What is BVH?

BVH - BioVision Hierarchy file
There are a number of different file formats for holding motion capture data, one of the most common is defined by company called BioVision.

A BVH file is designed for holding movements generated by motion capture, but there is no reason why computer generated movements should not also be stored in this way. It is a compact way of storing the motion, at it is independent of the details of the geometry. However this file data is specific to the hierarchy and body dimensions of the character, so although you can transfer movements from one character to another, you will have to scale it for each character model.

Do All BVH files work with iClone Motion Converter?

Not all BVH files will work with the iClone Motion Converter. Why? BVH files need to have a 'Profile' for the iClone Motion Converter to understand how to convert the BVH file into iClone's CHB motion file format.

Where can you find BVH files for iClone?

*Profiles downloadable below are for 1.52 users only. iClone 2.0 includes all new BVH profiles in the program.

Currently the iClone Motion converter contains profiles for BVH files made by:

• Animazoo - http://www.animazoo.com/bvh/index.htm
  
• Download the Animazoo iClone Profile for Motion Converter.
  • Click here to download the Animazoo.zip (Latest update: 03/10/2006)
  • Place the Animazoo.PRF profile file in this locatoin: C:\Program Files\Reallusion\BVH Motion Converter
    
• Animazoo BVH files can be directly loaded into iClone's Motion Converter to convert for iClone
  
  
• Motek - http://www.e-motek.com/entertainment/stockmoves/index.html
  
  • Motek's motion files need to first be converted from .UMF to BVH with the Motek converter
    
    • Go to the URL above for Motek and browse the 'Stock Moves' Library and select your motions
      
    • You will need to download the Motek converter to convert the motion files from Motek to BVH format.
      
    • Download the Motek BVH file creator here:
      http://www.e-motek.com/entertainment/stockmoves/converts/umfconv.zip
• Poser 6
  
  
  • Download the Poser6 BVH profile for iClone Motion Converter.
  • For iClone 1.52 users, Click here to download the Poser6BVH.zip.zip (Customized for Poser6 SR2(Service Release 2). Latest update: 03/29/2006) , and place the Poser6BVH.PRF profile file in this locatoin: C:\Program Files\Reallusion\BVH Motion Converter
  • For iClone2 users, please directly select Poser6_SR2 profile in BVH converter for BVH conversion
  • In order to generate iClone compatible BVH data from Poser6 or Poser7, users must use default Poser figure James to edit motion, and select option "scale automatically" for BVH output