Human movement in general and dance in particular can be represented in a number of ways. The first is with a film or video of a performance. The problem with this is that the 2D images cannot completely communicate the movement in 3D. An abstract and conceptually complete approach is to use notation and several notation systems are being used to create archival scores. But notation systems are complex - few can read notation and even fewer can write it. The two remaining approaches – motion capture and 3D animation produce similar results – an animation in 3D that is easy to perceive. Motion capture uses instrumentation and computation to derive the movement whereas animation is produced by an animator playing a role parallel to that of a notator. This talk will compare, contrast and illustrate these approaches. Specifically, the talk will assess the LabanWriter system for creating and editing Labanotation scores, the DanceForms system for dance animation and the LabanDancer system for translating Labanotation to animation. Research priorities for the future will be discussed including the need for a meta representation to link notation, animation and motion capture.

Tom Calvert is a Professor Emeritus and the Graduate Chair at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology, SFU Surrey. His research interests include Computer systems for the animation and choreography of human figures and Networked multimedia systems for learning.

Bernhard Riecke