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Quickstart — your first capture

From a running AR 51 system to a recorded motion exported as an FBX, in about 15 minutes.

A performer tracked by the AR 51 camera array, skeleton overlaid in real time

Before you start

This quickstart assumes a running system — the CV server and Mocap Studio installed, cameras mounted, everything on the same network. Setting up for the first time? Do these first, then come back:

You'll also want a 3D program that opens FBX (e.g. Blender or Maya).

1. Confirm the system is connected​

Open Mocap Studio. In the top-right corner, the OMS and CVS indicators should both be green — that means the management service and the vision service are found on your network.

Mocap Studio with the OMS and CVS indicators green

Success check

Both indicators green = the system is connected and running. If CVS stays grey, see Troubleshooting → connectivity.

2. Calibrate the cameras​

Calibration aligns every camera to a shared coordinate space — do it once per room (or any time a camera moves).

  1. Place the calibration checkerboard flat at the center of the capture area.
  2. Start camera calibration in the server.
  3. Move the calibration sphere slowly through the whole volume, covering different heights and angles.

Starting camera calibration

Success check

You're aiming for a high calibration quality, with the cameras aligned in the 3D view.

Calibration complete with good quality

Full details, tips, and edge cases → Camera calibration.

3. Record a take​

  1. Stand up and walk into camera range — your character appears on screen.
  2. Click Record and perform a short motion (a few steps is enough for a first test).
  3. Click Record again to stop. The take appears in the Captures list.

The Record button in Mocap Studio

Prefer to watch it end-to-end? Here's the full recording → export walkthrough:

Full details → Recording an FBX.

4. Export as FBX​

Select your capture, click Export, choose a folder, and pick FBX as the format.

Exporting the capture as an FBX

5. Open it in your 3D tool​

The FBX works in any program that supports the format. Import it (e.g. File → Import → FBX in Blender) — the model arrives with its animation intact.

The captured animation imported into a 3D editor

🎉 That's your first capture — recorded in Mocap Studio and exported as a reusable FBX.

A performer driving a 3D character in real time

Next: go live in your engine​

Instead of exporting a file, you can stream the skeleton live into your game engine and drive characters in real time:

  • Unity SDK — import the SDK, drop in the prefab, press Play.
  • Unreal SDK — LiveLink, character assignment, RenderStream.
  • SDK & API reference — the full data model and services for any client.
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