This is the question every first-time, and every repeat, buyer asks and which almost nobody answers directly. The reason studios are guarded about pricing is legitimate: no two projects are the same and motion capture costs are variable by design. But vague answers don’t help buyers plan productions—and they don’t help studios win the right clients. Here’s a breakdown of what drives cost and what you should expect at different production scales.
The Variables That Drive Mocap Cost
No two productions cost the same because no two productions need the same things. The primary variables are:
1. Stage Size and Camera Count
Performance capture stages are priced in part by their capability. A compact 8-camera stage for a single performer costs significantly less per day than a 54-camera sound stage that can handle six performers simultaneously. The 175-camera volume in Park City that can capture 20+ performers at once sits in a different pricing category entirely.
Most productions don’t need the biggest available option. Part of planning a cost-efficient capture session is right-sizing the stage to the actual performance requirements.
2. Session Duration
Half-day, full-day, and multi-day rates apply across all stages. System setup and calibration time is roughly constant regardless of session length. Multi-week productions provide efficiencies that allow for volume discounts, which changes the cost model further.
3. Performer Count and Complexity
Single-performer sessions are the most straightforward. Props and multi-performer sessions—combat, ensemble dialogue, crowd sequences—require more performer setup, more technical supervision, more simultaneous data streams, and more complex cleanup. Full performance capture (body + face + fingers + audio) requires more setup time per performer than body-only capture.
4. Post-Processing Scope
Raw capture data is not usable production data. Cleanup, solving, retargeting, and engine-ready delivery are downstream processes that add cost but also determine whether your downstream team can actually use what they receive. A “cheaper” session that delivers unusable data isn’t cheaper—it’s more expensive when the downstream remediation costs are factored in.
| The cheapest capture session is rarely the least expensive production. Clean, properly retargeted data that drops straight into your engine is worth more than raw data that requires weeks of cleanup. |
5. Travel and On-Location Work
When the stage needs to come to the production—live sets, sporting events, large-scale outdoor sequences—travel and logistics add to the base cost. HOM has executed on-location capture across four continents. The premium is real but can be smaller than the alternative of moving the entire production to a fixed stage.
What Different Budget Levels Buy
Without quoting specific rates (which change based on project scope, which stage(s), and scheduling), here’s a rough framework for how budget translates to capability:
Independent / Indie Productions
A compact stage that can handle one to two performers is the entry point for indie game developers capturing a hero character’s locomotion set, a short film needing a single stunt sequence, or a prototype demonstration. The technology is identical to what’s used on AAA titles. The scope is smaller.
Markerless capture with Genesis offers an additional cost-efficiency pathway for indie productions. Without suiting overhead and with faster session setup, markerless sessions can deliver more capture time per dollar for productions needing a quick prototype demonstration. Ask us whether markerless is the right call for your specific project.
Mid-Tier Productions
Single to multiple full-day sound stage sessions with one or multiple performers, may need facial capture, sound, and pipeline delivery into UE5 or Unity. This covers most mid-large game productions, television, and branded content that requires consistent character performance across multiple sessions.
AAA / Enterprise
Single to multi-week productions with full performance capture, iterative director review cycles, animation team support, and complete pipeline delivery. The productions in HOM’s portfolio—Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, Halo, Marvel films—operate at this scale.
How to Get an Accurate Number
The fastest way to understand what your specific production will cost is a 15-minute conversation with the HOM team. Come with a rough performer count, a sense of the scene or sequence complexity, your target engine or pipeline, and your timeline. That’s enough to get a real estimate—not a vague range.
We work with every budget level. The goal of the first conversation is to figure out exactly what your needs are, what your budget and timing are, and build the right session(s) around that—not to sell you more stage than you need.
Ready to scope a session? Explore our Capture Services, our Stages, our Animation Services, and Contact Us to discuss your project and our flexible production options.