Data Export
Last updated
Last updated
Various types of files, including the tracking data, can be exported out from Motive. This page provides information on what file formats can be exported from Motive and instructions on how to export them.
Once captures have been recorded into Take files and the corresponding 3D data have been reconstructed, tracking data can be exported from Motive in various file formats.
Exporting Rigidbody Tracking Data
If the recorded Take includes Rigid Body trackable assets, make sure all of the Rigid Bodies are Solved prior to exporting. The solved data will contain positions and orientations of each Rigid Body.
In the export dialog window, the frame rate, the measurement scale, and the frame range of exported data can be configured. Additional export settings are available for each export file formats. Read through below pages for details on export options for each file format:
Exporting a Single Take
Step 1. Open and select a Take to export from the Data pane. The selected Take must contain reconstructed 3D data.
Step 2. Under the File tab on the command bar, click File → Export Tracking Data. This can also be done by right-clicking on a selected Take from the Data pane and clicking Export Tracking Data from the context menu.
Step 3. On the export dialogue window, select a file format and configure the corresponding export settings.
To export the entire frame range, set Start Frame and End Frame to Take First Frame and Take Last Frame.
To export a specific frame range, set Start Frame and End Frame to Start of Working Range and End of Working Range.
Step 4. Click Save.
Working Range:
The working range (also called the playback range) is both the view range and the playback range of a corresponding Take in Edit mode. Only within the working frame range will recorded tracking data be played back and shown on the graphs. This range can also be used to output specific frame ranges when exporting tracking data from Motive.
The working range can be set from the following places:
In the navigation bar of the Graph View pane, you can drag the handles on the scrubber to set the working range.
You can also use the navigation controls on the Graph View pane to zoom in or zoom out on the frame ranges to set the working range. See: Graph View pane page.
Start and end frames of a working range can also be set from the Control Deck when in the Edit mode.
Exporting Multiple Takes
Step 1. Under the Data pane, shift + select all the Takes that you wish to export.
Step 2. Right-click on the selected Takes and click Export Tracking Data from the context menu.
Step 3. An export dialogue window will show up for batch exporting tracking data.
Step 4. Select the desired output format and configure the corresponding export settings.
Step 5. Select frame ranges to export under the Start Frame and the End Frame settings. You can either export entire frame ranges or specified frame ranges on all of the Takes. When exporting specific ranges, desired working ranges must be set for each respective Takes.
To export entire frame ranges, set Start Frame and End Frame to Take First Frame and Take Last Frame.
To export specific frame ranges, set Start Frame and End Frame to Start of Working Range and End of Working Range.
Step 6. Click Save.
Motive Batch Processor:
Exporting multiple Take files with specific options can also be done through a Motive Batch Processor script. For example, refer to FBXExporterScript.cs script found in the MotiveBatchProcessor folder.
Motive exports reconstructed 3D tracking data in various file formats and exported files can be imported into other pipelines to further utilize capture data. Available export formats include CSV, C3D, FBX, BVH, and TRC. Depending on which options are enabled, exported data may include reconstructed marker data, 6 Degrees of Freedom (6 DoF) Rigid Body data, or Skeleton data. The following chart shows what data types are available in different export formats:
| Tracking Data Type | CSV | C3D | FBX | BVH | TRC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reconstructed 3D Marker Data | • | • | • | • | |
6 Degrees of Freedom Rigid Body Data | • | • | • | ||
Skeleton Data | • | • | • |
CSV and C3D exports are supported in both Motive Tracker and Motive Body licenses. FBX, BVH, and TRC exports are only supported in Motive Body.
A calibration definition of a selected take can be exported from the Export Camera Calibration under the File tab. Exported calibration (CAL) files contain camera positions and orientations in 3D space, and they can be imported in different sessions to quickly load the calibration as long as the camera setup is maintained.
Read more about calibration files under the Calibration page.
Recorded NI-DAQ analog channel data can be exported into C3D and CSV files along with the mocap tracking data. Follow the tracking data export steps outlined above and any analog data that exists in the TAK will also be exported.
When an asset definition is exported to a MOTIVE user profile, it stores marker arrangements calibrated in each asset, and they can be imported into different takes without creating a new asset in Motive. Note that these files specifically store the spatial relationship of each marker, and therefore, only the identical marker arrangements will be recognized and defined with the imported asset.
To export the assets, go to the File menu and select Export Assets to export all of the assets in the Live-mode or in the current TAK file(s). You can also use File → Export Profile to export other software settings including the assets.
Recorded NI-DAQ analog channel data can be exported into C3D and CSV files along with the mocap tracking data. Follow the tracking data export steps outlined above and any analog data that exists in the TAK will also be exported.
C3D Export: Both mocap data and the analog data will be exported onto a same C3D file. Please note that all of the analog data within the exported C3D files will be logged at the same sampling frequency. If any of the devices are captured at different rates, Motive will automatically resample all of the analog devices to match the sampling rate of the fastest device. More on C3D files: https://www.c3d.org/
CSV Export: When exporting tracking data into CSV, additional CSV files will be exported for each of the NI-DAQ devices in a Take. Each of the exported CSV files will contain basic properties and settings at its header, including device information and sample counts. The voltage amplitude of each analog channel will be listed. Also, mocap frame rate to device sampling ratio is included since analog data is usually sampled at higher sampling rates.
Note
The coordinate system used in Motive (y-up right-handed) may be different from the convention used in the biomechanics analysis software.
Common Conventions
Since Motive uses a different coordinate system than the system used in common biomechanics applications, it is necessary to modify the coordinate axis to a compatible convention in the C3D exporter settings. For biomechanics applications using z-up right-handed convention (e.g. Visual3D), the following changes must be made under the custom axis.
X axis in Motive should be configured to positive X
Y axis in Motive should be configured to negative Z
Z axis in Motive should be configured to positive Y.
This will convert the coordinate axis of the exported data so that the x-axis represents the anteroposterior axis (left/right), the y-axis represents the mediolateral axis (front/back), and the z-axis represents the longitudinal axis (up/down).
When there is an MJPEG reference camera in a Take, its recorded video can be exported into an AVI file or into a sequence of JPEG files. The Export Video option is located under the File tab or you can also right-click on a TAK file from the Data pane and export from there. At the bottom of the export dialog, the frame rate of the exported AVI file can be set to a full-frame rate or down-sampled to half, quarter, 1/8, or 1/16 ratio framerate. You can also adjust the playback speed to export a video with a slower or faster playback speed. The captured reference videos can be exported into AVI files using either H.264 or MJPEG compression format. The H.264 format will allow faster export of the recorded videos and is recommended. Read more about recording reference videos on Data Recording page.
Reference Video Type: Only compressed MJPEG reference videos can be recorded and exported from Motive. Export for raw grayscale videos is not supported.
Media Player: The exported videos may not be playable on Windows Media Player, please use a more robust media player (e.g. VLC) to play the exported video files.
When a recorded capture contains audio data, an audio file can be exported through the Export Audio option that appears when right-clicking on a Take from the Data pane.
Skeletal marker labels for Skeleton assets can be exported as XML files (example shown below) from the Data pane. The XML files can be imported again to use the stored marker labels when creating new Skeletons.
For more information on Skeleton XML files, read through the Skeleton Tracking page.
Sample Skeleton Label XML File
