Translating 2D German expressionist woodcut artwork into 3D

This thesis involves the study of four woodcuts from the twentieth century German Expressionist movement. The study of these woodcuts inspires and informs the translation of these artworks from two-dimensional works on paper to three-dimensional computer generated models. The goal of this thesis is to produce work that is derivative of the chosen woodcuts rather than create replicas of these artworks. The work undertaken utilizes Maya, a 3D software, and Mental Ray, a production quality rendering software. The final results are presented through stills, image sequences, and prints. The methods used to attain the goal of this thesis can provide a framework for artists who would like to achieve a similar woodcut look in their digital three-dimensional work

A study of how Chinese ink painting features can be applied to 3D scenes and models in real-time rendering

Past research findings addressed mature techniques for non-photorealistic rendering. However, research findings indicate that there is little information dealing with efficient methods to simulate Chinese ink painting features in rendering 3D scenes. Considering that Chinese ink painting has achieved many worldwide awards, the potential to effectively and automatically develop 3D animations and games in this style indicates a need for the development of appropriate technology for the future market. The goal of this research is about rendering 3D meshes in a Chinese ink painting style which is both appealing and realistic. Specifically, how can the output image appear similar to a hand-drawn Chinese ink painting. And how efficient does the rendering pipeline have to be to result in a real-time scene. For this study the researcher designed two rendering pipelines for static objects and moving objects in the final scene. The entire rendering process includes interior shading, silhouette extracting, textures integrating, and background rendering. Methodology involved the use of silhouette detection, multiple rendering passes, Gaussian blur for anti-aliasing, smooth step functions, and noise textures for simulating ink textures. Based on the output of each rendering pipeline, rendering process of the scene with best looking of Chinese ink painting style is illustrated in detail. The speed of the rendering pipeline proposed by this research was tested. The framerate of the final scenes created with this pipeline was higher than 30fps, a level considered to be real-time. One can conclude that the main objective of the research study was met even though other methods for generating Chinese ink painting rendering are available and should be explored

Web-Based Dynamic Paintings: Real-Time Interactive Artworks in Web Using a 2.5D Pipeline

In this work, we present a 2.5D pipeline approach to creating dynamic paintings that can be re-rendered interactively in real-time on the Web. Using this 2.5D approach, any existing simple painting such as portraits can be turned into an interactive dynamic web-based artwork. Our interactive system provides most global illumination effects such as reflection, refraction, shadow, and subsurface scattering by processing images. In our system, the scene is defined only by a set of images. These include (1) a shape image, (2) two diffuse images, (3) a background image, (4) one foreground image, and (5) one transparency image. A shape image is either a normal map or a height. Two diffuse images are usually hand-painted. They are interpolated using illumination information. The transparency image is used to define the transparent and reflective regions that can reflect the foreground image and refract the background image, both of which are also hand-drawn. This framework, which mainly uses hand-drawn images, provides qualitatively convincing painterly global illumination effects such as reflection and refraction. We also include parameters to provide additional artistic controls. For instance, using our piecewise linear Fresnel function, it is possible to control the ratio of reflection and refraction. This system is the result of a long line of research contributions. On the other hand, the art-directed Fresnel function that provides physically plausible compositing of reflection and refraction with artistic control is completely new. Art-directed warping equations that provide qualitatively convincing refraction and reflection effects with linearized artistic control are also new. You can try our web-based system for interactive dynamic real-time paintings at http://mock3d.tamu.edu/.Comment: 22 page

Music in motion: the synthesis of album design and motion graphics for downloadable music

In an age when downloading media is increasing at an exponential rate, static album art has become obsolete. Current digital album artwork does not take advantage of the available technology. Nor does it provide the user with an integrated experience. Previous attempts at linking music to moving imagery have resulted in uninspiring visualizer plugins. These types of media player add-ons do not produce emotionally or narratively relevant imagery for the user. Furthermore, the limited selection of downloadable media that includes a digital booklet, separates the booklet contents from the album cover. More importantly, these disconnected elements do not compensate for their lack of tangible assets. The objective of this thesis project was to create a hybrid of album design and motion graphics for downloadable music. By creating a prototype, this project demonstrates the concept that a library-style package of interchangeable moving images linked with audio media, can enhance the narrative and emotional elements of the user experienc

Artist-Configurable Node-Based Approach to Generate Procedural Brush Stroke Textures for Digital Painting

Digital painting is the field of software designed to provide artists a virtual medium to emulate the experience and results of physical drawing. Several hardware and software components come together to form a whole workflow, ranging from the physical input devices, to the stroking process, to the texture content authorship. This thesis explores an artist-friendly approach to synthesize the textures that give life to digital brush strokes. Most painting software provides a limited library of predefined brush textures. They aim to offer styles approximating physical media like paintbrushes, pencils, markers, and airbrushes. Often these are static bitmap textures that are stamped onto the canvas at repeating intervals, causing discernible repetition artifacts. When more variety is desired, artists often download commercially available brush packs that expand the library of styles. However, included and supplemental brush packs are not easily artist-customizable. In recent years, a separate field of digital art tooling has seen the popular growth of node-based procedural content generation. 3D models, shaders, and materials are commonly authored by artists using functions that can be linked together in a visual programming environment called a node graph. In this work, the feasibility is tested of using a node graph to procedurally generate highly customizable brush textures. The system synthesizes textures that adapt to parameters like pen pressure and stretch along the full length of each brush stroke instead of stamping repetitively. The result is a more flexible and artist-friendly way to define, share, and tweak brush textures used in digital painting

Procedural Generation and Rendering of Ink Bamboo Painting

This thesis describes an algorithm that generates various ink bamboo paintings. First, a completely procedural model is used to generate the geometric shape of bamboos. The model uses a grammar-like approach that recursively generates new parts of the bamboo in a randomized manner. The random parameters are bounded by rules that simulate the natural form of bamboo. The structure of the bamboo is represented line segments with directions. Various ink stroke sprites of stalk, branch, or leaf shapes are mapped to line segments, using reverse mapping and bilinear sampling to eliminate aliasing effects. The sprites are mapped in different degrees of transparency to simulate the effect of various shades of ink produced by changes in forces when using an ink brush. Finally, a seal is applied to sign the work and enhance the visual effect. The algorithm is implemented in Python 3 and can be run on any computer with the imageio library installed. The output of the program is saved in a PNG image file, which can be used for various types of illustrations. This model is able to produce unique images during every run, and would significantly reduce human labor in painting stylistically similar artworks of ink bamboo paintings

Using Local Information for Compositing CG Into Traditional Art

I describe a procedure for compositing digital graphics into traditional artwork based on local characteristics of the art. This is based on understanding that variations in pictorial characteristics such as perspective, lighting and color, or style naturally occur in many examples of traditional artwork. The goal of this study is to create composites that are visually believable while showing that an object composited into one section of an image requires characteristics designed speci cally for that section. In order to show this, I examine four di erent case studies. Each case is a work of traditional art which I composite di erent computer graphic elements into. These CG elements range from simple primitive objects to complex character models