Upcoming App: Axis3D - camera tracking app for iPhone (compatible w/ 3DS Max, Maya...

[LunarMoon]

Axis3D is a camera rotation/acceleration tracking for iPhone 4.
Shoot 720p (or VGA) videos and capture 3-axis camera rotation and acceleration with your iPhone.

Axis3D? is simply a great tool to create camera tracking backdrops for your favorite 3D or 2D application. As you shoot your videos, Axis3D records the camera rotation and acceleration movements and store all data on industry level compatible files. You can then import everything on your favorite 3D or 2D animation software like Maya, 3DS Max, LightWave, SoftImage, Blender, Cinema4D, After Effects or any 3D or 2D app that can read Collada 1.4 files with camera geometry and create professional amazing animations.

You can use Axis3D to simulate real life situations like walking, earthquakes, camera or ground trepidation, bike or vehicles accelerations and use this to animate your 3D models or other objects making them behave like the real deal.

Files created by Axis3D are compatible with industry level animation software like Audodek Maya? 2011, Audodek 3DS Max? 11, Audodek Softimage 2011, Newtek Lightwave 9.6+, Blender 2.4x, Maxon Cinema 4D? v.11, Adobe After Effects? CS5 and any other application that can read Collada files with camera geometry or Maya ASCII files.*

I will drop a note here on this forum when it is available. You can also send your email to i-p-h-o-n-e---at---a-d-d-f-o-n-e.com (remove the -), if you want want to receive the announcement on your email.

I hope you guys enjoy this app.

 

[LunarMoon]

I have received a pm asking me if the app can do mocap, but I will answer it here because it may help other people to understand what Axis3D does.

As I said Axis3D shots 720p videos and while it is shooting the video it is recording all movements the camera is doing. After you finish a scene, Axis3D will export the video you shot and two files (a Collada and a Maya file). These files contain the camera tracking information that you may import later on your favorite 3D or 2D app, like Maya, 3DS Max, LightWave, SoftImage, Blender, After Effects or other.

When you import the files on your favorite package, it will create a camera, that behaves like the iphone when you shot the video. In other words, if while you shot the video, you rotate the iphone 360 degrees side to side and then up and down, the virtual camera will do the same. Then you may create your virtual world, matching the perspective of the original video and insert your own objects.

Imagine shooting a an field street and then adding a dinosaur walking on that street.

Axis3D records the camera rotation and acceleration but not translation, because it would have to rely on the GPS to do so, and the GPS has a minimum resolution of a few meters. That means that any camera translation inside the GPS resolution would not be detected as a movement itself (GPS needs large translations to detect an object as moving).

 

[LunarMoon]

Axis3D will be released soon

Here you have a screenshot

This is the first image that shows when you run Axis3D.

The Axis3D works is very simple:

1) you shoot the video (press button 6 to start)
2) you stop shooting (press button 6 again)
3) Axis3D exports the video and the data to Collada 1.4 and Maya ASCII files.
4) you open iTunes and from inside iTunes app sharing folder you drag the zip file containing the video and data files to your desktop.
5) You unzip and use them on your 2D, 3D or visual effects desktop app.
6) you win.

 

[LunarMoon]

This is Axis3D configuration panel.

You can adjust which files you want to generate ? Collada and/or Maya ?, to save time between shots, how many frames per keyframes you want (from 5 to 30 in 5 frames interval) and the maximum video quality (ON= 720p, OFF = VGA).

Axis3D will be launched soon.