Flexible Approach to Documenting and Presenting Multimedia Performances Using Motion Capture Data

Multimedia performance documentation and preservation processes in digital domain mean a serious challenge as there is a necessity to store and search through many data types (e.g. video, audio, text, images, generic documents and motion data) while maintaining proper relations among all performance components. Memory institutions express the need for appropriate data models and tools that allow for preserving complexity of a work preserved together with all metadata already created in existing cataloguing systems. Additionally, the performance documentation should include a component describing actor’s movement on stage that can serve both for its reconstruction and presentation, moreover, its specific segments need to be identified and documented/linked separately. In this paper, we discuss existing models, suggest an adequate approach informed by existing data aggregation projects and standards, and evaluate methods for documenting motion including search and segmentation algorithms. Based on actual needs and using the data from Laterna Magica project aimed at national heritage preservation, we propose suitable data structures and an application for the complex documentation management and presentation intended both for professionals and the general public.