7 marvels of motion capture

This article is produced in association with Masters of CG, a contest for creatives in partnership with HP, Nvidia, and 2000 AD. Check out the shortlisted entries here.

Ten years ago, the term motion capture (aka performance capture) was virtually unknown outside a small number of technical people. Nowadays, it's a term almost every moviegoer is familiar.

Enabling real-life actors to be transformed into photoreal, computer generated characters that can be brought to life with realistic emotions and movements, motion capture is increasingly important to the present and future of film-making. Here we pay tribute to the seven best examples of the technique in action – with useful links to where you can find out how they were created.

Which motion captured movies did we miss off our list? Let us know in the comments below!