A Schema Definition for Exchanging Character Animation Data

In this paper, we define a schema for exchanging character animation using the H-Anim international standard developed by ISO/IEC JTC1 and the Web3D Consortium. The current H-Anim defines a hierarchical data structure necessary to transfer and store a humanoid character structure. However, it is not designed to apply a generated motion to other character types. In this research, we propose a data format to define H-Anim character animation using arbitrary character models and arbitrary motion capture data. In addition, we describe a method of schema expansion in order to conform to the existing H-Anim structure. The character animation data format is intended to share animation data among different applications and to provide compatibility and interoperability.