From motion capture data to character animation

In this paper, we propose a practical and systematical solution to the mapping problem that is from 3D marker position data recorded by optical motion capture systems to joint trajectories together with a matching skeleton based on least-squares fitting techniques. First, we preprocess the raw data and estimate the joint centers based on related efficient techniques. Second, a skeleton of fixed length which precisely matching the joint centers are generated by an articulated skeleton fitting method. Finally, we calculate and rectify joint angles with a minimum angle modification technique. We present the results for our approach as applied to several motion-capture behaviors, which demonstrates the positional accuracy and usefulness of our method.