Behind the Scenes: Motion Capture Reference Footage for Cool Cats of Funky Town
- Samuel Skipp
- Apr 19, 2025
- 2 min read
One of the most important steps in our previs process for Cool Cats of Funky Town was capturing high-quality motion reference footage. While our final previs was created in Unreal Engine, the foundation of our character performances came from live-action motion capture. In this post, I’ll walk through why reference footage is essential, how we captured it, and what we learned from the process.
Why Reference Footage Matters
Previs is all about planning, and motion reference footage helps bridge the gap between raw mocap data and the final animated performance. It serves as a guide for refining movement, blocking scenes, and ensuring the virtual performances feel authentic.
Since we were working in a digital environment, it was crucial to make sure our actors’ physical actions aligned with the 3D world. For example, if a character sat at a table, their real-world positioning had to match the virtual table’s height to prevent clipping issues.
How We Captured the Reference Footage
We filmed our mocap session at Portsmouth’s motion capture facilities, using a setup that included:
Motion capture suits & markers – To track full-body movements.
Reference cameras – To record live-action performances from multiple angles.
A mapped-out stage – To mirror the virtual environment as closely as possible.
During the session, we made sure to capture both raw mocap data and video footage of our actors performing. This allowed us to compare Unreal Engine’s animated versions with real-world movement, making it easier to spot inaccuracies or areas needing adjustments.
What We Learned
Always Capture Extra Reference Footage – It’s better to have too much material than not enough. Having multiple angles helped during animation.
Plan the Virtual & Physical Spaces Together – The more we aligned our real-world setup with the Unreal Engine environment, the smoother the animation process became.
Expect Setbacks & Be Flexible – Since this was our first previs, there were a lot of unknowns. Being open to reshooting and refining the process was key to making it work.
Watch the Reference Footage
Seeing the raw motion capture side-by-side with the Unreal Engine previs is fascinating—it really highlights the power of virtual production and how small details can make a huge difference in animation.
This experience was a massive learning curve, but it’s also the start of something bigger. With each project, we’re improving our workflow and pushing closer to fully utilizing Unreal Engine’s capabilities. Stay tuned for more updates as we refine our previs skills and bring Cool Cats of Funky Town to life!
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