Mocap is a shortcut for people who don't have the skill and the time to do things properly. A useful shortcut, but hardly essential - if you have both the skill and the time to animate by hand.

MiniDarkOF said:
Hey guys, just answer me with a simple yes or no. If i want to make great animation for my game, i need mocap?

No.

Longer answer: The great animations depend entirely on the scenario. Some games can benefit tremendously from mocap. Some games can benefit a lot from mocap. Some games can benefit a little from mocap. Some games have no benefit at all from mocap. At the far opposite end there are beautifully animated worlds filled with creatures that could never be used through motion capture.

The captures still need cleanup both because raw captured data is always rough and because your game should have a consistent look and feel. Even when games are based around an enormous amount of captured animations they still need the effort.

a light breeze said:

Mocap is a shortcut for people who don't have the skill and the time to do things properly. A useful shortcut, but hardly essential - if you have both the skill and the time to animate by hand.

Are you implying that artists and studios who use mocap somehow aren't skilled? That is ridiculous.
Mocap gives you better results faster, that is true. But looking down on it because of that is just elitism. Not to mention that nobody uses raw mocap data, the animations still need to be fixed up (by a skilled animator) after capturing.

1024 said:

a light breeze said:

Mocap is a shortcut for people who don't have the skill and the time to do things properly. A useful shortcut, but hardly essential - if you have both the skill and the time to animate by hand.

Are you implying that artists and studios who use mocap somehow aren't skilled? That is ridiculous.
Mocap gives you better results faster, that is true. But looking down on it because of that is just elitism. Not to mention that nobody uses raw mocap data, the animations still need to be fixed up (by a skilled animator) after capturing.

I was very careful not to say that. Saving time is a valid reason to use mocap, even if you do have the skills to do it by hand.

But I also think can mocap can be, in some instances, a crutch for animators who don't have the skills to animate fully by hand. And that's not a bad thing! In the end, it's the results that matter, not the amount of skill that went into producing the result. If you have a shortcut that allows you to get better results faster, then you should be using that shortcut every chance you get.