32 research outputs found
Analyzing and Developing Aspects of the Artist Pipeline for Clemson University Art
Major digital production facilities such as Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixar Animation studio, Walt Disney Animation Studio, and Epic Games use a production system called a pipeline. The term “pipeline” refers to the structure and process of data flow between the various phases of production from story to final edit. This paper examines current production pipeline practices in the Digital Production Arts program at Clemson University and proposes updates and modifications to the workflow. Additionally, this thesis suggests tools that are intended to improve the pipeline with artist-friendly interfaces and customizable integration between software and remote-production capabilities
Animated Film Production Process: The Creation of Lighting for Gear Up
The following thesis details the creation of a shot for an animated production titled Gear Up. The process for creating this shot was patterned after professional animated productions and included the following steps: pre-visualization, story boarding, modeling and asset creation, UV layouts, texturing and surfacing, scene assembly and camera layout, character and prop rigging, character animation, lighting, rendering, and compositing. The motivation for this project was to create a product that artistically has a darker aesthetic than many previous Clemson DPA animations, but still enjoyed high quality visuals. One of the goals was to create a large-scale scene centered in a post apocalyptic robot war. This project also served as the first opportunity for incorporating the rendering engine called Arnold into the Clemson DPA animation pipeline and artist workflow. In order to accomplish the goals set above, a series of technical and artistic problems needed to be solved. With the use of 3D preproduction prototyping, modular and procedural asset gen-eration, new content generation tools, and optimized workflows, the team was able to tackle all production challenges and create high quality content efficiently and with minimal stress to the artists. This thesis also delves into the elaborate process of scene lighting; detailing the artistic decisions and motivations that lead to the final product. The lighting is created by examining references from film and real life, lighting designs, and advanced lighting techniques. The results of the project was a 400 frame animation of a post apocalyptic city block featuring a detailed robot, armed for war, standing guard by his tank amidst piles of debris, barbed wire, and rubble. The shot was rendered entirely in Arnold apart from the FX elements, which was rendered using Houdini Mantra. It also represents a successful collaboration between several volunteer artists with various skills and time commitments
Analysis of renderer systems in autodesk 3D Max
У роботі розглядаються можливості систем візуалізації щодо отримання фотореалістичного зображення сцени у 3Ds Max. Робиться наголос на вбудованих системах рендерінгу та простоті і зрозумілості роботи з системою для студентів.This article considers review the possibilities of rendering systems for obtaining a photorealistic image of a scene in 3Ds Max. Emphasis is placed on build‐in rendering systems and the ease and clarity of working with the system for students
Memory Conserving Rendering Method for Hair/fur Systems in Computer Graphics
In a very CPU/memory intensive field of photo-realistic computer graphics, various techniques are employed in the attempt to conserve resources. One group of such optimization methods is dedicated to optimizing a representation of hair systems, grass systems or any group of objects that can be looked at as a generalized hair system. A classical method of computing hair systems is to represent each hair as a spline in memory and then compute intersections with each of them. This method gives good results, but usually consumes large amounts of memory. Another problem is - visually doubling the density of hair quadruples memory consumption. Even when gigabytes of memory are available, a realistic hair scene, may overwhelm memory size, which may lead to an application crash or at least, to an I/O bottleneck and to increasing time of rendering. Another method is to compute a hair system procedurally inside of a specified volume. This produces a small memory foot-print, but makes animation difficult because individual hairs within the volume are not controllable. In this work we propose a hybrid approach, where a single hair particle represents a cylindrical volume, in which multiple hair fibers will be computed on-the-fly. This approach will produce a constant memory footprint for that cylindrical volume, regardless of how many individual hairs are computed and it will allow individual hairs to retain the behavior of that volume. As a result, a proposed approach provides a significant reduction in memory footprint while increasing the number of hairs being computed.Computer Scienc
Drawing from motion capture : developing visual languages of animation
The work presented in this thesis aims to explore novel approaches of combining motion capture with drawing and 3D animation. As the art form of animation matures, possibilities of hybrid techniques become more feasible, and crosses between traditional and digital media provide new opportunities for artistic expression. 3D computer animation is used for its keyframing and rendering advancements, that result in complex pipelines where different areas of technical and artistic specialists contribute to the end result. Motion capture is mostly used for realistic animation, more often than not for live-action filmmaking, as a visual effect. Realistic animated films depend on retargeting techniques, designed to preserve actors performances with a high degree of accuracy. In this thesis, we investigate alternative production methods that do not depend on retargeting, and provide animators with greater options for experimentation and expressivity. As motion capture data is a great source for naturalistic movements, we aim to combine it with interactive methods such as digital sculpting and 3D drawing. As drawing is predominately used in preproduction, in both the case of realistic animation and visual effects, we embed it instead to alternative production methods, where artists can benefit from improvisation and expression, while emerging in a three-dimensional environment. Additionally, we apply these alternative methods for the visual development of animation, where they become relevant for the creation of specific visual languages that can be used to articulate concrete ideas for storytelling in animation
Production of 3D animated short films in Unity 5 : can game engines replace the traditional methods?
In 3D animation cinema, the elements of a scene are created by artists using computer
software. To generate the final result, there must be a conversion (rendering) of the threedimensional
models to two-dimensional images (frames) that will later be joined together and
edited into a video format.
3D animation films have traditionally been rendered using pre-rendering engines, a time
consuming and expensive process that usually requires the use of multiple computers rendering
at the same time (render farms), renders which may need to be repeated if the results are not
ideal.
Videogames, on the other hand, are reactive applications where the player may have
different possible courses of action that will generate distinct results. In those cases, it is
necessary that the engine waits for the player’s input before it calculates the following frames.
To allow for fast calculations in real time, 3D game developers use game engines that
incorporate real time rendering methods which can generate images much faster than the prerendering
engines mentioned above.
To be able to generate a large number of frames per second, there must be an
optimization of the entire scene, in order to reduce the number of necessary calculations. That
optimization is created by using techniques, practices and tools that are not commonly used by
animation cinema professionals.
Due to that optimization necessity, videogames always had a lower graphic quality than
that of animated films, where each frame is rendered separately and takes as long as necessary
to obtain the required result.
Physically Based Rendering (PBR) technology is one of the methods incorporated by
some rendering engines for the generation of physically accurate results, using calculations that
follow the laws of physics as it happens in the real world and creating more realistic images
which require less effort, not only from the artist but also from the equipment. The incorporation
of PBR in game engines allowed for high graphic quality generated results in real time,
gradually closing the visual quality gap between videogames and animated cinema.
Recently, game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine started to be used – mostly by
the companies that created the engine, as a proof of concept – for rendering 3D animated films.
This could lead to changes in the animation cinema production methods by the studios that,
until now, have used traditional pre-rendering methods.No cinema de animação 3D, os elementos de uma cena são criados por artistas através
da utilização de programas de computador. Para gerar o resultado final, é necessário fazer-se
uma conversão (render) dos modelos tri-dimensionais para imagens bi-dimensionais (frames),
que posteriormente serão unidas e editadas para um formato de vídeo.
Tradicionalmente, o rendering de filmes de animação 3D é feita através de motores de
pre-rendering, um processo demorado e dispendioso que geralmente requer a utilização de
múltiplos computadores a trabalhar em simultâneo (render farms), e que poderá ter que ser
repetido caso os resultados obtidos não sejam ideais.
Os videojogos, por outro lado, são aplicações reactivas, onde o jogador pode ter várias
sequências de acções, que poderão gerar resultados distintos. Nesses casos, é necessário o motor
de jogo esperar pela acção do jogador antes de calcular as imagens seguintes. Para possibilitar
cálculos rápidos em tempo-real, os criadores de jogos 3D usam motores de jogo que incorporam
métodos de renderização em tempo-real que conseguem gerar imagens muito mais rápido do
que os motores de pre-rendering mencionados acima.
Para conseguir gerar um grande número de imagens por segundo, é necessário existir
uma optimização de toda a cena, para reduzir o número de cálculos necessários. Essa
optimização é criada através da utilização de técnicas, práticas e ferramentas que, geralmente,
não são utiliadas por profissionais da área de cinema de animação.
Devido a essa necessidade de optimização, os videojogos sempre tiveram uma
qualidade gráfica inferior à dos filmes de animação, onde o render de cada imagem é gerado
separadamente e pode levar tanto tempo quanto for necessário para obter o resultado desejado.
A tecnologia de Rendering Baseado em Física (Physically Based Rendering – PBR) é
um dos métodos incorporados por alguns motores de rendering para a geração de resultados
físicamente correctos, usando cálculos que seguem as leis da física, tal como acontece no
mundo real e criando imagens mais realistas necessitando de menos esforço, não só da parte do
artista mas também do equipamento. A incorporação de PBR em motores de jogo possibilitou
resultados gerados em tempo-real com grande qualidade gráfica, o que gradualmente vai
aproximando a qualidade visual dos videojogos à do cinema de animação.
Recentemente, motores de jogo como o Unity e o Unreal Engine começaram a ser
utilizados – maioritariamente pelas companhias que criaram o motor de jogo, como prova de
conceito – para renderização de filmes de animação 3D. Este passo poderá levar a mudanças
nos métodos de produção do cinema de animação em estúdios que, até agora, utilizaram
métodos de pré-renderização tradicionais
Enhancing Mesh Deformation Realism: Dynamic Mesostructure Detailing and Procedural Microstructure Synthesis
Propomos uma solução para gerar dados de mapas de relevo dinâmicos para simular deformações em superfícies macias, com foco na pele humana. A solução incorpora a simulação de rugas ao nível mesoestrutural e utiliza texturas procedurais para adicionar detalhes de microestrutura estáticos. Oferece flexibilidade além da pele humana, permitindo a geração de padrões que imitam deformações em outros materiais macios, como couro, durante a animação.
As soluções existentes para simular rugas e pistas de deformação frequentemente dependem de hardware especializado, que é dispendioso e de difícil acesso. Além disso, depender exclusivamente de dados capturados limita a direção artística e dificulta a adaptação a mudanças. Em contraste, a solução proposta permite a síntese dinâmica de texturas que se adaptam às deformações subjacentes da malha de forma fisicamente plausível.
Vários métodos foram explorados para sintetizar rugas diretamente na geometria, mas sofrem de limitações como auto-interseções e maiores requisitos de armazenamento. A intervenção manual de artistas na criação de mapas de rugas e mapas de tensão permite controle, mas pode ser limitada em deformações complexas ou onde maior realismo seja necessário.
O nosso trabalho destaca o potencial dos métodos procedimentais para aprimorar a geração de padrões de deformação dinâmica, incluindo rugas, com maior controle criativo e sem depender de dados capturados. A incorporação de padrões procedimentais estáticos melhora o realismo, e a abordagem pode ser estendida além da pele para outros materiais macios.We propose a solution for generating dynamic heightmap data to simulate deformations for soft surfaces, with a focus on human skin. The solution incorporates mesostructure-level wrinkles and utilizes procedural textures to add static microstructure details. It offers flexibility beyond human skin, enabling the generation of patterns mimicking deformations in other soft materials, such as leater, during animation.
Existing solutions for simulating wrinkles and deformation cues often rely on specialized hardware, which is costly and not easily accessible. Moreover, relying solely on captured data limits artistic direction and hinders adaptability to changes. In contrast, our proposed solution provides dynamic texture synthesis that adapts to underlying mesh deformations.
Various methods have been explored to synthesize wrinkles directly to the geometry, but they suffer from limitations such as self-intersections and increased storage requirements. Manual intervention by artists using wrinkle maps and tension maps provides control but may be limited to the physics-based simulations.
Our research presents the potential of procedural methods to enhance the generation of dynamic deformation patterns, including wrinkles, with greater creative control and without reliance on captured data. Incorporating static procedural patterns improves realism, and the approach can be extended to other soft-materials beyond skin
Cinematic Arts 2017 APR Self-Study & Documents
UNM Cinematic Arts APR self-study report and review team report for Fall 2017, fulfilling requirements of the Higher Learning Commission