Scientists plan to capture the movements of different breeds to make on-screen animated dogs played by humans more authentic*.

At the University of Bath’s Center for Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research & Applications (CAMERA), scientist are developing a new technique that will use the movements of a two-legged human actor to drive a four-legged animal character.

They aim to enhance motion capture* with actors wearing special suits marked with motion trackers and face scanners. The technique allows the actors’ movements and expressions to be used to power animated characters.

“We’re going to teach the computer how to replace a human with animal movement, sourcing it from the database,” said Martin Parsons, the head of studio at CAMERA. “So as a person moves at a certain speed in a certain direction the computer will replace that person’s movement with the animal movement,” he added.

The dogs taking part in the research wear coats fitted with reflective markers, which have infrared* light bounced off them.

The light is scanned by special cameras, which records their position in three dimensions and allows the animal’s movement to be reconstructed on a computer screen.(SD-Agencies)