MOVtype

MOVtype is a cross-domain standard that provides a structured way to describe, annotate, and exchange motion information across animation, simulation, and robotics workflows. Conceived as a universal motion taxonomy, MOVtype aims to enable consistent interpretation of movement data items such as translations, rotations, and deformations, regardless of source format or toolchain.

The core of MOVtype is a data model that records motion type, parameters, and context. Each entry specifies a type (for example translation, rotation, scaling, deformation, morphing), an optional subtype, a duration, and a parameter set that may include velocity, acceleration, angular velocity, angular acceleration, and a direction vector. Optional fields capture units, coordinate system, and references such as target bones, joints, or physical bodies.

The specification is designed to be extensible and machine-readable, with schemas that can be expressed in JSON or XML. It supports interoperability by providing mappings to existing formats such as motion capture inventories, rig data, and robotics simulations, and by supporting conformance profiles for validation.

In practice, MOVtype supports three broad use cases: documenting motion data for editorial pipelines, enabling programmatic motion analysis and filtering, and facilitating cross-tool exchanges among artists, engineers, and researchers. Adoption is not universal, but several studios and research projects have used MOVtype-compatible templates to improve data provenance and reusability.

Example: a simple translation entry might specify type: translation, subtype: linear, velocity: 1.5, units: m/s, duration: 2.0, direction: [0,1,0], coordinateSystem: world.