Driven by the demands of research and the entertainment industry, the techniques of animation are pushed to render increasingly complex objects with ever-greater life-like appearance and motion. This rapid progression of knowledge and technique impacts professional developers, as well as students. Developers must maintain their understanding of conceptual foundations, while their animation tools become ever more complex and specialized. The second edition of Rick Parent's Computer Animation is an excellent resource for the designers who must meet this challenge. The first edition established its reputation as the best technically oriented animation text. This new edition focuses on the many recent developments in animation technology, including fluid animation, human figure animation, and soft body animation. The new edition revises and expands coverage of topics such as quaternions, natural phenomenon, facial animation, and inverse kinematics. The book includes up-to-date discussions of Maya scripting and the Maya C++ API, programming on real-time 3D graphics hardware, collision detection, motion capture, and motion capture data processing. - New up-to-the-moment coverage of hot topics like real-time 3D graphics, collision detection, fluid and soft-body animation and more! - Companion site with animation clips drawn from research & entertainment and code samples - Describes the mathematical and algorithmic foundations of animation that provide the animator with a deep understanding and control of technique

Computer Science Workbench is a monograph series which will provide you with an in-depth working knowledge of current developments in computer technology. Every volume in this series will deal with a topic of importance in computer science and elaborate on how you yourself can build systems related to the main theme. You will be able to develop a variety of systems, including computer software tools, computer gra phics, computer animation, database management systems, and compu ter-aided design and manufacturing systems. Computer Science Work bench represents an important new contribution in the field of practical computer technology. TOSIYASU L. KUNII Preface to the Second Edition Computer graphics is growing very rapidly; only computer animation grows faster. The first edition of the book Computer Animation: Theory and Practice was released in 1985. Four years later, computer animation has exploded. Conferences on computer animation have appeared and the topic is recognized in well-known journals as a leading theme. Computer-generated film festivals now exist in each country and several thousands of films are produced each year. From a commercial point of view, the computer animation market has grown considerably. TV logos are computer-made and more and more simulations use the technique of computer animation. What is the most fascinating is certainly the development of computer animation from a research point-of-view.

Chapters include a brief history of the industry, step-by-step breakdowns of animation projects-from concept to completion, an inside look at eleven top animation studios and software developers, including Pixar, Microsoft Softimage, Industrial Light & Magic, Mainframe, Medialab, Pacific Data Images, Alias/Wavefrount, and many more.

A behind-the-scenes history of computer graphics, featuring a cast of math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, hippies, video game players, and studio executives. Computer graphics (or CG) has changed the way we experience the art of moving images. Computer graphics is the difference between Steamboat Willie and Buzz Lightyear, between ping pong and PONG. It began in 1963 when an MIT graduate student named Ivan Sutherland created Sketchpad, the first true computer animation program. Sutherland noted: “Since motion can be put into Sketchpad drawings, it might be exciting to try making cartoons.” This book, the first full-length history of CG, shows us how Sutherland's seemingly offhand idea grew into a multibillion dollar industry. In Moving Innovation, Tom Sito—himself an animator and industry insider for more than thirty years—describes the evolution of CG. His story features a memorable cast of characters—math nerds, avant-garde artists, cold warriors, hippies, video game enthusiasts, and studio executives: disparate types united by a common vision. Sito shows us how fifty years of work by this motley crew made movies like Toy Story and Avatar possible.

Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation discusses the latest technology developments in digital design, film, games, medicine, sports, and security engineering. Motion capture records a live-motion event and translates it into a digital context. It is the technology that converts a live performance into a digital performance. In contrast, performance animation is the actual performance that brings life to the character, even without using technology. If motion capture is the collection of data that represents motion, performance animation is the character that a performer represents. The book offers extensive information about motion capture. It includes state-of-the-art technology, methodology, and developments in the current motion-capture industry. In particular, the different ways to capture motions are discussed, including using cameras or electromagnetic fields in tracking a group of sensors. This book will be useful for students taking a course about digital filming, as well as for anyone who is interested in this topic. - Completely revised to include almost 40% new content with emphasis on RF and Facial Motion Capture Systems - Describes all the mathematical principles associated with motion capture and 3D character mechanics - Helps you budget by explaining the costs associated with individualized motion capture projects

We are both fans of watching animated stories. Every evening, before or after d- ner, we always sit in front of the television and watch the animation program, which is originally produced and shown for children. We find ourselves becoming younger while immerged in the interesting plot of the animation: how the princess is first killed and then rescued, how the little rat defeats the big cat, etc. But what we have found in those animation programs are not only interesting plots, but also a big chance for the application of computer science and artificial intelligence techniques. As is well known, the cost of producing animated movies is very high, even with the use of computer graphics techniques. Turning a story in text form into an animated movie is a long and complicated procedure. We came to the c- clusion that many parts of this process could be automated by using artificial - telligence techniques. It is actually a challenge and test for machine intelligence. So we decided to explore the possibility of a full life cycle automation of c- puter animation generation. By full life cycle we mean the generation process of computer animation from a children s story in natural language text form to the final animated movie. It is of course a task of immense difficulty. However, we decided to try our best and to see how far we could go.

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.

Written from an animator's point of view, this guide introduces readers to working with new computer animation systems. Includes all major techniques, from scanning drawings to image processing, coloring, adding backgrounds and shadows, and more. Covers leading software including Anima and Toonz, and the included CD-ROM contains animation clips and demo software.

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

Providing an overview of computer animation, from basic principles to more esoteric developments such as virtual reality and parametric modelling, this book is intentionally broad in scope and illuminated by many diagrams and illustrations. This book communicates teh excitement shared by those who work in this field to those who seek a comprehensive introduction.