A DID motion capture rig…for humans?
Many befores & afters readers will know the story about the Dinosaur Input Device (or Digital Input Device) that was developed by Tippett Studio, ILM and Pixar for Jurassic Park. The DID was a dino-shaped sensor-covered armature with encoders that could translate stop-motion-like input to a CG model, allowing Tippett’s traditionally trained animators to lend their skills to a new wave of digital animation.
You can read the huge oral history here at the site.
Well, after Jurassic, Tippett Studio continued the development of encoder-covered capture devices, including for use on Starship Troopers and other projects.
At one point, the team made a whole motion capture suit exoskeleton with encoders, designed to be worn by a performer and used for human motion capture.
In the wake of Tippett Studio shutting down its Berkeley studio, that exoskeleton has now become available for auction. See the listing here. The starting bid is $1,000.
The blurb for the auction mentions the suit was utilized on Starship Troopers. I believe there was some mocap done for a panoramic crowd shot for scenes after the brain bug had been defeated. I had heard, too, there might have been some experimentation done for Hollow Man with the suit, but I’m not 100% sure on this.
In any case, it’s definitely an interesting look back at mocap and Tippett Studio history.
