Real time automatic skeleton and motion estimation for character animation

Authors: Xiao, Z., Nait-Charif, H. and Zhang, J.J.

Journal: Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds

Volume: 20

Issue: 5-6

Pages: 523-531

eISSN: 1546-427X

ISSN: 1546-4261

DOI: 10.1002/cav.276

Abstract:

Motion capture is prevalent in the pipeline of realistic articulated character animation. To define accurate joint positions and joint orientations for the movement of a hierarchical human-like character without using a pre-defined skeleton remains a challenge for motion capture studios. In this paper, we present a method for automatically estimating and determining the topology of a hierarchical human skeleton from optical motion capture data based on the human biomechanical information. Through the use of a novel per-frame based recursive method with joint angle minimization, human skeleton mapping from optical markers and joint angle estimation are achieved in real time. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Source: Scopus