ANNOUNCEMENT: Over 2500 free human motion BVH files now available in 3dsMax Biped-friendly version.
Bruce Hahne
[Please forward or repost this notice as desired, since I don't
necessarily know the best way to let a lot of 3dsMax users know that
this new BVH conversion is available.]
I'm pleased to announce a 3dsMax-Biped-friendly BVH release of the
Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) motion database. Last year I released
a Motionbuilder-friendly version of the data, but because Motionbuilder
tends to be a specialized tool and I recently switched to Max anyway, I
decided that instead of having a life, I'd invest some research and
programming time to convert the dataset to something easily usable with
Biped. I've also recorded a training video to show how to import the
files and retarget them to another Max Biped.
In the wake of the initial BVH release of the Motionbuilder-friendly
version in 2008, various people have done different types of conversions
and published them. So there's now a Poser-capable version, and
apparently also versions saved as Collada (.dae), Maya Binary (.mb),
iClone (.vns) and more, though I haven't tested any of these. I have
links to the various releases on the top-level cgspeed.com motion
capture page.
The motion data is free and available to use for any project. There is
no use license, i.e. the data isn't under Creative Commons or a similar
limited-use license.
WHERE TO GET THE FILES:
1. The 3dsMax-friendly BVH release, main page, with download links:
http://tinyurl.com/dk8n5z
OR
http://sites.google.com/a/cgspeed.com/cgspeed/motion-capture/3dsmax-friendly-release-of-cmu-motion-database
2. The top-level cgspeed.com motion capture page:
http://tinyurl.com/d6vead
OR http://sites.google.com/a/cgspeed.com/cgspeed/motion-capture
3. Tutorial video:
http://www.vimeo.com/4449838
OR download the full-size version from the 3dsMax BVH links page
mentioned above.
Advantages of this release over the original Carnegie-Mellon data:
- Very easy and fast to use with 3dsMax Biped.
- Joint renaming: As many joints as possible have been renamed to be
compatible with 3dsMax's BVH import capability for Biped.
- Easy retargeting: since 3dsMax Biped allows biped-to-biped retargeting
even across different Biped skeleton setups, it's now possible to use
the CMU motion data with arbitrary Biped skeletons, at least within
3dsMax. This is a huge win, because it means that you don't have to
create a skeleton whose bone setup matches that of the original CMU data.
- Base pose modification: 3dsMax requires an unusual skeleton BVH "base
pose" aka "zero pose". For the 3dsMax-friendly release I've adjusted
the underlying dataset to put the zero pose into the appropriate
arms-down position. Numerous adjustments to the keyframes on the arms
were then required to handle the change in rotation axes that happens
when you shift the underlying BVH zero pose.
- Hand-to-wrist keyframe migration: This 3dsMax-friendly BVH release
shifts keyframes from the "hand" joints onto the "wrist" joints, making
this data available to Max. 3dsMax BVH import doesn't support both
"wrist" and "hand" joints, so without this datashift, the wrist
rotations of the original capture would end up lost.
- Index files: The release includes consolidated indices that list the
motion filenames and their descriptions. Both spreadsheet and word
processor friendly index files are available.
I welcome assistance from people who'd like to provide brief text
descriptions of some of the motions which are presently poorly
described, or not described at all. See the cgspeed.com release page
for links to the motion index page, and you'll get an idea of what the
current state of the motion text descriptions is like. Some are
adequately described, others aren't.
If you have questions, feel free to email me.
Yours in mocap data conversion,
Bruce Hahne
hahne at io dot com
Maintainer of www.cgspeed.com
"Making hobbyist 3D animating easier, cheaper, faster".
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