Stylised procedural animation

This thesis develops a stylised procedural paradigm for computer graphics animation. Cartoon effects animations - stylised representations of natural phenomena - have presented a long-standing, difficult challenge to computer animators. We propose a framework for achieving the intricacy of effects motion with minimal animator intervention.Our approach is to construct cartoon effects by simulating the hand-drawing process through synthetic, computational means. We create a system which emulates the stylish appearance, movements of cartoon effects in both 2D and 3D environments. Our computational models achieve this by capturing the essential characteristics common to all cartoon effects: structure modelling, dynamic controlling and stylised rendering.To validate our framework, we have implemented a cartoon effects system for a range of effects including water effects, fire, smoke, rain and snow. Each effect model has its own static structure such as how the different parts are related temporarily. The flexibility of our approach is suggested most evidently by the high-level controls on shape, colour, timing and rendering on the effects. Like their hand-drawn counterparts, they move consistently while retaining the hand-crafted look.Since the movements of cartoon effects are animated procedurally, their detailed motions need not be keyframed. This thesis therefore demonstrates a powerful approach to computer animation in which the animator plays the role of a high level controller, rather than the more conventional hand-drawing slave. Our work not only achieves cartoon effects animation of un-precedented complexity, but it also provides an interesting experimental domain for related research disciplines toward more creative and expressive image synthesis in animation

The use of computer-aided design techniques in dynamic graphical simulation

Imperial Users onl

SketchZooms: Deep Multi-view Descriptors for Matching Line Drawings

Finding point-wise correspondences between images is a long-standing problem in image analysis. This becomes particularly challenging for sketch images, due to the varying nature of human drawing style, projection distortions and viewport changes. In this paper, we present the first attempt to obtain a learned descriptor for dense registration in line drawings. Based on recent deep learning techniques for corresponding photographs, we designed descriptors to locally match image pairs where the object of interest belongs to the same semantic category, yet still differ drastically in shape, form, and projection angle. To this end, we have specifically crafted a data set of synthetic sketches using non-photorealistic rendering over a large collection of part-based registered 3D models. After training, a neural network generates descriptors for every pixel in an input image, which are shown togeneralize correctly in unseen sketches hand-drawn by humans. We evaluate our method against a baseline of correspondences data collected from expert designers, in addition to comparisons with other descriptors that have been proven effective in sketches. Code, data and further resources will be publicly released by the time of publication.Fil: Navarro, Jose Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco". Facultad de Ingeniería - Sede Puerto Madryn. Departamento de Informática; ArgentinaFil: Orlando, José Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Grupo de Plasmas Densos Magnetizados. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Grupo de Plasmas Densos Magnetizados; ArgentinaFil: Delrieux, Claudio Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras; ArgentinaFil: Iarussi, Emmanuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Buenos Aires; Argentin

Vector Graphics Animation with Time-Varying Topology

International audienceWe introduce the Vector Animation Complex (VAC), a novel data structure for vector graphics animation, designed to support themodeling of time-continuous topological events. This allows features of a connected drawing to merge, split, appear, or disappear atdesired times via keyframes that introduce the desired topological change. Because the resulting space-time complex directly capturesthe time-varying topological structure, features are readily edited in both space and time in a way that reflects the intent of the drawing.A formal description of the data structure is provided, along with topological and geometric invariants. We illustrate our modelingparadigm with experimental results on various examples

Animation in relational information visualization

In order to be able to navigate in the world without memorizing each detail, the human brain builds a mental map of its environment. The mental map is a distorted and abstracted representation of the real environment. Unimportant areas tend to be collapsed to a single entity while important landmarks are overemphasized. When working with visualizations of data we build a mental map of the data which is closely linked to the particular visualization. If the visualization changes significantly due to changes in the data or the way it is presented we loose the mental map and have to rebuild it from scratch. The purpose of the research underlying this thesis was to investigate and devise methods to create smooth transformations between visualizations of relational data which help users in maintaining or quickly updating their mental map

Animation in relational information visualization

In order to be able to navigate in the world without memorizing each detail, the human brain builds a mental map of its environment. The mental map is a distorted and abstracted representation of the real environment. Unimportant areas tend to be collapsed to a single entity while important landmarks are overemphasized. When working with visualizations of data we build a mental map of the data which is closely linked to the particular visualization. If the visualization changes significantly due to changes in the data or the way it is presented we loose the mental map and have to rebuild it from scratch. The purpose of the research underlying this thesis was to investigate and devise methods to create smooth transformations between visualizations of relational data which help users in maintaining or quickly updating their mental map

Essaying bodies, bodying essays: write in the middle is a creative-critical research practice

This PhD blends three practices that are not ordinarily put together: creative writing, acupuncture, and process-oriented philosophy (e.g. Spinoza, William James, Whitehead). An important aim of this practice-led research is to re-present notions of body through the writing of a series of essays that demonstrate how creative and critical components can move together within one body, and also within a collection of text-bodies. The PhD explores the relation between `lyric' and `essay' and how this relationship can generate a more-than quality that has the potential to affectively move the [dissertation's] body beyond the sum of its parts. The practice of experimenting with the essay's capacity to carry the force of thought forming can, by extension, make creative practice research a site for the production of knowledge. The project demonstrates how a method of making becomes the methodology. That is, the process of thinking and making, rhizomatically, from the Deleuzian middle, not only activates the practice(s), but also becomes the outcome. Or, as Whitehead says, "Knowledge is drawn up with the immediacy of its own importance, as fresh as fish.&quot

Caricature generator

Thesis (M.S.V.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1982.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 111-116.The human face is a highly significant visual display which we are able to remember and recognize easily despite the fact that we are exposed to thousands of faces which may be metrically very similar. caricature is a graphical coding of facial features which seeks to be more like the face than the face itself: selected information is exaggerated, noise is reduced, and the processes involved in recognition are exploited. After studying the methods of caricaturists, examining perceptual phenomena regarding individuating features, and surveying automatic and man-machine systems which represent and manipulate the face, some heuristics for caricature are defined . An algorithm is implemented to amplify the nuance of a human face in a computer- generated caricature. This is done by comparing the face to a norm and then distorting the face even further away from that norm . Issues of style, context and animation are discussed. The applications of the caricature generator in the areas of teleconferencing, games, and interactive graphic interfaces are explored.by Susan Elise Brennan.M.S.V.S

Design-led approach for transferring the embodied skills of puppet stop-motion animators into haptic workspaces

This design-led research investigates the transfer of puppet stop-motion animators’ embodied skills from the physical workspace into a digital environment. The approach is to create a digital workspace that evokes an embodied animating experience and allows puppet stop-motion animators to work in it unencumbered. The insights and outcomes of the practical explorations are discussed from the perspective of embodied cognition. The digital workspace employs haptic technology, an advanced multi-modal interface technology capable of invoking the tactile, kinaesthetic and proprioceptive senses. The overall aim of this research is to contribute, to the Human-Computer Interaction design community, design considerations and strategies for developing haptic workspaces that can seamlessly transfer and accommodate the rich embodied knowledge of non-digital skillful practitioners. Following an experiential design methodology, a series of design studies in collaboration with puppet stop-motion animators led to the development of a haptic workspace prototype for producing stop-motion animations. Each design study practically explored the transfer of different aspects of the puppet stop-motion animation practice into the haptic workspace. Beginning with an initial haptic workspace prototype, its design was refined in each study with the addition of new functionalities and new interaction metaphors which were always developed with the aim to create and maintain an embodied animating experience. The method of multiple streams of reflection was proposed as an important design tool for identifying, understanding and articulating design insights, empirical results and contextual considerations throughout the design studies. This thesis documents the development of the haptic workspace prototype and discusses the collected design insights and empirical results from the perspective of embodied cognition. In addition, it describes and reviews the design methodology that was adopted as an appropriate approach towards the design of the haptic workspace prototype

Enhancing computer-human interaction with animated facial expressions

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1991.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-93).by Brent Cabot James Britton.M.S