Main Page → Motive Documentation → Skeleton Tracking → Entertainment Markersets

There are two different skeleton marker templates that can be used for entertainment applications: Baseline and Core. Both of these markersets provide high-quality tracking, but the Core marker set templates may provide more stable tracking for high-camera count systems.

Among these marker sets, some of the placements are shared. For example, the Baseline (41) markerset serves as a starting point, and the other baseline markersets add more markers to it. When attaching the markers, you should reference the skeleton avatar from the Builder pane for relative locations. The following charts and pages provide additional descriptions to where each marker should be placed, find related markers or click on one of the baseline markerset pages for specific placement descriptions.

Asymmetry

Asymmetry is the key to avoiding the congruency for tracking multiple markersets. When there are more than one similar marker arrangements in the volume, marker labels may be confused. Thus, it is beneficial to place segment makers — joint markers must always be placed on anatomical landmarks — in asymmetrical positions for similar rigid bodies and skeletal segments. This provides a clear distinction between two similar arrangements. Furthermore, avoid placing markers in a symmetrical shape within the segment as well. For example, a perfect square marker arrangement will have ambiguous orientation and frequent mislabels may occur throughout the capture. Instead, follow the rule of thumb of placing the less critical markers in asymmetrical arrangements.

Skeleton Templates

List of Baseline marker set templates

List of Core marker set templates

Baseline Markers

Front view of the Baseline (37) markerset.
Back view of the Baseline (37) markerset.

Head Markers
Label	Related Segment	Description
HeadTop	Head	Place the marker on the head tip.
HeadFront	Head	Place the marker at the center of the forehead.
HeadSide	Head	Place the marker on the either side of the head, slightly above the ear. When capturing multiple actors with similar proportions, place the marker on opposite side for clearer distinction.

Torso Markers
Label	Related Segment	Description
BackTop	Torso	Place the marker on the spine right below the neck. For best results, LUArmHigh-LShoulderBack-BackTop-RshoulderBack-RUArmHigh markers should align roughly in a straight line when the actor is in T-pose. Also, note that this marker must be placed at an elevation higher than the chest marker for the torso segment to be tracked properly.
Chest	Torso	Place the marker at the center of the sternum, about 5 cm below where the neck starts.
BackLeft	Torso	These two markers are located symmetrically on each side of the back, slightly below the lowest end of the shoulder blade (scapular bone).
BackRight	Torso

Waist Markers
Note that the waist markers are the key markers in modeling the pelvis bone, which is the major segment governing the other subsequent skeleton segments. For best results, avoid placing the waist markers in a rectangle shape. When tracking multiple actors with similar proportions, introduce an offset to one of the WaistBack marker, or the WaistCMarker (included only with the 13 additional markerset), to create an asymmetrical arrangements.
Label	Related Segment	Description
WaistLFront	Pelvis	Placed the marker on the protruding bone located on the front of the pelvis (left/right anterior iliac spine bone). The prominence can be palpated from left and right side of the waist.
WaistRFront	Pelvis
WaistLBack	Pelvis	Place the WaistLBack and WaistRBack markers above left/right hip; about 10 cm above the hip joint.
WaistRBack	Pelvis

Shoulder Markers
When placing the shoulder markers, ask the actor to stand in the T-pose in order to place the markers on accurate locations. It could also be helpful to ask the actor to do few rounds of arm abduction and adduction to palpate for the shoulder axis. These markers determine the width of the shoulder and respective relationship with the upper arm segment.
Label	Related Segment	Description
LShoulderBack	Shoulder	Place the marker on the shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint) on the back.
RShoulderBack	Shoulder
LShoulderTop	Shoulder	Place the marker at the top of each shoulder where you can palpate the protruding bone, which is usually located just before where the upper arm start when in T-pose. More specifically, the prominence is on the distal end of the clavicle bone (acrominoclavicular joint).
RShoulderTop	Shoulder

Arm Markers
Label	Related Segment	Description
LElbowOut	Upper Arm	Place the marker on the lateral side of the elbow joint, slightly towards the upper arm. More specifically, on the lateral epicondyle of the distal end of the humerous. Ask the actor to flex and extend the arm few times to confirm that markers are placed along the elbow axis and maintain stationary throughout the range of motion cycles.
RElbowOut	Upper Arm
LUArmHigh	Upper Arm	Place the marker on the back of the upper arm near the groove between the triceps. For best results, LUArmHigh, LShoulderBack, BackTop, RshoulderNack, and RUArmHigh should align roughly in a straight line when in T-pose.
RUArmHigh	Upper Arm

Hand Markers
For best results, place the hand markers so that the shape of the marker arrangement is asymmetrical itself and also unique to the shape on the other hand. Since the wrist marker placement is fixed along the wrist axis, offset the HandOut or the HandIn markers to create the unique arrangements. For more robust and simple tracking, hand rigid-bodies can be attached on the hand to replace the markers and guarantee the asymmetrical and non-deforming marker placement.
Label	Related Segment	Description
LWristOut	Fore Arm / Hand	Place the marker on the outside (lateral side) of the wrist axis. (distal end of the radius bone). Note that the wrist axis is not always located on the protruding bone but 1-2 cm more towards the hand.
RWristOut	Fore Arm / Hand
LWristIn	Fore Arm / Hand	Place the marker on the inner prominence (medial side) of the wrist axis (distal end of the ulnar bone).
RWristIn	Fore Arm / Hand
LHandOut	Hand	Place the marker slightly below the pinky knuckle. More specifically, between distal end of the fifth and fourth mertacarpal bones.
RHandOut	Hand

Leg Markers
Label	Related Segment	Description
LThighFront	Upper Leg	Place the marker on the front side of the thigh, along the midline. For best results, slightly offset the height of the left and right markers to introduce the asymmetry.
RThighFront	Upper Leg
LKneeOut	Upper Leg	Place the marker on the outter prominence of the knee joint; on the lateral epicondyle of the femur. Palpate the knee for the protruding bone from the upper leg, and place it right on the axis. Ask the actor to flex and extend the knee few times to confirm that the markers are placed along the axis and maintain stationary throughout the range of motion cycles.
RKneeOut	Upper Leg
LShin	Lower Leg	Place the marker on the shin bone; on the midline of the lower leg. For best results, slightly offset the height of the left and right markers to introduce the asymmetry.
RShin	Lower Leg

Foot Markers
Label	Related Segment	Description
LAnkleOut	Lower Leg/Foot	Place the marker on the protruding bone outside of the ankle joint; on the lateral end of the malleolus bone.
RAnkleOut	Lower Leg/Foot
LToeOut	Foot	Place the marker just before the little toe joint; on the distal end of the fifth metatarsal bone.
RToeOut	Foot
LToeIn	Foot	Place the marker just before the big toe joint; on the distal end of the first metatarsal bone.
RToeIn	Foot

Additional Markers (Core / Passive Fingers)

Higher count markersets have extra markers added to the Baseline (41) markerset, making them Core markersets. This markerset adds hinged toe on each foot to show bending in the tip of the foot. Finger markersets have extra markers on the hand for estimating the finger pose. The upper body and lower body markersets use same marker placements but only on one half of the body.

Hinged Toe Markers
Hinged toe markersets create toe segments in the skeleton. Two additional markers are added to each foot, one on the toe-tip and another on the heel. The hinged toe markers are included in all baseline markersets except for Baseline (37) and Upper Body markersets.
Label	Related Segment	Description
LHeel	Foot	Place at the center of the heel.
RHeel	Foot	Place at the center of the heel.
LToeTip	Toe	Place the marker on the tip of the second toe; next to the big toe.
RToeTip	Toe

Hand + Finger Markers
Finger markersets include extra markers on the fingers, and the finger tracking is done by analyzing the kinematics of the hand and estimating the pose of each finger. The WristIn marker is removed and replaced by a forearm marker. Attaching finger markers uses mocap Velcro gloves and hand markers, which can be found from our webstore.
Label	Related Segment	Description
LFArm	Forearm	Place the marker on the front side of the forearm while in T-pose. For best results, slightly offset the left and right forearm markers to introduce the asymmetry on each side.
RFArm	Forearm
LWristOut	Fore Arm / Hand	This marker is not included in the finger markersets. Place the marker on the outside (lateral side) of the wrist axis. (distal end of the radius bone). Note that the wrist axis is not always located on the protruding bone but 1-2 cm more towards the hand.
RWristOut	Fore Arm / Hand
LThumb	Hand	Place the marker on the side of the thumb joint.
RThumb	Hand	Place the marker on the side of the thumb joint.
LIndex	Hand	Place the marker on the side of the index finger joint (proximal interphalangeal joint).
RIndex	Hand
LPinky	Hand	Place the marker on the side of the pinky finger joint (proximal interphalangeal joint).
RPinky	Hand
LHandIn	Hand	Place the marker on the knuckle of the index finger, but slightly towards the side.
RHandIn	Hand
LHandOut	Hand	Place the marker on the knuckle of the pinky finger, but slightly towards the side.
RHandOut	Hand

Additional Markers in the Baseline (50)
In this marker set, there are multiple additional markers added to the Baseline (37). The marker placement can be found in the Builder pane. The following chart provides additional explanations on the marker locations.
Label	Related Segment	Description
HeadLeft	Head	Included in place of the HeadSide marker. Place the marker on the left side of the head, slight above the ear. For best tracking results, place either the HeadLeft marker or the HeadRight marker slightly further behind the ear in order to introduce more distinct asymmetry to left and right side.
HeadRight	Head	Included in place of the HeadSide marker. Place the marker on the right side of the head, slightly above the ear. See above descriptions for the HeadLeft marker for comments on the asymmetry.
ChestTop	Torso	Included in place of the Chest marker. Place the marker at the center of the chest (sternum); approximately 5 cm below where the neck starts.
ChestLow	Torso	Included in place of the Chest marker. Place the marker where bottom of the two rib cages conjoin; the lowest end of the sternum (xiphoid process).
WaistCBack	Pelvis	Place the marker about 5 cm above the pelvis bone, near the center of the waist back (on the spine) with a slight offset towards the right (or left). This is usually located slightly above one of the dimples located on the waist back (posterior iliac spine bone).
LFArm	Fore Arm	Place the marker on the front side of the forearm while in T-pose. For best results, slightly offset the left and right forearm markers to introduce the asymmetry on each side.
RFArm	Fore Arm
LHandIn	Hand	Place the marker below the knuckle of the index finger.
RHandIn	Hand	Place the marker below the knuckle of the index finger.
LThighSide	Upper Leg	Place the marker on the lateral side of the thigh. Ideally, L/R ThighSide, L/R KneeOut, and L/R AnkleOut markers should be aligned roughly in a straight line.
RThighSide	Upper Leg

Headband Markers
When a headband — instead of the mocap beanie — is used to place the head markers, the HeadTop marker is removed and an extra HeadSide marker is added.
Label	Related Segment	Description
HeadFront	Head	Place the marker at the center of the forehead.
HeadLeft	Head	Place the marker on the left side of the headband, slightly above the ear.
HeadRight	Head	Place the marker on the right side of the head, slight above the ear. For best results, try to place the side markers in an asymmetrical arrangement and avoid creating isosceles triangle from the three markers.