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Motion capture, most of you will have probably heard of it but what does it actually involve? Well firstly motion capture can be split into 3 main spheres; motion capture (body movements), facial capture (capturing facial expressions) and full performance capture (capturing body, face and voice simultaneously).
The technical data captured during these performances in fed into extremely complicated software which will in turn translate all that data into, more often than not an animation. It could be the basic skeleton, it could be an ogre, it could be a slithering snake, and it’s a world of opportunity!
Motion capture is most often associated with use in video games but is now commonly used in films and animation as well, as different media types continue to blend in to one another.

Over the recent months I have both trained and started to work in motion capture and I can testify that it is an extremely unique performance art that is a lot of fun but it won’t be for everyone. Firstly, if you consider yourself a voice actor and a voice actor only then motion capture is probably not for you. Most often you will be cast for your body type and life experience (e.g. a dancer of ex-military) than you will for your voice and often you may provide a voice that will be used as a guide track for another voice actor to provide the final performance to at a later date. Why then would you be interested in it as a voice over artist?
Well firstly, media forms are converging so having another string to your bow is always a good thing to have. As motion capture technology becomes cheaper and more accessible its use will inevitably increase and as its main use is to provide characters that are not real (e.g. they are computer generated) the voice elements are never far away. As a case in point, I recently picked up a regular gig voicing Talking Tom (if you have any children in your family under 10 it’s probably on a mobile device near you!). It started out as a simple voice over gig, providing the voice for YouTube videos, very quickly though it expanded into facial capture (they wanted to record my face on webcam during the recording sessions) and not long after that they asked me if I could do full performance capture (for which they fly me out to a studio). They asked me that question no more than a week after I’d completed my motion capture training so thankfully I was able to say yes or that work would have gone elsewhere. The reason was simple, now that motion capture technology was cheaper it was more efficient to have me provide all the body and facial movements than animate it all by hand!
If you are looking to work in animation and definitely if you’re looking to work in Video games you should consider adding motion capture skills to your CV to not only increase your chances of working in that area but also to increase your entry points to the industry. If you’re a talented voice actor and get booked to be the body of a character, there’s always that chance you can turn it into an opportunity for voice work as well.
That brings me on to my final two points, the first is that voice actors seems to be uniquely suited to working in motion capture due, in my opinion, to one simple reason – we get to play with more! As voices we are so used to being just that, a voice, sure we may gesticulate and move a little when we record but essentially we don’t get to use our bodies. When you give a voice actor the chance to use their body to imbue the character further it’s like they get set free and in a performance where imagination is everything this gives voice actors a unique advantage. Conversely stage actors used to props and sets can sometimes struggle in motion capture as everything has to be created from your mind to put yourself in the scene.
Secondly motion capture is an industry where previous life experience can be extremely useful, if you have any other physical skills such as dance, a martial art, yoga, musician or like me ex-military & police your skills can be a real asset to the casting teams. Using me as an example, they could cast me knowing I know how to handle a weapon or put someone in a restraint hold, all of which is helpful so think of what you’ve done in the past and you may find you have more to offer to motion capture than you thought.
I really get a kick out of motion capture but like I say it’s not for everyone, physically it’s hard work, skin tight clothing isn’t comfortable (or forgiving!) and head mounted camera’s feel like anvils after wearing them for 8hrs. The thought of performing in such an exposed way (just you and a big empty warehouse) can be daunting but I guarantee if you embrace it, let yourself go and have fun, you may just get as addicted as I am!

Jay Britton
"Jay is a multi award winning voice actor and motion capture artist who specialises in character voices for animation and video games. His voice can heard on Xbox, Playstation, PC and TV for clients such as Marvel Comics, Microsoft and Amazon."