If you thought that motion capture would be an expensive process that would require a lot of equipment, for the most part you might be right. This means that for small time or indie developers, trying to create a game involving motion capture could be out of their budgets, but Epic wants to change that.The company has since announced a new app designed for the iPhone called Live Link Face for Unreal Engine. Basically what the app does is that it relies on the iPhone’s front-facing TrueDepth camera system to assist with motion capture. While it might not necessarily be as comprehensive as a “true” motion capture setup, it might still prove to be invaluable for indie developers who are starting out.
According to Epic, “Live Link Face streams high-quality facial animation in real time from your iPhone directly onto characters in Unreal Engine. The app’s tracking leverages Apple’s ARKit and the iPhone’s TrueDepth front-facing camera to interactively track a performer’s face, transmitting this data directly to Unreal Engine via Live Link over a network.”
So far, the TrueDepth camera system on the iPhone feels more novel than functional. Apart from Face ID, there really isn’t too much else that it can be used for other than for fun features like Animojis. While this app still feels rather niche as it is aimed at developers, at the very least it does expand on the technology which could open up the door to more apps in the future. If you’re interested in checking out the app, you can download it from the iOS App Store.
Filed in . Read more about Apps, Epic and iPhone. Source: unrealengine