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Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

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Re: Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

#41

Post by Kliment »

ErrantX wrote: post #40
patrickk wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see indie game developers using Kinect to do realistic motion-capture in games. I recall seeing this issue pop up in the 'making-of' DVD for Alan Wake by Remedy. When they made their first big game, Max Payne 1, they did the storytelling in the form of a comic due partially to budget constraints. Using a hacked Kinect and cheap PC hardware, game developers could capture a huge range of motions and use video edi…

The problem there, I worry, is once someone starts selling an indie game with third party support MS will go after them legally. They don't have much standing with the hackers atm, but a commercial indie game is another matter. Which is concerning :(

The point of the parent post was using these things in creating games, not as a game interface. That is, to make animation more realistic. Then again, given commercial motion capture systems are in the 5-10k range for pretty good stuff, I don't suppose that's a major concern for a game studio.

Re: Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

#42

Post by ErrantX »

Kliment wrote: post #41
ErrantX wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem there, I worry, is once someone starts selling an indie game with third party support MS will go after them legally. They don't have much standing with the hackers atm, but a commercial indie game is another matter. Which is concerning :(

The point of the parent post was using these things in creating games, not as a game interface. That is, to make animation more realistic. Then again, given commercial motion capture systems are in the 5-10k range for pretty good stuff, I don't suppose that's a major concern for a game studio.

Bah, my comment was something I had in the back of my mind... so I looked at the parent and misread it as being on the same topic, sorry :)

Re: Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

#43

Post by shasta »

jakevoytko wrote: post #38

If money is no object, commodity stereo equipment exists with better range than the Kinect. From Wikipedia: The Kinect sensor has a practical ranging limit of 1.2–3.5 metres (3.9–11 ft) distance when used with the Xbox software. The Kinect was limited by cost, size, and the need to work in poor lighting conditions. But by spacing your higher-quality cameras out (increasing the baseline), accurate depth at 10 meters i…

Money is always an object. Any idea roughly what these go for?

Re: Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

#44

Post by JabavuAdams »

charleso wrote: post #8
Devilboy wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Kinect works by projecting an infra-red grid on to the room so you can't use 2 of them in the same space (unless you modify the hardware somehow)

Could you synchronize two Kinect devices on one clock and then toggle the display/capture of that grid every odd or even 10ms span? So, only one grid is displayed and processed during its 'slice' of time, with the grids strobing rather than continuously projected. Software-only, or would that result in too jerky of a motion capture?

Couple this with shutter-glasses and time-multiplexed display. Now you can make a "3d" display that works for multiple viewers.

Of course, the frame-rate would suffer.

Re: Hacked Kinect is now a 3D video capture tool

#45

Post by modeless »

jakevoytko wrote: post #38

If money is no object, commodity stereo equipment exists with better range than the Kinect. From Wikipedia: The Kinect sensor has a practical ranging limit of 1.2–3.5 metres (3.9–11 ft) distance when used with the Xbox software. The Kinect was limited by cost, size, and the need to work in poor lighting conditions. But by spacing your higher-quality cameras out (increasing the baseline), accurate depth at 10 meters i…

Not only bad lighting conditions but repeating patterns, low-contrast backrounds and large areas of a single color. Kinect is far more robust than any kind of stereo vision, and at the same time far less CPU intensive.
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