Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation and Video Games


Book Description

Motion capture is a technique for recording a performance and then translating it into mathematical terms. Animating motion is critical for the development of applications such as animation, virtual environments and video games. Character animation is the process by which natural movements are modelled and digitized so that digital character movements appear as natural as possible. There are three approaches to character animation: keyframe animation, motion capture, and simulation.




Capturing Time & Motion


Book Description

"Explore the elements of composition, light, and direction that effectively create the illusion of time and motion in a digital image." The author explains how best to create these illusions and guides you through simple yet effective shooting techniques and post processing strategies.--[back cover].




Computational Science and Its Applications - ICCSA 2003


Book Description

The three-volume set, LNCS 2667, LNCS 2668, and LNCS 2669, constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2003, held in Montreal, Canada, in May 2003.The three volumes present more than 300 papers and span the whole range of computational science from foundational issues in computer science and mathematics to advanced applications in virtually all sciences making use of computational techniques. The proceedings give a unique account of recent results in computational science.




Computer Animation


Book Description

Driven by demand from the entertainment industry for better and more realistic animation, technology continues to evolve and improve. The algorithms and techniques behind this technology are the foundation of this comprehensive book, which is written to teach you the fundamentals of animation programming. In this third edition, the most current techniques are covered along with the theory and high-level computation that have earned the book a reputation as the best technically-oriented animation resource. Key topics such as fluids, hair, and crowd animation have been expanded, and extensive new coverage of clothes and cloth has been added. New material on simulation provides a more diverse look at this important area and more example animations and chapter projects and exercises are included. Additionally, spline coverage has been expanded and new video compression and formats (e.g., iTunes) are covered. - Includes companion site with contemporary animation examples drawn from research and entertainment, sample animations, and example code - Describes the key mathematical and algorithmic foundations of animation that provide you with a deep understanding and control of technique - Expanded and new coverage of key topics including: fluids and clouds, cloth and clothes, hair, and crowd animation - Explains the algorithms used for path following, hierarchical kinematic modelling, rigid body dynamics, flocking behaviour, particle systems, collision detection, and more




Modelling the Physiological Human


Book Description

This book constitutes the proceedings of the Second 3D Physiological Human Workshop, 3DPH 2009, held in Zermatt, Switzerland, in November/December 2009. The 19 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on Segmentation, Anatomical and Physiological Modelling, Simulation Models, Motion Analysis, Medical Visualization and Interaction, as well as Medical Ontology.




MoCap for Artists


Book Description

Make motion capture part of you graphics and effects arsenal with a mastery of the state-of-the-art systems and workflows.




Computer Animation Complete


Book Description

A compilation of key chapters from the top MK computer animation books available today - in the areas of motion capture, facial features, solid spaces, fluids, gases, biology, point-based graphics, and Maya. The chapters provide CG Animators with an excellent sampling of essential techniques that every 3D artist needs to create stunning and versatile images. Animators will be able to master myriad modeling, rendering, and texturing procedures with advice from MK's best and brightest authors. Divided into five parts (Introduction to Computer Animation and Technical Background, Motion Capture Techniques, Animating Substances, Alternate Methods, and Animating with MEL for MAYA), each one focusing on specific substances, tools, topics, and languages, this is a MUST-HAVE book for artists interested in proficiency with the top technology available today! Whether you're a programmer developing new animation functionality or an animator trying to get the most out of your current animation software, Computer Animation Complete: will help you work more efficiently and achieve better results. For programmers, this book provides a solid theoretical orientation and extensive practical instruction information you can put to work in any development or customization project. For animators, it provides crystal-clear guidance on determining which of your concepts can be realized using commercially available products, which demand custom programming, and what development strategies are likely to bring you the greatest success. - Expert instruction from a variety of pace-setting computer graphics researchers. - Provides in-depth coverage of established and emerging animation algorithms. - For readers who lack a strong scientific background, introduces the necessary concepts from mathematics, biology, and physics. - A variety of individual languages and substances are addressed, but addressed separately - enhancing your grasp of the field as a whole while providing you with the ability to identify and implement solutions by category.




The Mocap Book


Book Description

An in-depth guide to the process of digitizing motions from the acquisitions stages all the way to the animation enhancement and file integration phases. Provides step-by-step instructions, practical exercises and illustrated examples of the different steps of the mocap process that include acquisition, tracking, solving, integration, animation and motion mixing. This edition covers a Cortex to Motion Builder to Maya motion capture pipeline.




The Oxford Compendium of Visual Illusions


Book Description

Visual illusions are compelling phenomena that draw attention to the brain's capacity to construct our perceptual world. The Compendium is a collection of over 100 chapters on visual illusions, written by the illusion creators or by vision scientists who have investigated mechanisms underlying the phenomena. --




Transactions on Edutainment IV


Book Description

This journal subline serves as a forum for stimulating and disseminating innovative research ideas, theories, emerging technologies, empirical investigations, state-of-the-art methods, and tools in all different genres of edutainment, such as game-based learning and serious games, interactive storytelling, virtual learning environments, VR-based education, and related fields. It covers aspects from educational and game theories, human-computer interaction, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, and systems design. This volume contains a selection of 12 outstanding contributions from Edutainment 2010, the 5th Int. Conference on E-Learning and Games, held in China in August 2009. The main focus of these papers is on e-learning system and applications, game techniques for learning, and virtual reality techniques for entertainment. In addition, 10 regular papers are included, which focus on virtual reality and game systems for learning and animation and interaction for entertainment.