MovEngine—Developing a Movement Language for 3D Visualization and Composition of Dance

Abstract

MOVement-oriented animation Engine (MovEngine) is a software library, which was originally developed within a research project conducted at Salzburg University from 2008 until early 2013. One of the objectives in this project was to create a computer application which aids research in re-constructing dance through animated movement sequences, utilizing a movement language based on existing systems of movement notation. Since 2012 the software—in its current developmental stage—is being tested and integrated into movement notation studies at Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and its development is continued within an MA course in Movement Notation/Movement Analysis at the university. The software allows to create a three-dimensional, animated representation of movement based on a variety of sources and facilitates the exploration of possible variations in the movement material. This new unique and methodologically highly potential technological tool provides the possibility to access referential material on dance and to transfer/translate the referentiality into visuality, thus revealing the motoric and kinetic aspects of the material. While the goal of the original project was focused on historic dance research, the employed technical approach may be also applied in a variety of other contexts, e.g. in creating learning tools, in automated animated visualization of movement notation scores or in generating robotic movement. MovEngine gains a high degree of flexibility by extending traditional key frame animation techniques with a system of movement orientated instructions, which are based on principles of movement analysis as known from systems of movement notation (Eshkol Wachman Movement Notation and Kinetography Laban). This paper outlines the key features of MovEngine by describing the role of movement notation principles in the generation of animated movement.