Main page → OptiTrack Unity Plugin
Plugin Overview
Versions Requirements
In Motive, the tracking data can be streamed in real-time either from a live capture (Live Mode) or recorded capture (Edit Mode). The streaming settings are configured in the Data Streaming pane, and in this pane, the Broadcast Frame Data must be enabled to start streaming the data to a local network interface designated by the IP address in the Local Interface section.
For the best performance, disable streaming of unnecessary data types is recommended. This will reduce the size of data packets and simplify the parsing process on the client side. Please make sure the appropriate data types are enabled, in Motive, for streaming:
Open the Data Streaming pane in Motive and configure the settings below:
Additional Tips
While in the Unity project, double-click on the plugin unitypackage file and import the plugin assets into the project. When the package has been successfully imported, the following contents will be available within the project:
In order to receive tracking data from a server application (e.g. Motive), you need to create a client object. A client object can be any object within a scene in Unity, and it can be assigned by attaching OptitrackStreamingClient.cs script. This script receives the tracking data from the connected server application (e.g. Motive) and makes the data available within the scene. You can either attach the client script onto an existing object or an empty object. Also, you can just import the sample from the Assets/Optitrack/Prefabs folder.
Assets/Optitrack/Prefabs
By integrating with Unity's animation system, Mecanim, the Unity3D plugin allows Motive to stream full body skeleton data. The skeleton tracking data from Motive is streamed out as hierarchical bone segment orientations, and this data is fed into the Unity's Mecanim system which allows animating characters with different proportions.
Note: At the time of writing, Mecanim does not support explicit goals for inverse kinematics end-effectors when using real-time retargeting. In addition, you may observe a difference in the overall scale of the position data between the retargeted skeletal animations and streamed rigid bodies. These two limitations may lead to inconsistencies with actors interacting with rigid body props, and will hopefully be addressed in a future version of the integration.
The plugin also features HMD tracking integration for virtual reality experiences. For general instructions on developing VR application in Unity, refer to the Unity documentation: Unity Virtual Reality tutorial.
Oculus DK2, CV1, and Gear VR HMD models are supported
OVRManager
Gear VR devices can also be integrated and the tracking information can be streamed via wifi connections using a router with sufficient bandwidth. The required bandwidth will vary depending on many factors (e.g. router type, the number of tracked object, etc.). For more specific information on this setup, contact us. The following settings must be configured in addition to the above HMD settings for developing Gear VR experiences using the plugin. For more information on developing Gear VR applications in Unity, refer to Unity documentation.
1. [Unity] For developing Android applications in Unity, make sure the environment is set up for Android development: Getting Started with Android Development. Below are some of the important steps:
2. [Unity] Include the OSIG file (oculus signature) in the Project/Assets/Plugins/Android/assets/ directory. See: Oculus Signature File Generator.
Project/Assets/Plugins/Android/assets/
3. [Unity] Open the Player Settings (Edit → Project Settings → Player) and check the Virtual Reality Supported box under the XR Settings section. Then add the Oculus SDK under the list of Virtual Reality SDK as shown in the image below.
4. [Unity] In Player Settings under the Other Settings section, there are a few other options that need to be set:
5. [Motive] Under the Data Streaming pane, set the Network Type setting under the Advanced Settings to Unicast.
Note: the plugin currently only supports the Unicast broadcasting for streaming onto Android.
1. [Motive] Set the streaming IP address to the IP address of the router.
2. [Android] Connect the smartphone to the router which the Motive is streaming to.
3. [Unity] Configure the Client object. This can be done using the Client - OptiTrack prefab included in the plugin.
4. [Unity] Configure the HMD object.
5. [Unity] Connect a smartphone into the PC, build and run the project. Make sure network permission is given to the Unity application.
6. [Motive] Double check that Motive is streaming. If everything is set up properly, Motive will provide the tracking data to the phone.
First of all, setup and optimize the motion capture volume as explained in the Getting Started guide or the Hardware Setup documentation. If you plan to install any obstacles (e.g. walls) within the capture volume, make sure they are non-reflective, and place and orient the cameras so that every corner is thoroughly captured by multiple cameras. For typical rigid body tracking, attach the rigid body markers as instructed in the Rigid Body Tracking page.
General Setup Steps
There are two different types of markers that can be used to track an object with OptiTrack systems: Passive markers and Active markers. Passive markers are retroreflective markers that reflect infrared light emitted from the IR LEDs on the camera. On the other hand, the active markers are LED markers that emit the IR light. Either type of markers can be used to track HMDs.
Use appropriate adhesives and marker posts to securely attach the markers to the HMD. For active markers, the active Tag must be attached also in order to synchronize and power the LEDs also. Oculus CV1 HMDs can use the active CV1 clip enclosure to easily place 8 active markers over the HMD. Depending on which marker you are using to track the HMD, the setup instructions will vary slightly.
With the HMD bracket, simply attach the active marker bracket onto an CV1 HMD and use the active markers on it to define a rigid body.
When using the active markers, the markers are actively labeled individually from each of their own unique illumination patterns, and only the matching active markers get contributed to the rigid body solve. The biggest benefit from the individual labeling is that markers can be placed in perfectly symmetrical placements among multiple rigid body assets.
When attaching retroreflective markers, make sure markers are securely attached and readily captured by the cameras. For attaching the markers, we recommend using our 20 mm wide and 30 mm tall M4 threaded plastic marker bases with Acrylic adhesives, available at the webstore, to attach the markers onto the HMD.
A markered HMD will be defined as a rigid body in Motive. When placing markers, make sure the placement asymmetry is respected in the arrangement within the HMD. Also, the marker arrangements between multiple HMDs must be incongruent. For more details, read about marker placement from the Rigid Body Tracking page.
Creating Active Clip HMD
This feature can be used only with HMDs that have the OptiTrack Active HMD clips mounted.
For using OptiTrack system for VR applications, it is important that the pivot point of HMD rigid body gets placed at the appropriate location, which is at the root of the nose in between the eyes. When using the HMD clips, you can utilize the HMD creation tools in the Builder pane to have Motive estimate this spot and place the pivot point accordingly. It utilizes known marker configurations on the clip to precisely positions the pivot point and sets the desired orientation.
HMDs with passive markers can utilize the External Pivot Alignment tool to calibrate the pivot point.
Creating HMD from the markers
In Motive, select the markers that are attached to the HMD and create a rigid body (Hotkey: CTRL + T) as you would do for other rigid bodies. Once this is set up, use the External Pivot Alignment tool in the Builder pane (rigid body → Edit) to calibrate the pivot point of the created rigid body:
For using OptiTrack system for VR applications, it is important that the pivot point of HMD rigid body gets placed at the appropriate location, which is at the root of the nose in between the eyes. External Pivot Alignment tool utilizes both the OptiTrack mocap system and the HMD's own tracking system (Oculus Tracker / Vive Base Stations) for precisely calculating the location of the pivot point of an HMD. When using this feature, both systems must be tracking the HMD simultaneously.
HMD Compatibility Notes:
External Pivot Calibration Tips:
Once the rigid body is created, select the asset and open the Properties pane. The following settings need to be configured for HMD tracking.
Deflection setting is the tolerable distance, in millimeters, that a rigid body marker may deviate from its expected position before it is unlabeled and unassociated with the rigid body. The deflection is set to 4 mm by default. For HMD tracking applications, we recommended lowering this value to 3 or 2. This will reduce the amount of computation required for labeling, and overall latency may be reduced.
The User Data value for each rigid body is used as an identification number to reference the rigid body in external applications. Log this value for each rigid body (including the HMD(s)) in the scene. This number will be used to associate the assets in the client applications using the plugin devices.
This setting may need to be modified when tracking HMDs with passive markers. To prevent the swapping of the rigid body definition, set this setting to 4. When tracking multiple HMDs, there could be limitations to a variety of unique marker arrangements that could be achieved. If this value is set to a lower value, a set of three markers on an HMD may be congruent to another set in a different HMD, and the rigid body definitions may be switched in Motive.
After the rigid body definition have been created for the HMD, the position and orientation of the rigid body pivot point should get placed precisely on the root of the player's nose with the respective orientation axis pointing the forward direction. If needed, you can use the Builder pane edit tools to recalibrate the HMD pivot point positions.
In most cases, you will be utilizing the previously described calibration tool for precisely positioning and orienting the HMD rigid body. However, if, for some reason, you want to manually position the pivot point without using the HMD Calibration feature, follow the instruction on this page: Manually Calibrating the HMD Pivot Point.
Tip: Once you have the rigid body asset for the HMD configured, you can export the asset into a TRA file for future uses. Importing the TRA file (e.g. CV1.tra) will load the rigid body (HMD) asset and make it available for use; however, the marker placement must remain unchanged in order to re-load previously created rigid bodies.
Once you have connected the client object and configured the script components on the assets from the scene. Play the scene, and if the properties are correctly configured, the assets in the game scene will be animated according to the position and orientation of the rigid bodies and the HMD in Motive. When playing the scene, the HMD and the assigned actor objects will be placed in respect to their location in Motive’s coordinate system disregards to their position in the editor.
When setting up multiplayer games with wireless clients, it is more beneficial for each client to make direct connection to both the tracking-server (Motive) and the game-server, rather than rebroadcasting the streamed tracking data through the game-server. Then, any of the game related actions that interacts with the tracking data can be processed on the game-server, and this server can send out the corresponding updates to the wireless clients. This allows the wireless clients to only receive both the tracking data or updates without having to send back any information; in other words, minimizing the number of data transfers needed. If wireless clients are sending data there will be a minimum of two transfers on the wireless network, and each transfer of data through wireless network is at risk of latency or lost packets.
