BVH Importer – AEScripts
What is BVH Importer
A BVH file is a format that was developed by Biovision, a motion capture services company, as a way to provide motion capture data and skeleton hierarchy information in addition to the motion data. A .bvh file is nothing more than a text file that has data that was captured from a moving skeletal system.
Another name for this type of data capture is “Motion Capture” which has been abbreviated as mocap. You can find tons of free BVH motion data on the web or motion libraries for sale in BVH format. By using BVH Importer you can convert all these available resources to something that After Effects can handle and enrich your motion content.
The goal of this script is to use motion capture data on an avatar, or an articulated figure, which could be the first step in creating real world motion gestures in After Effects.
Euler angles
BVH Importer not only supports “standard” ZXY Euler rotations, but goes beyond that and accepts mixed joint rotations. Any XYZ, XZY, YXZ, etc combination is acceptable. The tool has a built-in file compatibility check option that will report any errors regarding the BVH file.
Skeleton
You can have skeletons in it’s rest position which will make rigging much easier, even if neutral pose is not defined in the BVH file. No motion data deformations are applied to it at the beginning of the animation. Use options to set the skeleton in the center of composition screen instead of arbitrary offsets defined in the BVH file.
Compatibility After Effects CC 2014, CC, CS6, CS5.5, CS5, CS4, CS3
