Before I’d had a chance to book out expensive equipment, I crafted a makeshift rig to experiment with motion tracking the dancers. This consisted of a front and side-view camera to record the stage, and red ribbon tied to the dancers leg and arm, which would be tracked through after effects. In the footage, I’ve isolated the red ribbon to make it easier to motion track. Because there are 2 video feeds, there are 2 X and Y values, they can be combined to generate a simulation of X, Y, and Z value in After Effects. Though slightly inaccurate, it manages to capture the 3 dimensional movement of the band. These values can of course also be applied to other to other factors of animation.
A better way of capturing and importing this movement is with a Kinect. The video belowexplains how a couple created a tool for creating 2.5D skeletal meshes in after effects, from Kinect input. If we capture the dancer this way, there would be a simple means of generating animation linked to dance movements.