Cartwheel

What is Cartwheel?

Cartwheel is a generative motion platform developed by Cartwheel Inc., intended for use in games, film and television, advertising, social media content, robotics, and motion data teams. It converts videos, textual descriptions, and character references into editable, reusable 3D characters and motion data.

Users can carry out interactive creation using Cartwheel Canvas in their browsers; they can also utilize APIs to integrate the processes of generation, capture, and batch processing into their production workflows. The focus of this product is on motion data and character animation, rather than being a general video editing tool or a simple tool for generating videos from text.

Main functions

Video to motion and multi-person performance

• Comic can extract performances from videos taken with ordinary cameras, without the need for motion capture suits, specialized studios, or marker points.
• Comic 4 allows capturing multiple performers in a wide-angle shot, as well as determining the internal and external parameters of the camera.
• Details of the face, hands, and fingers can be captured along with body movements, and the results can be applied to other characters.
• Relative scaling is used to maintain the proportions of characters, props, and interaction relationships, but errors related to overlapping, slipping, and occlusion should still be checked before production.

Generate, edit, and redirect

• Swing accepts descriptions of natural language actions; users can specify the action, intent, style, and timing, after which multiple versions of the interpretation are generated.
• Motion Editor allows moving joints, adding key poses, or changing time points; IK and FK are used to adjust the body in response to local changes.
• Editing is done in a non-destructive manner; the original actions are not overwritten by the new version, which makes it easier to compare different performances.
• The Cartographer first creates an automatic mapping from the movements to the target bones, then allows for adjustments on a joint-by-joint basis; it is also possible to add spring-based secondary movement to appendages such as tails and wings.

Complete usage process

1. Register an account and select the individual or team package that includes a 7-day trial period.
2. Select video motion capture, text generation, character creation, a material library, or action redirection based on the task.
3. Upload videos, reference images, or character assets that have the necessary permissions, or simply enter descriptions of the actions and characters.
4. Check the number of characters, cameras, skeletons, proportions, and output duration; first estimate the credits using short clips.
5. After the action is generated, it is previewed on the Canvas, allowing for adjustments to key poses, timing, trajectories, and the mapping of the target character.
6. Export in the desired 3D or video format, and review it in Maya, Blender, Unreal, or other downstream tools.
7. When automation is required, create restricted API keys; first test single-task status polling, and then expand to batch processing.
8. Before going live, verify the rights to the materials, concurrent usage per package, options for retrying in case of failure, the validity period of the download links, and the responsibilities related to manual quality inspection.

Input, output, and platform

The standard format improves interoperability with 3D software, but bone naming, coordinates, frame rate, materials, and controllers may still require conversion. Native mobile applications have not yet been released; the core workflow should be designed for desktop browsers and 3D production tools.

APIs and automation

The Cartwheel API provides a programmatic way to work with action models similar to those of Canvas; it allows users to submit reference videos or tasks for action generation, and then to check the status of these tasks using their identifiers. The possible statuses include queued, generating, completed, failed, and issues with the content. In cases of success, the action file and preview data are returned.

• Individual Pro offers APIs, while Team Pro and Team Scale provide higher batch processing capabilities; Basic and Team Standard should not be considered to include APIs.
• For Team Pro, there are a maximum of 3 concurrent batches per seat, with 50 actions per batch; for Team Scale, there are 10 concurrent batches per seat, with 100 actions per batch.
• APIs are suitable for action sets, battle variants, crowd simulations, level tools, and internal animation pipelines; they are not appropriate for mass production without the ability to retry operations and conduct audits.
• The Platform solution allows action generation to be integrated into applications or games, with concurrency, batch size, and support levels that can be customized according to specific use cases.

Price of individual packages

Team and Platform Packages

The annual payment page indicates a discount of around 16%; however, the actual taxes, currency, and total amount due may vary depending on the region and account. Team prices are calculated based on the number of seats, and the price per seat should not be used as an indication of the total cost for the entire team.

Credits usage rules

• The credits included in the package are recalculated on a monthly basis, and any unused monthly quota should not be considered as part of an ongoing balance.
• Additional credits are purchased in groups of 500, at a price of $0.05 per credit.
• Additional credits purchased separately can be carried over to the next month, which is different from the rules regarding the monthly quota included in the package.
• Multiple captures, Mascots, and long-duration actions will quickly deplete the quota; it is advisable to use short videos for estimation before starting production.

Notes on trials, cancellation, and refunds

The individual and team packages offer a 7-day free trial; users must specify the date on which payment will be deducted after the trial ends, as well as the chosen subscription period and the number of seats at the time of activation. The current public page does not indicate any fixed deadline for refunds or a guarantee of unconditional refund.

• To cancel, it is necessary to do so through the account billing settings or the available support channels before the renewal, and keep a record of the confirmation.
• The annual payment is calculated for the whole year; the monthly price shown on the page is an estimated amount, and it does not represent a commitment to make payments on a monthly basis.
• Packages, credits, and account termination can affect access to content; it is important to export backups of key actions and roles in a timely manner.
• Refunds, duplicate charges, taxes, and corporate contracts shall be confirmed on the actual settlement page or in a written order.

API, plugins, and open-source status

Privacy, security, copyright, and commercial use

• The service may collect account information, device and browsing data, payment details, as well as content uploaded, created, and edited by users.
• The terms clearly state that the content uploaded or generated by users will not be used to train, retrain, or improve machine learning and generation models.
• Users grant the platform the permission to process data necessary for providing, maintaining, supporting, and improving the services, and should keep backups of important content on their own.
• The platform employs secure transmission methods and proper storage safeguards, but its public policies do not specify a uniform retention period nor offer a guarantee of zero risk.
• Users in the European Economic Area may, under applicable conditions, request access to, correction of, restriction on, deletion of, withdrawal of consent, objection to processing, and data portability.
• The service requires users to be at least 18 years old, and the content uploaded must not violate copyright laws, privacy rights, portrait rights, or any other rights of third parties.
• The terms permit internal use and legitimate commercial purposes, but users still need to verify the authorization for the input materials, obtain consent from the individuals involved, consider the copyright aspects of the output, and comply with the rules of any downstream platforms.
• Cartwheel owns the intellectual property rights for its platform as well as its own content; however, the exclusive copyright over the content uploaded or created is not guaranteed outright in the general terms.

Suitable for users and their capacity limits

• Animators and rehearsal teams: gain a basic understanding of the performance first, and then refine it using professional software.
• Game team: Generates NPCs, battles, movement, and group actions, and creates an action library through APIs.
• Brand and social media team: Use Mascot to maintain the appearance of characters and create short content in bulk.
• Film, television, and advertising teams: Use ordinary videos to carry out markerless motion capture, shot previews, and action variations.
• Robots, sports, and research teams: Purchase structured motion data or customized data sets.
• It is not appropriate to consider AI-generated results as the final version of the footage; complex interactions, occlusions, foot positioning, bone mapping, and legal aspects still require professional review.

Summary

Cartwheel integrates video motion capture, text-to-action generation, character creation, action editing, redirection, a material library, and APIs into a single action production system. When selecting a package, it is necessary to take into account factors such as the number of seats, monthly credits, concurrent processing capacity, plugin status, and the cost of post-export refinement, rather than focusing only on the listed price.