Sketching-out virtual humans: A smart interface for human modelling and animation

In this paper, we present a fast and intuitive interface for sketching out 3D virtual humans and animation. The user draws stick figure key frames first and chooses one for “fleshing-out” with freehand body contours. The system automatically constructs a plausible 3D skin surface from the rendered figure, and maps it onto the posed stick figures to produce the 3D character animation. A “creative model-based method” is developed, which performs a human perception process to generate 3D human bodies of various body sizes, shapes and fat distributions. In this approach, an anatomical 3D generic model has been created with three distinct layers: skeleton, fat tissue, and skin. It can be transformed sequentially through rigid morphing, fatness morphing, and surface fitting to match the original 2D sketch. An auto-beautification function is also offered to regularise the 3D asymmetrical bodies from users’ imperfect figure sketches. Our current system delivers character animation in various forms, including articulated figure animation, 3D mesh model animation, 2D contour figure animation, and even 2D NPR animation with personalised drawing styles. The system has been formally tested by various users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual humans and animate them within minutes

Real Time Animation of Virtual Humans: A Trade-off Between Naturalness and Control

Virtual humans are employed in many interactive applications using 3D virtual environments, including (serious) games. The motion of such virtual humans should look realistic (or ‘natural’) and allow interaction with the surroundings and other (virtual) humans. Current animation techniques differ in the trade-off they offer between motion naturalness and the control that can be exerted over the motion. We show mechanisms to parametrize, combine (on different body parts) and concatenate motions generated by different animation techniques. We discuss several aspects of motion naturalness and show how it can be evaluated. We conclude by showing the promise of combinations of different animation paradigms to enhance both naturalness and control

A Portrayal of Biomechanics in Avian Flight

The art of avian flight is incredibly complex and sophisticated. It is one of the most energy-intensive modes of animal locomotion, and requires specific anatomical and physiological adaptations. I believe that in order to truly comprehend the beauty and complexity of avian flight, it is necessary to clearly visualize the anatomical adaptations found in birds. To aid in the visualization process, I set out to produce a series of educational animations that focus on the biomechanical requirements for flight. These requirements are numerous and complex, often making the flight process difficult to visualize and understand. The artwork and animations that I have created for this thesis are intended to visually portray the major aspects that are involved in avian flight. The majority of artwork created for this project is comprised of 3D models created and animated Autodesk Maya, including a complete pigeon skeleton, the musculature involved in flight, and the anatomy of the avian respiratory system. These 3D models present the viewer with a completely unique view of avian anatomy that provides a relatively complete overview of the various aspects involved in avian flight. The final movie is composed of three animations that focus on the following subject matter: general adaptations to the avian skeleton, the specialization of the avian wing, and the importance of the avian respiratory system

Realistic rendering of a multi-layered human body model

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this thesis study, a framework is proposed and implemented for the realistic rendering of a multi-layered human body model while it is moving. The proposed human body model is composed of three layers: a skeleton layer, a muscle layer, and a skin layer. The skeleton layer, represented by a set of joints and bones, controls the animation of the human body model using inverse kinematics. Muscles are represented by action lines, which are defined by a set of control points. The action line expresses the force produced by a muscle on the bones and on the skin mesh. The skin layer is modeled in a 3D modeler and deformed during animation by binding the skin layer to both the skeleton layer and the muscle layer. The skin is deformed by a two-step algorithm according to the current state of the skeleton and muscle layers. In the first step, the skin is deformed by a variant of the skinning algorithm, which deforms the skin based on the motion of the skeleton. In the second step, the skin is deformed by the underlying muscular layer. Visual results produced by the implementation is also presented. Performance experiments show that it is possible to obtain real-time frame rates for a moderately complex human model containing approximately 33,000 triangles on the skin layerYeşil, Mehmet ŞahinM.S

Rigging Realistic Skin Deformation with Muscle Systems

Realistic skin deformation is one of the major criteria for creating believable, dig- itally enhanced characters. Muscle simulation is one of the more popular techniques used in filmmaking. It helps bring a sense of realism to the character by adding subtle, secondary motion to the skin. Small features like these make the character appear more lifelike. This thesis focuses on the generation of a character rig and implementation of a digital muscle system for a tiger. The rig is built and animated in Maya and the Maya Muscle tool was used to create the muscle system. The muscle deformations are compared to the standard smooth skinning method in a walk and run animation