CS 15-497/15-861
Computer Animation
Spring 2002
TuTh 10:30-12:00
Description
This course introduces techniques for computer animation such as
keyframing, procedural methods, motion capture, and simulation.
The course will also explore current
research topics in computer animation such as dynamic simulation of
flexible and rigid objects, automatically generated control systems,
and evolution of behaviors.
-
Instructor
-
Jessica Hodgins
-
jkh@cs.cmu.edu
-
4228b NSH (inside the Graphics Lab, 4228)
-
(412)268-6795
-
Office Hours: Drop by or send email to schedule an appointment.
-
Teaching Assistants
-
Kiran Bhat
-
kiranb@cs.cmu.edu
-
4228 NSH (Graphics Lab)
-
(412)268-7895
-
Office Hours: Thursday 4:45-5:45 or send email to schedule an appointment.
-
-
-
Alla Safanova
-
alla@cs.cmu.edu
-
4228 NSH (Graphics Lab)
-
(412)268-7895
-
Office Hours: Wednesday 4:45-5:45 or send email to schedule an appointment.
-
-
Announcements:
-
Project Presentation Requirements:
You should come to the final presentations with a powerpoint (or equivalent) presentation
and with animations and/or demos showing your results. We'll meet in WeH7500. We'll need
to do the AV swap between speakers quickly so please either bring a laptop (preferred) or
get your materials onto the computer in that room in advance. We'll collect project
names into a hat and select the order randomly. I expect everyone to be there for the
full time--if you cannot be, please let me know in advance.
It is perfectly acceptable to find useful code on the net for your projects
but you MUST acknowledge your sources both in your presentation and
in your write-up.
The presentations will be 12 minutes long with an additional 3 minutes for each
additional person in the group.
In your presentation you should cover at least the following points:
-
Goal of the project
-
Why the project is interesting and what work have others done in the area.
-
What you have done. What previous work/software are you building on.
-
Demonstration of how well it works.
-
What each person contributed if you were part of a team.
-
What you would do next if you had more time.
Your project write-up should cover the same points and include figures.
You must also turn in your animations either on CD or by including a pointer
to its location on the web or in your afs space. Everything is due on the day
of the presentation. No late days here because of the end of the term.
-
This coming Tuesday we'll have a guest speaker and meet in 7500 Wean:
Wayne Wooten
Animation Scientist
Pixar Animation Studios
Making "Monster's Inc.": A Presentation of Techniques and
Technologies Used to Create Pixar's Animated Films.
Pixar has developed some of the world's most advanced techniques
for generating computer animated feature films, recently receiving
an Oscar for the creation of the Photorealistic Renderman software.
In this talk I plan to discuss the research and development that
occurs at Pixar and the technologies behind the film production
process. My talk will touch on artistic pre-production, the
production pipeline, rendering technologies, the renderfarm, and
post-production issues. Sequences from Pixar's latest film,
"Monster's Inc" will be used as a case study for presenting how the
various pieces of technology come together to create the final
product.
-
This year's SIGGRAPH papers are starting to appear on the web here
-
Grade Distribution for Assignment 1
-
The free version of Maya is finally out. See the pointer
below under free software. [thanks to Roger Braunstein for
pointing out the release]
-
Animation makes it into Nature
[thanks to Andrew Pomerance for the pointer]
-
Imac does the Luxo (from Pixar)
[thanks to Roger Braunstein for the pointer]
This course will teach you about current techniques in computer
animation. By the end of the course you should be able to
-
use the basic animation techniques to
produce motion for an animated sequence
-
read and critically evaluate the current literature in computer
animation
Texts: Required text (should be in the bookstore):
-
Computer Animation
by Rich Parent,
Other Optional Texts (not in the bookstore):
An accurate syllabus for the past and an approximate syllabus for the
future:
Week of
Tue
Thu
January 15
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Hodgins, J. K., O'Brien, J. F., Bodenheimer, R. E.. Computer
Animation. In the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical
and Electronics Engineering, John G. Webster, ed., v. 3, pp. 686-690,
1999
Videos:
-
Hodgins Introduction:
Hopping Robots
On the Run
Atlanta in Motion
-
Keyframing:
Luxo Jr.
Snippet from Toy Story II
-
Motion Capture:
Motion Capture Samples from the Alien Trilogy - Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. (Issue 101: SIGGRAPH 94
Electronic Theater)
-
Simulation:
Geri's Game
Water scene from Antz
-
Group Behaviors:
Wildebeest scene from Lion King
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Parent Chapter 1
-
Lasseter SIGGRAPH Course Notes
-
Thomas and Johnston pp15-44
Videos:
-
Bunny (rendered using radiosity, 1998 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film)
-
Red's Dream
-
Fantasia: Socceror's Apprentice
January 22
Topic:
-
Keyframing
-
smooth interpolation
-
tricks in interpolation
-
arc length re-parametization
Slides: postscript
pdf
Supplemental Reading:
Videos:
-
Monster's Trailers
-
Tin Toy
-
Another snippet from Toy Story
Topic:
-
3D orientation:
-
the trouble with Euler angles
-
quaternions
Slides: postscript
pdf
Supplemental Reading:
Videos:
-
Knick Knack
-
Snippet from A Bug's Life
Assignment 1:
January 29
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
Videos:
-
Endgame, Stanford Computer Science Robotics Laboratory
(Issue 101: SIGGRAPH 94 Electronic Theater)
-
Eurythmy - Amkraut, Girard (Issue 52 SIGGRAPH '89
Computer Graphics Theater and Animation Screening Room Highlights)
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Parent Chapter 6.7
-
The
Process of Motion Capture: Dealing with the Data
-
Using a Motion Capture Service Bureau by Alberto Menache
-
O'Brien, J. F., Bodenheimer, B. E., Brostow, G. J., Hodgins, J. K.,
Automatic
Joint Parameter Estimation from Magnetic Motion Capture Data.
Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2000, Montreal,
Quebec, Canada, May 15-17, pp. 53-60.
-
Many Motion Capture Links
Videos:
-
Party Hardy
-
The Making of Brilliance
February 05
Topic:
-
Field trip to the motion capture lab -- meet in Weh 1326
Topic:
-
Joint with 462. Meet in WeH 7500.
-
Guest Lecture: Takeo Igarashi,
Brown University
Interaction techniques for 3D Graphics -- modeling and animation
-
3D Graphics is getting common in movies and video games,
but most people just watch them instead of creating them.
One of the reason is that current tools are too difficult for novice users
to use.
Our goal is to provide easy-to-use tools for everyone to create
3D Graphics for recreational, educational, and communication purposes.
In the talk, I will intrduce a sketch-based freeform modeling system
(Teddy),
an hint-based interface for sketching 3D scenes (Chateau),
an interface for manipulating clothing,
and a system for designing simple animations quickly.
February 12
Guest Lecturer: Alla Safonova
Topic:
-
Motion Textures (thanks to Schoedl et al. for the first draft of the slides)
Assignment 1 due
Assignment 2 out:
Motion Textures
Supplemental Reading:
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
Videos:
-
Motion Warping, Witkin and Popovic, Siggraph '95
-
Motion Editing with Spacetime Constraints, Gleicher, I3DG '97
-
A Hierarchical Approach to Interactive Motion Editing, Lee and Shin,
Siggraph '99
-
Retargeting, Gleicher, Siggraph '98
-
Physically based motion transformations, SIGGRAPH '99
February 19
Topic:
-
Interpolating motion data
-
transitions in time
-
transitions across styles
Supplemental Reading:
Videos:
-
videos corresponding to the supplemental reading
Guest Lecturer: Kiran Bhat
Topic:
Supplemental Reading
Videos:
-
Particle Dreams Issue 100 (#44)
-
Hunchback of Notre Dame -- confetti
-
Fabricated Rhythm - Gerald Weil Issue 100 (#40)
-
Cooking with Kurt - Kurt Fleischer Issue 36 (#6)
-
Dynamic Simulations of Flexible Objects - David Hauman Issue 36 (#14)
-
February 26
Guest Lecturer: Kiran Bhat
Topic:
Videos:
Software:
March 5
Topic:
-
Class cancelled due to illness. Help session on Assignment 2 instead.
Assignment 2 due--deadline extended until Wednesday midnight
Mid-semester break--no classes
March 19
Topic:
Project Proposal requirements out
Topic:
-
Brainstorming for final projects
March 26
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
Videos
-
Animating Athletics
-
van de Panne tapes
-
Pande
-
Hase
Topic:
Supplemental Reading:
-
Witkin and Kass, SIGGRAPH '88
-
J. Auslander, A. Fukunaga, H. Partovi, J. Christensen, L. Hsu, P. Reiss, A.
Shuman, J. Marks, J.T. Ngo, "Further Experience with Controller-Based
Automatic Motion Synthesis for Articulated Figures,"
ACM Trans. on Graphics, 14(4):311-336, Oct. 1995.
-
J. T. Ngo, J. Marks, "Spacetime Constraints Revisited," Proc. of SIGGRAPH
93, pp. 343-350, Anaheim, CA, Aug. 1993.
-
Composable controllers for physics-based character animation
Petros Faloutsos, Michiel van de Panne, Demetri Terzopoulos, SIGGRAPH 2001.
-
Reusable motion synthesis using state-space controllers
Michiel van de Panne, Eugene Fiume, Zvonko Vranesic, SIGGRAPH 1998.
-
Sensor-actuator networks
Michiel van de Panne, SIGGRAPH 1993.
-
Artificial evolution for computer graphics
Karl Sims, SIGGRAPH 1991.
-
Sims Alife '94
-
Grzeszczuk and Terzopoulos SIGGRAPH '95
-
NeuroAnimator: fast neural network emulation and control of physics-based models
Radek Grzeszczuk, Demetri Terzopoulos, Geoffrey Hinton,
SIGGRAPH 1998.
Videos:
-
Witkin and Kass, SIGGRAPH '88
-
Further
Experience with Controller-Based
Automatic Motion Synthesis for Articulated Figures,
J. Auslander, A. Fukunaga, H. Partovi, J. Christensen, L. Hsu, P. Reiss, A.
Shuman, J. Marks, J.T. Ngo,
ACM Trans. on Graphics, 14(4):311-336, Oct. 1995.
-
Sims Alife '94
-
Neuroanimator, SIGGRAPH '98
-
Faloutsos, SIGGRAPH '01
April 2
Spring Break
Spring Break
April 9
Topic:
-
More Brainstorming on Final Projects
-
Cinematography 0.01
Videos:
-
-
Beat Dedication, Issue 39, Siggraph '88
-
Grinning Evil Death
-
Leonardo's Deluge, Issue 52, Siggraph '89
-
Panspermia, Issue 62, Siggraph '90 [missing]
-
Primordial Dance, Issue 71, Siggraph '91
-
Liquid Selves, Issue 81, Siggraph '92
Assignment 3 due
Topic:
-
Higher-Level Behaviors
-
crowds
-
control of animated characters
Videos:
-
Batman Returns
-
Stanley and Stella: Breaking the Ice
-
Walking Motion, Takeuchi
-
Lion King
-
Mulan
-
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Final Project Proposals due
April 16
Topic:
-
Guest Lecturer: Steve Sullivan, ILM
Topic:
-
Fluids and Gases
-
Hair and Fur and other passive stuff
Videos
-
Leaf Magic - Norton, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
April 23
Topic:
Videos:
-
Reynolds
-
Stanley and Stella
-
Lion King
-
Mulan
-
Antz
-
Hunchback of Notre Dame
-
Funge, Tu, Terzpolous, SIGGRAPH 99
-
Blumberg et al., SIGGRAPH 2002
Topic:
Videos:
-
Waters, Essa, Final Fantasy
-
Leonardo's Deluge - Sims
-
Primordial Dance - Sims
-
Liquid Selves - Sims
April 30
Guest Lecturer: Wayne Wooten, Pixar
Topic:
-
Making "Monster's Inc.": A Presentation of Techniques and
Technologies Used to Create Pixar's Animated Films.
Topic:
-
Help session for final projects
May 9 1:30-8:30
Final exam slot--May 9th 1:30-8:30
Final Project Presentations
Dinner provided, WeH 7500
Collaboration and team projects are encouraged but must be coordinated
through the instructor.
There will be three assignments (2-3 weeks each) one project
(approximately 6 weeks), as well as a midterm after 2/3 of the
semester. The three assignments will be
-
keyframing programming assignment (10%)
-
motion capture programming assignment (15%)
-
simulation programming assignment (15%)
You have 5 late days that you may use for any of the programs during
the quarter but further extensions require an excellent excuse. Grading
will be based on exams (25% midterm), programs (40%), projects (25%),
and class participation (10%).
A few advanced students may elect to do only some of the assignments
and complete a larger project of their own design. Consult with me if
you want to explore this option.
All projects and programs will be turned in as movie files. Extra disk
space will be provided for the class.
-
Simulation:
-
flexible objects -- cube of jello in an interesting world
-
interface to claymation in the computer
-
natural phenomen:
-
erosion
-
growth of algorithmic plants
-
bungee jumper
-
octopus or jellyfish
-
spring-mass fish
-
Control:
-
Evolving control systems
-
Bridging between mocap and simulation
-
Motion Capture:
-
IK for constraints on the ground
-
automatically detecting constraints
-
Higher-level Behaviors:
-
herds of bipeds
-
path planning
-
traffic simulations
-
interacting with simulations
-
Non-realistic animation:
-
non-photorealistic rendering of animation
-
non-realistic motion: cartoon laws of physics [with hopper/biped]
-
Applications for animation:
-
education, engineering, program visualization
-
From their web page: Blender Creator is the first and only fully integrated 3D creation
suite allowing modeling, animation, rendering, post-production,
interactive creation and playback with cross-platform compatibility
- all in one tidy, easily downloadable package!
-
Maya will have a special
Learning Edition available for students to download in February.
Contact Information:
Jessica
Hodgins
jkh@cs.cmu.edu
Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213