Preparation involved splitting the original movie clip into 12 separate reference shots, producing storyboard sketches, and creating a detailed shoot log covering pre-production, production, and post-production stages. While the storyboard was less useful, the reference clips and shoot log proved essential for efficient shooting and organisation.
Motion Capture Scene
A short cinematic project using motion capture technology to recreate the “snap” scene from Avengers: Endgame. The focus was on learning the full mocap pipeline – from capture to cleanup, retargeting, and final implementation in Unreal Engine – rather than gameplay.
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Data Cleanup in Shogun Post
Captured data was imported into Shogun Post for systematic cleanup of rigid bodies, focusing on jitter and marker swaps, especially in the hands. Solving issues were addressed by re-adjusting markers and re-solving skeletons. While major problems were fixed, more time could have been spent refining hand data for a stronger base going into Motion Builder.
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Retargeting and Motion Editing
Using Motion Builder, mocap skeletons were retargeted to MetaHuman characters. Problems such as bent spines and gaps during contact animations were solved by manual corrections and animation layers with blended keyframes. However, mistakes in workflow, such as not using namespaces, led to extra work during export to Unreal Engine.
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Final Scene Assembly
The cleaned and retargeted data was imported into Unreal Engine’s sequencer, where camera movements, lighting, and a background environment were added. Time constraints prevented the integration of face capture data, though the workflow for this was understood. Despite this, the scene successfully recreated the dramatic sequence and demonstrated a complete end-to-end mocap pipeline.
