IEA Immersive Technology Workshop: 3D Scanning and Motion Capture

July 25 - August 5

Immersive Technology Workshop: 3D Scanning and Motion Capture lead by IEA Media Projects Director & Associate Professor of Video Art Eric Souther and assisted by Yunda Sun our IEA Research Specialist, Electronic Media and Film.

The workshop will focus on the accessible and innovative uses of motion capture and 3D scanning for the creation of immersive experiences. Motion capture allows for anyone to animate a humanoid avatar with the simple movement of their body in real-time. This allows for performative and rapid development of animations for use in game engines, augmented reality applications, and virtual film production. 3D scanning allows for creators to easily create digital models from physical objects. The implications of ease-of-use of these technologies and rapid development is empowering for new adopters. The workshops will focus on the creative use of these technologies for the creation of both VR experiences within the Unreal Game Engine.

This project is made possible with funds from the NYSCA in Partnership with Wave Farm: Immersive Art & Technology Initiative, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Work sample from work in progress, Eric Souther & Benjamin Rosenthal 2022
Benjamin Rosanthal demonstrating Motion Tracking Gear and live capture.

PERCEPTION NEURON STUDIO SYSTEM PRECISE AND ACCURATE MOTION CAPTURE DATA

Perception Neuron Studio boast industry leading sensor technology and revolutionary sensor algorithm, giving users limitless potential to take their motion capture to the next level. The Perception Neuron Studio System is a packaged solution with inertial trackers to give a precise motion capture experience.

Eric Souther, with Motion Tracking Gear.
Benjamin Rosanthal, with Motion Tracking Gear.

EinScan H 3D Scanner from SHINING 3D

With strengths of technical accumulation on 3D vision technology in more than a decade, SHINING 3D is now introducing its new developed handheld 3D scanner, EinScan H. Based on hybrid structure light technology of LED and invisible infrared light, EinScan H is making human face scanning more comfortable without strong light. With a built-in color camera and large field of view, EinScan H provides high quality 3D data with full color ready-to-use in minutes.

Yunda Sun, with EinScan H 3D Scanner

Workshop Participants Work Samples

We conducted a two-week workshop that focused on the accessible and innovative uses of motion capture and 3D scanning for the creation of immersive experiences. We had seventeen artists from the Western New York Area attend. We spent the first week introducing the game engine Unreal Engine 5 as well as how to integrate motion capture, 3d scanning, and photogrammetry into a cohesive environment.

By the end of the workshop artists each had a fully functional interactive experience with sound, animations, integrated 3d models. The technologies we purchased and implemented allowed for performative and rapid development within the game engine. The artists shared their work in a one-day symposium the last day of the workshop. We had local and regional guests in attendance.

Jennie Thwing, Associate Professor Digital Media and Animation Alfred State

Mark Longolucco, Technical Director Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center

Nathan Ely, Educational Coordinator CEPA Gallery

Nicole Chochrek, Artist in Residence CEPA Gallery through the Creatives Rebuild New York Grant

Casey Edgerton, Fellow CEPA Gallery

Taryn Cassella, Adjunct Professor, Art Foundations NYSCC

Anthony Nguyen, Assistant Professor of Design NYSCC

Monica Duncan, Assistant Professor of Performance Lehman College

Senem Pirler, Sound Recording and Electronic Music Faculty, Beninngton College

Jesse Zhao, PhD Candidate Ceramic Engineering NYSCC

Micah Alhadeff , MFA Candidate Electronic Integrated Arts NYSCC

Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center Workshop and Rochester Contemporary Art Center Presentation

We took our Immersive Workshop on the road to integrate into our larger western New York community. We held a 3-hour workshop at Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center in Buffalo New York. We shared how to use motion capture, Unreal Engine 5, and integrate that into Virtual Reality. We also shared artists’ work from our two-week workshop and demonstrated the motion capture suit at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center during their “New Worlds – What is Immersive Media?” event.

Intro to Motion Capture for VR: Squeaky Wheel

The IEA took what we learned from our two-week workshop and shared it with our wider community by giving a smaller in duration workshop titled Intro to Motion Capture for VR with Eric Souther and Yunda Sun at Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Art Center on Saturday 1-4pm, August 20th, 2022

Eric Souther, Media Projects Director, presenting at Squeaky Wheel
Eric Souther, assisting one of the workshop participants at Squeaky Wheel

ROCO

On August 16th we presented two of our workshop artists duo’s work in a VR installation for the Arts in Immersive Media 101 event at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center. We also had a station at the event and demonstrated the motion capture suit to several attendants and discussed its use.

ROCO Presentation

The Re-Turn Back to Real-Time

Real-time was a given in the ’70s with early video, as a part of the makeup of the material. When computers come into the picture during the ’90s for sake of control, accuracy, we were presented with non-linear editing and rendering (a slower way of thinking). Over the past two decades 2000-present, computers have become fast enough to do real-time high-quality graphics. We are seeing a paradigm shift back to real-time across the art world and industry.

RealityCapture – Photogrammetry software application for Windows, which enables you to create ultra-realistic 3D models from set of images and/or laser scans.

Retargeting in Maya

Unreal Engine 5 Beginner course

Childish Gambino Creates a Fantasy World for Pharos | Project Spotlight | Unreal Engine