Turkey: A report on computer graphics education

[No abstract available

Turkey: State of the art in computer graphics - The Turkish scene

[No abstract available

Special issue: Advances in animation, rendering and visualization

[No abstract available

A context-specific interface model for architectural design in the virtual environment

There is an ongoing debate on the success of architectural software in meeting the designers' wishes and in being familiar to the way designers design. One dominant belief is that as architectural software introduces a work environment closer to that of the paper-based techniques, the efficiency of the use of such software in the profession will increase. We argue that it is not the question of making the digital environment familiar to the paper-based, but designing interfaces through which the users will be able to customize the digital environment according to their wishes. This study introduces a context-specific transformation model to convert a state in the 'user+need space' to a digital aid in the virtual design space. This model incorporates a customization scale menu (CSM) to act with the menu options of the architectural software. In this model, the menu options are customized through the selections made on the CSM by the user. These selections will determine the required level of interaction between the software and the user, thus customizing the digital environment according to the user's needs

Animation of deformable models

Although kinematic modelling methods are adequate for describing the shapes of static objects, they are insufficient when it comes to producing realistic animation. Physically based modelling remedies this problem by including forces, masses, strain energies and other physical quantities. The paper describes a system for the animation of deformable models. The system uses physically based modelling methods and approaches from elasticity theory for animating the models. Two different formulations, namely the primal formulation and the hybrid formulation, are implemented so that the user can select the one most suitable for an animation depending on the rigidity of the models. Collision of the models with impenetrable obstacles and constraining of the model points to fixed positions in space are implemented for use in the animations. © 1994

Fast ray tracing 3D models

In many computer graphics applications such as CAD, realistic displays have very important and positive effects on the users of the system. There are several techniques to generate realistic images with the computer. Ray tracing gives the most effective results by simulating the interaction of light with its environment. However, it may require an excessive amount of time to generate an image. In this article, we present a survey of methods developed to speed up the ray tracing algorithm and introduce a fast ray tracer to process a 3D scene that is defined by interactive 3D modeling software. © 1991

A simple animation package

This paper discusses a simple animation package that animates sketches drawn by the user through a simple set of operations. The purpose of the animation package is to demonstrate various computer graphics principles to those who are not experienced in the subject. Furthermore, it is an education tool for both art and undergraduate students. An expanded set of utilities allows for journaling for playback as well as a single level undo. This provides for an easy modification or correction of the errors that can be made during any session. The system is written in C language on a Unix workstation environment. User input is handled through a menu driven system and the benefits of an event driven window environment are fully made use of [6]. This obviously simplifies the usage of the package by the merits of such an environment

Hair motion simulation

Hair motion simulation in computer graphics has been an attraction for many researchers. The application we have developed has been inspired by the related previous work as well as our own efforts in finding useful algorithms to handle this problem. The work we present uses a set of representations, including hair strands, clusters and strips, that are derived from the same underlying base skeleton, where this skeleton is animated by physical, i.e. spring, forces. © Springer-Verlag 2004

Dynamic simulation in virtual environments as an evaluation tool for architectural design

Prediction and evaluation of future performance of buildings are essential aspects of an efficient design process. This paper discusses dynamic simulation as a prediction and evaluation tool for architectural design. It is proposed that since buildings are living entities, whole life cycles of buildings should be dynamically simulated in a highly visualized virtual environment to evaluate the future performance of prospective designs. The media of architectural design (paper-based media: drawings and physical scale models; and digital media) are compared in terms of their capacity to support dynamic simulations. Some promising application areas are mentioned and some proposals are presented for the future use of dynamic simulations in virtual environments