Real-Time Retargeting in Action
During the live demo, a performance capture artist called River stepped into the capture space. Within seconds, a 3D skeleton of her performance, including full body and finger tracking, was generated in real time. But River wasn’t just moving a humanoid avatar. Using Vicon’s real-time retargeting, her motion data was mapped onto a dramatically different character: a giant turtle monster with six fingers, a beak, and a tail.
With a few clicks in Shōgun Live, River’s human proportions were retargeted onto the non-human rig, instantly animating the turtle character in real time. No additional rigging. No reprocessing. Just pure creative feedback.
“This gives performers instant visual feedback, helping them adapt and fine-tune their performance to match the unique personality and shape of the character.”
This immediate feedback loop is particularly powerful for performers who rely on physical expression. When they can see how their body language translates to an exaggerated or fantastical form, they can adjust their motion to be more dynamic, expressive, or stylised, improving the final animation.
Motion capture isn’t just about realism, it’s about imagination. At GDC 2025, Vicon’s VFX Product Manager David “Ed” Edwards and his team showcased how Vicon’s latest advancements in real-time retargeting are helping animators and game developers bring even the wildest character concepts to life with performance-driven authenticity.
From giant turtle monsters to rocket-limbed robots, Vicon’s live demonstration proved that markerless motion capture performance can empower creativity, speed up iteration, and bridge the gap between actors and their digital counterparts like never before.
Performance-Driven Design
The demo continued with a second performer, Victor, retargeted to a towering robot equipped with rocket launchers for arms. Again, the performers’ motions translated smoothly, even with mismatched proportions or absent limbs, thanks to Vicon’s flexible retargeting engine.
This opens the door to experimental character work without losing the nuance of human performance. For directors and animators, that means better visualisation earlier in the pipeline, and more confident creative decisions.
It also allows for more inclusive creative participation. Artists no longer have to rely on guesswork or placeholder animations to determine if a concept will work, they can interact with the performance live and adjust the creative direction instantly.
From Stage to Screen – Live in Unreal Engine 5
The next step? Seeing these characters in context. Vicon streamed the entire retargeted performance live into Unreal Engine 5, allowing the team to view animations against full environments with lighting, camera angles, and FX.
This isn’t just playback. It’s real-time iteration. Animators can see what a final cinematic might look like while it’s being performed, rather than weeks later in post. As Ed says in the presentation, “You’re not just watching a character move, you’re watching your vision come to life, live.”
This setup is ideal for previsualisation and storyboarding. Directors can test different shots, block scenes, and experiment with visual storytelling techniques on the fly, helping streamline production and reduce costly revisions later in the process.
Collaborative Storytelling Made Easy
Whether you’re a performer, animator, technical artist, or director, this pipeline reduces friction and speeds up storytelling. Vicon’s real-time retargeting bridges the gap between performance and character design, so every team member can contribute to the creative process without waiting for post-processing or asset swaps.
And because this all happens within Vicon’s existing tools, Shōgun Live and Shōgun Post, studios don’t need to overhaul their workflows to take advantage.
It also empowers smaller teams or indie studios, who may not have the resources for large-scale production pipelines, to achieve high-end results through streamlined technology.
A Giant Leap for Creative Motion Capture
The GDC crowd was treated to a final scene: a showdown between the turtle monster and rocket-armed robot, both performing live with sound effects and full in-engine visualization. It was a fun moment, but also a clear demonstration of how Vicon’s tools can turn motion into magic.
Whether you’re building the next AAA game or a cinematic indie gem, Vicon’s real-time retargeting empowers you to push boundaries, test ideas faster, and create with confidence.
“With Vicon, you don’t have to wait for creativity to catch up to tech. The tech is already there.” – David Edwards, VFX Product Manager for Vicon
Discover how Vicon’s retargeting and markerless motion capture technology can support your next project at vicon.com/markerless.