A new generation of animators has a new tool to learn the craft -- one nurtured on the banks of the Ohio River and seemingly straight out of "Avatar."
On Feb. 19, Shawnee State University in Portsmouth dedicated and officially opened its new Motion Capture Lab, a state-of-the-art facility that is one of only two such programs in the state (the other is at Ohio State University).
The lab is designed specifically for those pursuing a bachelor of science in digital simulation and gaming arts, or a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration in gaming and simulation arts, says Carl Hilgarth, professor and department chair, Engineering Technologies.
To turn motion into an animated character, students wear a special suit covered in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), Hilgarth says. The movements, when fed through a software program, allow students to create a three-dimensional model of that character, eliminating the need to draw separate frames to create animated sequences.
Hilgarth sees applications not just for movies, but for physical therapy (to compare a patient's movement against a standard), athletic training (is my golf swing up to par?), and medical training (how do you get a patient into a wheelchair?)
"We would also be able to capture the strength or force by which you grip parts -- and so we can do training videos and very precisely as far as how you put parts together, how you have to grip parts . . . it has unlimited possibilities."
Use of the lab will begin in earnest in the fall, when it is completely fitted with new computers and software, Hilgarth says. Meanwhile, Shawnee State continues to carve out a niche for itself in digital interactive media: some 80 freshmen enroll in the engineering component alone every year, Hilgarth says.
Source: Carl Hilgarth, Shawnee State University
Writer: Gene Monteith