in regards to 10'x10' room:

http://www.theonionavclub.com/cinema/index.php?issue=4045&r=1

The Onion's AV Club review of the film... very reliable source... good reviews as well

"May be, but for the film they didn't use a larger area. "

Must have been a resolution issue. I think with larger capture volumes the resolution of the capture is much more coarse. Maybe with software like IQ and Motionbuilder the stitching of these sessions might be easier. But what a pain in the butt to capture Thing is, with 24 camera on the system you could stretch them out however you want to capture long halls and such. I wonder why they did it? But anyway, I agree, Tom Hanks would be a reliable source

This comment was edited on Nov 11, 13:26.

I believe the Morrowind guide for the three-in-one version of the game for Xbox was around 420 pages.

the tests I have seen done with Vicon series are more capable of just a 3x3m area

May be, but for the film they didn't use a larger area.

Where did this info come from?

An interview with Tom Hanks on NPR. I'd consider it a reliable source.

But the real draw, they say, is the new technology's ability to create ever more complex stories with cinematic qualities because they are done on DVDs, which will store more images.

This is my favorite idiotic quote from the article. She's talking about how Halo 2 provides a high level of graphic detail. What does that have to do with DVDs?

the huge success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles nearly a decade ago made the leap from video game to big screen.

The TMNT originally came from the black and white comic book then was made into a cartoon and I believe the arcade game. The fans of TMNT were fans of the comic, not the game or the shitty cartoon. Her point is valid, but her example is plain wrong. This is just one of several disconnects in this article that makes me think she, the author, doesn't have a solid grasp of the subject material.


This comment was edited on Nov 11, 11:24.

Zathrus, the tests I have seen done with Vicon series are more capable of just a 3x3m area. I saw a capture of a horse which was also done for LOTR (someone else did it first and I can't remember who) and this was far larger than that area. Where did this info come from?

Wow. Has anyone ever heard of a strategy guide that big? What the hell is in it? I wonder how many hours of gameplay is in this, too.

Interesting that there's no comment on Weta's work. Or Gollum.

Didn't read the article, but as I understand it this is the exact same technology that was used for Gollum in LOTR, but this time it's being used for the entire movie. That's what's groundbreaking about it.

As I understand it the actors spent the entire film shoot on a 10' x 10' (3m x 3m for the metric fans) area doing "scenes". For some things, like walking down the train corridor, they'd have to start at one end of the box, walk to the other, stop shooting, and repeat. Occasionally they'd have wireframe objects in the shot to give the actors some concept of where things would be. But some of the direction was along the lines of "see that cone? It's a toy. I don't know what kind of toy - just react to it however you want and it'll be filled in later."

Interesting that there's no comment on Weta's work. Or Gollum. Or any mention of LOTR. I know the article focusses on hollywood, but in the context that Hollywood = 'the movie industry'

"The Polar Express, which opens in theatres today, is the first time that a big-budget Hollywood film has so blatantly raided the video game industry's tool box for ideas."

I think the movie industry has been using mocap longer than the games industry...

"Wonder what TV viewers prefer?... "

Yes it is pretty obvious isn't it