Techniques de mise en scène pour le jeu vidéo et l'animation

Eurographics State of the Art Report (STAR).International audienceOver the last forty years, researchers in computer graphics have proposed a large variety of theoretical models and computer implementations of a virtual film director, capable of creating movies from minimal input such as a screenplay or storyboard. The underlying film directing techniques are also in high demand to assist and automate the generation of movies in computer games and animation. The goal of this survey is to characterize the spectrum of applications that require film directing, to present a historical and up-to-date summary of research in algorithmic film directing, and to identify promising avenues and hot topics for future research.Depuis quarante ans, les chercheurs en informatique graphique ont proposé une grande variété de modèles théoriques et d'implémentations de réalisateurs virtuels, capables de créer des films automatiquement à partir de scénarios ou de storyboards. Les techniques de mise en scène sous-jacentes peuvent également être très utiles pour assister et automatiser la création de films dans le jeu vidéo et l'animation. Le but de cet état de l'art est de caractériser le spectre des applications qui peuvent bénéficier des techniques de mise en scène, de donner un compte rendu historique de la recherche en mise en scène algorithmique, et d'identifier les tendances et perspectives du domaine

Automated cinematography for games.

This thesis deals with the issue of automated cinematography for games. In 3D videogames, the system must continuously provide the player with a view of the virtual world and its characters. The difficulty is that contrary to the cinema the actors are unpredictable. In particular the player continuously modifies the virtual environment by moving objects or by interacting with the other non-playable characters. The latter, because of their more and more sophisticated artificial intelligence, can have behaviours that were not predicted by the developers themselves (such as the complex behaviours that emerge from the combination of basic behaviours). Some games have solved the problem by predefining the possible positions of the camera during the game development while some others give control of the camera system to the player, so that he can find by himself the best possible view. I aim however at finding an intermediate solution, where the camera system would automatically generate both engaging and usable views. The camera system should be able to adapt to every situation of the virtual world without user intervention, and should allow the player to interact with his surrounding in the most efficient way. Such a camera system could be of interest for the game industry. Currently, in many games, the camera movements, positions, etc. are set using scripts manually written by the developers. Having a fully automated system could potentially save hours of work. This system could also be used for the 3D virtual worlds or “3D chats” on the Internet. For example, the avatars – the characters played by the users – could be “filmed” in a different way depending on the mood of the users. I aim to develop techniques which can be generalised to these and other areas of application. Existing approaches to automated cinematography will be reviewed – focusing on the constraint-based and idiom-based ones – in order to highlight the strength and limitations of each one. A solution to the problems found will be proposed in the form of a camera system implemented using Adobe Director. It will be based on “rules” derived from existing cinematographic knowledge. One of my aims will also be to show that using generic rules can give results close to the idiom-based approaches with the convenience of being able to adapt to any type of scene

A General Framework for Digital Game-Based Training Systems

This dissertation introduces a general framework for developing digital game-based training systems. The framework addresses all aspects of education. In that sense, it involves both teacher and student as game players. A visual review log supports teacher-student-communication. Based on the general framework, a novel digital game-based training system for crime scene investigation training called OpenCrimeScene has been developed and implemented.Diese Dissertation führt ein allgemeines Architekturmodell für die Entwicklung von computerspielbasierten Trainingssystemen ein. Das Architekturmodell spricht alle Aspekte der Ausbildung an. In diesem Sinne bezieht es Lehrer und Schüler als Spieler ein. Ein grafisches Bewertungsprotokoll unterstützt die Lehrer-Schüler-Kommunikation. Basierend auf dem allgemeinen Architekturmodell wurde ein neues computerspielbasiertes Trainingssystem zur Tatortsicherung entwickelt und implementiert

Presence 2005: the eighth annual international workshop on presence, 21-23 September, 2005 University College London (Conference proceedings)

OVERVIEW (taken from the CALL FOR PAPERS) Academics and practitioners with an interest in the concept of (tele)presence are invited to submit their work for presentation at PRESENCE 2005 at University College London in London, England, September 21-23, 2005. The eighth in a series of highly successful international workshops, PRESENCE 2005 will provide an open discussion forum to share ideas regarding concepts and theories, measurement techniques, technology, and applications related to presence, the psychological state or subjective perception in which a person fails to accurately and completely acknowledge the role of technology in an experience, including the sense of 'being there' experienced by users of advanced media such as virtual reality. The concept of presence in virtual environments has been around for at least 15 years, and the earlier idea of telepresence at least since Minsky's seminal paper in 1980. Recently there has been a burst of funded research activity in this area for the first time with the European FET Presence Research initiative. What do we really know about presence and its determinants? How can presence be successfully delivered with today's technology? This conference invites papers that are based on empirical results from studies of presence and related issues and/or which contribute to the technology for the delivery of presence. Papers that make substantial advances in theoretical understanding of presence are also welcome. The interest is not solely in virtual environments but in mixed reality environments. Submissions will be reviewed more rigorously than in previous conferences. High quality papers are therefore sought which make substantial contributions to the field. Approximately 20 papers will be selected for two successive special issues for the journal Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. PRESENCE 2005 takes place in London and is hosted by University College London. The conference is organized by ISPR, the International Society for Presence Research and is supported by the European Commission's FET Presence Research Initiative through the Presencia and IST OMNIPRES projects and by University College London