Abstract: Graphics artists commonly employ physically-based simulation for the generation of effects such as smoke, explosions, and similar phenomena. The task of finding the correct parameters for a desired result, however, is difficult and time-consuming as current tools provide little to no guidance. In this paper, we present a new approach for the visual exploration of such parameter spaces. Given a three-dimensional scene description, we utilize sampling and spatio-temporal clustering techniques to generate a concise overview of the achievable variations and their temporal evolution. Our visualization system then allows the user to explore the simulation space in a goal-oriented manner. Animation sequences with a set of desired characteristics can be composed using a novel search-by-example approach and interactive direct volume rendering is employed to provide instant visual feedback.

Abstract: Crowd simulation has been an important research field due to its diverse range of applications that include film production, military simulation, and urban planning. A challenging problem is to provide simple yet effective control over captured and simulated crowds to synthesize intended group motions. We present a new method that blends existing crowd data to generate a new crowd animation. The new animation can include an arbitrary number of agents, extends for an arbitrary duration, and yields a natural-looking mixture of the input crowd data. The main benefit of this approach is to create new spatio-temporal crowd behavior in an intuitive and predictable manner. It is accomplished by introducing a morphable crowd model that allows us to encode the formations and individual trajectories in crowd data. Then, its original spatio-temporal behavior can be reconstructed and interpolated at an arbitrary scale using our morphable model.

Abstract: Computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) animation is an ideal media to accurately visualize crime or accident scenes to the viewers and in the courtrooms. Based upon factual data, forensic animations can reproduce the scene and demonstrate the activity at various points in time. The use of computer animation techniques to reconstruct crime scenes is beginning to replace the traditional illustrations, photographs, and verbal descriptions, and is becoming popular in today’s forensics. This article integrates work in the areas of 3D graphics, computer vision, motion tracking, natural language processing, and forensic computing, to investigate the state-of-the-art in forensic visualization. It identifies and reviews areas where new applications of 3D digital technologies and artificial intelligence could be used to enhance particular phases of forensic visualization to create 3D models and animations automatically and quickly. Having discussed the relationships between major crime types and level-of-detail in corresponding forensic animations, we recognized that high level-of-detail animation involving human characters, which is appropriate for many major crime types but has had limited use in courtrooms, could be useful for crime investigation.

Abstract: Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation discusses the latest technology developments in digital design, film, games, medicine, sports, and security engineering. Motion capture records a live-motion event and translates it into a digital context. It is the technology that converts a live performance into a digital performance. In contrast, performance animation is the actual performance that brings life to the character, even without using technology. If motion capture is the collection of data that represents motion, performance animation is the character that a performer represents. The book offers extensive information about motion capture. It includes state-of-the-art technology, methodology, and developments in the current motion-capture industry. In particular, the different ways to capture motions are discussed, including using cameras or electromagnetic fields in tracking a group of sensors. This book will be useful for students taking a course about digital filming, as well as for anyone who is interested in this topic. * Completely revised to include almost 40% new content with emphasis on RF and Facial Motion Capture Systems* Companion site with source code, motion capture data translator, and example files help you write conversion and motion data manipulation programs* Describes all the mathematical principles associated with motion capture and 3D character mechanics* Helps you budget by explaining the costs associated with individualized motion capture projects

Abstract: Virtual humans are employed in many interactive applications using 3D virtual environments, including (serious) games. The motion of such virtual humans should look realistic (or ‘natural’) and allow interaction with the surroundings and other (virtual) humans. Current animation techniques differ in the trade-off they offer between motion naturalness and the control that can be exerted over the motion. We show mechanisms to parametrize, combine (on different body parts) and concatenate motions generated by different animation techniques. We discuss several aspects of motion naturalness and show how it can be evaluated. We conclude by showing the promise of combinations of different animation paradigms to enhance both naturalness and control.

Abstract: Introduction Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of static images that creates the illusion of movement. This optical illusion is often called perception of motion, persistence of vision, illusion of motion, or short-range apparent motion (Anderson & Anderson, 1993). The phenomenon occurs when the eye is exposed to rapidly changing still images, with each image being changed slightly to mimic real motion. While the viewer's brain processes each of these slightly changed images, the images appear to the person to become motions that are fluid and consistent. For short-range apparent motion to occur, modern theatrical films and animations run at 24 frames per second. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Animation has a long and varied history beginning with Paleolithic cave art in which ancient humans drew paintings of animals with multiple sets of legs in dynamic positions that sought to convey animal movement (Thomas, 1958). Around 1510, Leonardo da Vinci was among the first to study body movement and other anatomical studies through the use of similar detailed drawings illustrating muscle extension and contraction. William George Horner constructed the first zoetrope in 1834, which was among the first devices to create an image of a moving picture (Freeman, 2005). The persistence of vision phenomena is easily understood by using a zoetrope. Figure 1 depicts an illustration of a zoetrope and its operation. Almost 50 years later, John Barns Linnet patented the flip book, which used a set of sequential pictures to create the illusion of motion in which people could use their hands to flip through the different images. Since the early 1900s, animation has gained acceptance in the television and film industries. Animation techniques, such as celluloid and stop-motion, were among the first animation techniques incorporated into motion pictures. In stop-motion animation, physical objects are used instead of people, and objects are photographed, moved slightly, and then photographed again. This process is repeated throughout the entire scene to create an animation sequence with photographs instead of drawings (Johnston & Thomas, 1981). One of the first examples of stop-motion animation was used as a special effect in the 1933 film KingKong. Stop-motion is also the animation technique used in clay animations, better known as "claymations." Although stop-motion animation is still used today, traditional animation or celluloid (cel) animation was the process used for most animated films in the twentieth century. In cel animation, individual characters are hand drawn and then copied onto transparent plastic-type sheets made of celluloid or cellulose actetate called cels (Johnston & Thomas, 1981). Once the images are copied to the cels, the images are painted to further define the character, and the completed cels are photographed onto motion picture film against painted backgrounds. This animation technique gave rise to some of the most prominent animated characters in the twentieth century including Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio, Donald Duck, Mighty Mouse, and countless others. The 1990s and early 2000s have seen the advent of computer graphic imagery (CGI), resulting in a new animation style and radical changes in techniques. The use of CGI has created opportunities for animation enthusiasts to produce their own animations without the need for the highly specialized equipment once required of traditional animation. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional computer animations have greatly impacted the animation industry. The flexibility and ease of use of the different animation software packages allow users of all experience levels to design and generate animations. Although computer-assisted animation had been used years before, when it was released in 1995, Toy Story was the first completely computer-generated movie. Since that time, animation studios such as Pixar, DreamWorks, Paramount, and many others have created famous characters like Shrek, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, Sulley from Monsters, INC, and Manfred, Sid, and Diego from Ice Age, and many more (Lenburg, 2008). …

Abstract: We introduce a real-time system that converts images, video, or 3D animation sequences to artistic renderings in various painterly styles. The algorithm, which is entirely executed on the GPU, can efficiently process 512 resolution frames containing 60,000 individual strokes at over 30 fps. In order to exploit the parallel nature of GPUs, our algorithm determines the placement of strokes entirely from local pixel neighborhood information. The strokes are rendered as point sprites with textures. Temporal coherence is achieved by treating the brush strokes as particles and moving them based on optical flow. Our system renders high quality results while allowing the user interactive control over many stylistic parameters such as stroke size, texture and density.

Abstract: The ACMSIGGRAPH/Eurographics Symposium on Computer Animation (SCA) is the leading meeting devoted exclusively to computer animation, making it a premier forum for innovations in the software and technology in the field. The symposium attracts high quality research papers and provides an opportunity for researchers to meet, share ideas and discuss emerging directions in computer animation. SCA 2010 was held in the heart of Madrid, Spain. This year's proceedings contain 24 papers selected from 56 submissions. Each submission was reviewed by 4 members of the internatonal program committee. The exceptional quality of the submitted papers made the final selection difficult, and the decisions involved sometimes lengthy online discussions among the committee members. Similar to previous years, the final program includes papers on a variety of topics, including fluids, deformable objects, contact modeling, animation editing, character motion capture and control, or crowd simulation. Other than the main papers program, the symposium continues to highlight promising work in progress as well. The SCA program included a posters and demo session which was held in a special reception. New this year, the SCA program also included an animation festival.

Abstract: This paper presents a digital storytelling approach that generates automatic animations for time-varying data visualization. Our approach simulates the composition and transition of storytelling techniques and synthesizes animations to describe various event features. Specifically, we analyze information related to a given event and abstract it as an event graph, which represents data features as nodes and event relationships as links. This graph embeds a tree-like hierarchical structure which encodes data features at different scales. Next, narrative structures are built by exploring starting nodes and suitable search strategies in this graph. Different stages of narrative structures are considered in our automatic rendering parameter decision process to generate animations as digital stories. We integrate this animation generation approach into an interactive exploration process of time-varying data, so that more comprehensive information can be provided in a timely fashion. We demonstrate with a storm surge application that our approach allows semantic visualization of time-varying data and easy animation generation for users without special knowledge about the underlying visualization techniques.

Abstract: Interactive visualization is the key to insightful exploration. Animation can effectively convey a complex process or structure. Deriving a sequence of desired keyframes is a painstaking process entailing much trial and error. To help alleviate this problem, we developed AniViz-a tool for making visualization animations of time-varying, multivariate volume data. AniViz is an animation tool following two principles. First, it's desirable to directly turn the results of data exploration and visualization into animation content. Second, users can create a complex animation sequence by combining several simple effects. Such effects, and operators to combine them, are fine-tuned via an intuitive user interface.

Abstract: Animation devices and a method that may output text-based data as an animation, are provided. The device may be a terminal, such as a mobile phone, a computer, and the like. The animation device may extract one or more emotions corresponding to a result obtained by analyzing text-based data. The emotion may be based on user relationship information managed by a user of the device. The device may select an action corresponding to the emotion from a reference database, and combine the text-based data with the emotion and action to generate an animation script. The device may generate a graphic in which a character is moved based on the action information, the emotion information, and the text-based data.

Abstract: Normal.dotm 0 0 1 70 401 USC Institute for Creative Technologies 3 1 492 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false Over the past decade, we have been engaged in an extensive research effort to build virtual humans and applications that use them. Building a virtual human might be considered the quintessential AI problem, because it brings together many of the key features, such as autonomy, natural communication, sophisticated reasoning and behavior, that distinguish AI systems. This paper describes major virtual human systems we have built and important lessons we have learned along the way.

Abstract: Methods and/or systems for modeling 3-dimensional objects (for example, human faces). In certain example embodiments, methods and/or systems usable for computer animation or static manipulation or modification of modeled images (e.g., faces), image processing, or for facial (or other object) recognition methods and/or systems.

Abstract: Motion provides a rich modality for communicating emotion and creating affect, and developing techniques for analyzing, manipulating and enhancing animations in video and computer graphics is an active research area. However, we have little empirical evidence of how particular attributes of motion elicit particular impressions. In this paper we describe a study of how perceptual attributes of abstract motion contribute to affective interpretation. Our results show that even small simple motions can reliably evoke certain impressions given particular motion attributes. These results contribute to our understanding of computational aesthetics and have implications for the design of media experiences, visualization, interactive art and immersive environments. They also provide insight into what properties of motion might prove most evocative in video and animation textures.

Abstract: This paper explores a 3-D computer artist’s approach to the creation of three-dimensional computer-generated imagery (CGI) derived from clinical scan data Interpretation of scientific imagery, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is restricted to the eye of the trained medical practitioner in a clinical or scientific context In the research work described here, MRI data are visualized and interpreted by a 3-D computer artist using the tools of the digital animator to navigate image complexity and widen interaction In this process, the artefact moves across disciplines; it is no longer tethered to its diagnostic origins It becomes an object that has visual attributes such as light, texture and composition, and a visual aesthetic of its own The introduction of these visual attributes provides a platform for improved accessibility by a lay audience The paper argues that this more artisan approach to clinical data visualization has a potential real-world application as a communicative tool for clinicians and patients during consultation

Abstract: We present a real-time online animation and lip syncing solution based on personal motion sensing for use in entertainment and theme park applications. Our solution streams real-time motion capture based animation, video and voice data over the Internet using UDP. Motion capture data is streamed from the eMove mocap suit over the Internet into a client application, which provides a lip synced 3D animated character or puppet. Applications include online digital puppeteering and games where the character is animated in real time.

Abstract: skeletal animation model is widely used in character animation. But bounded actions lead to the complexity of making animation data and lower reuse. BVH file, as a universal human feature animation file formats, is popular because of its wide source and making-easy. This paper presented a method by using BVH file as the animation data, to drive the skeletal animation. Based on the analysis of BVH file structure, this paper establishes data structure to parse the BVH file, and also designs a recursive parsing algorithm. At last, we implement the diversification of skeletal animation model of mesh by accessing BVH motion data to drive the skeletal animation The experimental results show that our method is accuracy and efficient.

Abstract: We describe an animation creation system called PASCAL that supports sketch-based modeling and physics augmented locomotion simultaneously. The system uses sketches and reconfigurable space canvases as basic modeling primitives and uses physics to improve the expressiveness and efficiency of several animation techniques to obtain controllable and plausible locomotion animation. The usability evaluation of the system was conducted both with professional and novice animators. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. We describe an animation creation system called PASCAL that supports sketch-based modeling and physics augmented locomotion simultaneously. The system uses sketches and reconfigurable space canvases as basic modeling primitives and uses physics to improve the expressiveness and efficiency of several animation techniques to obtain controllable and plausible locomotion animation.

Abstract: Systems and methods consistent with the innovations herein relate to communication using a virtual humanoid animated during call processing. According to one exemplary implementation, the animation may be performed using a system of recognition of spoken vowels for animation of the lips, which may also be associated with the recognition of DTMF tones for animation of head movements and facial features. The innovations herein may be generally implemented in portable devices such as PDAs, cell phones and Smart Phones that have access to mobile telephony.

Abstract: The animation industry, like many information-technology-enabled services sectors, has been of interest to many developing countries interested in developing services outsourcing industries. We analyze the case of the Philippines' animation industry. This paper investigates the outsourcing process in animation and the nature of capabilities within that, with the goal of contributing to a more general understanding of services outsourcing. We examine the industry's history, interview data with industry participants, and secondary data. We find that strong labor force skills have been central to capabilities rather than organizational abilities. Outsourcing of production takes place only so far as the work is codifiable, i.e., instructions and interface documents, or that tacit interactions between providers and their clients can facilitate the transfer of the work. This makes it extremely difficult for the industry to move into higher value work such as the conceptualization stage of product development. A major downturn in the past and technological automation shows that the industry has not been sustainable in the face of external influences, but stronger policies and company strategies that support investments in upgrading capabilities and workforce skills could ameliorate some of these effects. A strong foreign presence has also been found to support the development of the industry.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for creating animation from a web text are provided. The apparatus includes a script formatter for generating a domain format script from the web text using a domain format that corresponds to a type of the web text, an adaptation engine for generating animation contents using the generated domain format script, and a graphics engine reproducing the generated animation contents in the form of an animation.

Abstract: Synthetic corpora enable the creation of computer-generated animations depicting sign language and are the complement of corpora containing videotaped exemplars. Any design for a synthetic corpus needs to accommodate linguistic processes as well as support the generation of believable, acceptable synthesized utterances. This paper explores one possibility for representing linguistic and extralinguistic processes that involve the face and reports on the outcomes of a user test evaluating the clarity of utterances synthesized

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for representing an animated object. In a three-dimensional drawing program used to generate and animate objects, the model behavior of objects is calculated. For this purpose, sequences of individual objects are output at defined times and subsequently the sequence of the individual objects is jointed into an animation sequence. Surface changes of the object are simulated by way of additional texture animation and output. The animation sequence and the texture animation are then joined in a vector-based page description language, such as the 3D PDF program, and played at the same time. Based on the available sequence of the individual objects, a user can interactively modify the object animated in this way while playing back the animation sequence and the texture animation and change the viewing angle for the animated object. The animation sequence or the texture animation can likewise be configured as an infinite loop and thereby give the human user a dynamic view of the animated object.

Abstract: This paper describes how heterogeneous data sources captured in the SignCom project may be used for the analysis and synthesis of French Sign Language (LSF) utterances. The captured data combine video data and multimodal motion capture (mocap) data, including body and hand movements as well as facial expressions. These data are pre-processed, synchronized, and enriched by text annotations of signed language elicitation sessions. The addition of mocap data to traditional data structures provides additional phonetic data to linguists who desire to better understand the various parts of signs (handshape, movement, orientation, etc.) to very exacting levels, as well as their interactions and relative timings. We show how the phonologies of hand configurations and articulator movements may be studied using signal processing and statistical analysis tools to highlight regularities or temporal schemata between the different modalities. Finally, mocap data allows us to replay signs using a computer animation engine, specifically editing and rearranging movements and configurations in order to create novel utterances.

Abstract: This paper presents an animation system that generates an animation from natural language texts such as movie scripts or stories. It also proposes a framework for a motion database that stores numerous motion clips for various characters. We have developed semantic analysis methods to extract information for motion search and scheduling from script-like input texts. Given an input text, the system searches for an appropriate motion clip in the database for each verb in the input text. Temporal constraints between verbs are also extracted from the input text and are used to schedule the motion clips found. In addition, when necessary, certain automatic motions such as locomotion, taking an instrument, changing posture, and cooperative motions are searched for in the database. An animation is then generated using an external motion synthesis system. With our system, users can make use of existing motion clips. Moreover, because it takes natural language text as input, even novice users can use our system.

Abstract: Lines drawn over or in place of shaded 3D models can often provide greater comprehensibility and stylistic freedom than shading alone. A substantial challenge for making stylized line drawings from 3D models is the visibility computation. Current algorithms for computing line visibility in models of moderate complexity are either too slow for interactive rendering, or too brittle for coherent animation. We introduce two methods that exploit graphics hardware to provide fast and robust line visibility. First, we present a simple shader that performs a visibility test for high-quality, simple lines drawn with the conventional implementation. Next, we offer a full optimized pipeline that supports line visibility and a broad range of stylization options.

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of computer animation on the academic achievement of Nigerian senior secondary school students in biology The moderating effects of mental ability and gender were also investigated The pretest-posttest, control group, quasi-experimental design with a 2x2x2 factorial matrix was adopted for the study One hundred and eighty-nine senior secondary school Year II biology students from two randomly selected Federal Government Colleges in two states in Southwestern Nigeria were the participants Findings show that there is a significant main effect of treatment on students’ achievement in biology The computer animation was effective in improving students’ achievement, therefore, computer animation is recommended as a means of teaching biology to students in Nigerian secondary schools

Abstract: The design and animation of digital 3D models is an essential task for many applications in science, engineering, education, medicine and arts. In many instances only an approximate representation is required and a simple and intuitive modelling and animation process, suitable for untrained users, is more important than realism and extensive features. Sketch-based modelling has been shown to be a suitable interface because the underlying pen-and-paper metaphor is intuitive and effective. In this paper we present LifeSketch, a framework for sketched-based modelling and animation. Three-dimensional models are created with a variation of the popular "Teddy" algorithm. The models are analysed and skeletons with joints are extracted fully automatically. The surface mesh is bound to the curved skeletons using skinning techniques and the resulting model can be animated using skeletal animation methods. The results of our evaluation and user study suggest that modelling and animation tasks are considerable more efficient than with traditional tools. The learning curve is very flat and a half page document was sufficient to familiarise users with the tools functionality. Users were satisfied with the automatically extracted joints, but some users struggled selecting the appropriate rotation axes and angles for animating the resulting 3D objects. A more intuitive, preferable automatic or sketch-based approach for animations is needed. Overall users were satisfied with the modelling capabilities of the tool, found most of its functionality natural and intuitive, and they enjoyed using it.