Computer-assisted animation creation techniques for hair animation and shade, highlight, and shadow

制度:新 ; 報告番号:甲3062号 ; 学位の種類:博士(工学) ; 授与年月日:2010/2/25 ; 早大学位記番号:新532

The digital age of Japanese anime

En este artículo se muestra la repercusión en la producción de series televisivas de anime de la incorporación al proceso de creación tradicional de las nuevas tecnologías digitales. A través de los análisis de una selección de anime recientes, se mostrará el porqué del éxito de las producciones japonesas, que representan más de la mitad de las series de animación emitidas en todo el mundo.This article shows the impact of the introduction of new digital technologies in the production process of anime series. Through the analysis of a selection of recent anime, we will show why the success of Japanese productions, which represent more than half of the animated series broadcast around the world

Exploring Feng Shui: A Real-Time Learning Experience

Exploring feng shui: The 3D Real-time Experience is an interactive 3D design project that introduces daily feng shui tips to college students, office workers, and anyone who wants to learn how feng shui can enhance their lives. This project uses Web GL technology that runs on any computer with an up-to-date, modern browser. The user flow is a simple four-step process: listen, observe, find, and solve. This is how feng shui masters help people figure out their problems. It is an engaging practice because users become actively involved in the whole problem-solving experience. My goal for this project is to present the principles and rules of feng shui philosophy, as well as its applications in modern interior design and to interpret feng shui through creative interactive experience. I wish that by introducing feng shui to a new western audience, they can benefit from learning feng shui theories and improve their living environment. Thesis URL: http://fengshuirealtime.co

La era digital del anime japonés

En este artículo se muestra la repercusión en la producción de series televisivas de anime de la incorporación al proceso de creación tradicional de las nuevas tecnologías digitales. A través de los análisis de una selección de anime recientes, se mostrará el porqué del éxito de las producciones japonesas, que representan más de la mitad de las series de animación emitidas en todo el mundo

Expressive rendering of animated hair

National audienceHair simulation is one of the crucial elements of a character realism in video games as well as animated movies. It is also one of the most challenging because of its complex nature. A simulation model needs to be able to handle hair fibers or wisp interaction while keeping the desired rendering style. During the past few years intensive work has been done in this field. Most of the authors have tried to render and animate hair as realistically as possible. Impressive results have been obtained and computation times have been reduced. Nevertheless this level of realism is not always desired by the animator. Most animated characters are represented with a hair model only composed of a few hair wisps or clumps in other words the individual hair fibers are not even accounted for. Only little work has been done to animate and render non-photorealistic hair for cel-characters1 . The goal of this work is to design an expressive rendering technique for a realistic animation of hair. This project is a part of an ANR research program for a joint industrial project with two production studios: Neomis Animation and BeeLight, two other INRIA project-teams: Bipop and Evasion and a CNRS lab (Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert de l'Université Pierre et Marie Curie). The aim of this project is to provide hair rendering and animating tools for movie making. According to the discussions we had with artists from Neomis studio, it appears that an animator will expect realism of hair motion combined with an expressive rendering technique that is dedicated to animated movies

Exploring multimedia and interactive technologies

The goal of multimedia design strategies and innovation is to produce meaningful learning environments that relate to and build upon what the learner already knows and what the learner seeks. The multimedia tools used to achieve knowledge transfer should activate recall or prior knowledge and help the learner alter and encode new structures. Traditionally, multimedia has been localized to specific delivery systems and demographics based on the government, industry, or academic concentration. The presenter will explore the introduction of immersive telecommunications technologies, constructivist learning methodologies, and adult learning models to standardize networking and multimedia-based services and products capable of adapting to wired and wireless environments, different devices and conditions on a global scale

Breaking Binaries: Transgressing Sexualities in Japanese Animation

As a visual medium that articulates all genres of fiction, from children’s card games to extreme pornography, Japanese animation, better known simply as ‘anime’, is an art form that has gained international recognition among both academics and passionate devotees. The central purpose of this thesis is to closely examine representations of sexuality in mainstream adult anime – in this context, non-pornographic anime primarily aimed at teenagers and adults – and to interrogate the main themes and concepts which are used to engage in discussions of it. Using specific anime titles as literary texts and thereby analysing the symbolism, characterisation, and key scenes being depicted, this thesis investigates the ways in which sexuality is portrayed, and how this portrayal through animation entails radically distinctive forms of representation and narrative. I also employ the current body of anime criticism to illuminate these anime titles, in conjunction with a contextualisation of these sexual representations within a Japanese cultural context. As an aid to analysis, I utilize the aesthetic philosophy of Robin George Collingwood and the gender theories of Judith Butler, whose arguments on the topics of art as artistic expression and on gender as a performative act respectively allow for both an exploration of the aesthetics of anime, as well as a means of navigating the often distinctively complex representations of sex and gender in anime. Both Collingwood and Butler have been chosen for their utility in opening up the highly aestheticized representations of gender and sexuality in anime – a medium well-known for its artistic sensibilities – combined with formalised and, at times, ritualised extremes. These are to be read as closely as possible in terms of the anime-ic art form itself, rather than in terms of psychoanalytic categories or abstract symbolism. The aim of this thesis is not to interpret anime through one or more specific conceptual lenses, as has been done in the past, but instead to critically examine what Collingwood calls the imaginative space, and to make observations based on Butler’s approach to gender and sexuality gender as it appears when no longer defined by biological or binary fact. This thesis is therefore structured around a breakdown of dualistic thought, with the main sections designed to transcend boundaries of dualism, even – or especially when – this requires the viewer to step back from what is considered as being ‘normal’ or ethically acceptable. In studying a form of popular art that has been written about extensively in terms of its history, aesthetic design, and audience consumption, this thesis explores new territory in that it examines a topic which has not previously been the subject of much academic discussion from the perspective of aesthetics that predates post-modern theory and post-World War II psychoanalysis. From harems and sexbots to portrayals of homosexuality and incest, the primary interest of this thesis is to study how representations of sexuality in anime – no matter how unconventional, fantastic, or disturbing – are brought to life on screen as art

Visual Aesthetics in Digital Games: A Comparative Analysis Between Photorealism and Stylized Graphicsgraphics

This dissertation starts from the assumption that every digital game has some kind of visual display. Based on that, it investigates photorealistic and stylized graphics, two popular visual styles in digital games, in order to comprehend the process of creating a prototype that incorporates those styles, as well as the technological artistic challenges of implementing each style in a solo development scenario, with the goal of assisting in the practice of designing this type of content. A literature review on digital game appearance and the development of both photorealistic and stylized styles was conducted to ground the development of a prototype. The result of the prototype creation is documented, so its findings can lead to the expansion of knowledge that can be used in practice and can inform practitioners and other designers

Cartoon Noir: A Comparative Study of Visual Parody

American film parody can be characterized as a distorted, comical and yet affectionate imitation of a given genre or specific work. Film noir as a genre with its distinct visual styles has been an easy target for such "creative criticism." Mel Brooks, famous for his series of successful parody films, has exhorted that the situation alone must be absurd while the actors must be serious, not funny to make a comedy funnier. He also said that funny is in the writing and not in the performance itself. Film noir through its unconventional visual styles and convoluted story lines engenders feelings of anxiety and paranoia in the audience, providing rich fodder for parody. The animated theatrical series Looney Tunes with its trademark slapstick style is well suited for making serious situations look absurd, affording "creative criticism". In this thesis I first analyze canonical examples to distill the distinct visual characteristics of these two different genres. I then employ the use of parody to bring together a few salient visual elements from each of these genres, thus enabling computer-generated visual parody. Finally, still image examples of such parody are produced by systematically combining visual elements from the two distinct genres, film noir for its expressionistic lighting and elliptical compositional elements, and Looney Tunes for its mischievous mise-en-scene and ingenuous characters