[XSENS] Technical Director Reviews Motion Capture at a Glance #4
Hello, this is Zhang, the Associate Technical Director at BASSDRUM.
In the fourth installment of BASSDRUM's motion capture review series, we'll be discussing Movella Xsens Motion Capture.
In this series, we'll be reviewing from a technical director's perspective, based on the following criteria:
Without further ado, let's get started!
※ All the information in this article is as of June 2023. (Verification date: March 10, 2023)
Product Overview
Xsens Motion Capture is a 3D motion capture system based on IMU sensors (inertial sensors), boasting some of the highest data consistency and reliability among various IMU-based systems.
This system is divided into hardware (MVN Link, MVN Awinda, MVN Awinda Starter) and software (MVN Animate, MVN Analyze), offering solutions of various specifications according to needs.
Popular among Vtubers, Xsens Motion Capture is not only used in AR/VR content development, but also excels in various fields including academic research and sports analysis.
Recommended PC Specifications for MVN (MVN 2019.2 version)
Windows 10 (64 bit)
4 cores or more (2.7 GHz or higher)
SSD 256 GB or more
Memory 8 GB or more
DirectX 11 hardware acceleration, video memory 512 MB or more
USB2.0 (for Awinda system, license dongle)
Gigabit Ethernet support for jumbo frames (9014 Bytes)
Price
About 4 million yen + α for the full set (This is just one example. The price varies depending on the specifications of the hardware and software you use.)
Official Website
Usage
Overall Rating
Accuracy: ★★★☆☆
Latency: ★★★★★
Ease of Use: ★★★☆☆
Integration with Other Software: ★★★★★
Price: ★☆☆☆☆
Pros:
Can be used anywhere (No need for cameras or a dedicated studio, GNSS feature can be used)
Comprehensive tutorials
Supports real-time collaboration with numerous software
Comes with a microphone, allowing simultaneous lip syncing
No need to secure a large space
Cons:
Expensive
Suits are not one-size-fits-all (Need to purchase according to the model's height)
Occasional drift during movement
There is a possibility of gradual displacement with long-term use
Who is it suitable for?
This product could be the perfect fit for those who want to start a motion capture business or create a specialized company for Vtubers.
Accuracy: ★★★☆☆
The accuracy is quite good. In general, movements are accurately reflected in the model. However, unlike VICON, which acquires absolute position information, each sensor embedded in the suit obtains relative position. Therefore, it is expected that a slight deviation may occur when recording for a long time.
Test environment
Hardware:
MVN Link
MVN LINK LYCRA SUIT
Xsens gloves by Manus
Software:
MVN Animate
The movements we tested this time are as follows:
"Banzai" gesture
Arms crossed
Jump
Sitting on the floor (cross-legged)
Sitting on the floor (physical education sitting position)
Sitting on the floor (formal sitting position)
Sitting on a chair (from standing to sitting, from sitting to standing)
First, please take a look at the video we used for testing.
Thanks to the automatic foot grounding function, the model does not sink into the floor even when jumping. As shown in the video below, when the model jumps or climbs a step, its foot touches the ground within 1-2 frames.
Latency: ★★★★★
There's virtually no delay.
Ease of Use: ★★★☆☆
To get started with motion capture, you need about 30 minutes of preparation time.
Since XSENS Motion Capture uses the relative positions of each sensor, there's no need to secure a specific space. Therefore, you can relatively freely record in any place.
Necessary Equipment:
Hardware (MVN Link)
Suit (MVN LINK LYCRA SUIT)
Gloves (Xsens Metagloves by Manus, etc.) (in case you want to capture hand movements)
Software (MVN Animate)
Required Personnel (including actor): 2 people
Set-up time (the time until motion capture becomes possible)
About 30 minutes
Suit and gloves fitting: About 15 minutes
Calibration: About 10 minutes
Unity integration work: About 5 minutes
Minimum space to be secured: None
Integration with Other Software: ★★★★★
The officially supported software are:
Maya
MotionBuilder
Unity
Unreal Engine
Houdini
iClone
MVN Animate Plus or Pro comes with official plugins for integration. With the use of these plugins, it's possible to stream data directly to the above-mentioned software for retargeting. Also, various plugins and integration software are provided for research purposes.
Price: ★☆☆☆☆
Hardware:
MVN Link (Suit sold separately): Consultation required
Suit:
MVN LINK LYCRA SUIT: 1,090EUR*
Gloves (Optional):
Manus VR: 275EUR* (Price at time of release. The product has since been discontinued, so this is a reference price)
Xsens Metagloves by Manus: 5,999EUR*
(The price of Xsens gloves by Manus is unknown as they have been discontinued)
Software:
MVN Record: Free
MVN Animate Plus: 2,990EUR*
MVN Animate Pro: Consultation required
Running cost:
Annual support: Approximately 1,000,000 JPY (For maintenance and version upgrade rights)
Including support, this is a somewhat expensive motion capture system. MVN Animate has a free plan (MVN Record), but it has the limitations of being able to record only one person's movement at a time and being unable to link with other software. Therefore, the paid plan is recommended for those who want to record multiple people at once or use it in real time.
Furthermore, the suits are not one-size-fits-all. If you have multiple models with different heights and weights, you may need to purchase more than one suit.
*As of July 7, 2023, approximately 169,865 JPY
*As of July 7, 2023, approximately 42,855 JPY
*As of July 7, 2023, approximately 934,881 JPY
*As of July 7, 2023, approximately 465,960 JPY
Other
It is possible to use linked hardware. By using GNSS (satellite positioning) or HTC VIVE, positional corrections can be made, which can eliminate positional discrepancies. However, this feature is only available with MVN Animate Pro.
(Note that the GNSS equipment (MVN-LINK GPS ANTENNA + VELCRO) and HTC VIVE need to be purchased separately.)
You can also use a smartphone app. Through the app, you can verify movements and perform operations such as starting recordings.
You can choose from six sizes for the suit: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXXL. Please refer to the table below.
That concludes our fourth motion capture review, "Movella Xsens Motion Capture". How did you find the unique characteristics of the "Movella Xsens Motion Capture"? For companies running large-scale productions, the combination of MVN Link and MVN Animate Pro could be an ideal choice. Although we did not verify it this time, for smaller scale productions, the more affordable MVN Awinda is also recommended.
We'd like to express our gratitude to TETRA Inc. for their cooperation in this review. Thank you, TETRA Inc.!
TETRA - MULTIMEDIA IMAGE STUDIO
Stay tuned for our next review on "MocapForAll"!