Is Motion Capture Animation?

Computer generated imagery is something I would normally classify as animation because you're creating a design and movement out of something that would not otherwise be capable of accomplishing such things. However can you really call it animation when the design and movements of a person or creature are specifically modeled after a real person's movements?

Motion capture is when the computer generated image mimics the movements and expressions of a real person in order to create a more realistic effect. However, it could be argued that doing this removes the whole point of animation in the first place. Animation separates itself from live action by not having its characters and objects act completely realistically.

So if this is how we tell the difference between what is real and what is not, then I would say that motion capture falls somewhere in between the two. Not one hundred percent real or animated, but a combination of both.