26,337 research outputs found
A procedural reflection on animation audio
Get PDFProcedural audio has gained the reputation of a valuable creative and functional resource within music and especially games territories during recent years, while its deeper exploitation has been rather limited and inconsistent. My research represents a plunge into the waves of the concept, in an attempt to explore and expand the rumors surrounding it. Starting from the premise that it could complement animation audio in a relevant way, I have structured my work into a refective demonstration, which addresses both animated flm and procedural audio felds at the same time. Tus, the four chapters constitute a guided observation, beginning from the root - procedural audio, what where and how it is - and ending with a demonstrative approach for my hypothesis, based on conclusions and fndings revealed throughout the research. Te in-depth study of sound efects resulted in fnding signifcant connections between animation and procedural generation of sound, while the close examination of game animation and animated flms, in parallel, drove several points in support for the proposition of a rather diferent sound design workfow, based on procedural audio generation. Hence, instead of trying to come up with new foley props, why not designing virtual ones
Inflexibility of experts – Reality or myth? Quantifying the Einstellung effect in chess masters
Get PDFHow does the knowledge of experts affect their behaviour in situations that require unusual
methods of dealing? One possibility, loosely originating in research on creativity and skill
acquisition, is that an increase in expertise can lead to inflexibility of thought due to
automation of procedures. Yet another possibility, based on expertise research, is that
experts’ knowledge leads to flexibility of thought. We tested these two possibilities in a series of experiments using the Einstellung (set) effect paradigm. Chess players tried to solve
problems that had both a familiar but non-optimal solution and a better but less familiar one.
The more familiar solution induced the Einstellung (set) effect even in experts, preventing them from finding the optimal solution. The presence of the non-optimal solution reduced experts' problem solving ability was reduced to about that of players three standard deviations lower in skill level by the presence of the non-optimal solution. Inflexibility of thought induced by prior knowledge (i.e., the blocking effect of the familiar solution) was shown by experts but the more expert they were, the less prone they were to the effect. Inflexibility of experts is both reality and myth. But the greater the level of expertise, the more of a myth it becomes
The Organizational Implications of Creativity: The US Film Industry in Mid-XXth Century
Get PDFWe develop a basic framework to understand the organization of highly creative activities. Management faces a fundamental tradeoff in organizing such activities. On the one hand, since creativity cannot be achieved by command and control or by monetary incentives, internal/contractual production of creative products is plagued by hazards arising from their fundamental characteristics: extremely high input, output and market uncertainty, and the inherent informational advantages of creative talent. Procuring highly creative products in the market place, though, exposes the distributor to a fundamental risk: independently produced creative goods are generic distribution-wise. Thus, in procuring creative products in the marketplace, distributors face the unavoidable winner's curse risk. Since this risk is, to a large extent, independent of the creative nature of the product, the higher the creative content, the higher the relative hazards associated with internal or contractual production. Thus, internal/contractual production of creative goods will tend to be less prevalent the higher the creative content associated with its production. We apply this insight to the evolution of the U.S. film industry in the mid-XXth century. We exploit two simultaneous natural experiments -- the diffusion of TV and the Paramount antitrust decision forcing the separation of exhibitors from distributors and prohibiting the use of block-booking. Both events increased the demand for creative content in movies. We develop empirical implications which we test by analyzing in detail the decision by distributors to produce films internally or to procure then in the market place, in the face of an increase in the demand for creative content.
Animating Unpredictable Effects
Get PDFUncanny computer-generated animations of splashing waves, billowing smoke clouds, and characters’ flowing hair have become a ubiquitous presence on screens of all types since the 1980s. This Open Access book charts the history of these digital moving images and the software tools that make them. Unpredictable Visual Effects uncovers an institutional and industrial history that saw media industries conducting more private R&D as Cold War federal funding began to wane in the late 1980s. In this context studios and media software companies took concepts used for studying and managing unpredictable systems like markets, weather, and fluids and turned them into tools for animation. Unpredictable Visual Effects theorizes how these animations are part of a paradigm of control evident across society, while at the same time exploring what they can teach us about the relationship between making and knowing
Dynamic Cloth for the Digital Character
Get PDFCloth simulation tends to have a lingering reputation for being notoriously complex and therefore casually avoided. Very few artists are enthusiastic about a cloth simulator\u27s primary use, and perhaps even fewer would consider cloth simulation for anything other than clothing. This thesis presents typical practices of cloth simulation based on the artistic perspective of a Cloth Technical Director (TD) who worked on the animated feature film and applied case study, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009). Through proof of concept using a generic character, simple props, and commercial software, key techniques are demonstrated to replicate the workflow of clothing the digital character as performed by artists at Sony Pictures Imageworks. The result is a set of methods aided to un-complicate the workflow of clothing the digital character
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