the analysis of a particular
aspect of a movement or make the analysis that much more difficult,
particularly with very fast actions.
As with still photography, it is important to ensure that video footage is sharp
and correctly exposed if you are to be able to analyze the action fully. Footage
taken using a handheld camera is obviously more subject to camera shake
than that captured using a tripod, so wherever possible use a sturdy tripod
when you're filming subjects for action analysis. Since the primary reason for
recording the moving image is for the study of motion and not the creative or
aesthetic use of the footage, it seems sensible to aim for the most stable form
of capturing the moving image.
Creating Movies
Having filmed the work, it would be useful to have it in a form that can be
easily stored and retrieved. Saving the footage as QuickTime movies and
storing them on an external hard drive will provide an original source of
reference. Unless, of course, you intend to create an archive of different
actions, you will probably find that you will need to store only a relatively
small amount of work for a limited time.
You may also find it useful to edit the research footage of different
actions to create a sequence of different shots. This would certainly help
in building performances, but there is a danger here that you'll start to
take away from the creative performance-based aspect of animation.
I would recommend that such sequences form the basis of study rather
than straight imitation. For editing sequences together, I tend to use
Adobe Premiere to edit any sequences I want to string together on a
timeline, but others will no doubt favor different software, such as Final
Cut Pro. Regardless of the editing software you use, the value of seeing
different shots in a sequence will allow you to gain even more information
about an action and how it fits in with the action of shots that precede and
follow it.
Motion Capture
For completely accurate capturing and analysis of actions, you can choose
from among a number of automated motion capture systems. These are
becoming more prevalent, particularly in the computer games and feature
film sectors of the animation industry.
The first automated systems for the capturing of information based on kinetic
movement and the analysis of such movements were mechanical. The best
of these and the ones that are remembered to this day were created by Jules
