X2M @ Siggraph 2010

By a series of fortunate circumstances, Motion4U’s technology will be presented at Siggraph 2010. Our friends at Autodesk will be using Xaelander to demonstrate previsualization in 3DS Max. Expect live streams from the show-floor.

Another key development, we’ve worked hard to reduce the footprint of the Xaelander gear. The result… the X2M (for Mobile). Measuring a mere 17″ across, this allows us to affix it directly onto an animator’s computer monitor. Further details to come.

Also, if you’re at Siggraph right now, you might be able to catch Motion4U’s Dan Mapes at the presentations. Come by and say hi!

Up-to-date posts from the show at RoninWorks

| July 27th, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

Now taking orders.

If instant gratification seemed outside your grasp, look no further! We’ve now opened up online orders for Xaelander, the the one-of-a-kind desktop motion capture solution for your content authoring applications. Also available for those unique applications, we are taking orders for our hardware SDK. Get up and running with six degrees of freedom in the time it takes for your package to ship. Realtime animation is only a click away.

We’re continuing to improve the user experience on our website, so expect changes in the weeks to come. We’re preparing to deploy a sleeker, more polished checkout system. Be prepared to salivate.

| April 12th, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

New Tutorials Added

We now have 2 tutorials online and ready for viewing! Created by Alex over at FullFrameStudios.com, the latest of the two shows how a relatively complicated robot combat scene can be made with a few simple passes using Xaelander.

I look at the short video and think “Even if I captured every part ten times, I created that animation in about 20 minutes. An experienced storyboard artist could probably come close nailing that shot in 20 minutes. But a previz animator should never ever have to just float his characters around anymore – they should make them walk around.”

Check them out: Tutorials Section

| March 25th, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

Code Development – March Snapshot

As promised, here’s a complete rendering of Motion4U’s SVN code development up until March 15th. A lot of customization has gone into this rendering (even a spiffy custom timeline). I may put up a post in my blog about that (it was far from painless).

As you can see, development has been picking up steam and we’re all very excited about bringing release 2.5.3 to bear. World, get ready for practical mocap on the desktop. Woohoo!

Music by Solar Fields  

| March 18th, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

M4U: Compilation Tech Demo

Finally, a proper tech demo to show what the SDK and Xaelander are capable of. A cross of Maya and Ogre captured footage with no pre-rendered scenes… just straight up realtime capture. Controlling everything with natural, realtime ease-of-use is a thing of beauty.

Footage created by: Dan Mapes, Alex Furer, and Mike Nivaro.
Sound design by: Darin Hughes

| March 16th, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

M4U Code Development

This is a preliminary render of the code development that’s transpired on M4U’s SVN server. Made with Gource, I’m still adjusting settings, so this isn’t final. Also, it’s a look at only one portion of the SVN server. There’s a whole lot more going on outside of this directory, but it’s cool nevertheless.

Stay tuned for more updates in the future.

| March 2nd, 2010 | No Comments » | Uncategorized

New website online!

After much toil and sweat, the new website is finally online.  We’ve shifted focus from the hardware which we sell to the software M4U authors.  Honestly, the hardware has always been a complimentary asset to Xaelander, so we’re glad to give the suite more limelight.

There have been a number of changes you can look for; apart from the new site design, the code was completely rewritten from the ground up.  It’s a faster, lighter, more-compliant site than before.  And, thanks to it’s forward thinking design, updates and changes are easier to do.

There’s still a great deal of new content coming, so keep your eyes peeled.

| February 22nd, 2010 | 1 Comment » | Uncategorized