In films Camera movements can also be motion captured so that a virtual camera in the scene will pan, tilt, or dolly around the stage driven by a camera operator while the actor is performing, and the motion capture system can capture the camera and props as well as the actor's performance.A computer processes the data and displays the movements of the actor, providing the desired camera positions in terms of objects in the set. Retroactively obtaining camera movement data from the captured footage is known as match moving or camera tracking.

3D Motion capture provide following advantages:

More rapid, even real time results can be obtained. In entertainment applications this can reduce the costs of keyframe-based animation. For example: Hand Over.

The amount of work does not vary with the complexity or length of the performance to the same degree as when using traditional techniques. This allows many tests to be done with different styles or deliveries.

Complex movement and realistic physical interactions such as secondary motions, weight and exchange of forces can be easily recreated in a physically accurate manner.

The amount of animation data that can be produced within a given time is extremely large when compared to traditional animation techniques. This contributes to both cost effectiveness and meeting production deadlines.

Potential for free software and third party solutions reducing its costs.

Movie avatar is best example of Motion Capture and Visual effects.The lead visual effects company was Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand, at one point employing 900 people to work on the film. Because of the huge amount of data which needed to be stored, cataloged and available for everybody involved, even on the other side of the world, a new cloud computing and Digital Asset Management (DAM) system named Gaia was created by Microsoft especially for Avatar, which allowed the crews to keep track of and 

                                     

coordinate all stages in the digital processing. To render Avatar, Weta used a 10,000 sq ft (930 m2) server farm making use of 4,000 Hewlett-Packard servers with 35,000 processor cores running Ubuntu Linux and the Grid Engine cluster manager.The render farm occupies the 193rd to 197th spots in the TOP500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers. A new texturing and paint software system called Mari, was developed by The Foundry in cooperation with Weta.Creating the Na'vi characters and the virtual world of Pandora required over a petabyte of digital storage, and each minute of the final footage for Avatar occupies 17.28 gigabytes of storage. To help finish preparing the special effects sequences on time, a number of other companies were brought on board, including Industrial Light & Magic, which worked alongside Weta Digital to create the battle sequences. ILM was responsible for the visual effects for many of the film's specialized vehicles and devised a new way to make CGI explosions. Joe Letteri was the film's visual effects general supervisor.

For High Precision Motion Tracing

At first glance, 3D animation movies seem a longshot to be created independently. With the complexity of animation, it seems a given that it should be created within the bounds of a 3D animation studio. If these studios take years to create a full-length feature, how about an independent filmmaker? 

Camera Tracking Architecture

From optical/inertial, to encoded systems, to motion capture stages, to GPS/IMU outdoor tracking, Previzion can handle nearly any form of tracking device

Optical/Inertial. For Ultimate Tracking Flexibility.

The fusion of the Intersense IS1200 optical tracking camera and the Lightcraft Airtrack electronic gyro provides tracking for the broadest range of shots. From handheld and Steadicam, to dolly, jib, and Technocrane shots, this can handle nearly everything.

Using targets mounted overhead in the stage truss, a standard stage can be converted into a real time capable smart stage in a single day.
Recommended Softwares for motion capture effects are  Adobe premiere pro, After effects, Sony vegas,Syntheye and many more.

Courtesy wikipedia | digitalacting.com | youtube 

In 1838, Sir Charles Wheatstone first described the process of stereopsis: the process by which humans perceive three dimensions from two highly similar, overlaid images. Or, the process by which Avatar looks like a mind-blowingly immersive alien landscape instead of a bunch of brightly colored fuzz.

3D technology has come a long way since Wheatstone developed his stereoscope, then used to view static images and eventually pictures. Now we get to wear Wayfarer knock-offs and enjoy 3D films, television shows and video games.

For some people, seeing cool images might be enough. But others might be curious how Pandora was brought to life, or how TRON: Legacy zapped them into its glowing world. The answer is both reassuringly simple and inordinately complex, depending on who you ask and how you look at it.

 

Sun and its partners developed the Java Media and Communication APIs to provide the missing multimedia programming pieces. Two of the biggest pieces, 2D and 3D graphics, are targeted with the Java 2D and 3D APIs, respectively. Java 2D is a core platform API beginning with Java 1.2, while Java 3D will be released as an Extension API shortly after the 1.2 platform becomes available. We have recently finished a series of columns on Java 2D; now we turn our attention to Java 3D.