Overview
First, you'll want to follow the instructions below to set up the data streaming settings in Motive. Once this is configured, Motive will be broadcasting tracking data onto a designated network interface where client applications can receive them.
Open the Data Streaming Pane in Motive's Settings window and set the following settings:
Additional Tips
To get started, drag the OptiTrack Optical plugin from the Motion Builder Asset Browser tab > Devices into the Viewer window. This will create a dropdown menu called I/O Devices in the Navigator tab. Click the + button next to I/O Devices and select OptiTrack Optical. This will populate the plugin's settings tab if it hasn't already auto-populated from the drag and drop step from earlier.
Once the above settings are input appropriately, you'll want to click the box next to Online. This indicate whether or not Motive is successfully streaming to MotionBuilder.
The Virtual Camera also integrates into existing MotionBuilder camera control workflows, including spline/path/constraint animation and custom scripted behaviors.
First you'll need to create the "neutral" or "zero" orientation of a rigid body
The “neutral” or “zero” orientation of a rigid body is the orientation when it is created in Motive. This will be the camera’s neutral orientation. In addition, for correct interpretation into MotionBuilder’s coordinate system, it is important you align your rigid body with the correct axis and coordinate system convention as follows:
After correctly orienting your rigid body follow the steps below to continue with the setup:
You should now see a standard MotionBuilder Camera moving within your 3D scene:
In Universal mode, a MotionBuilder rigid body is used to drive a camera position. This position/orientation information is merged with the VCS camera controls and applied to the camera's final state (position, lens settings, etc.). It is assumed the rigid body orientation matches the MotionBuilder default camera orientation (camera lens aimed down +X axis). For example, if streaming from Motive, create a rigid body in MotionBuilder from the optical data, with the camera lens aimed down +X in MotionBuilder.
Limitations
The Insight VCS plugin supports any DirectInput compatible joystick or USB device. Controllers can then be configured to perform actions or control the camera using Controller Profiles.
Virtual Camera controls are managed by a Control-to-Event mapping system called the Controller Profile. The controller profile is configured in the Controller Tab. The Insight VCS plugin allows you to create and swap between multiple controller profiles, allowing you to create any number of custom button/axis configurations depending upon the scene, particular move types, different physical VCS controllers or HID devices, etc. Profiles can be saved and then later swapped out using the Profile Dropdown. Profiles are saved into <VCS Mobu install folder>\Profiles folder.
The VCS plugin ships with 2 default profiles:
When the Insight VCS plugin is first launched, it will attempt to detect any compatible controllers. It will then attempt to match the detected controllers with an existing Controller Profile, beginning with the last used ("preferred") profile.
The VCS plugin supports 2 types of controller inputs and 2 types of actions:
Axis Inputs / Actions
Button Inputs / Actions
Some Insight VCS controllers have a dial that is represented in the Axis list as a "Wheel". This is a special form of an axis, and can be used to modify existing actions, such as zoom speed, pan speed, and motion scale amount.
Some actions have parameters that modify the way they operate. The following tables list the axis and button actions, and how the parameter value for that action is interpreted.
Examples:
When mapping a controller thumbstick axis to an animatable camera parameter (pan, zoom), you have the option of specifying how the Insight VCS plugin should interpret controller axis movement as a standard animation curve. Instead of modifying the value over time, however, the motion curve modifies the value over the controller span, from neutral/center position (0) to maximum position (Max). The following diagram describes this relationship:
When using the Run Script action to map button presses to MotionBuilder scripts, be sure to note the following:
The Insight VCS plugin has several properties that can be used to customize its behavior. These properties can be accessed in the same manner as any other MotionBuilder object property, such as from the Asset Browser or from MotionBuilder's Python scripting environment.
Can be used for 2 purposes :
A MotionBuilder Camera controls how you see the 3D scene. MotionBuilder’s Camera object allow users the ability to model realworld cameras, including settings such as Focal length, aspect ratio, film format, etc.
Refer to the MotionBuilder documentation for more information on Camera Settings.
