NoCapMocap vs Roblox Prompt to Animation: what free gets you

Roblox put AI animation inside Studio, and it's free for now. Since I built NoCapMocap, of course I tested it the day it came out, and to be honest, I was expecting something way bigger. But it's in BETA, and I want to be fair, so let's go round by round and you can judge it yourself.

If you don't have much time, I left a 49-second version on YouTube.

The short answer

Roblox's tool is good. For a quick animation, just use it. It's free, and you never leave Studio.

But if you want 4 versions to pick from and more control over how your character moves, go with NoCapMocap.

One tip before you try Roblox's tool: if you want a walk, write "loop" in your prompt. It makes a huge difference, and I show you why in Round 4.

A quick note before the rounds. My other matchups use the same prompt and the same character, but this one doesn't, because I tested it on launch day. I typed "a roblox character walking happily" at 4 seconds in Roblox, and "a person happily walks" at 3 seconds in NoCapMocap. Roblox used its default rig and NoCapMocap used our test character, so read this as a first look.

Round 1: Film a move

Roblox's launch post lists two tools, Prompt to Animation and Motion Rebuilder, and neither one takes a video.

But Studio does have a separate beta for that. Animation Capture takes one person, in one shot, in a clip under 15 seconds.

On NoCapMocap we have Video-to-Motion, which is also in beta. You film a move on your phone, trim up to 20 seconds, and you get a Roblox animation back. And one clip can have up to 8 people, with an animation of each person, which is pretty cool.

I didn't run the same clip through both tools though, so I'm not calling this one yet.

Round 2: Type a move

In Studio, you turn on the beta feature, open the Assistant and type /generate_animation. A little box pops up with your prompt, your rig and a duration. I went for 4 seconds and hit Generate.

It came back super fast, and I have to be clear about this, it looks good. For a first release, that's a really good result.

Now, if I want to be picky about it, I see a couple of things. The hands rotate a lot, way more than devs usually animate them, and the forearm twists when a Roblox arm usually swings like a hinge. You also get parts going through each other, which you really don't need. That's just my opinion, but to me it moves more like a person than a Roblox character.

In NoCapMocap, I typed my prompt, set 3 seconds and hit Generate. Right away, the arms looked more natural on a Roblox character. He wasn't very happy yet, but I got 4 versions from that one prompt, so I just picked my favorite.

Roblox's walk is good, I'm not saying it isn't. But having 4 versions to choose from, with arms that feel right on the character, is why this round goes to NoCapMocap.

Round 3: Into Roblox Studio

This one is easy. Roblox's animation is already in Studio. You can open it in the Clip Editor right away, and the launch post says Save to Roblox uploads it as an animation asset.

With NoCapMocap, I saved it to my Library, clicked Copy for Roblox Studio, and imported it from the clipboard with the free RBXMonkey plugin. It worked, but it's more steps. Our free Motion Lab plugin also works inside Studio, but I didn't use it for this test.

You can't beat already being there.

Round 4: Fix it in the editor

A walk in a game has to loop and it has to stay in place, because your game moves the character, not the animation.

So I asked the Assistant to please loop my walk and keep it in place. It took over half a minute, and then it told me the loop was seamless and the character was walking in place.

So I played it, and he walked right at the camera and snapped back to the start.

Now, to be fair with Roblox, their post says to add "in place" or "loop" to the prompt, and my first prompt had neither. So I tested that too. I did this after I posted the video, so you won't see it there.

I also ran my NoCapMocap prompt in Roblox with those same words, and that one came out clean too.

So yes, the word "loop" does the job. With it, Roblox gives you a walk that stays in place and repeats with no jump. That's a really good result, and I'm happy to say it.

You just have to know that word before you generate. When I asked the Assistant to fix my finished walk it didn't work, so the fix was a brand new walk from a new prompt. Roblox also has Edit in Assistant and the Clip Editor, but I didn't test those here.

In NoCapMocap, my walk was also moving forward, and he was even drifting to the right. But I liked that walk, so I kept it. I opened it in the Animator and clicked Find a loop, which picks the part of the walk that repeats best. Not in love with it? Click Try another loop. You can see how seamless it is, so you're not guessing, and then you click Bake loop.

Turn on Moving floor to see how it looks in your game. He stays in place and the floor moves under him, so he just walks, with no snapping back.

Then the fun part. I went to Personality and tried Cartoon. The chest was bouncing too much, so I turned off Chest stretch, and then I used Fine tune to add a little delay to the head and the arms. Now that's a happy walk, he's really feeling it.

It's not perfect though. In Studio the feet slide a little, but that's pretty normal because he's walking too fast, and you can fix it easily in the Animator.

This is the part NoCapMocap was built for.

Round 5: What it costs

Roblox says they're not charging at this time. During the beta you can start up to 4 generations a minute, and they say those limits can change.

NoCapMocap uses credits. My 3-second walk cost 3 credits and gave me 4 versions. A new account starts with 0 credits, and the Animator is free. You can see the plans and credit packs on the pricing page.

Free is free.

Your move

Type a move or film one, and then judge the result on your own character.

Want the exact steps? Go read how to make a walk for your game. You can also see every matchup.