List of motion and gesture file formats
Encyclopedia
With the development of gesture
controllers, haptic systems, motion capture
systems, etc, on the one hand, and with the need of allowing virtual reality
systems to inter-communicate through control data, the question of gesture and motion
takes more and more importance.
Motion and gesture file formats are widely used today in many applications that deal with motion and gesture signal. It is the case in domains like motion capture, character animation
, gesture analysis, biomechanics
, musical gesture interfaces, virtual surgery. Those formats are low-level formats, i.e. formats close to the signal produced by the capture system.
stands for Biovision Hierarchical Data, which was developed by a motion capture company called Biovision. The BVA format (also developed by Biovision) is an older format which was the precursor to BVH. The BVH format is mainly used as a standard representation of movements in the animation of humanoid structures. It is currently one of the most popular motion data formats, and has been widely adopted by the animation community (probably because of its simple specifications).
eg. Humerus = L UpperArm
This file format also allows renaming the markers of a CSM file to match the convention used in Autodesk 3D Studio Max. A name defined by the user is associated to the predefined label expected by Character Sudio.
eg. LeftShoulder = LSHO
The SDL file associated to the ASK file contain the data of the movement but it can contain many other information concerning the scene than the very samples of the movement.
file format simply describes the captors and their position at each sampling period.
, a video game company. Once entered in the public domain it has been used by Oxford Metrics (Vicon Motion Capture Systems).
The Acclaim format is composed of two different files, one for the skeleton and the other one for the movement. The separation between these two types has been done because the same skeleton is often used for numerous distinct movements. The file containing the skeleton description in the ASF file (Acclaim Skeleton File) and the file containing the movement data is the AMC file (Acclaim Motion Capture data).
- Marker data
- Global segment translation and rotation data
- Local rotation data (with root translation data)
- The possibility to stock analogical data (i.e. directly coming from the measure instrument) and three-dimensional data (obtained by the information processing).
- The possibility to stock information on the material, which have been used (position marker, force captors), on the recording process (sampling rate, date, type of examination…), on the subject itself (name, age, physical parameters…).
- The possibility to add new data to the ones already recorded.
- The file was a binary file
unlike most of motion capture file format, which often are ASCII files.
GMS received the support of the FP6 Network of Excellence IST-2002-002114 – "Enactive Interfaces".
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
controllers, haptic systems, motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
systems, etc, on the one hand, and with the need of allowing virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
systems to inter-communicate through control data, the question of gesture and motion
Motion (physics)
In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. Change in action is the result of an unbalanced force. Motion is typically described in terms of velocity, acceleration, displacement and time . An object's velocity cannot change unless it is acted upon by a force, as...
takes more and more importance.
Motion and gesture file formats are widely used today in many applications that deal with motion and gesture signal. It is the case in domains like motion capture, character animation
Character animation
Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process concerning the animation of one or more characters featured in an animated work. It is usually as one aspect of a larger production and often made to enhance voice acting. The primary role of a Character Animator is to be the...
, gesture analysis, biomechanics
Biomechanics
Biomechanics is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of...
, musical gesture interfaces, virtual surgery. Those formats are low-level formats, i.e. formats close to the signal produced by the capture system.
BVA and BVH file formats
BVHBiovision Hierarchy
The Biovision Hierarchy character animation file format was developed by Biovision, a defunct motion capture services company, to give motion capture data to customers...
stands for Biovision Hierarchical Data, which was developed by a motion capture company called Biovision. The BVA format (also developed by Biovision) is an older format which was the precursor to BVH. The BVH format is mainly used as a standard representation of movements in the animation of humanoid structures. It is currently one of the most popular motion data formats, and has been widely adopted by the animation community (probably because of its simple specifications).
MNM file format
This file format allows renaming the segments of a BVH file to match the convention used in Autodesk 3D Studio Max. The name defined by the user is associated to the predefined label for the biped segment.eg. Humerus = L UpperArm
This file format also allows renaming the markers of a CSM file to match the convention used in Autodesk 3D Studio Max. A name defined by the user is associated to the predefined label expected by Character Sudio.
eg. LeftShoulder = LSHO
ASK/SDL file format
The format is a variant of the BVH file format developed by Biovision. The ASK file (Alias Skeleton) only contain information concerning the skeleton and, as a result, does not contain any information about the channels or the movement. The offset coordinates are absolute unlike the BVH in which they are relative.The SDL file associated to the ASK file contain the data of the movement but it can contain many other information concerning the scene than the very samples of the movement.
AOA file format
Adaptative Optics is a company dedicated to the creation of hardware support for the motion capture. This ASCIIASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
file format simply describes the captors and their position at each sampling period.
ASF/AMC file formats
This format was developed by AcclaimAcclaim Games
Acclaim Games, based in Beverly Hills, California, was a private online video game company that offered free Massively multiplayer online role-playing games on its website upon registration. The company was founded in 2006 and is the successor of Acclaim Entertainment in terms of brand name...
, a video game company. Once entered in the public domain it has been used by Oxford Metrics (Vicon Motion Capture Systems).
The Acclaim format is composed of two different files, one for the skeleton and the other one for the movement. The separation between these two types has been done because the same skeleton is often used for numerous distinct movements. The file containing the skeleton description in the ASF file (Acclaim Skeleton File) and the file containing the movement data is the AMC file (Acclaim Motion Capture data).
BRD file format
The format is uniquely used by the motion capture system Ascension Technology “Flock of Birds” developed by LambSoft. It allowed stocking the data coming from a magnetic motion capture system.HTR and GTR file formats
The HTR format (Hierarchical Translation Rotation) has been developed as a native format for the skeleton of the Motion Analysis software. It has been created as an alternative to the BVH format to make up for its main drawbacks. A HTR variant exist which is called the GTR format (Global Translation Rotation) and is the same format less the structural information.TRC file format
The TRC file format is another file format from Motion Analysis. It contains not only the raw data from the full body motion capture system they developed but also the output data coming from their face tracker.CSM file format
The CSM format is an optical tracking format that is used by Character Studio (an animation and skinning plug-in for 3ds Max) for importing marker data.V/VSK file format
The V file format is a binary motion data format developed by Vicon Motion Systems. This file is normally used in conjunction with a VSK file also developed by Vicon Motion System. The VSK file contains the skeleton Hierarchy. The V file can contain the following data:- Marker data
- Global segment translation and rotation data
- Local rotation data (with root translation data)
C3D file format
The C3D file was developed by The National Institute of Health. Many of the motion capture companies are often linked to the biomechanics research. The systems are then used to assess the performances of an athlete or the needs of a physically handicapped person. The needs of researchers, often supplied by more than one society, lead to the definition of a common format, the C3D format. This format has been built following this philosophy, so it has tried to carry the most complete amount of information useful for the biomechanics research. The features below was considered as necessities:- The possibility to stock analogical data (i.e. directly coming from the measure instrument) and three-dimensional data (obtained by the information processing).
- The possibility to stock information on the material, which have been used (position marker, force captors), on the recording process (sampling rate, date, type of examination…), on the subject itself (name, age, physical parameters…).
- The possibility to add new data to the ones already recorded.
- The file was a binary file
Binary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
unlike most of motion capture file format, which often are ASCII files.
GMS file format
The GMS format is a low-level, binary, minimal, but generic, format for storing Gesture and Motion Signals in a flexible, organized, optimized way. The GMS format takes into account the minimal features a format carrying movement/gesture information needs: flexible dimensionality for the signals, versatile structuration, flexible types of the encoded variables, and spatial and temporal properties of gesture and motion signals.GMS received the support of the FP6 Network of Excellence IST-2002-002114 – "Enactive Interfaces".