A study of how Chinese ink painting features can be applied to 3D scenes and models in real-time rendering

Past research findings addressed mature techniques for non-photorealistic rendering. However, research findings indicate that there is little information dealing with efficient methods to simulate Chinese ink painting features in rendering 3D scenes. Considering that Chinese ink painting has achieved many worldwide awards, the potential to effectively and automatically develop 3D animations and games in this style indicates a need for the development of appropriate technology for the future market. The goal of this research is about rendering 3D meshes in a Chinese ink painting style which is both appealing and realistic. Specifically, how can the output image appear similar to a hand-drawn Chinese ink painting. And how efficient does the rendering pipeline have to be to result in a real-time scene. For this study the researcher designed two rendering pipelines for static objects and moving objects in the final scene. The entire rendering process includes interior shading, silhouette extracting, textures integrating, and background rendering. Methodology involved the use of silhouette detection, multiple rendering passes, Gaussian blur for anti-aliasing, smooth step functions, and noise textures for simulating ink textures. Based on the output of each rendering pipeline, rendering process of the scene with best looking of Chinese ink painting style is illustrated in detail. The speed of the rendering pipeline proposed by this research was tested. The framerate of the final scenes created with this pipeline was higher than 30fps, a level considered to be real-time. One can conclude that the main objective of the research study was met even though other methods for generating Chinese ink painting rendering are available and should be explored

The Interdisciplinary Research of Virtual Recovery and Simulation of Heritage Buildings. Take Lingzhao Xuan in the Palace Museum as an Example

Due to natural disasters, economic development, tourism development and other factors, many precious heritage buildings have been in endangered situation. How to protect, research and develop these heritage resources effectively has become very urgent and important. Three-dimensional (3D) digital technology plays a more and more important role in protecting and using cultural heritage. The article will take the synthetic study on the mode of virtual construction, recovery, simulation and exhibition of Lingzhao Xuan (a heritage building which stopped construction for some reason in the Palace Museum) as an example to explore and summary an effective interdisciplinary cooperation mode. Besides, we broaden and deepen the concept of “virtual recovery”, and add the concept “virtual simulation” by means of virtual design and the new achievements which are created by such mode for the first time. This research is aimed to provide reference for the standard application of 3D digital technology and perfect the protection work of heritage buildings

Fluid computational model for mineral and vegetal pigments diffusing in Chinese color-ink painting

In this paper, simulation of artistic vegetable and mineral pigments diffusing effects of Chinese color-ink painting is presented, using a novel physical model according to the Second Fick's diffusing law and Brownian motion theory. Due to the fact that generation of most art effects depends on complicated pigment-water motion simulation such as diffusing and pigment mixing on and under traditional fabric cotton paper (Xuan paper) surface, the proposed model is found effective for simulating the pigment-water motion in art creating process. Implemented on the GPU, the simulation operations in our system can be accomplished in a real-time manner. The effectiveness of the proposed techniques is validated in our developed Digital Painting System, where various art effects can be successfully re-produced including the Initial area-Darkened initial edge-Diffusion area Lightened diffusion edge (IDDL) effect for vegetable pigments, the Initial area-Darkened initial edge-Diffusion area-Darkened diffusion edge (IDDD) effect for mineral pigments, and multistroke superimposing effects and achieves. In addition, quantitative evaluation is also introduced and shows superior performance of the proposed model in comparison with state-of-the-art techniques

The Chinese practice of Yi Jing (意境) and its application to animation

This practice-based research examines the relationship of traditional Chinese ink animation and the philosophical notion of Yi Jing. Traditionally, Yi Jing has been regarded as the aesthetic essence of traditional Chinese art and culture. Within that culture, it is highly regarded that traditional Chinese ink animation is influenced by Chinese ink paintings and the use of Yi Jing, which results in a unique form of animation. Early Chinese animation successfully presented the use of Yi Jing, but many traditional Chinese animators (Tang, 2011) believe that the excessive dependence on traditional techniques and materials has led to its demise. Over the decades, essential knowledge and skills, such as the use of ink work used in Chinese animation, are not being passed down, and digital media are replacing the use of celluloid and other materials. In some respects, one could argue that traditional Chinese animation is becoming redundant. This research has specifically analysed and identified the traditional Chinese philosophical notion of Yi Jing and how it is applied to traditional Chinese animation. It includes the analysis of three aesthetic principles that stem from Yi Jing and interpreted its theories into English that might benefit other scholars. These principles are: ‘Tian Ren He Yi’ 天人合一; ‘Yin-Yan’ 阴 阳 and ‘Chi-Yuen-Sheng-Tun’ 氣韻生動. In order to illustrate these principles being used in Chinese animation, a new painting software called ‘Expresii’ (Chu, 2015) was used. It replaces the need to use traditional ink on celluloid and at the same time speeds up the process. The practical research also explores the traditional Chinese techniques of ‘PoMo’ 泼墨 and ‘Rubbing Ink’ 拓墨. These restoration techniques may not be exactly the same as those which are historically documented (historical documents just recorded the existence of these two techniques, without describing the actual processes). This research also applied these two techniques to the background of ink animation. The purpose is not only to enrich the aesthetic forms of traditional Chinese animation, but also to re-discover and re-develop techniques so that they may be disseminated to future generations

Chinese Papermaking: A Multicultural and Environmental Education Strategy for Pre-K Teachers

Many scholars see the urgency of implementing multicultural education (ME) and environmental education (EE) in the primary level (Abdullah, 2009; Bower, 1998; Cohen & Horm-Wingerd, 1993; Trubowitz, 1995). The scholars also share how hands-on and art approaches fit well in both Multicultural Education and Environmental Education fields (Adams & Chisholm, 1999; Bower, 1998; Damm, 2006; Seltzer-Kelly, Westwood, & Peña-Guzman, 2010). Chinese papermaking, an interactive and hands-on exercise in the creation of handmade paper, can be a means of integrating concepts of multiculturalism and sustainability into a young child‘s education. To address this issue, this study aimed at (a) introducing multicultural education, sustainability, and Chinese papermaking; (b) creating a new model MATCH to synthesize multicultural education and environmental education; (c) showing how papermaking is a culturally enriching activity; and, (d) demonstrating child-centered papermaking activities

A Process to Create Dynamic Landscape Paintings Using Barycentric Shading with Control Paintings

In this work, we present a process that uses a Barycentric shading method to create dynamic landscape paintings that change based on the time of day. Our process allows for the creation of dynamic paintings for any time of the day using simply a limited number of control paintings. To create a proof of concept, we have used landscape paintings of Edgar Payne, one of the leading landscape painters of the American West. His specific style of painting that blends Impressionism with the style of other painters of the AmericanWest is particularly appropriate for the demonstration of the power of our Barycentric shading method

An investigation into the elements of a successful methodology for influencing contemporary interior design environment of tourist class globally-branded hotels based in China

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the possibility of achieving global hotel design diversification through the utilization of traditional cultural characteristics. The focus of this study is global hotel design in local countries of China. The research investigates using glocalisation design (which means the localization plus the globalization) in hotels, to challenge the global hotels’ design style that the same in many different countries and cities. This research addresses the relationship between local cultural element styles and the design of global branding hotel style efficacy within hotel in local countries of China. Relevant literature on the nature of global hotel design style was reviewed. Three stages of primary research (a critical review, observations and interviews) were also conducted in this study. The critical review examined the use of traditional local cultural elements in contemporary hotels. The observation studies identified the relationship between visitor behaviors and local cultural information within a range of global hotels. However, due to the fact that international tourists have different backgrounds and cultural knowledge, the international guests are not necessarily able to understand traditional local cultural information. In response to primary research findings, a novel design guideline will be created, this guideline is based on traditional design method and links between locations' culture and global hotel design style. Initial user testing indicated that the guideline was appropriate and did significantly improve global hotel design style. Hence, developing a common cultural symbol is becoming main research direction in this study which links with proportion, visual and local symbolism. The interviews further elicited interior design staff views and were used to test the hotel design guideline. A theoretical design reference model was developed. Initially based on the Le Corbusier design model, the model consists of three phases: analysis, design and assessment. A hotel design guideline was built and tested through user experience testing and expert interviews. Evaluation of this showed that the design guideline blending with global cultural points and local elements. The global cultural points can easy be accept and understand by foreign guest, meanwhile add some local cultural characteristic that can help guest understand local cultural information. The hotel design guideline that has been developed encourages the related global hotel design style, further shows the local cultural elements and ultimately improving global hotel design style

An Investigation of Holographic Technologies Applied to Contemporary Art Practice A new approach to temporal aesthetics

The works of contemporary art using audio, 35mm slide, video, film and computer- based technologies are commonly referred to as time-based media, since they have duration as a dimension. By looking at artworks which are classified in this category, it appears that temporal visual perceptual interpretations are mainly created through the use of the illusion of movement, which is primarily constituted by sequential images. In art holography, the light-based characteristic qualities of this medium compose a kinetic and interactive visual syntax, which are not seen in other imaging technologies, stating its unique creative possibilities. Thus, this study intends to employ holography as an art medium to explore its temporal properties in order to establish a new approach to time-based media art practice. To review the practice and artworks created for this study, the author recognises that the characteristic qualities of a medium is key for the development of its own aesthetic culture. Moreover, the author also identifies that the combination of both the slips form of a hologram and a portable lighting device would be fundamental elements of the suggested new approach. This approach integrates the holographic image replaying process and the Chinese bamboo slips structure to create a scroll form of an artwork presentation, which suggests a viewer to observe with an unrolling activity, section by section. The role of light in this approach is essential as it not only reconstructs the image, but also acts as an intangible guide to indicate the viewing direction, which forms a directional linear temporal expression. This study combines the suggested approach with classical Chinese poetry to create a series of experimental artworks, demonstrating that the literal and figurative meaning of the poem could possibly be elevated through the manipulation of the light source and the scroll from of the image presentation, as the former creates the holographic kinetic expression and the latter reinforces the poetic linearity. This approach could be interpreted as a time-based holographic manifestation, as it unfolds the art to the viewer over time. Furthermore, in terms of the characteristic qualities of holography, the visual expressive techniques and aesthetic features created for this study indicate that such works cannot be recreated without the use of holography. This study reveals that the irreplaceable aesthetic qualities of holography, suggesting that it could expand and diversify the creative potential of time-based media art; and the discussion of this category would not be comprehensive unless taking this medium into consideration. This study establishes a creative possibility of holography and expects the finding to lead to a greater appreciation for future time-based media art practice, thus enriching the temporal artistic expressions. Moreover, as it is practice-based, the process of the research is primarily expressed through a series of holographic artworks, and combined with written format of discussion, which is presented in this thesis. For comprehensive understanding, reading the thesis in conjunction with viewing the artworks in person is suggested, as the photographic reproduction of the holographic images in this thesis is only for illustration purpose