Monday, September 28, 2015

Perception Neuron Template v0.2.0 released

The second version of my "Third Person CPP Neuron" Unreal Engine 4 template is finished and
I have published it for free under the MIT license on Github.

Download: Github Repository
Latest version: v0.2.0

Changes:
- Playback Controller added.
  Now you can directly play BVH files placed ín your content
  folder instead connecting to a BVH server.
  See new Blueprint nodes Play and Pause.
  To have an example Neuron character is now connected
  to a player controller instead to a network controller.
  In other words: You can now play your recorded Neuron BVH animation files in Unreal.
  And you can also play animations created by other tools
  if the skeleton matches the reference skeleton (see axis.bvh file).
- Neuron and TPP_Hero are now part of a character blueprint (To have an example for that)
- Hips bone of TPP_Hero mesh is used to translate complete actor (capsule).
  Actor rotation is still a problem and is not connected.
- Add support for standard BVH format
- Add support for disabled displacement and/or enabled reference bone in motion line
- Add DNS name support
- Add Blender source file for Neuron character
- Further comments and minor improvements

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Minimal BVH send server v0.1.0 released

The minimal BVH Send server reads in a BVH motion file,
opens a listening TCP socket and
sends each motion line to the connected clients.
The delay between the motion lines can be configured or is read from the BVH file.
If all motion lines have been sent the server loops back to the first one.

Download: Github Repository
Latest version: v0.1.0

Changes:
v0.1.0: Initial version

Installation Notes:
Download the archive from above link
and unpack the file to a folder you want.

Configuration:
Following command line options are available:
bvhsend <port> <frametime> <format> <bvhfile>
For e.g. bvhsend 7001 10000 0 test.bvh

With:
port: TCP port number.
frametime: Delay between each motion line in microseconds.
Set to 0 if frame time from BVH file should be used.
format: 0 = Just send complete line as it is in BVH file.
1 = Use Axis Neuron format.
bvhfile: Name and path of BVH file to be sent.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Perception Neuron Template v0.1.0 released

The first version of my "Third Person CPP Neuron" Unreal Engine 4 template is finished and
I have published it for free under the MIT license on Github.

Perception Neuron (TM) is a motion capture suit from Noitom financed by a
Kickstarter campaign last year.
Further details about the suit here: https://neuronmocap.com

Please use this thread to discuss the technical details about this template:
Unreal Forum Thread

Download: Github Repository
Latest version: v0.1.0

Changes:
v0.1.0: Initial version

Videos:
Live connection between Perception Axis Player and Unreal Engine 4 (Part 2)
Live connection between Perception Axis Player and Unreal Engine 4

Quick Installation Notes:
- Download the template from above link
- Unpack the ZIP archive to your UE4 template folder, for e.g.
  "C:\Program Files\Unreal Engine\4.9\Templates\TP_ThirdPersonNeuron".
  Make sure that the project files are placed and visible under
  "...\Templates\TP_ThirdPersonNeuron" after unzip.
- Launch Unreal Editor and click on "New project".
- Under C++ you should now see a template called "TP Neuron".
- Create a new project with the above template selected.

Requirements:
- Unreal Engine 4.9.1 or higher
- MS Visual Studio 2013
- Axis Neuron SW Player (Free version is available here: https://neuronmocap.com/downloads)

Configuration:
To connect from the template to the Axis Neuron SW following settings should be done in the Axis Neuron SW:
- Open File|Settings dialog
- Activate under Broadcasting BVH and choose port 7001
- Configure under Output Format:
  * Frequency reducing: 1
  * Block type: String
  * Rotation: YXZ
  * Activate 'Displacement'
  * Deactivate 'Reference'
Per default the template connects to 'localhost' (127.0.0.1) and to port 7001.
You can change these settings in the Controller Blueprint if you want to use a separate PC or other ports.
And you can add further controllers if you want to retrieve motion data from further suits or BVH server.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Live connection between Perception Axis Player and Unreal Engine 4 (Part 2)

Here a second video from a newer template version that shows the live connection between Noitoms Perception Axis Neuron SW and Unreal Engine 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzWr83AEHQk

Changes in template since last video:
- Added preliminary support for the standard UE4 TPP_Hero and Mannequin skeletons
- Added ability to connect to several Axis Neuron Player instances at the same time.
  Just add a new controller actor to your level and configure the
  additional IP address and/or TCP port.
  Multiple characters can use the same controller or different ones
  (It's freely configurable and has no limit).
- Template uses now actual Unreal Engine Version 4.9.1
- Several code cleanup and beautification