DeepMotion

DeepMotion is a San Francisco–area startup offering cloud-based Video AI motion-capture and character animation tools that convert ordinary video into 3D character motion. Founded to remove the hardware barrier to mocap, DeepMotion positions itself between marker-based systems and animation retargeting services, emphasizing single-camera capture and cloud processing for faster iteration. Its core value proposition is allowing creators to generate retargetable FBX/GLB animations from footage without a studio, trimming prototype time for games, AR/VR, and cinematic previsualization. The company targets small studios and solo creators as primary customers.

DeepMotion's product suite centers on Animate 3D (cloud video-to-animation), a Live Mocap/WebRTC pipeline for real-time avatar control, and SDKs/plugins for Unity and Unreal. Animate 3D processes uploaded MP4 clips and returns retargetable FBX and GLB files with per-frame joint transforms and optional root motion; processing is handled server-side to produce clean, skinned animation. The Live Mocap link streams pose data to engines via a WebRTC session or a Unity package, allowing real-time playback and recording. Integrations export to standard formats and support automated skeleton mapping and bone re-targeting; there is also a REST API for batch jobs, and the platform can handle multi-clip projects for iterative pipelines. Input video quality impacts fidelity — DeepMotion recommends 30–60 fps footage and clear silhouettes; hair, props and heavy occlusion reduce tracking accuracy. Exports include baked keyframes, frame rate matching, and options to preserve hip/root velocity for game engines.

DeepMotion offers a free tier and paid subscriptions plus enterprise licensing. The free tier (as of 2026 approximate) permits limited test uploads with watermarking and small monthly clip minutes ideal for evaluation. Paid tiers start at roughly $19/month for creators with increased minutes, higher-resolution exports, and removal of watermarks; a Pro plan around $99/month adds priority processing, commercial use rights, and more monthly quota. DeepMotion also sells pay-as-you-go API credits for bulk processing and custom enterprise contracts for studio-scale throughput, SLAs, and on-premise workflows. Exact prices and quotas change; check deepmotion.com/pricing for current numbers. Teams can request demos and volume discounts via a sales contact.

Who uses DeepMotion? Indie game developers and solo animators use it to turn reference footage into playable animations quickly; for instance, a game animator can prototype 20+ locomotion cycles from phone video in hours. VFX artists and previsualization leads use it to capture stunt reference without expensive stages; a VFX supervisor might generate retargeted takes for editorial review. Remote VR studios stream avatars into Unity for live rehearsals and social XR experiences. Agencies also use the API to batch-process influencer clips into animated avatars. Compared to Rokoko's hardware-based systems, DeepMotion prioritizes cloud single-camera accessibility rather than marker precision. It's often paired with Blender and Unity for cleanup and retargeting pipelines.