Open Rigging Through XML: Character Setup Utilizing Metadata and Node Based Editing

Modular rigging systems exist to automate many of the labor intensive tasks associated with setting up character motion and control systems for 3D animation production. In this paper, a modular rigging system is described that encodes rig definitions in extensible markup language (XML). This method provides for version control along with the construct of a metadata node network facilitating easy propagation of changes to existing rigs. A node based interface is also provided for easily authoring rig definition files. The interface presented to the user is sufficiently simple that a user with minimal knowledge of rigging can construct a variety of complex rigs. By providing a node-based interface and rig definition format that utilizes version control, this method makes available capabilities that are currently not present in other open rigging systems

Gender equality in Turkish higher education

The moulds of masculinity and femininity determined by society are not only determinants of the way in which individuals behave in society, but also determinants of the production and distribution of the resources. The steady development of societies can be achieved when men and women have the equal power with equal opportunities and resources to shape their own lives and to contribute to their families, societies and countries. The internationally recognized indicators of aforesaid gender mainstreaming are the areas of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment. In Turkey, even though the legal basis of equality of women and men in these areas have been strengthened through legislative regulations enforced, the need to overcome the obstacles women face when participating to social life as complete and equal individuals and taking all precautions for this is still ongoing. In this study, gender equality in the Turkish higher education system was examined. For this purpose, the schooling rates in higher education, employment rates and participation rates in decision making mechanisms in management of women were examined in the light of gender equality indicators. In this study, which was conducted by document reviewing among qualitative research methods, official websites and documents of international organizations and Turkish official institutions were examined in order to access reliable documents related to Turkish Higher Education and gender equality variables. The survey concluded that while the schooling rates in the Turkish higher education and employment rates of women are high, the proportion of female academicians decreased as the academic degrees increased and that the horizontal disintegration patterns between the scientific areas are more visible on the basis of sub-branches. Furthermore, it has been found out that women are not adequately represented in decision-making mechanisms, even though they provide the necessary conditions. © 2018, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved

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

Belize’s Northern Region; Its Economic Performance in the post-independence period

Belize got its Independence when the region was going through an economic crisis with debt burden and traditional export prices reduction. The northern region, once the most important economically, faced major challenges which prompted the introduction of fiscal incentive programs to alleviate the growing unemployment and decreasing economic activity. As an international border, it also faced, during the eighties and nineties, the effects of the Mexican peso devaluation. However, Mexico also constituted its mayor market for the establishment of the Commercial Free Zone. The northern region economy has only partially recovered from the major structural changes that Belize has gone through in its post independence period.Regional development; Belize

Artist-Centered Technical Direction and Tool Development

This paper details the design and development process for two technical projects, both of which were developed for use in Autodesk Maya to enhance the workflow processes of 3D character animation. The first project is focused on advanced character rigging using mathematical concepts and Maya nodes, while the second project is focused on plugin development in python 2.7, making full use of the PySide2 library which binds to the Qt5 user-interface framework

Artist-Oriented Surfacing Workflow

Surfacing is the art of creating materials for digital objects, and it is an incredible technical and artistic challenge. Creating materials and textures for 3D meshes involves managing potentially hundreds of image files, moving data between multiple software packages, and building shaders that will work consistently through a digital production hierarchy. All while attempting to create a piece of art that will tell a story of what an object is, how it was made, and where it has been. Balancing these technical and artistic components is an extraordinary challenge, and it is easy for an artist to get overwhelmed or distracted by the technical demands of surfacing at the cost of the quality of their art. The topic of this thesis is a suite of tools designed to allow artists to intuitively manage these technical demands by streamlining the most time-consuming aspects of surfacing into condensed one-click operations