LESSON NOTES

SUBJECT: ANIMATION TECHNIQUES

UNIT - I

Creating Animation. What is meant by Animation – Why we need Animation – History of

Animation – Uses of Animation – Types of Animation – Principles of Animation – Some
Techniques of Animation – Animation on the WEB – 3D Animation – Special Effects.

What is meant by Animation?

Animation is the process of designing, drawing, making layouts and preparation of photographic
sequences which are integrated in the multimedia and gaming products. Animation involves the
exploitation and management of still images to generate the illusion of movement. A person who
creates animations is called animator. He / she use various computer technologies to capture the
still images and then to animate these in desired sequence.

Multimedia is the term used to represent combination of visual and audio materials gathered
from various resources and then added into one single combination. A multimedia product can
be sets of texts, graphic arts, sounds, animations and videos. Precisely, term multimedia is used

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to refer visual and audio materials into a single common presentation which can be played in a
computer including CD ROM or digital video, internet or web technology, streaming audio or
video and data projection system etc.

Modern entertainment industry i.e. film and television has gained new heights because of
advances in animation, graphics and multimedia. Television advertisements, cartoons serials,
presentation and model designs - all use animation and multimedia techniques.

Types of Animation

 Traditional animation (cel animation or hand-drawn animation)

 Stop motion animation (Claymation, Cut-outs)

 Motion Graphics (Typography, Animated logo)

 Computer animation
 2D animation

 3D animation

Why we need animation?

Animation is important because it makes us be able to tell stories and communicate emotions
and ideas in a unique, easy-to-perceive way that both small children and adults can

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understand. Animation has helped connect people throughout the world in a way that sometimes
writing and live-action films cannot.

History of Animation

1900s: The first animated short film

Although a few other films had been created in the years prior, Fantasmagorie is widely considered
the first true animated film. Created by Emile Cohl, the short film follows a stick figure who
encounters other characters and transforming objects. At the time, chalkboard caricatures were
popular on vaudevilles circuits, so the drawings were filmed in negative to give the animation the
appearance of a chalkboard drawing brought to life.

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Fantasmagorie has long since entered the public domain and you can feast your eyes with the
help of this link.
[Link]

1910s: Rotoscoping adds more realism

In 1915, Max Fleischer developed the rotoscope technique, where projection equipment is used to
trace figures from stills of live-action footage. This method allowed animators to get a better
understanding of the finer aspects of a moving form to create realistic, fluid motion in animated
pieces. Fleischer’s patent on rotoscoping expired in 1934, allowing other animators to swoop in
and freely use the technique.

1920s: Traditional animation picks up steam

Animator Walt Disney founded his own studio in California which (as his name suggests) would
later become Walt Disney Studios, a titan in the industry. Although it was the third instalment of
the Mickey Mouse series, it was the 1928 classic, Steamboat Willie, where Mickey Mouse finally
captured the hearts of the public. Recurring characters from the series such as Minnie Mouse,
Goofy, and Donald Duck are still around today!

1930s: Walt’s gamble pays off

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Throughout the early 1930s, the “rubber hose” style of animation dominated the industry, typically
set to jazz music which was popular for the era (it can also be found in Cuphead, the latest indie
game sensation available on Steam).
Then along came Disney’s Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. Released in 1937, it was the first
feature-length film created entirely with hand-drawn animation. As the first of its kind, Disney had
to fight hard to get the film released, even mortgaging his own house to help pay the massive
production costs. However, the film was a tremendous success and it paved the way for many more
iconic Disney movies to come! One thing’s for sure – they don’t make film trailers like they used
to!

1940s: Animation takes to television

In previous decades, you could only find animation in movie theatres, where most people sought
out their dose of animated entertainment. As home TVs became more popular, the very first
animated TV series debuted in the form of Crusader Rabbit, a series of 4-minute long satirical
cliffhangers which would continue to air as late as the 1970s. One of its creators, Jay Ward, would
later go on to create The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show.

1950s: Helping out in horror flicks

In the days long before computer-generated images (CGI), traditional animation methods such as
stop-motion were used as an alternative to having someone dress up in a monster costume, which
could look cheesy and a little less scary. Following the example of the original King

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Kong, “creature features” such as The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and It Came From Beneath the
Sea used stop-motion animation for many of their monster scenes.

1960s: Saturday morning cartoons become commonplace

When colour TVs hit the market in the previous decade, it opened up a world of creative
opportunities for animation in mass media. Airing cartoons such as The Flinstones on a Saturday
morning when kids didn’t have school became a common trend. Xerography was also adapted to
speed up the production process by printing animator’s drawings directly onto animation cels (the
transparent sheets they were drawn on so they could be layered over backgrounds) instead of hand-
inking them. The first feature film to use this technique was One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

1970s: Animation for adults

Who says animation is just for kids? As society become increasingly more experimental
throughout the 1970s, creators broke out of the stereotype of kid-friendly subject matter and
adapted Robert Crumb’s comic strip Fritz the Cat into an animated comedy film of the same name.
Not shying away from controversial topics, Fritz the Cat was a huge success in counterculture and
an R-rated sequel would follow just a few years later.

1980s: Space operas are big in Japan

There’s no doubt that Japanese animation, more commonly known as anime, is a huge part of
animation today. In the decades prior, however, the Japanese animation industry had shrunk due
to increased competition from television. Inspired by the commercial success of the Star Wars
franchise, however, space operas Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato were

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revived as theatrical films, sparking the beginning of the 1980s “anime boom” that would spread
throughout Japan, the USA, and then the world!
We also saw the very first use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) for a cartoon-style animation
in the form of Pixar’s The Adventures of André and Wally B. This type of animation started out
with a much more simplistic art style as graphics were created entirely on computer software
without involving hand-drawn images.

1990s: The age of computers

Rapid advancements in computer technology revolutionised animation production throughout the

nineties. Walt Disney’s Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film created using a
Computer Animation Production System that removed the need for a traditional animation camera.
Released in the same decade, Toy Story was the first fully computer-animated film, utilising
artistic techniques such as transparent shading and blended colours that weren’t possible using
older forms of animation.
This was also a great time for Australian animation with the release of two much-loved feature
films in 1992: FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala.

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2000s: The Flash craze

At the dawn of the new millennium, Flash was installed on the vast majority of desktop computers
to display interactive web pages, games and video. The Macromedia Flash software (what we now
know as Adobe Flash) grew in popularity both inside and outside of the professional industry
and communities formed around websites such as Newgrounds and YouTube
where anyone was free to share their creations with the world.

2010s: Present day

Today, animation is a bustling industry with heavy exposure across all manner of websites, social
media, TV and film for all ages. Although the age of Flash is over, computer animation techniques
remain the most popular due to their creativity versatility and increasing accessibility. That said,
techniques with more traditional roots are still finding a way to adapt – stop-motion picture
ParaNorman used 3D printing to create models rather than sculpting them by hand. Even children’s
toys such as StikBot and Mattel’s Minecraft Stop-motion Movie Creator are encouraging kids to
get creative and give animation a try.

USES OF ANIMATION

Education Sector

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It is a known fact that the human mind has a tendency to remember videos and images more than
textual information. Animation can be effectively utilized for educational purposes to enhance the
reception levels of the students, trainees and even teachers. Animation videos bring exceptional
changes to the academic capabilities of students without second thoughts. Graphics, motion videos
and dynamic presentations are being used by several education portals and organizations to teach
complex and difficult concepts to students in an easy and understandable approach. Students can
go through the content at their own pace and any number of times to understand the complex
topics.

2. Entertainment Industry

The entertainment industry is using animation very extensively for various purposes.
Perhaps, computer graphics are most widely for entertainment as compared to any other
purpose. Varying animation services are used for entertainment in a range of platforms such
as TV, media, internet and even on the smart phones. Several top animation companies are
providing animation services in the entertainment industry.

Several animation series and movies are created for children as well as the adult audience
that can be enjoyed as normal movies. Apart from movies, a range of cartoons and TV series
are created to target a wider audience including all age groups. Animation programs are
being created for entertainment as well as teaching important life lessons and moral values.
Some well-known studios like Pixar, Disney, and DreamWorks are primarily involved with
making animated cartoon movies.

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3. Advertisement Industry

Benefits of animation in the advertising industry are quite astounding. Advertisements are
always required to be creative and connecting to the real world. Animation plays an important
role in making effective commercials to easily capture the imagination of the audience and
luring the audience to purchase the product being advertised. The rapidly growing use of the
internet has given birth to a new platform where animated advertisements are used
extensively and target audiences of all age groups. The animation is being used for TV
advertising for a long time. Animations make advertisements inspiring and funny and always
capture the imagination of the end customer.

4. Marketing

Animations add a lot of creativity to the marketing of any organization. It also enables any
organization to reach out to more demographics. Any animated demonstration of a product
is attentive and provides instant benefits. Animation can be a great conversion medium.

5. Scientific Visualization

The animation is widely used to create accurate and representative scientific visualization.
Animation can be used for the purpose of research as well as analytical

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studies. It can be effective used to create and demonstrate 3D models for a wide variety of
objects for realistic visualizations.

6. Arts

The animation is extensively used to demonstrate creative skills. For example, creative arts
can be designed as a computer course. Courses can utilize animation to get the education
across the class leveraging various presentations, models and diagrams. Making animation
requires an animator to be creative and make animations that replicate the real world.

7. Gaming Industry

The gaming industry is using animation extensively as compared to any other industry for
sure. Any game today consists of 3d characters and all these characters are created using
animation. Entirely gaming industry is dependent on these 3D animations. Every game is
modeled and created using animation. A lot of modeling practices like texturing, lighting and
rigging are done by graphic professionals as required by clients. The animation is being used
for video games, online games and use is increasing every day.

8. Simulations

Animation simulations are used in areas where real-life training of an individual or group is
dangerous or cannot be controlled. For instance, military training exercises or firefighting
training are adequate examples for simulation animation. Simulations are also used for
training fighter pilots as well as commercial airlines pilots without investing on machine and
fuel as well as avoiding damage to any trainee. A lot of companies are using simulation to
predict the outcome of a range of activities.

9. Retail Industry

The retail industry is one of the most benefitted industries using animation. Animations are
extensively by marketers to showcase the product to customers. 3D animation models

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and videos can incorporate the features and benefits of a product in a lucid manner. Use of
animation in the retail industry is rising at a great velocity. Animations are being used to
display microscopic features and display the object from multiple angles in an easy manner
especially when such features are difficult to be photographed. 3D animations are especially
beneficial in demonstrating product features.

10. Architecture and Engineering Industry

3D animation has helped the marketing mechanism of the real estate and engineering industry in
a great manner. Proposed designs are required to be explained to potential customers in a simplified
manner in Architecture projects. 3d animations in architecture can be designed quickly and involve
reasonable costs. This makes animation very important for architecture. Interpretation process of
the structure of the buildings is simplified with ease using animation. Construction companies can
integrate all the intrinsic details of the proposed plans using animations.

Five Types of Animation

1. 3D computer animation
2. Traditional animation
3. 2D Vector-based animation
4. Stop motion
5. Motion graphics

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3D Animation (CGI, Computer Animation)

3D, also referred to as CGI (computer generated imagery), is the most popular type of animation
for feature films currently, and it's become common in TV and short films as well.

This is also the same type of animation used to create digital characters for live-action films and
animation for video games.

An animator uses a digital puppet (called a character rig) to position the character, and then use
a system of motion paths (or splines) to define the movement of the character between those poses.

The computer proceeds to interpolate the frames of the animation in between the key frames. The
animator then refines these frames until they are satisfied with the animation.

3D animation is a technically intensive process, which often involves many separate specialists to
model the character, rig it with bones and controls, animate it, and then texture and light it for the
final output.

3D Animation Software

 Autodesk Maya (Make professional animation)

 Blender (free, open-source, 3D program)
 Cinema 4D(motion graphics artist’s best friend)

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Traditional Animation (2D, Cel, Hand Drawn)

The first type of 2D animation might be called traditional animation or cel animation. I prefer the
term hand-drawn animation because that defines its most important aspect - the fact that it is drawn
by hand.

This is the classic type of animation you're probably most familiar with. In the old days, animators
drew characters frame by frame, and then those drawings were transferred onto clear acetate sheets
called cels for painting. That's where the term cel animation comes from.

Through the 1990s almost all animation studios stopped using cels and started scanning drawings
into the computer for digital coloring, and now many hand-drawn animators skip paper altogether
and draw directly into the computer using a tablet or Wacom Cintiq monitors.

So hand-drawn animation could be done entirely analog or entirely digitally, or some mix of the
two. The important thing is that hand drawn animators still create their animation frame by frame
using the same techniques and principles as in those old days of paper and cels.

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Traditional Animation Software

 Toon Boom Harmony

Hamony is more advanced 2D software ideal for both frame-by-frame animation and rig-based
animation. It has advanced rigging systems, effects and camera tools. It is vector based, but the
more advanced version also has the option for bitmap drawing.

 TV Paint

This french animation software was built with hand-drawn traditional style animation in mind.
It’s definitely more robust and complex than Photoshop, but it’s also much pricier. This software
is for professional animators and studios.

2D Animation (Vector-based)

2D, or two-dimensional animation, is a combination of artistic technique and media design that
creates the illusion of movement in a two-dimensional environment. By sequencing individual
drawings together over time, characters, backgrounds, objects, and effects look as if they are
moving. This is commonly done for animated movies and television, but it is also seen in video
games, websites, mobile apps, and advertisements.

It can be useful to draw images by hand before using 2D animation, also known as vector-based
animation. Computer software such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Toon Boom
Harmony are just a few of the industry standard programs for 2D animation. Therefore, it can be
beneficial to seek higher education in order to learn the technical skills needed.

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2D Animation Software’s

 Adobe Animate CC
 Adobe After Effects
 Adobe Character Animator

Stop Motion Animation (Claymation, Cut-Outs)

Stop motion has several variants, but they all involve manipulating real world objects. These
objects are moved slightly, and photographed one frame at a time. When shown in sequence, these
frames create the illusion of movement.

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In higher-end stop motion, like the ones created by Laika (Coraline, Kubu and the Two Strings),
a specially rigged puppet is shot on a miniature stage.

Types of stop-motion animation

Claymation

Claymation is a similar technique. In it, malleable characters are used, though they're generally
made out of a substance called plasticine, not actual clay.

Puppets

Some animators use regular Puppets instead of clay ones, usually also built with some sort of
skeleton rig. The faces of the characters can be replaced based on the expression, or controlled
within the rig.

Action Figures / Lego

Some use action figures or Lego characters for animation. This genre is very popular on
YouTube with many channels dedicated to creating funny skits with Lego characters. Robot
Chicken is a great example of that. They use famous action figures to make fun of pop culture.

Cut-out

Another variation of stop motion is paper cut-out animation. In this style, characters are built out
of paper shapes. They might be pinned together at the joints to make a posable figure, or pieces
might be set in place so that they can be swapped out. They are then moved and photographed
frame by frame, just like a stop motion puppet. That's how South Park was originally animated.

Silhouette

Similar to cutout animation, silhouette animation uses cardboard or some kind of flat material, but
the objects are all black and the shot is depicted with silhouettes only. This is one of the oldest
forms of stop motion and is rarely used today.

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Pixelation

Pixelation is a form of stop motion that uses real people and real environments to create unreal
videos. It uses the stop motion method of taking a still photo, moving things around, and then
taking another photo, but the subject matter is usually real people instead of puppets.

Stop Motion Animation Software

Dragonframe

Dragonframe is the industry standard for stop-motion animation, and was used on films such
as Kubo and the Two Strings and Shaun the Sheep.

If you’re planning on making a professional stop motion video, Dragonframe is the best tool for
the job. Its comprehensive software can be used with many different attachments, such as a device
that controls the camera, lights and even pull focus.

Stop Motion Studio

Stop Motion Studio is an entry-level stop motion app for all devices and platforms that connect to
any digital camera, phone or tablet to create great stop-motion videos with simplicity and ease.
This is a great choice if you're just starting out.

Motion Graphics (Typography, Animated Logos)

The last big category of animation is motion graphics. Motion graphics focuses on
making dynamic and interesting presentations of moving text logos and basic illustrations.

Motion graphics can be both 2D and 3D, and you'll find them everywhere in commercials,
explainer videos, sporting events, the news and other TV productions.

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Proper character animation is generally outside the scope of motion graphics, but many of the core
animation principles apply to motion graphics too.

The process of creating Motion Graphics depends on the programs used, since video editing
softwares often have different UI or settings, but the idea is the same. Motion Graphics usually
involves animating images, texts or video clips using key framing that are tweened to make a
smooth motion between frames.

Motion Graphics Animation Software

After Effects

An interesting choice for 2D animation. After effects gives you great control when creating rigs
for 2D using the puppet tool and different expressions. It's a good choice if you’re already
comfortable with the Adobe environment.

Cinema 4D

Cinema 4D is a motion graphics artist’s best friend. It is a 3D program for the After Effects user.
Very intuitive, and works directly with After Effects without the need to render first. This would
not be my first choice for serious 3D film production, since it is designed from the ground up with
motion graphics in mind, but it is an amazing versatile program.

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The 12 Principles of Animation

In their 1981 book, The Illusion of Life, Disney animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas
introduced the twelve principles of animation. The pair was part of Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” the
core group of animators who were instrumental in creating Disney’s animation style. The twelve
principles have now become widely recognized as theoretical bedrock for all artists working on
animated video production.
In order, they consist of:

 Squash and Stretch

 Anticipation
 Staging
 Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose
 Follow Through and Overlapping Action
 Ease In, Ease Out
 Arcs
 Secondary Action
 Timing
 Exaggeration
 Solid Drawing
 Appeal

1) Squash and Stretch

Squash and stretch is debatably the most fundamental principle. Look at what happens when a ball
hits the ground. The force of the motion squashes the ball flat, but because an object needs to
maintain its volume, it also widens on impact. This’s called squash and stretch.

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This effect gives animation an elastic life-like quality because although it may not seem like it,
squash and stretch is all around you. All shapes are distorted in some way or another when acted
upon by an outside force; it’s just harder to see in real-life. Squash and stretch imitates that and
exaggerates it to create some fun.

2) Anticipation

Anticipation is the preparation for the main action. The player striking the soccer ball would be
the main action, and the follow-through of the leg is well… the follow through.

Staging

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 The concept of staging comes from theater and film. It means to arrange things in each
frame so that the action is clear and easy to see. If too many things are happening in too many
places, the audience would not know where to look. Staging means to give those characters
emphasis and to integrate them with the background.

Staging is one of the most overlooked principles. It directs the audience’s attention toward the
most important elements in a scene in a way that effectively advances the story.

Straight Ahead Action and Pose-to-Pose

These are two ways of drawing animation. Straight ahead action is where you draw each frame of
an action one after another as you go along. With pose-to-pose, you draw the extremes – that is,
the beginning and end drawings of action – then you go on to the middle frame, and start to fill in
the frames in-between.

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Pose-to-pose gives you more control over the action. You can see early on where your character is
going to be at the beginning and end instead of hoping you’re getting the timing right. By doing
the main poses first, it allows you to catch any major mistakes early. The problem with it is that
sometimes it’s too neat and perfect

Straight ahead action is less planned, and therefore more fresh and surprising. The problem with it
is that it’s like running blindfolded… you can’t figure out where you’re supposed to be at any one
time.

Mastering both techniques and combining them is the best approach to being a successful animator
because then you can get both structure and spontaneity. And incidentally, this distinction is just
as important in computer animation, where molding a pose at each key frame is the equivalent of
making a drawing.

Follow-Through and Overlapping Action

When a moving object such as a person comes to a stop, parts might continue to move in the same
direction because of the force of forward momentum. These parts might be hair, clothing, jowls,
or jiggling flesh of an overweight person. This is where you can see follow-through and
overlapping action. The secondary elements (hair, clothing, fat) are following-through on the
primary element, and overlapping its action.

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Follow-through can also describe the movement of the primary element though. If you land in a
crouch after a jump, before standing up straight, that’s follow-through.

Ease In, Ease Out

When you start your car, you don’t get up to 60 mph right away. It takes a little while to accelerate
and reach a steady speed. In animation speak, we would call this an Ease Out.

Likewise, if you brake, you’re not going to come to a full stop right away. (Unless you crash into
a tree or something.) You step on the pedal and decelerate over a few seconds until you are at a
stand-still. Animators call this an Ease In.

Carefully controlling the changing speeds of objects creates an animation that has a superior
believability.

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Arcs

Life doesn’t move in straight lines, and neither should animation. Most living beings – including
humans – move in circular paths called arcs.

Arcs operate along a curved trajectory that adds the illusion of life to an animated object in action.
Without arcs, your animation would be stiff and mechanical. The speed and timing of an arc are
crucial. Sometimes an arc is so fast that it blurs beyond recognition. This is called an animation
smear.

Secondary Action

Secondary actions are gestures that support the main action to add more dimensions to character
animation. They can give more personality and insight to what the character is doing or thinking.

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Timing

Timing is about where on a timeline you put each frame of action. To see what this means in action,
The speed of an action is an important way to show a character’s intent. Timing is also the most
important way to indicate weight. The classic e.g is a character who walks off a cliff but does not
fall until he or she looks down.

Exaggeration

Sometimes more is more. Exaggeration presents a character’s features and actions in an extreme
form for comedic or dramatic effect. This can include distortions in facial features, body types,
and expressions, but also the character’s movement. Exaggeration is a great way for an animator
to increase the appeal of a character, and enhance the storytelling.

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Solid Drawing

Solid drawing is all about making sure that animated forms feel like they’re in three-dimensional
space.

This character design by Robert Kopecky for Proscenium is a good example of solid drawing.
Kopecky is creating a character that will live through various iterations of history in the video.
He starts by defining the volume of the character, which he describes in this character sheet at a
teardrop/bowling pin. Then he adds different clothing, hair, and accessories to the character to take
him to various parts of history.

Notice how you can see the other side of the body shape on the inside of the mouth. But also, even
when he is departing from three-dimensionality for graphic effect, as in the position of the eyes,
he defines that in the character sheet too.

Appeal

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People remember real, interesting, and engaging characters. Animated characters should be
pleasing to look at and have a charismatic aspect to them; this even applies to the antagonists of
the story.

Appeal can be hard to quantify because everyone has a different standard. That said, you can give
your character a better chance of being appealing by making them attractive to look at.

Play around with different shapes and proportions of characters to keep things fresh. Enlarging the
most defining feature of a character can go a long way to giving the character personality. Strive
for a good balance between detail and simplicity.

Some techniques of animation

Some techniques employed in building up an animation sequence, either in the traditional way or
computer based. The objectives of these techniques are generally to improve the efficiency or
reduce time-involvement or introduce some innovation over the basic cel or path animation
schemes.

Onion Skinning

Onion-Skinning is a drawing technique borrowed from traditional cel animation that helps
the animator create the illusion of smooth [Link] enables them to see previous and following
frames while they are drawing the current frame.

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Onion skinning is an easy way to complete sequence of frames at a glance and to see how each
frame flows into the frames befor and after.

Motion Cycling

Human and animal motion such as walking, running and flying, is mainly a repetitive action
that is best represented by a cycle. A walk cycle requires from 8 to 12 frames. The sequence usually
falls into two halves. The first half begins at an extreme(frames 1-2):the feet are at their farthest
apart, with the back toe and front heel touching the ground. In the remainder of the first half (frames
3-4) the legs trade position.

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When the first left leg is forward, the right arm is forward, and vice versa. The second half of the
cycle(frames 5-8)is simply a variation of the first half, but with arms and legs reversed. The
finished walking character can be used as a moving cel, i.e. a sprite. (fig 5)(Refer pageno349)

Masking

A mask in a computer program is in a sense a model of the plastic masks it protects parts
of a frame from effects of other editing tools. This technique can be used to make and animated
object move “behind” the protected area.

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For e.g the frame of the TV is masked, so that the scrolling text do not appear in front of the
frame, but is only visible within the TV screen.

Adding Sound

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 Sound is an important enhancement to moving images. Background music can evoke
emotions. When sound matches the visuals for e.g, a door opening a or a person speaking, it is
called synchronous sound. When sound is independent of the visuals, such as background music,
it is called asynchronous sound.

Flip-book Animation

A flip book is a book with a series of pictures varying gradually from one page to the next,
so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate, simulating motion or
some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children. Flip books are essentially
primitive form of animation. Like motion pictures, they rely on persistence of vision to create the
illusion that continuous motion is being seen rather than a series of discontinuous images.

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 The flip book appeared in 1868, and was originally known as a kineograph. They were the
first form of animation to employ a linear sequence of images In 1985, Thomas Edison invented a
mechanized form called the mutoscope, which mounted the pages on a central rotating cylinder
rather than binding them in a book.

Rotoscoping and Bluescreening

Rotoscoping was an early animation technique which enabled animators and video editors
to trace the contour of objects on each frame of an animation and video sequence to create a
silhouette called a matte. The technique was first used around 1914, to place live characters over
synthetic backgrounds. Rotoscoping has been used as a tool for special effects in action movies.

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 Bluescreening is a technique for shooting live action against a even colored blue
background and then replacing the background by another image. This is nowadays extensively
used as chroma-keying using digital editing tools whereby the background color is selected by a
selection tool and replaced by passing over with some other background.

Color Cycling

Color cycling allows you to change color of objects by cycling through a range of colors.
The software provides smooth color transitions from one color to another. RGB color wheel is
used to specifying an initial color, a clockwise or anti clockwise direction for changing colors.

Morphing

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Morphing is the process of smoothly interpolating between two different images. For e.g, an
individual’s face gradually transforming into the face of another person or even an animal.

In the early days of films a morph would be achieved by cross-fading techniques ,

nowadays this is achieved more realistically using computer software. The popular science fiction
film Terminator 2: Judgment Day uses this technique.

The WWW in the early 1990s, was initially created to serve hypertext documents but later on
support for animated files was included in Web pages.

The uses of animations on the Web are some limitations,

1. Typically Web based animations involve computer files that must be completely
downloaded to the client machines before playback. This can take a long time
depending on the file size. A way around this problem is streaming, which is capability
of specially formatted animation files to begin playback before the entire file has been
completely downloaded.

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 2. Another problem with Web animation is that once the animation has been delivered to
the user, the user must have the proper helper application or plug-in to display
animation.

3D Animation

Creation of 3D animation involves a number of steps: modeling, surface texture, lighting,

camera, animating and rendering.

Modeling

It involves creation of 3D objects from 2D shapes. Two of the most common methods are
lofting and lathing. Lofting is a process of changing a 2D shape into a 3D object by moving the
shape along a specific direction. Lathing involves rotation of a 2D shape about an axis to create a
3D object.

Surface Texture

It involves imparting realistic appearances to the 3D models by applying textures over the
object surface. e.g. a wood texture applied to a flat surface for making a table.

Lighting

It involves placing the lights in the scene by specifying their intensities, direction and
color.

Camera

It placements determine how the scene should look like. Movement of camera can be
used to produce zooming and panning effects.

Animating

The object involves creation of key-frames and tweening to produce intermediate frames.

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Rendering

It produces the final output file and needs specifying the file type, frame size, frame rate etc.

Special Effects

Special effects and animation technology involves using a variety of standard and digital animation
techniques to achieve particular visual or auditory results. Such technology can be applied to
movies, video games and other forms of media. Keep reading to learn if special effects and
animation technology might be a good professional fit for you.

Atmospheric Effects

Many 3D computer graphics images have a distinctive crystal-clear quality and this is
intended by the artist but sometimes it creates an appearance of unreality and falseness. In the real
world the perceived colors of objects change depending on the distance of the objects from the
viewer.

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This is produced by the scattering of the light rays by the tiny air molecules of the atmosphere. To
address the problem, some higher end software packages offer techniques such as rain, snow, fog
and haze. These permit us to define various atmospheric parameters. The program includes these
parameters in the color calculations when it renders the final frame.

Particle Systems

Many phenomena like smoke, gas, steam, fire and clouds cannot be modeled easily as
surfaces. The particle system technique found on many 3D system packages handles these types
of phenomena that consist of masses of molecule sized particles rather than surfaces. Here you do
not model individual surfaces rather you define the number of particles in the system. Defined to
exist and move in a three-dimensional space, these particles which are too small to be seen
individually, and will become visible only if present in sufficient numbers. When the rendering
program processes the model information for a given frame, it looks at each pixel of screen space
and calculates whether enough particles are present at that location to be visible. If so, pixels are
colored appropriately and rendered.

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In defining a particle system, you normally have several parameters under your control. One
parameter is the number of particles; another is the color of the particles, which often can be
animated as well. Rather than a generic particle system, most 3D systems offer specific particle
systems with unique parameter sets to mimic natural phenomena. For e.g. a ‘cloud’ particle system
may contain parameters for controlling the direction, the s peed and randomness of movement, as
well as a parameter for defining shape of a cloud.

Animation involves the production of a series of still images that when played back in quick
succession, appear as continuously moving. This illusion is produced by a physiological
characteristic of our eyes known as persistence of vision. In film a playback rate of twenty-four
frames per second works well. In video the standard rate of playback is thirty frames per second.
Thus, for producing a one hour animation on video 108000 frames would be required.

In the early days of animation, a technique was developed to produce animation frames
more efficiently. First a master animator would draw the most important or keyframes of an
animation sequence. Keyframes are those which correspond to some major action in the animation
sequence. Then a number of less experienced assistant animators would draw the in- between
frames between each pair of keyframes. This process is called tweening. Almost all 3D computer
graphics animation systems are based on this key-framing and tweening approach. In a

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computer keyframing system the animator is the equivalent of the master animator. The animator
sets up the keyframes, then instructs the computer to calculate the in-between frames. The
computer thus, serves as an assistant to the human (master)animator.

Interpolations

A Key-frame based software system creates the in-between frames of an animation by

interpolating the transformation values form one keyframe to the next. In fig.(a) An object is 10m
away from the observer at key-frame 1(kf1) and 0m from the observer at key-frame 60(kf60). The
animator specifies all the 9 transformation parameters to the software both at Kf1 and Kf60. The
software then computes the values of the parameters from the frame 2 to frame 59 by interpolation.

The simplest kind of interpolation called linear interpolation. All computer animation systems
provide a capability called motion preview, which enables the animator to see the changes. The
motion preview he/she may decide to change one of the keyframes and save it as a new keyframe
overwriting the old keyframe.

(fig 6)(Refer pageno 361&362)

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 If your requirement is that the cube should move smoothly through various positions
without any abrupt changes, then the solution is a spline interpolation. There is no abrupt changes
in the curve the cube translates smoothly from one point to another over the entire length of the
sixty frame animation.

In animation you often want some change to begin slowly and then increase in speed. Such
changes are known as ease-in. The opposite of an ease-in is an ease-out, in which the value changes
very quickly at first and the more slowly towards the end of the frame range. Combining an ease-
in and an ease-out produces an interpolation called an ease-in-out (S shaped curve)in which the
value changes slowly at first then more quickly and then slowly again.

Parameter-curve Editing

In a keyframe based animation system the most common way to define the movement and
timing of an object is to transform the object manually until it looks right visually and then save
each set of transformations as a [Link] a system that allows parameter graph editing you
can select control points that represents specific keyframes and pull them or down to change the
value of the Sy parameter. In parameter curve editing systems it is normally possible to edit a curve
in all the same ways that you might edit a curve for modeling purposes. For e.g., you might insert
new control points into the curve, thereby changing the shape of the curve, as well as the animation
controlled by the graph.

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 Most systems also allow you to select the type of interpolation used between any two
control points. Any combination of interpolation types may be used between frames. This is useful
when you want an element of your animation to change for a certain amount of time, but then to
remain unchanging for another period of time. Most systems provide you with some ready way to
lengthen or shorten a sequence of animation, effectively changing the timing to make an action
slower or faster. This editing is called scaling the animation.

Hierarchical Animation

Many models are more complex than a simple one-piece object. Animating a hierarchical
model is conceptually just an extension of the technique of animating a simple one piece model.
For e.g. a table with 5 members, when rotating the table by a specific angle each of the members
rotates about its own local origin. The result is not what is desired. The solution is to organize the
model into a hierarchical structure.

The whole table is at the top level of the structure and the separate elements are at the lower levels.
Within such a hierarchy each element is called nodes, which are also called child nodes of the
table. The table object however consists only of a transformation matrix but no geometry, because
it is purely a logical grouping of several sub elements and has no shape of its own.

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(fig 7)(Refer pageno364)

Inverse Kinematics (IK)

In some situations the guideline of the previous section, i.e., selecting each node of the
hierarchy, transforming that node, and saving the transformation. Consider the simple arm model
in one position and think about moving that model to another position. You know this intuitively
and that is why you want to place the hand and let the joints follow, rather than individually rotating
each joint in order to get the hand to a specific location. The technique that implements this
approach is called inverse kinematics.

Kinematics refers to the mechanical study of motion while inverse refers to the fact that the flow
of transformations within the hierarchical model is calculated in the opposite direction to the
normal calculations. While in the previous section the rotation of the table object(parent node)
determined the final positions of the legs(child node), in this case the rotation of the hand(child
node) determines the final position of the upper arm(parent node). In an Inverse kinematics model,
the transformations applied to the lowest level, Hand determine the transformations of Lower Arm.
The calculations of the transformations travel upwards through the hierarchy. The standard
downward propagation of transformations is sometimes referred to as forward kinematics.

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(fig 8)
Upper Arm
Upper Arm

Lower Arm Lower Arm

Hand Hand

Forward kinematics Inverse kinematics

An inverse kinematic model is often called a chain. Each joint or node is referred to as a
link in the chain. The end point of the final link in an inverse kinematic chain is called the effector
and the starting point of the first link in the chain is called the root of the chain. Inverse kinematics
is applied to human and other animal bodies.

Motion paths

The concept of motion paths allows you to define a path that an object moves along. The
path is drawn in space using the standard curve drawing techniques. This path usually called the
motion path the object, represents the path along which the object will move. The animator
indicates the object that should move along the path and specifies the number of frames over which
the motion take place. For e.g. you draw a motion path and assign it to a cube beginning at frame
1 and ending at frame 100. If you use a standard linear interpolation then at frame 50 which
represents half of the total time, the cube will be located halfway along the path.

(fig 9)(Refer page no 366 & 367)

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 This moves the cube along the path at a constant rate of speed throughout the length of the
animation. Most systems also provide a technique for controlling the rate of movement by
adjusting the interpolation of a second curve, called a timing curve, which represents the rate of
movement along the path. For e.g. by changing the linear curve to an ease-in interpolation curve,
the animator specifies that the cube still follows the same motion path but doing so at a different
rate of speed, moving slowly at first and then picking up speed covering a great distance in the
final frames of the animation. Another importance that must be considered when animating an
object along a motion path is the orientation of the object relative to the path. For e.g . animating
a paper airplane along a motion path. Undoubtedly you want the nose of the airplane to stay on the
path, i.e. to remain tangent to the curve. Some systems do this by default. Other systems by default
always keep the object in the original orientation of the object as it moves along the path, and must
be manually adjusted.

Shape Changes

Most 3D animation systems provide some way of reforming or deforming the shape of the
surface of an object. In animating a flexible or changing surface you determine the positions of the
points that define the surface(control points or vertices), save the positions of these points

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as a keyframe, reposition the surface-defining points, save a new keyframe and then ask the
computer to interpolate the values between the two keyframes. The interpolated positions of the
surface-defining points yield the in-between shapes of the object. For e.g, a shape change
animation of a square transforming into a circle.

With a spline-based model, simple animations are not difficult, but complex animations
might require a great deal of very careful selecting and moving of control points. A number of
techniques developed to simplify the process of animating the surface defining points of a model.
By moving few points of the controlling model, you move a large number of points of the original
model. In one technique called lattice animation .Moving a few points on the lattice moves many
associated points on the surface of the model and deforms the model. A second technique called
axis deformation involves substituting one or more straight axes of the normal Cartesian coordinate
system.

Camera Animation

Apart from animating objects over time, it is also possible to animate camera parameters,
such as point of view from the scene is observed, over time. Most systems treat the camera as an
object and allow you to manipulate it like translating or rotating. The settings of the camera are
then saved as keyframe. The computer then interpolates the in-between camera positions for each
frame that lies between the keyframes. Any of the parameters that define a camera location,
direction, FOV, focal length normally can be animated with this keyframe approach. Cameras of

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Animation Techniques

graphics systems also permit you to animate the locations of the far and near clipping planes. This may be
done to improve the Z-buffer rendering resolution of a scene.

Animating Lights and Surface Properties

Lights can be defined and placed in a virtual scene just like normal objects. It is possible to position a
light, save that position as a keyframe, reposition it, save a new keyframe and then create the interpolated
animation of the light moving from the the first position to the second. In addition it might be possible to
rotate a spotlight or scale some specialized light such as an area light, the definition of which includes a
specified size. In many systems we can animate the other parameters that make up the definition of light, like
brightness, color, spread, etc. Some systems provide a default linear interpolation while other systems offer
parameter curve editing capabilities for the animation of these lighting parameters.

You can also animate various surface characteristics of objects such as color, shininess, diffuseness,
highlight color etc. For e.g. rotate a color texture map on a surface over time here the surface geometry and
all other properties of the surface remain static. Only the rotation parameter of the texture map is animated.

KG COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

LESSON NOTES

SEMESTER: V SUBJECT: ANIMATIONTECHNIQUES

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Animation Techniques

UNIT – II

Creating Animation in Flash: Introduction to Flash Animation – Introduction to Flash – Working

with the Timeline and Frame-based Animation - Working with the Timeline and Tween-based
Animation – Understanding Layers - ActionScript.

Introduction to Adobe Flash

Definition of Flash

 Flash is a multimedia graphic program specially for use on the Web • Flash enables you to create
interactive "movies" on the Web • Flash uses vector graphics, which means that the graphics can
be scaled to any size without losing clarity/quality • Flash does not require programming skills
and is easy to learn
 Vector graphics are computer graphics images that are defined in terms of points
on a Cartesian plane, which are connected by lines and curves to form polygons and
other shapes.

 Bitmap (or raster) images are stored as a series of tiny dots called pixels. Unlike
bitmaps, vector images are not based on pixel patterns, but instead use
mathematical formulas to draw lines and curves that can be combined to
create an image from geometric objects such as circles and polygons.

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 Animation Techniques



When you launch Flash you will see a welcome screen. This screen offers a few shortcuts. It
looks like this:

To start working on a Flash file, you now can use either the File Menu or you can click on an
item in the welcome screen. E.g.

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Animation Techniques

 Use File >Open to open a *.fla file you are working on

 Open a "recent" item either through the File Menu or the button
 Create a new Flash file

Layout of flash desktop

The workspace of Flash8 consists of several parts in it and the ideology of each part is discussed
below.

 The Stage, the rectangular area where the movie plays.

 The Timeline, where graphics are animated over time.
 Symbols, the reusable media assets of a movie
 The Library window, where symbols are organized.
 The Movie Explorer, which gives an overview of a movie and its structure.
 Floating, dockable panels, which enable you to modify various elements in the movie
and configure the Flash authoring environment to best suit your workflow.

The stage and Timeline

 Like films, Flash movies divide lengths of time into frames. The Stage is where you
compose the content for individual frames in the movie, drawing artwork on it directly
or arranging imported artwork.

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Animation Techniques

 The Timeline is where you coordinate the timing of the animation and assemble the
artwork on separate layers. The Timeline displays each frame in the movie.
 Layers act like stacked sheets of transparent acetate, keeping artwork separate so you
can combine different elements into a cohesive visual image.

Symbols and instances

 Symbols are reusable elements that you use with a movie. Symbols can be graphics,
buttons, movie clips, sound files, or fonts. When you create a symbol, the symbol is
stored in the file's library.
 When you place a symbol on the Stage, you create an instance of that symbol. Symbols
reduce file size because, regardless of how many instances of a symbol you create,
Flash stores the symbol in the file only once. It is a good idea to use symbols, animated
or otherwise, for every element that appears more than once in a movie. You can
modify the properties of an instance without affecting the master symbol, and you can
edit the master symbol to change all instances.

The Library Window

 The Library window is where you store and organize symbols created in Flash, as well
as imported files, including sound files, bitmap graphics, and QuickTime movies. The
Library window lets you organize library items in folders, see how often an item is used
in a movie, and sort items by type.

Working with the Timeline and Frame-based Animation

. Timeline

The timeline controls and organizes the movie's content over time using layers and frames.
Scrollbars become available when there are more layers in the timeline than can be displayed

Insert frames in the Timeline

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Animation Techniques

 To insert a new frame, select Insert > Timeline >Frame (F5).

 To create a new keyframe, select Insert > Timeline> Keyframe (F6), or right-click
(Windows) or Controlclick (Macintosh) the frame where you want to place a
keyframe, and select Insert Keyframe from the context menu.
 To create a new blank keyframe, select Insert > Timeline > Blank Keyframe, or
right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the frame where you want to
place the keyframe, and select Insert Blank Keyframe from the context menu.

Frame

A frame represents the content of the movie at one moment of time. So far, an animation
is nothing more as a succession of frames. You can control all these from the Timeline,
but not all the frames have the same behavior and can be treated equally. Let's see what
types of frames we can find and its characteristics.

Explanation of keyframes

 Blank Keyframe - A blank keyframe shows on the Timeline as an open circle. It

means that there is no artwork on the Stage at that frame.
 Keyframe - A keyframe shows on the Timeline as a solid circle. This means that
there is content on the Stage.
 Frame - You can have a different number of frames on different Layers.
 Clear Keyframe - This erases the keyframe from the Timeline. This removes all
the
content from the Stage
 Remove Frames - Select the frames you wish to remove and choose
Insert>Remove
[Link]

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Animation Techniques

 Keyframe: Everything on the stage where something changes is a keyframe.

Keyframes define changes in the animation. The first frame in every layer is automatically
a keyframe. Created keyframes are displayed in Flash as a solid circle. Empty keyframes
are shown as hollow circles.

 Playhead: The Playhead on the timeline is a movable beginning and ending point
for your total movie. You can click and move the playhead down the timeline at any speed
for viewing your movie and helping you identify frame changes for editing. To play your
movie at any time during its creation and editing stages, just hit the 'enter' key.

 Empty Frames: They are frames with no content and their color is white.
Frames and key frames

A frame is a drawing that is displayed at a given time. Usually any drawing uses several layers.

In the timeline, each "stop" is called a frame. Frames are numbered from 1 to whatever length your
animation has. Let us start by introducing the meaning of a few symbols in the timeline. We later
will come back to these.

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Animation Techniques

If you feel that display of timeline frames is too tiny, you can fix this with the time line options
(little pull-down menu in the upper right). This menu also allows displaying a preview of the
animation (but that takes up space of course).

Time line options pull down menu

When you start drawing with Flash, everything is drawn by default into a first frame in layer 1.

The default keyf rame is frame # 1

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Animation Techniques

E.g. if you insert a letter, for example, you will see something like in the screen capture just above.

 The first frame in the timeline will have a dot inside. Therefore, if you see a frame with a ".",
it means that there is a drawing inside the frame for this layer. A frame with contents is called
a keyframe.
 A frame with a small white circle is called an empty keyframe. It will display nothing.
 A frame without a dot, doesn't have any drawing inside and it will either display the drawing
from the prior keyframe (black dotted frame to the left) or nothing if there is no keyframe to
the left.
 The playhead showing the current frame (the red rectangle) sits on top of frame one by default
and you can move it around to inspect your animation.

Frame-based Animation:

 Frame-based animation works similarly to old-fashioned flipbooks. A flipbook contains an

image, such as a person running, that gradually changes over a series of pages. The person
might, for example, start running at one end of a street and continue to run in front of a row
of houses. The image on each successive page changes only slightly as the person moves
along the street. However, if you bend the edge of the flipbook and rapidly release the
pages one by one, the image appears to run before your eyes.

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Animation Techniques

Creating a frame-by-frame animation

Before pressing a button or using the menu, make sure that your are positioned in the right frame
in the right layer. It also is a very smart idea to lock all other layers (see the Flash layers tutorial)

Let's recall the principle:

 Frame-by-frame animation works by displaying drawings after drawings at a rapid pace.

By default, Flash CS6 will show 24 frames (drawings) by second.

You don't need to have a drawing in every frame, i.e. a keyframe every five frames is good enough.
A keyframe is a frame that contains a picture or other object. In the timeline, a keyframe is
indicated by a black dot.

Here are some useful:

 F6 - Copy the graphics of the previous keyframe (Insert Keyframe).

 F7 - Inserts a blank keyframe
 F5 - Extends the drawing of the previous keyframe in the timeline up to this point (Insert
Frame).

Right-click on a frame gives you more options, e.g. destroy or empty a frame...

The procedure:

1. Create a new layer or reuse a layer

2. Draw something (for starters, try a "stick man").
3. Insert 3-5 empty frames: Press F5 4 times
4. Click on the last frame (the white rectangle)
5. Press F6 - Create a second keyframe with content identical to the first
6. Slightly change the design of this new keyframe

Repeat as desired (ie 3 times F5 and F6, go to the end, then change the drawing). If your animation
is complex, using multiple layers

In your timeline, you should see something like:

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Animation Techniques

Now, add a nice static background:

 Create at least one new layer and draw a picture, such as a sky.
 Go up to the last frame of the animation and for each of these new layers, press F5. You
should see something like this the timeline:

Now test your animation sequence:

 Press CTRL-Enter (or use the menu Control-> Test Movie)

 You can also move the red controls that sit on top of the timeline to the left or to the
right.

We now will introduce three frame-by-frame animation examples. We sometimes will do this in
the main time line of the *.fla file. Alternatively (and better), you first should create a new so-
called movie clip symbol and then edit that object.

Working with the Timeline and Tween-based Animation

Tweening

With tweening, you create your artwork in the first and last frames of your animation. Flash fills
in the intermediate steps [or the steps between]. Tweening creates a minimal file size, since Flash
only stores the changes between the frames and not the complete frames. There are two types of
tweening:

 Motion tweening
 Shape tweening.

Motion tweening

Motion tweening means changing the position of an object along the Timeline.

Steps to create Motion Tweening

1. Open a new macromedia flash document.

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Animation Techniques

2. Draw an object which we want to move on the flash stage.

3. Go to the Timeline and select the frame where you want the animation to end.

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Animation Techniques

4. Choose Insert > Timeline > Keyframe.

5. With the keyframe selected, move the text or graphic on the Stage. Use the shift key to limit
the movement in a straight line.

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Animation Techniques

6. Click and select the first and last frames.

7. Choose Insert > Timeline > Create Motion Tween.

7. To test the animation, open the Controller and click on the Play button.

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Animation Techniques

Steps to create Motion Tweening with a Motion Path

1. Begin by creating a motion tween.

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Animation Techniques

2. Position the cursor on the first frame.

3. From the Properties panel, select Orient to Path.

4. Choose Insert > Timeline > Motion Guide. This inserts a new guide layer. Guide layers are not
published with the Flash movie.

5. Make the Guide Layer active by clicking on it. Use a drawing tool to draw a motion path.

6. In the first frame, drag the shape by its registration point and snap it to the beginning of the
line.

7. In the last frame, drag the shape by it registration point and snap it to the end of the line.

8. To test the animation, open the Controller.

9. Click on the Play button.

Shape Tweening

Shape tweening means changing the properties of the objects along the Timeline.

With shape tweening, you will change an object’s shape over time. Shape tweening can also
include changing the object’s location on the stage, as well as color and size.

Steps to create shape tweening

With shape tweening, you can create morphing effect, with one shape transforming into another.

1. Using the Oval tool, draw a circle on Frame 1 Layer 1. This will be the starting frame of
this shape tween animation.

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2. Select Frame 45 on Layer 1 and press F7 to add a blank keyframe. The circle on your
screen will disappear so you have a place to draw the ending frame of this animation.

3. Using the Rectangle tool, draw a square along the right side of the stage. This will be the
ending frame of your animation.

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4. Double-click anywhere in the Timeline between the two keyframes to select the range of
frames. You want to make sure you have this selected before you apply the shape tween

5. On the Properties panel, select Shape from the Tween drop-down menu. This will create a shape
tween between the two keyframes in Layer 1. Green tinting and solid arrow on the timeline indicate
an active shape tween.

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7. Press return [Macintosh] or Enter [Windows] on your keyboard to preview your

animation. The circle will gradually turn into a square.

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Understanding Layers

Create and organize layers

Layers help you organize the artwork in your document. You can draw and edit objects on one
layer without affecting objects on another layer. In areas of the Stage with nothing on a layer, you
can see through it to the layers below. To draw, paint, or otherwise modify a layer or folder, select
the layer in the Timeline to make it active. A pencil icon next to a layer or folder name in the
Timeline indicates that the layer or folder is active. Only one layer can be active at a time (although
more than one layer can be selected at a time).

When you create a Flash document, it contains only one layer. To organize the artwork, animation
and other elements in your document, add more layers. You can also hide, lock, or rearrange layers.
The number of layers you can create is limited only by your computer’s memory, and layers do
not increase the file size of your published SWF file. Only the objects you place into layers add
to the file size. To organize and manage layers, create layer folders and place layers in them. You
can expand or collapse layer folders in the Timeline without affecting
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what you see on the Stage. Use separate layers or folders for sound files, ActionScript, frame
labels, and frame comments. This helps you find these items quickly to edit them.

Create a layer

When you create a layer, it appears above the selected layer. The newly added layer becomes the
active layer.

Do one of the following:

 Click the New Layer button at the bottom of the Timeline.

 Select Insert > Timeline > Layer.
 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a layer name in the
Timeline and select Insert Layer from the context menu.

Create a layer folder

Do one of the following:

 Select a layer or folder in the Timeline and select Insert > Timeline > Layer Folder.
 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) a layer name in the Timeline and

Select Insert Folder from the context menu. The new folder appears above the layer or folder you
selected.

 Click the New Folder icon at the bottom of the Timeline. The new folder appears
above

the layer or folder you selected.

Organize layers and layer folders

To organize your document, rearrange layers and folders in the Timeline. Layer folders help
organize your workflow by letting you place layers in a tree structure. To see the layers a folder
contains without affecting which layers are visible on the Stage, expand or collapse the folder.

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Folders can contain both layers and other folders, allowing you to organize layers in much the
same way you organize files on your computer.

The layer controls in the Timeline affect all layers within a folder. For example, locking a layer
folder locks all layers within that folder.

 To move a layer or layer folder into a layer folder, drag the layer or layer folder name
to the destination layer folder name.
 To change the order of layers or folders, drag one or more layers or folders in the
Timeline to the desired position.
 To expand or collapse a folder, click the triangle to the left of the folder name.
 To expand or collapse all folders, Right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Macintosh) and select Expand All Folders or Collapse All Folders.

Rename a layer or folder

By default, new layers are named by the order in which they are created: Layer 1, Layer 2, and
so on. To better reflect their contents, rename layers.

 Do one of the following:

 Double-click the name of the layer or folder in the Timeline and enter a new name.
 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the name of the layer or folder
and select Properties from the context menu. Enter the new name in the Name box
and click OK.
 Select the layer or folder in the Timeline and select Modify > Timeline > Layer
Properties. Enter the new name in the Name box and click OK.

Select a layer or folder

 Do one of the following:

 Click the name of a layer or folder in the Timeline.
 Click any frame in the Timeline of the layer to select.

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 Select an object on the Stage that is located in the layer to select.

 To select contiguous layers or folders, Shift-click their names in the Timeline.
 To select non-contiguous layers or folders, Control-click (Windows) or
Command-click (Macintosh) their names in the Timeline.

Copy frames from a single layer

 Select a range of frames in a layer. To select the entire layer, click the layer name in
the Timeline.
 Select Edit > Timeline > Copy Frames.
 Click the frame where you want to begin pasting and select Edit > Timeline > Paste
Frames.

Copy frames from a layer folder

 Collapse the folder (click the triangle to the left of the folder name in the Timeline)
and click the folder name to select the entire folder.
 Select Edit > Timeline > Copy Frames.
 To create a folder, select Insert > Timeline > Layer Folder.
 Click the new folder and select Edit > Timeline > Paste Frames.

Delete a layer or folder

To select the layer or folder, click its name in the Timeline or any frame in the layer.

 Do one of the following:

 Click the Delete Layer button in the Timeline.
 Drag the layer or folder to the Delete Layer button.
 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Macintosh) the layer or folder name and
select Delete Layer from the context menu.

Lock or unlock one or more layers or folders

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 To lock a layer or folder, click in the Lock column to the right of the name. To unlock the
layer or folder, click in the Lock column again.
 To lock all layers and folders, click the padlock icon. To unlock all layers and folders,
click it again.
 To lock or unlock multiple layers or folders, drag through the Lock column.
 To lock all other layers or folders, Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Macintosh) in the
Lock column to the right of a layer or folder name. To unlock all layers or folders, Alt-
click or Option-click in the Lock column again.

ActionScript

Actionscript is an object oriented scripting language, based on ECMAScript (ECMA -

European Computer Manufacturers Association). It is similar to the JavaScript programming
language. Using Actionscript you can add interactive functionality to your web site. The most
popular software, which benefits from the Actionscript implementations, is Flash. Through the
Actionscript code the developer can set and control the actions of the Flash objects. It can be used
for different web sites: basic Flash animations, interactive Flash games, e-commerce applications,
complicated community portals and many more.

Adobe Flash is probably the most popular software for creating interactive websites. Adobe
Flash offers a rich functionality for creating Flash movies and complicated web sites. The latest
supported version of the Actionscript language in the Adobe Flash product is Actionscript 3.0.

Actionscript is an object oriented language. There are classes and variables, constants and
methods defined for them. Variables and constants get values while the methods are functions,
which apply a defined behaviour for the objects of the class. An object which is defined by a class
can use all the methods set for this class.

Then in your code you can create a new object of the class:

var myObj:myClass = new myClass();

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One of the Actionscript's default classes is Array. A new object of this class can be created as
follows:

var names:Array = new Array("John", "Tom", "Jane");

 We will list some of the special characters from the Actionscript code: The semicollon ;
defines the end of the statements. Parentheses () group arguments that apply to a statement.
The curly braces {} group all related statements.
 The // slashes sequence is used to include comments in the code. The colon : sign is used
to define the variable type. In the current example it defines that myObj is an object of the
myClass class.

Putting action script in the timeline

1. We have all seen those banner ads that play two or three times and are replaced by
another version of the ad. To loop the main timeline three times—this is a popular
number for banner ads—declare a loop variable in frame 1 and initialize it to 0. Here’s
how they do it:
2. Open the [Link] file. If you scrub the playhead across the timeline, the box,
thanks to the tween, gets bigger.
3. Add a keyframe to frame 15 of the scripts layer. Select the keyframe and open the
Actions panel.
4. Enter the following code into the Script pane:
5. [Link]();
6. This is the line that stops the playhead from moving forward, and it is also the line of
code that can turn a millisecond into an eternity. If you stop the playhead, have a solid
plan in place to get it back in motion.
7. Press the Enter/Return key, and enter the following code:
8. var timelinePause:Timer = new Timer(2000, 1);
[Link]([Link], timerHandler);
[Link]();

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9. The first line tells Flash to create a Timer object. In ActionScript, when you use the class
name followed by parentheses, you are creating what is called a constructor, which is a
fancy term for an instance of a class. The numbers between the parentheses tell Flash the
duration of the timer (2,000 milliseconds, or 2 seconds) and how often to wait around for
that 2 seconds. The 1 means “only wait for it once."
10. The next line tells Flash what to do when the two seconds are up; which is to execute a
function named timerHandler. The final line tells Flash to reset the timer, and start the
timer if it isn’t already running.
11. Press the Enter/Return key and enter the following code:
12. function timerHandler(evt:Object):void { [Link](); }

As you may have guessed, this is what happens when Flash waits around for the 2
seconds. The play() method simply tells the timeline to start playing again (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Pausing the Flash timeline

Looping the timeline

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We have all seen those banner ads that play two or three times and are replaced by another version
of the ad. To loop the main timeline three times—this is a popular number for banner ads—declare
a loop variable in frame 1 and initialize it to 0. Here’s how they do it:

1. Open the [Link] file. When it opens, you will see, as you scrub the playhead across
the frames that the box grows.

2. Add a keyframe in frame 1 and frame 30 of the scripts layer, select the keyframe in frame 1, and
open the Actions panel.

3. Enter the following code into the Script pane:

4. var loop:Number = 0;

5. Nothing new here—you create a variable named loop and give it a number value of 0. In many
respects, what you are doing here is setting the initial value, because all of the action in this
example takes place between frames 2 and 30.

6. Select the keyframe in frame 30 and add the following code:

7. loop=loop+1;

if(loop<3)

[Link](2);

}else

[Link]();

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Let’s take a look at what you have done. The first line adds 1 to the value of the variable you
named loop in the first frame. The next four lines are the conditional statement that essentially
says, "If the value of loop is 1 or 2 (if loop < 3), then scoot the playhead back to frame 2
([Link](2)). If it is already 3—else—then stay put on frame 30."

The first time the playhead hits frame 30, the value of loop is 1, and the playhead scoots back to
frame 2. (The reason it goes to frame 2 is because frame 1 would set the value of loop to 0 again.)
The next time it hits frame 30, the value of loop is changed to 2 and, again, the playhead scoots
back to frame 2 and plays the animation. This time, when the playhead hits frame 30, the value of
loop is changed to 3, and the playhead stays put on frame [Link] and test the movie.

Action script for a Drag and drop application

Step 1 - Draw an object

Anything you like

Step 2 - Transform it into a Movie Clip

Select the object (or if you created several objects for a drawing select them all)

Right-click on the object and create a movie symbol

Give the instance a name in the properties panel !

Step 3 - Adapt code below

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e same principles we encountered for example in

the Flash button tutorial.

Associate an event listener with an event handler

function. This time we listen to "mouse down" and
"mouse up" events and for each we need to write a
function that will do the dragging.

// Register mouse event functions

D
blue_btn.addEventListener(MouseEv
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blue_btn.addEventListener(MouseEv
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red_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_U
is
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3D Animation & Its Concepts

In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical,
wireframe representation of any three-dimensional object (either inanimate or living) via
specialized software. The product is called a 3D model. It can be displayed as a two-
dimensional image through a process called 3D rendering or used in a computer simulation of
physical phenomena. The model can also be physically created using 3D Printing devices.

Models may be created automatically or manually. The manual modeling process of

preparing geometric data for 3D computer graphics is similar to plastic arts such as sculpting.

Models
3D models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected
by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. Being a collection
of data (points and other information), 3D models can be created by hand, algorithmically
(procedural modeling), or scanned.

Representation

Almost all 3D models can be divided into two categories.

Solid - These models define the volume of the object they represent (like a rock). These
are more realistic, but more difficult to build. Solid models are mostly used for non visual
simulations such as medical and engineering simulations, for CAD and specialized visual
applications such as ray tracing and constructive solid geometry

Shell/boundary - these models represent the surface, e.g. the boundary of the object,
not its volume (like an infinitesimally thin eggshell). These are easier to work with than solid
models. Almost all visual models used in games and film are shell models.

Because the appearance of an object depends largely on the exterior of the object,
boundary representations are common in computer graphics. Two dimensional surfaces are a
good analogy for the objects used in graphics, though quite often these objects are non-
manifold. Since surfaces are not finite, a discrete digital approximation is required: polygonal
meshes (and to a lesser extent subdivision surfaces) are by far the most common representation,
although point-based representations have been gaining some popularity in recent years. Level
sets are a useful representation for deforming surfaces which undergo many topological
changes such as fluids.

The process of transforming representations of objects, such as the middle point

coordinate of a sphere and a point on its circumference into a polygon representation of a
sphere, is called tessellation. This step is used in polygon-based rendering, where objects are
broken down from abstract representations ("primitives") such as spheres, cones etc, to so-
called meshes, which are nets of interconnected triangles. Meshes of triangles (instead of e.g.
squares) are popular as they have proven to be easy to render using scanline rendering. Polygon
representations are not used in all rendering techniques, and in these cases the tessellation step
is not included in the transition from abstract representation to rendered scene.
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3D models are widely used anywhere in 3D graphics. Actually, their use predates the
widespread use of 3D graphics on personal computers. Many computer games used pre-
rendered images of 3D models as sprites before computers could render them in real-time.

Today, 3D models are used in a wide variety of fields. The medical industry uses
detailed models of organs. The movie industry uses them as characters and objects for animated
and real-life motion pictures. The video game industry uses them as assets for computer and
video games. The science sector uses them as highly detailed models of chemical compounds.
The architecture industry uses them to demonstrate proposed buildings and landscapes through
Software Architectural Models. The engineering community uses them as designs of new
devices, vehicles and structures as well as a host of other uses. In recent decades the earth
science community has started to construct 3D geological models as a standard practice.

Modeling processes

There are five popular ways to represent a model:

Polygonal modeling - Points in 3D space, called vertices, are connected by line segments to
form a polygonal mesh. Used for example by 3DS Max. The vast majority of 3D models today
are built as textured polygonal models, because they are flexible and because computers can
render them so quickly. However, polygons are planar and can only approximate curved
surfaces using many polygons.

NURBS modeling - NURBS Surfaces are defined by spline curves, which are influenced by
weighted control points. The curve follows (but does not necessarily interpolate) the points.
Increasing the weight for a point will pull the curve closer to that point. NURBS are truly
smooth surfaces, not approximations using small flat surfaces, and so are particularly suitable
for organic modeling. Maya and Rhino 3d are the most well-known commercial software that
uses NURBS natively.

Splines & Patches modeling - Like NURBS, Splines and Patches depend on curved lines to
define the visible surface. Patches fall somewhere between NURBS and polygons in terms of
flexibility and ease of use.

Primitives modeling - This procedure takes geometric primitives like balls, cylinders, cones
or cubes as building blocks for more complex models. Benefits are quick and easy construction
and that the forms are mathematically defined and thus absolutely precise, also the definition
language can be much simpler. Primitives modeling is well suited for technical applications
and less for organic shapes. Some 3D software can directly render from primitives (like POV-
Ray), others use primitives only for modeling and convert them to meshes for further operations
and rendering.

Sculpt modeling - Still fairly new method of modeling 3D sculpting has become very popular
in the few short years it has been around. There are 2 types of this currently, Displacement
which is the most widely used among applications at this moment, and volumetric.
Displacement uses a dense model (often generated by Subdivision surfaces of a polygon control
mesh) and stores new locations for the vertex positions through use of a 32bit image map that
ation ar
stores the adjusted locations. Volumetric which is based loosely on Voxels has simil
capabilities as displacement but does not suffer from polygon stretching

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when there are not enough polygons in a region to achieve a deformation. Both of these
methods allow for very artistic exploration as the model will have a new topology created over
it once the models form and possibly details have been sculpted. The new mesh will usually
have the original high resolution mesh information transferred into displacement data or normal
map data if for a game engine.

The modeling stage consists of shaping individual objects that are later used in the
scene. There are a number of modeling techniques, including:
 constructive solid geometry
 implicit surfaces
 subdivision surfaces

Modeling can be performed by means of a dedicated program (e.g., form•Z, Maya, 3DS
Max, Blender, Lightwave, Modo) or an application component (Shaper, Lofter in 3DS Max)
or some scene description language (as in POV-Ray). In some cases, there is no strict
distinction between these phases; in such cases modeling is just part of the scene creation
process (this is the case, for example, with Caligari trueSpace and Realsoft 3D).

Complex materials such as blowing sand, clouds, and liquid sprays are modeled with
particle systems, and are a mass of 3D coordinates which have either points, polygons, texture
splats, or sprites assign to them.

Scene setup
Scene setup involves arranging virtual objects, lights, cameras and other entities on a
scene which will later be used to produce a still image or an animation.

Lighting is an important aspect of scene setup. As is the case in real-world scene

arrangement, lighting is a significant contributing factor to the resulting aesthetic and visual
quality of the finished work. As such, it can be a difficult art to master. Lighting effects can
contribute greatly to the mood and emotional response effected by a scene, a fact which is well-
known to photographers and theatrical lighting technicians.

It is usually desirable to add color to a model's surface in a user controlled way prior to
rendering. Most 3D modeling software allows the user to color the model's vertices, and that
color is then interpolated across the model's surface during rendering. This is often how models
are colored by the modeling software while the model is being created. The most common
method of adding color information to a 3D model is by applying a 2D texture image to the
model's surface through a process called texture mapping. Texture images are no different than
any other digital image, but during the texture mapping process, special pieces of information
(called texture coordinates or UV coordinates) are added to the model that indicate which parts
of the texture image map to which parts of the 3D model's surface. Textures allow 3D models
to look significantly more detailed and realistic than they would otherwise.

Other effects, beyond texturing and lighting, can be done to 3D models to add to their
realism. For example, the surface normals can be tweaked to affect how they are lit, certain
surfaces can have bump mapping applied and any other number of 3D rendering tricks can be
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3D models are often animated for some uses. They can sometimes be animated from
within the 3D modeler that created them or else exported to another program. If used for
animation, this phase usually makes use of a technique called "keyframing", which facilitates
creation of complicated movement in the scene. With the aid of keyframing, one needs only to
choose where an object stops or changes its direction of movement, rotation, or scale, between
which states in every frame are interpolated. These moments of change are known as
keyframes. Often extra data is added to the model to make it easier to animate. For example,
some 3D models of humans and animals have entire bone systems so they will look realistic
when they move and can be manipulated via joints and bones, in a process known as skeletal
animation.

Types of 3D Animation
Animation is the process of rendering images in quick succession so as to give an
impression of continuous motion. In 3D animation, the images that are used are three
dimensional. They can be shown from all possible directions, are made to adhere to natural
physics laws, and therefore appear exceedingly real to the viewers.

There are many different types of three dimensional animation. Some of the main ones
are stop motion animation, claymation, computer generated imagery (CGI) and motion capture
animation. These animations are done using hand-crafted as well as computer- generated
puppets, objects, backgrounds and special effects.

In stop motion animation, the 3D characters and their backgrounds are designed by
hand. First the animator makes an armature or skeleton using metal and then fashions the
objects on this using clay, plastic or rubber. Different materials like wood, cloth, hair gel,
toothpaste and cotton wool may be used to create finer details.

The handmade objects are arranged in a scene and a photograph is taken. Then the
objects are moved slightly and photographed again. After photographing the objects every time
their position is altered, the animator uses the photographic frames to create the 3D animation.

Claymation is a stop motion animation using clay models. The clay is worked on over
an aluminum wire frame and shaped with fingers and clay tools. To prevent the sculpted figures
from being misshapen in handling, quick hardening clay is used. Once it has dried, the figures
are painted as required.

The use of computers has, in many ways, revolutionized the three dimensional
animation. Animators are no longer required to draw, sculpt or color everything by hand. By
switching to the digital medium, the entire 3D animation process can be carried out in a faster,
less cumbersome and more cost-saving manner.

So much so that CGI is also used in non-animated movies. The computer graphics
create scenes that might have otherwise been very expensive or difficult to produce. Some
scenes would be even impossible to create without computer generated imagery.

In computer generated 3D animation, the animator builds virtual skeletons and models
3D figures over them. Then the digital models are rigged and can be manipulated as requireadtion
for the animation. The animator must take care to get all the physical movements and details
right so that the 3D animation looks real.

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Motion capture animation goes a step further and makes use of live action. Here, an
actor is outfitted with sensory devices that plot the movement and positioning of the actor's
joints. The actor then goes through the motions in place of an already designed character that
is to be animated.

The sensory devices record the resulting motions and transmit the video-recording into
a computer. The computer now uses these inputs to give movement to the character. This brings
motion capture animation as very close to movments seen in real life.

Some well-known animated films are Shrek, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E. 3D animation
films are becoming more and more inclined towards realism.

Skeleton & Kinetic 3D Animation

Overview

Visualization Pipeline procedural workflow was introduced in K-3D. The project has
been split into three parts.

Skeletal / Deformation Bones

This is what most people think about when they hear "skeletal" animation. Simply put
it is a way to deform a mesh. You associate one group of points in a mesh with a bone and
another group with a second bone and when a bone is reoriented the associated points will do
so accordingly.

However there are several takes on how to deform the mesh because the deformation
at the joints is always a problem. A bone may be associated with an entire mesh, e.g. when
dealing with mechanical assemblies (think of animating a solid robotic arm).

A bone object in K-3D would have the following properties:

➢ input mesh
➢ output mesh
➢ input matrix
➢ output matrix

The main processing for the bone would be to deform the input mesh, based on the
difference between the input matrix and some "resting" state.

Kinematics
Bones have to be linked together using joints to make a skeleton. In ODE's
documentation, bodies connected to each other with joints are called islands.

Kinematics is the process of calculating the position in space of the end of a linked
structure given the angles of all the bones at the joints. It is easy, and there is only one solution.
Inverse Kinematics does the reverse. Given the end point of the structure, what angles do the
joints need to be in to reach that end point? It can be difficult, and there are usually many or
infinitely many solutions. ation

Dynamics engine
After creating a skeletal object (deformation bones + joints), really want to animate it
using kinematics, inverse kinematics, and even physics.

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ODE is a very nice an competent library for simulating rigid structure physics. It has
advanced joint types and integrated collision detection with friction.

There are issues when it comes to ODE like K-3D's nonlinear approach to time, but
time is going to be an issue with any dynamics library.

Texturing & Lighting of 3D Animation

Understanding the Art of Lighting
Like every aspect of 3d, lighting must be created from scratch. Unfortunately, the
techniques for emulating the real world are not always obvious or intuitive. Luckily, a wealth
of lighting theory exists in the form of historical artwork, photography, and motion pictures.
There are five different categories in lighting. Before moving into the various lighting methods,
there are few common lighting terms to be defined.

Key the most intense light in a scene. The key light’s source is generally identifiable (the sun,
a lamp, and so on). The key light usually produces the strongest shadow in the scene.

Fill a secondary light that is less intense than the key. this light “fills” in the dark areas of a
subject and the shadows produced by the key. Fill lights often represent light from a key that
has bounced off a surface, such as a wall.

Rim an intense light source placed behind a subject that strikes the subject along the edge. Rim
lights are often employed as hair lights. these lights are commonly known as backlights or
kickers.

Using 1-Point Lighting

The 1-point lighting scheme is dramatic, sometimes stark, and often foreboding. The
lighting involves a single, easily identifiable key light source, with no significant supplemental
sources. 1-point lighting can be found in the following situations:

➢ A man lights a cigarette in an otherwise dark alley.

➢ A woman drives a car down a dark country road, lit only by the car’s instrument panel.
➢ Sunbeams burst through the window of an otherwise unlit interior.
➢ A theater audience is illuminated by the light of the movie screen.

The motion picture genre that most closely emulates 1-point lighting is film noir. Film noir
is a style historically associated with crime dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. The style is typified
by black-and-white film stock, sparsely lit characters, and deep black shadows.

Aesthetically, the lighting stemmed from stories with cynical, paranoid, or nihilistic
outlooks. Technically, the stark lighting was the result of placing only a few lights on the set,
in some cases because of budgetary restrictions. Although multiple lights were generally
needed for any given shot for proper exposure, the result often appears as if a single light
source exists.

Using 2-Point Lighting ation

The 2-point lighting scheme matches many of the lighting scenarios that encounter in
our everyday lives. The scheme often involves a strong key and an extremely diffuse fill. The
following are examples of 2-point lighting:

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➢ Sunlight streams through a window. the light bounce from the interior walls serves as a
fill.
➢ Office workers sit in a windowless room lit with overhead fluorescent lights. The light
bounce from the walls, desks, and floor serves as a fill.
➢ A couple walks down a sidewalk on a sunny day. the light bounces off the concrete,
providing fill to the bottom of their hands, the underside of their chins, and their eye
sockets

Often 2-point lighting in painted portraits. For example, in the above Figure a man is lit by
a strong key light arriving from the left. a second light source delivers fill from the right; thus,
no part of the person or his outfit is left unlit. this painting was created by Frans hals whose
loose, powerful brushstrokes inspired the impressionism movement. This style of lighting is
called short lighting in studio photography; the side of the head facing away from the camera
receives the key. The opposite style of lighting is called broad lighting, in which the side of the
head facing the camera receives the key.

Using 3-Point Lighting

Perhaps the most commonly discussed and applied lighting technique is 3-point
lighting. Descriptions can be found in numerous 3d, film, and video instructional materials.
Although 3-point lighting is a reliable way to light many scenes, it has inherent drawbacks. In
the standard 3-point lighting scheme, a strong key is placed to one side of a subject
(approximately 15 to 45 degrees off the camera axis). A fill light is placed on the opposite side
and is at least half the intensity of the key (Figure below). A rim light is placed behind the
subject so that it grazes the subject’s edge.

Using Naturalistic Lighting

Naturalistic lighting is an adaptable scheme that matches the natural lighting scenar iaotion
of the subject location. Any light that is visible is logically driven by a recognizable source.
Naturalistic lighting is sometimes called “transparent” in that no artificial lighting methods can
be detected. Another way to define naturalistic lighting is to list what it lacks:

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➢ Unmotivated shadows
➢ Impossibly distinct rim light
➢ Perfectly placed lights that never permit a character to fall into shadow or be
unglamorously lit

In the field of motion pictures, there are numerous examples of non-naturalistic lighting.
Many films feature stylized or exaggerated lighting. this is particularly evident with musicals,
which are fantastic by their very nature. Such films as The Band Wagon (1953) and Silk
Stockings (1957) employ high-key lighting, in which the fill light is intense and there is a low
key-to-fill ratio. The characters in these films are therefore evenly lit and carry a minimum
number of deep, dark shadows. High-key lighting is also evident in many television sitcoms,
in which it is necessary to keep a character well lit at all positions on the set. Similar lighting
is employed for advertising and catalog art (see Figure Below).

In other situations, non-naturalistic lighting is a result of technical limitations or time

and budget restrictions. a common problem with older motion pictures is the unintended
creation of unmotivated, multiple shadows. For example, light representing the sun casts
multiple shadows of a character on the ground. More commonly, a lamp casts multiple, distinct
shadows of its own fixture (see Figure below). This is caused by a need to illuminate a set with
multiple lights to attain correct exposure even though the desired light source—in terms of the
story—is singular.

Using Stylized Lighting

Stylized lighting pays no heed to the real world but fabricates fantastic sources of light
or simply ignores the lighting information altogether. The oldest form of stylized lighting caantion
be called 0-point lighting. In this case, lighting plays no part in the artistic

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representation. You can see this in prehistoric art, as well as in the art of ancient or primitive
cultures (see Figure below). To this day, 0-point lighting survives as line-art cartoons.

Stylized lighting is well suited for 3d animation, since the medium places no limitation
on the type of lighting employed.

3D Textures
3D textures are procedural. That is, they are generated mathematically through
predefined algorithms. Procedural textures are resolution independent and do not have defined
edges or borders. Many of the algorithms employed by Maya make use of fractal math, which
defines non regular geometric shapes that have the same degree of non regularity at all scales.
Thus, Maya 3D textures are suitable for many shading scenarios found in the natural world.
For example, the addition of 3D textures to a shading network can distress and dirty a clean
floor and wall (see Figure).

When you MMB-drag a 3D texture into the Hypershade work area or choose it through
the create render node window, a 3D placement utility is automatically connected to the texture
and named place3dTexture (see Figure).

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The scale, translation, and rotation of the 3D placement utility’s placement box affect
the way in which the texture is applied to the assigned object. if the assigned object is scaled,
translated, or rotated, it will pick up different portions of the texture. By default, new
placement boxes are positioned at 0, 0, 0 in world space and are 2 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 2 units large. If the
3D placement utility is deleted or its connection is broken, Maya assumes that the 3D
texture
sample is at its default size and position.

The 3D placement utility determines the color of each surface point by locating the
point’s position within the placement box. each position derives a potentially unique color.
This process is analogous to a surface dipped into a square bucket of swirled paint or a surface
chiseled from a solid cube of veined stone. Should the surface sit outside the placement box,
the surface continues to receive a unique piece of texture border at the edge of the placement
box. A significant advantage of 3D textures, and the use of the 3D placement utility, is the
disregard of a surface’s UV texture space.

Camera Tracked 3D Animations

Introduction

One of the biggest advancements in 3D animation is camera tracking. Put simply, it is

the process of combining real video footage with 3D animation. The finished result is amazing
as the subtle irregularities of reality are picked up perfectly in 3D. A well prepared scene will
have 3D additions that aren't noticeable at all.

This kind of special effect used to be restricted to big-budget Hollywood, but now most
companies can have access to it.

Shooting the video footage

At Archiform 3D, People now use helicopters and High-Definition video cameras the
most. Aerial footage is the best way to portray large, unique projects and helicopters give us
the flexibility we need to get almost any kind of shot.

Advancements in camera technology also means that the typical gyro-stabilized camera
mounts are not necessary as the image stabilization in the camera and the work we can do in
post gets a shot that is rock steady. Large budget movies can afford to have expensive
stabilization pods and even better cameras, but made for TV, corporate or real estate budgets
can’t stretch that far. Archiform 3D has always been a specialist in getting maximum value for
money, so hand held, in harness shots are 90% of our work.

High-definition video cameras also give us an incredibly clear, sharp image with the
resolution we need to accurately process the footage. And to make the process even faster,
these cameras interface either directly or via a tape deck to our work stations.

While Archiform 3D's rates are fixed we do not include the helicopter costs, so you
need to budget them. Helicopters cant be the least expensive ones either - they should preferable
be large jet turbine models that don't bounce around and have the power to carry out the
maneuvers that we need to get the best shots. For an hour of time in the air your should allow
between $800 and $1200. ation

Tracking the video

Firstly the video is stabilized. This process, while taxing on a workstation, doesn't
actually require much human time - just hours of CPU time. All the bumps and jumps from

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the footage are removed and the result is silky smooth video. If the shot is god then less
stabilization is needed, but if it was taken from a small helicopter or in turbulent weather then
more is needed and there is a slight reduction in finished quality.

The actual tracking of the video is partly automated task although still requires a great
deal of human time. The simple fact is that it is a very complex process that cannot be done by
man or computer alone. Points in the video are marked and through a process of manual input
and automated tracking the computer determines a set of moving 3D coordinates that depict
where the camera was at each point in time. As you may imagine, especially if you have a
mathematical background, the computational power to determine this and track the points is
somewhat huge and would have been next to impossible in the recent past.

The process of tracking a few minutes of video footage can take days, possible weeks,
depending on the quality of the shoot and the subject.

Adding the 3D animation

Building the 3D model itself is a different process again, so from this point on we will
assume it is done. The camera coordinates are brought into the 3D scene as is the stabilized
footage. Then there is another painstaking process, which is aligning the camera and the 3D
model with the video background. Even though the footage is tracked the coordinates will not
actually relate to the 3D scene until adjustments are made. This may take hours or days to get
right. Then the lighting in the 3D scene needs to be adjusted to match the lighting on the actual
day the video was shot. The idea is to get a seamless combination of the model and reality.

Other factors come in to play as well, such as foreground objects in the video. These
require a technique called rotoscoping, which is a moving layer of transparency that is added
to the final 3D rendered footage to ensure that anything that is supposed to be in front of the
building is still there after the 3D footage has been added. Once again this is a computer/human
combination that can take some time. Normal rates for Archiform 3D to create camera tracked
3D animations do NOT include rotoscoping and we will shoot to avoid it's need, but if you
require it we can do it for an additional fee.

Uses for tracked 3D animations

It is likely you have seen camera tracked 3D animations many times, you just haven't
known it. The technique started where all cool 3D techniques come from - Hollywood. The use
of 3D has grown so much and the need for virtual sets has also grown. But virtual sets cant
always be perfect and the need to blend reality became overwhelming.

For example, imagine you want a scene of travelers on camels riding to the pyramids
of Egypt but set in BC times. You could build it all in 3D but to get it perfect and have your
actors in the scene gets hard and expensive. Camera tracking allows you to use real actors, real
camels and real desert, fly over in a helicopter and then add the pyramids, city and people in
3D. You now have a perfect scene that can have your actor somewhere that is real but thousands
of years ago.

Archiform 3D has used the technique for new buildings and features. We fly over in a
helicopter and then add in the new work so the viewer sees it as though it was complete. If thaetion
property has some kind of unique or attractive feature, like a beach, lake, park or great location,
then this technique is quite valuable.

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Applications & Software of 3D Animation

Uses
3D modelers are used in a wide variety of industries. The medical industry uses them
to create detailed models of organs. The movie industry uses them to create and manipulate
characters and objects for animated and real-life motion pictures. The video game industry uses
them to create assets for video games. The science sector uses them to create highly detailed
models of chemical compounds. The architecture industry uses them to create models of
proposed buildings and landscapes. The engineering community uses them to design new
devices, vehicles and structures as well as a host of other uses. There are typically many stages
in the "pipeline" that studios and manufacturers use to create 3D objects for film, games, and
production of hard goods and structures.

Features
Many 3D modelers are general-purpose and can be used to produce models of various
real-world entities, from plants to automobiles to people. Some are specially designed to model
certain objects, such as chemical compounds or internal organs.

3D modelers allow users to create and alter models via their 3D mesh. Users can add,
subtract, stretch and otherwise change the mesh to their desire. Models can be viewed from a
variety of angles, usually simultaneously. Models can be rotated and the view can be zoomed
in and out.

3D modelers can export their models to files, which can then be imported into other
applications as long as the metadata is compatible. Many modelers allow importers and
exporters to be plugged-in, so they can read and write data in the native formats of other
applications.
Most 3D modelers contain a number of related features, such as ray tracers and other
rendering alternatives and texture mapping facilities. Some also contain features that support
or allow animation of models. Some may be able to generate full-motion video of a series of
rendered scenes (i.e. animation).

Major packages

A comprehensive comparison of significant 3D packages and software are as follows:

3ds Max (Autodesk), originally called 3D Studio MAX. 3ds Max is used in many industries
that utilize 3D graphics. It is used in the video game industry for developing models and
creating cinema cut-scenes. It is used in architectural visualizations because it is highly
compatible with AutoCAD--also developed by Autodesk. Additionally 3ds Max is used in film
production. With its price of around $3500 USD, it is one of the more expensive products in
the market for this type of work.

AC3D (Inivis) is another 3D modeling application that began in the 90's on the Amiga
platform. While it is used in a number of industries, MathWorks actively recommends it in
many of their aerospace related articles due to price and compatibility. Additionally it is the
first commercial 3D modeler to integrate full support for exporting models to the metaverse
platform Second Life. AC3D is priced in the range of $79 USD and is available for Mac OS Xa,t i on
Windows and Linux.

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Aladdin4D (DiscreetFX), first developed for the Amiga, was originally developed by Adspec
Programming in Ohio. It developed an enthusiastic following and sold over 18,000 copies on
the Amiga platform alone. After being acquired by visual effects company DiscreetFX, the
package has finally been repositioned as a multi-platform product for Mac OS X, Amiga OS
4.1, MorphOS, Linux, AROS and Windows. It is priced at $99.95 USD and is available for
Windows, Linux, MorphOS, Amiga OS 4 and AROS.

Cinema 4D (MAXON) is a slightly lighter package than the others in its basic configuration.
The software is claimed to be artist-friendly, and is designed with the less-technical user in
mind. It has a lower initial entry cost due to a modular a-la-carte design for purchasing
additional functions as users need them. For example, a module called MoGraph allows the
user to create motion graphics titles more easily. Originally developed for the Commodore
Amiga, it is also available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Electric Image Animation System (EI Technology Group) is a 3D animation and rendering
package available on both Mac OS X and Windows. Mostly known for its rendering quality
and rendering speed it does not include a built-in modeler. EIAS features the ability to handle
very large polygon counts. Recently, the blockbuster film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse
of the Black Pearl" and the Television hit "Lost" utilized the software.

Inventor (Autodesk) The Autodesk Inventor product line provides a comprehensive and
flexible set of software for 3D mechanical design, product simulation, tooling creation, and
design communication that help cost-effectively take advantage of a Digital Prototyping
workflow to design and build better products in less time.

LightWave 3D (NewTek), first developed for the Amiga, was originally bundled as part of
the Video Toaster package and entered the market as a low cost way for TV production
companies to create quality CG for their programming. It first gained public attention with its
use in the TV series "Babylon 5". Lightwave is used extensively in film production. It is priced
at $795 USD and is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

Maya (Autodesk) is currently used in the film and television industry. Maya has a high
learning curve but has developed over the years into an application platform in and of itself
through extendibility via its MEL programming language. A common alternative to using the
default built in rendering system named mental ray is Pixar's Renderman. In 2005, Autodesk,
acquired Alias--the original creator of Maya. Maya comes in two versions: Maya Complete
($1999 USD) and Maya Unlimited ($4995 USD).

Softimage (Autodesk) is feature-similar to Maya and is sold as a competitive alternative. It is

used in the production of professional films, commercials, video games, and other media.
Softimage (formerly Softimage|XSI) is a 3D modeling and animation package that integrates
with mental ray rendering. Prior to its acquisition by Avid and later Autodesk, Softimage, Co.
originally promoted its predecessor for use in the video game industry and secured its
promotion as part of the Nintendo N64 SDK.

Solid Edge ( Siemens PLM Software) is a commercial application for design, drafting,
analysis, and simulation of products, systems, machines and tools. All versions include feature-
ation
based parametric modeling, assembly modeling, drafting, sheetmetal, weldment, freefor m
surface design, and data management. Application-programming interfaces enable

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scripting in Visual Basic and C programming. The Solid Edge Velocity series is Siemens' mid-
range CAD software product family.

Swift 3D (Electric Rain) Swift 3D is a powerful, approachable, and relatively inexpensive 3D

design, modeling, and animation application targeted to entry-level 3D users and Adobe Flash
designers. Swift 3D is the de-facto Mac OS X & Windows application for vector and raster-
based 3D animations for Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight XAML. Swift 3D is the only
3D software to directly integrate with Flash through the Swift 3D File Importer and SmartLayer
Technology, which separates the exported 3D animation into different layers (Colors, Outlines,
Shadows, Highlights, Reflections and Transparency), giving designers additional creative
control. Initially a pioneer in the 3D-to-vector Flash world, Swift 3D is now accepted as a
highly-capable and versatile 3D authoring application, while maintaining its reputation as the
marquee tool for producing vector-based 3D content for Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. It is
priced at $249 USD.

*** End of Unit III ***

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Unit IV

Motion Capture - What is it?

Motion capture is defined as "The creation of a 3D representation of a live performance." in
the book Understanding Motion Capture for Computer Animation and Video Games by Alberto
Menache. This is in contrast to animation that is created 'by hand' through a process known as
keyframing.

Motion capture (AKA Mocap) used to be considered a fairly controversial tool for
creating animation. In the early days, the effort required to 'clean up' motion capture data often
took as long as if the animation was created by an animator, from scratch. Thanks to hard work
by the manufacturers of motion capture systems as well as numerous software developers,
motion capture has become a feasible tool for the generation of animation.

Software tools for working with motion-captured data, such as MotionBuilder , have
evolved to the point where animators now have the means to edit and blend takes from multiple
capture sessions and mix and match them with keyframed animation techniques; allowing great
control of style and quality of final output, for anything ranging from realistic to 'cartoony'
motion.

Motion Caption
Introduction

Traditional character animation is an involved process that takes large amounts of time
using skilled artists to manually pose characters using tools such as 3D Studio Max [Max], Maya
[Maya] or Poser [Poser]. However with the ever increasing demands placed on computer
graphics for better looking 3D scenes and in shorter spaces of time, alternative character
animation techniques are needed.

While the use of forward and backward kinematics can be used to speed up the process
of traditional character positioning, the overall creation phase is still a comparatively slow one.
Therefore, to meet the demands of modern character animation many production houses have
turned to motion capture technologies, in a bid to find a better solution. With the aid of motion
capture techniques much of the laborious posture configuration is eliminated as character
animation is recorded directly from actors performing the desired motion, thereby reducing the
need of artists to manually position characters.

Motion capture devices allow the recording of live motions by tracking a number of key
points in space over time, which are translated into a 3 dimensional digital representation. The
captured subject can be anything that exists in the real world, with the key points positioned on
the object such that they best represent the orientations of the moving parts of the object, for
example the joints or pivot points. In order to accurately triangulate marker positions at least 4
cameras are used, however generally no more than 32 are used. ation
Motion capture is most hot topic in today’s world. Motion capture has spread everywhere
from movies to television commercials, from sports titles to action games, even to click-and-
explore adventures. Publishers are climbing all over each other trying to get the words “Motion-

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Captured 3D Characters” on their boxes. A lot of hype has been loaded onto those words, often
to the player’s disappointment. As usual, expectations exceed what the technology can truly
deliver. But we’re getting so much closer; we have new ripping hardware and the experience
from past-generation motion capture downfalls. Yet the desire for more keeps increasing.

The hype has gotten so over-the-top that for the last couple of years, It has been
threatening to put out VIRTUA HANGMAN as a demo at E3. I can just see it, these realistic real-time
3D characters marching up to the gallows as you relentlessly guess letters. If we want to be
cliché, we could even have a 3D character turning the letters. Now that would be an excessive
use of technology. While I wouldn’t consider using motion capture for characters better suited
to traditional key framing, motion capture technology clearly has a place in game development.
Luckily, the techniques needed for programmers to apply motion capture data to real time
characters work equally well with any type of animation data, be it key framed, motion captured,
or animated through procedural dynamics.

The Need of Motion Capturing

Let’s imagine a scenario in which your brilliant producers have assigned you, the
programmer, to develop a real-time 3D character based game. They have charged you with the
tasks of designing the game engine and creating the production pathway. For a variety of design,
budgetary, and staffing reasons, you’ve decided to use motion capture to supply the bulk of your
animation data.

Your first task is to decide where you’re going to get this data. It doesn’t really matter
whether you have your own capture setup or a service bureau is doing it for you plan on plenty
of cleanup time. Motion capture is not simple. The data needs quite a bit of massaging to get it
ready for the game, and you can get in trouble by underestimating the amount of post-production
work the data needs. You also need to be aware that motion capture data is specific to the
hierarchy and body dimensions of the person captured. It’s possible, but tricky, to scale this
motion to other body types and sizes. However, I would recommend getting all your data from
one session with one capture artist. This will make your life much easier in the long run.

Still, as an experienced production company, you won’t be burdened with these details
because your producers have budgeted the motion capture session correctly. Now you need to
decide how you want this data to come to you. Other formats exist, but the Bio vision
(.BVA/.BVH) formats and the Acclaim Motion format are the big ones, and all the service
bureaus and animation packages support these.

Your file format decision depends on your application and engine needs. You can bring
these formats into a commercial animation package and export the data from there, but the
formats are very compact and easy to use with your own tool set.

Definition of Terms ation

We’ll refer to the character that you apply motion capture data to as a skeleton. The
skeleton is made up of bones. To create the character’s looked, you attach geometry or weighted
mesh vertices to these bones. The attributes that describe the position, orientation, and scale of
a

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bone will be referred to as channels. By varying the value in a channel over time, you get
animation. These channels are combined into an animation stream. These streams can have a
variable number of channels within them. Each slice of time is called a frame. In most
applications, animation data has 30 frames per second, though that’s not always the case.

Motion Caption Formats

BIOVISION’S .BVA FORMAT.
This is probably the easiest file format to handle. It’s directly supported by most of
the 3D animation packages. Let’s take a look at a piece of a .BVA file (Listing 1). This is as
simple as animation data gets. For each bone in the skeleton (or what Biovision calls
Segments), there are nine channels of animation. These represent the translation, rotation,
and scale values for each bone for each frame. You’ll also notice that there is no hierarchy
definition. That’s because each bone is described in its actual position (translation, rotation,
and scale) for each frame. This can lead to problems, but it sure is easy to use. Figure 1
shows the hierarchy of a sample .BVA file. In Listing 1, we see that Hips as the first bone
described. There are 29 frames of animation in the Hips. The frame time is described as
0.03333 seconds (per frame), which corresponds
to 30 frames per second. Next comes a description of the channels and units used, then the actual
channel data. There are 29 lines of nine values, followed by a segment block that describes the
next bone, and so on, continuing to the end of the file. That’s all there is to it.

BIOVISION’S .BVH FORMAT.

This format is similar to the .BVA format in many respects. In practice, I know of no
off the shelf way to import this file format into Alias|Wavefront or Softimage, although
Biovision’s plug-in, Motion Manager for 3D Studio MAX, reads it. Still, it’s an easy-to-read
ASCII format that can be useful for importing and storing animation data. Obtaining data in
this format should be easy because the format is supported by many motion capture devices
and service bureaus. ation

The .BVH format differs from the .BVA format in several key areas, the most
significant of which is that .BVH can store motion for a hierarchical skeleton. This means
that the motion

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of the child bone is directly dependent on the motion of the parent bone. Figure 2 shows a
sample .BVH format hierarchy.

In this sample, the bone Hips is the root of the skeleton. All other bones are children of
the Hips. The rotation of the LeftHip is added to the rotation and translation of the Hips, and so
on. This hierarchy will certainly complicate the game engine’s render loop. Why would you
want to bother? You can do many more interesting things if your motion is in a hierarchy. Let’s
take the example of wanting to combine a “walk” motion with a “wave” motion. In the .BVA
format, there is no relationship between the LeftUpArm and the Hips. If we were to apply a
different motion to the different bones, nothing would stop them from separating. A motion
hierarchy allows you to combine such motions fairly easily. Also, should we ever want to add
inverse kinematics or dynamics to the game engine, a hierarchy would make this possible.
Listing 2 shows a fragment of a .BVH file.

The word HIERARCHY in the first line signifies the start of the skeleton definition
section. The first bone that is defined is the ROOT. This bone is the parent to all other bones in
the hierarchy. Each bone in this hierarchy is defined as a JOINT. Braces contain the root and
each joint. All joints within a set of braces are the children of that parent joint.

Within each braced block is the OFFSET and CHANNELS definition for that bone (or
JOINT). The OFFSET describes displacement of the root of the bone from its parent. This
(x,y,z) coordinate is the world coordinate offset from the parent bone. In the example, the Hips
bone ation
is located at offset (0,0,0) and the LeftHip is 3.43 world units away from the Hips in the x axis.

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The CHANNELS line defines which bone parameters will be animating in the file. The
first parameter is the number of channels animated for this bone. Next is a data type for each
of these channels. The possible types are: Xposition, Yposition, Zposition, Xrotation,
Yrotation, and Zrotation. Note that the scale channels have been dropped in the .BVH
format.

Normally, only the root bone has any position data — the rest of the bones have only
rotational data and rely on the root and the hierarchy for their position. The CHANNELS can
be in any order. This order defines the sequence in which the operations need to be processed
in the playback.
For example, in the LeftAnkle joint, the order of channels is Zrotation Xrotation
Yrotation, meaning that the bone is first rotated around the z axis, then the x axis, and finally
the y axis. This becomes important when we try to display the data.

The branch of the hierarchy ends with the End Site joint. This joint is offset is only useful
in determining the length of the last bone. Following the HIERARCHY section is the MOTION
section. This section actually describes the animation of each bone over time. As in the .BVA
format, the first two lines of this section describe the number of frames and the time for each
frame. However, unlike the .BVA format, the next lines describe the animation for all the bones
at once. In each line in the rest of the MOTION section, there is a value for every CHANNEL
described in the HIERARCHY section. For example, if the HIERARCHY section describes 56
channels, there will be 56 values on each line of the MOTION section. That continues for the
total number of frames in the animation. That’s it for the .BVH format. While it’s a bit more
complex, it gives the programmer designing the engine greater flexibility.

ACCLAIM SKELETON FORMAT.

This is the most complicated of the three file formats. It’s also the most comprehensive,
and supported by most of the 3D animation packages.

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An Acclaim motion capture file is actually made up of two files; the .ASF, which
describes the actual skeleton and its hierarchy, and the .AMC file, which contains the motion
data. The separation of these two files has a nice [Link] a single motion capture session, you
can have one .ASF file that describes the skeleton and multiple .AMC motion files. The Acclaim
format is such a technical and complex file format that this overview may not provide all the
needed information.

The .ASF file is similar to the HIERARCHY section of the .BVH file in many ways.
Both files describe the joints and the hierarchy, but the .ASF file extends this a bit. Listing 3
displays a portion of an Acclaim .ASF file. In this file format, lines beginning with a pound sign
(#) are ignored. The .ASF file is divided into sections. Each section starts with a keyword
preceded by a colon. The section continues until another keyword is reached. The :version,
:name, and :documentation section are self-explanatory. The :units section describes a definition
for all values and units of measure used.

The :root section describes the parent of the hierarchy. The axis and order elements
describe the order of operations for the initial offset and root node transformation. The position
element describes the root translation of the skeleton and the orientation element defines the
rotation. The :bonedata keyword starts a block that describes all of the remaining bones in the
hierarchy. Each bone is delimited by begin and end statements. This bone description section is
what makes the Acclaim format very useful.

The id and name elements describe the bone by number or string. The initial rest
position of the bone is described by the direction vector, and the length describes the
physical length of the bone. The axis parameter describes the global orientation via an axis
vector, and the token letters xyz describe the order of rotations. Not included in the sample
are two optional elements: bodymass, which defines the mass of the bone, and cofmass
which pinpoints the center of mass via a distance along the bone.

The dof element describes the degrees of freedom possible in the bone. This is a list of
tokens. The possible values are tx, ty, tz, rx, ry, rz, and l. The first of these six define freedom
to translate and rotate around the three axes. The last dof defines the bone’s ability to stretch in
length over time. Each of these tokens represents a channel that will be present in the .AMC file
in that order. The order of these channel tokens also describes the order of operations in the
transformation of the bone.

The limits element is very interesting. It describes the limits of the degrees of freedom.
It consists of value pairs of either floats or the keyword inf, meaning infinite. This information
can be useful for setting up an inverse kinematic or dynamic 3D character.

Usage of Motion Capture

Games Game development is the largest market for motion capture. With games drawing as

much revenue as movies, it is easy to see why game development often calls for enormous ation
quantities of motion capture. The immense competition to produce the 'coolest game
possible'

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means that greater production capabilities mean higher quality. More time is left for aesthetic
finishing touches and fine-tuning of game play.

Generally there are two main types of 3D character animation used in games: Real-time
playback vs. cinematics. Real-time allows the game player to choose from pre-created moves,
thus controlling the character's moves in real-time. Cinematics are the fully rendered 'movies'
used for intros and 'cut-scenes'. Often the last part of game production, or a process that is sub-
contracted to a separate studio, cinematics are generally not essential to game-play, but do add
a lot of appeal to the game, and help immensely with story development and mood generation.

Video and TV
Real-time motion is becoming popular for live television broadcasts. Motion capture can
be used to place a virtual character within a real scene, or to place live actors within a virtual
scene with virtual actors, or virtual characters within a virtual scene.

Motion capture for real-time broadcast requires mock-ups of any non-standard

physiology to keep the performer's motions from causing the character's limbs to interpenetrate
its body. Joint limits on the shoulders and knees also help maintain believability of the character.
A real-time adaptation feature such as MotionBuilder's real-time motion mapping is essential
when the character's body is very different from the actor's body.

When combining live elements with virtual elements the real and virtual cameras must
share the same properties otherwise the illusion looks strange.

The Gypsy is ideal for real-time broadcast animation since it is so easy to transport, fast
to set up, easy to use, and it works well in just about any environment.

Daily Features
Use of the PhaseSpace optical motion capture system, combined with MotionBuilder is
makes it easy to produce daily 3d animated features, allowing TV stations to keep their content
fresh and exciting, and giving viewers yet another reason not to 'touch that dial'.

Post-Production for Ongoing Series

Motion capture for ongoing series is becoming very popular. Creating a weekly show
without motion capture invariably causes shows to be late or production studios to go bankrupt.
Having an efficient motion capture pipeline is essential to the success of an ongoing character
animation based series.

Film
Motion capture is being used more and more in films nowadays. Motion capture
based
animation is essential for creating characters that move realistically, in situations that would be
impractical or too dangerous for real actors. Motion capture was also used extensively in Titanic
for 'filler' characters or in situations with virtual camera fly-bys over a virtual ship. Many ao ft i o n
these shots would have been difficult or impossible to do with real cameras and a real ship, or
real models, so virtual models, actors, and cameras were used. Some film characters require the
use of motion capture, otherwise their animation seems fake. More and more independent

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companies are starting to put together desktop studios - The idea of two or three people creating
an entire movie is not that far off, if motion capture is used correctly. The Gypsy is ideal for
small and large shops. Motion capture animation can be done very quickly and inexpensively,
without scheduling expensive motion capture sessions in a studio.

Web
Motion capture is ideal for the web, whether used to create virtual hosts or greeting
cards.
As the web becomes more sophisticated and bandwidth increases, motion capture will help bring
a 'human element' to the web, in the form of characters that viewers can relate to and interact
with.

Live events
Motion capture generated Performance Animation can be thought of as 'Improvisation
meets Computer Graphics (CG)'. At trade shows, meetings or press conferences, a good
improviser acting through a CG character in real-time can create a very intriguing lasting
experience for the viewer. Integration with live actors further helps create a fascinating
experience.

Scientific research
Motion capture is useful for perceptual research. By presenting test subjects with abstract
movements, distilled from motion capture data, repeatable experiments can be developed that
provide insights into human perception.

Biomechanical analysis
Biomechanical analysis for rehabilitation purposes, relies extensively on motion capture,
for its ability to produce repeatable results. Motion capture can be used to measure the extent of
a client's disability as well as a client's progress with rehabilitation. Motion capture can also
help in effective design of prosthetic devices.

Engineering
Motion capture is essential for producing product designs that are ergonomically
practical, as well as designs for physical products that are comfortable and appealing. The Gypsy
has tremendous advantages over optical or magnetic systems when it comes to working in an
enclosed space, such as a car interior or an aircraft cockpit. Optical systems are easily occluded
and require a large distance between the subject and the cameras. Magnetic systems have major
problems with metal in the capture space.

Education
Motion capture training can make a huge difference in an animators training. While
access to motion capture is not a substitute for developing good art skills and good traditional
character animation abilities, it can go a long way towards making someone more emplo yablae.t ion

Motion Caption Methods

It is sometimes suggested that the roots of motion capture can be seen in the motion

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studies of Eadweard Muybridge and Etienne Jules Marey. In the form we think of it today,

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mocap technology has been developing since the 1970s, when it was created for military use,
and has been used in entertainment since the [Link] the years, mocap has taken many
forms, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Following is a summary of three types of
mocap used in entertainment and the ways in which they work.

1. Mechanical
❖ Performer wears a human-shaped set of straight metal pieces (like a very basic skeleton) that
is hooked onto the performer's back; as the performer moves, this exoskeleton is forced to
move as well and sensors in each joint feel the rotations
❖ Other types of mechanical motion capture involve gloves, mechanical arms, or articulated
models(like Monkey), which are used for 'key framing'
❖ pro: no interference from light or magnetic fields
❖ con: a) the technology has no awareness of ground, so there can be no jumping, plus feet
data tends to slide, b) equipment must be calibrated often. c) unless there is some other type
of sensor in place, it does not know which way the performer's body is pointing, d) absolute
positions are not known but are calculated from the rotations.

2. Optical
❖ Performer wears reflective dots that are followed by several cameras and the information is
triangulated between them
❖ Markers are either reflective, such as a system manufactured by Vicon or Motion Analysis,
or infra-red emitting, many of which have been developed for musical applications (such as
conducting)
❖ Developed primarily for biomedical applications (sports injuries, analysis of athletic
performance, etc.)
❖ pro: a) performer feels free to move due to no cables connecting body to the equipment,
b) larger volumes possible, c) more performers are possible, d) very clean, detailed data
❖ con: a) it is prone to light interference, b) reflective dots can be blocked by performers or
other structures, causing loss of data, or occlusion-this can be compensated for with software
which estimates the position of a missing dot, c) rotations of body parts must be solved for
and are not absolute, d) performer must wear a suit with dots and balls (20-30 for body, in
1995), which may be uncomfortable, e) information has to be post-processed or 'tracked'
before viewing so performer cannot see his or her image and so cannot be as creative or
identify potential problems (a hand hitting a giant nose, for example), f) higher cost than
magnetic (a cost of US$150,000 to 250,000 in 1995), g) tracking can take 1-2 minutes per
captured second for straightforward data (complicated can take 15- 30 minutes per second,
according to 1995 data)

3. Electromagnetic (magnetic)
❖ Performer wears an array of magnetic receivers which track location with respect to a
static magnetic transmitter
❖ One of the first uses was for the military, to track head movements of pilots
❖ Often this type of motion capture is layered with animation from other input devices
❖ The two main manufacturers of this type of motion capture equipment are Polhemus and
Ascension
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❖ pro: a) positions are absolute, rotations are measure absolutely; orientation in space can be
determined, which is very useful, b) can be real-time, which allows immediate broadcast as
well as the opportunity for performers to puppeteer themselves with instantaneous feedback
(more spontaneity in the performance), c) relatively cheaper than optical (1995 price under
US$40,000 for a typical system)
❖ con: a) magnetic distortion occurs as distance increases, b) data can be noisy - it's not as
good as optical, c) prone to interference from magnetic fields - cement floors usually contain
metal, so stages must be built, d) performers wear cables connecting them to a computer,
which limits their freedom, e) in 1995, sampling speed too low for many sports applications

The typical magnetic motion capture session is run much like a film shoot. Careful
rehearsal ensures that the performers are familiar with the constraints of the tethers and the
available 'active' space for capture. Rehearsal often includes the grips for the cables to ensure
that their motion aligns to the motion of the performers. The script is broken down into
manageable shot lengths and is often story boarded prior to motion capture. Each shot may be
recorded several times, and an audio track is often used as a synchronizing element.

Because the magnetic systems provide data in real-time, the director and actors can
observe the results of the motion capture both during the actual take and immediately after, with
audio playback and unlimited ability to adjust the camera for a better view. The tight feedback
loop makes magnetic motion capture ideally suited for situations in which the motion range is
limited and direct interaction between the actor, director, and computer character is important.
Today, wireless magnetic systems are available from Ascension, for example, though the
performer still must wear a relatively bulky pack of materials on his or her suit.

Other types of motion capture technologies include: sonic, which employs ultrasound
and is subject to several types of interference; biofeedback sensing, which measures bodily
movement from the heart, brain, retina, eyes, skin, and muscles, and is used extensively in
biomechanical and sports related work, but also has been used for music performance; electric
field sensing, in which the body either works as a transmitter or a source of interference, which
is measured; inertial systems, which measure acceleration, orientation, angle of incline and other
characteristics; and video, employing optical technologies which can detect changes in
luminescence and color.

Part of what makes motion capture technology such a challenge is the speed at which
everything must occur. In real-time mocap, within 1/30th of a second, the length of one frame
of video, motion must be sampled, data must be applied to a digital scene representing various
body parts of a character, and a scene must be rendered into a digital image. Depending on the
system used, interference of the signals can impede accurate collection of data.

Motion Capture Expression

In full body motion capture, typically sensors, or markers, are placed at selected joints
on the performer. Several marker segments make up a body segment and each has a 'weight' -
that is, influence or priority in bone hierarchy (degrees of freedom). Movements of perfo r mearsti on
captured in real-time mocap can be supplemented with automated movements, such as
blinking,

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breathing, hand gestures, or secondary actions (for example, when a foot hits ground, its toes
spread out).

These are called 'expressions': program components written to control a number of low-
level features from one high-level attribute, so that the movement becomes more interesting.
Related to this are voice recognition systems, such as one developed by Shane Cooper at
Protozoa, which allow almost real-time synchronization of mouth movements with words;
however, the movements necessarily follow the words and so are at least slightly out of synch.
Cooper says that the proper way to work is actually through the audio bank: to have visuals
rendered from audio information, not vice-versa. He has not been able to perfect his work,
though, because the mocap systems he works with are led by visual material (that is, movement
of some sort other than sound waves).

Although the above categories- mechanical, optical, magnetic, sonic, biofeedback,

electric field, inertial, and video-are common ways of classifying mocap, another means is by
whether a system is 'active' or 'passive'. Active devices include magnetic equipment and
synchronized lights, if used in optical motion capture, while passive systems most commonly
refer to the use of reflective markers in optical mocap. Passive systems usually are more
economical, since there is more 'wear and tear' on active devices. However, the cost of the
passive optical mocap process overall generally is higher than the active magnetic mocap
process, since optical usually involves more post-production and magnetic is often employed
for real-time animation without labor-intensive post processing.

There are also categories for the motion capture itself, most commonly divided into the
areas of body movement, facial capture, and hand gestures. Special facial capture systems and
gloves can be used to record the more subtle movements of faces and hands that add personality
to animated images. Typically, this recording is done separately from the body capture, though
it can be done all at once. Shane Cooper notes that "people are very critical of facial animation,"
in terms of sensing the 'realism' of a character.

Though audiences are perhaps not as critical about the hands of characters, nonetheless
these appendages are very important to the animation process. As a result, most 'high quality'
mocap will involve post production facial animation and work on hand gestures, to create
nuances that make characters more complex. However, in low-budge productions, little post
work is done.
Expression Capture Software’s

Real-Time Animation Tools

Using tools that are designed for non-technical artists, you'll get instant playback of
character performances, alleviating the need to preview or render your work. The real-time
capabilities of MotionBuilder makes it the character animation software of choice whether for
an individual artist, or as the animation backbone of a large production pipeline.

Revolutionary Character Technology ation

With its powerful full body FK/IK manipulation rig, Autodesk® Motionbuilder provides
powerful automated character setup, so you can quickly setup a powerful rig, independent of

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your character's size or proportions. You can customize the look and feel of a character's
manipulation rig easily, without the need for scripting or constraint setups. You can also
repurpose an animated motion from one character to another with real-time motion retargeting.

Unified Non-Linear Editing Environment

The story timeline for pre-visualization and layout saves even more production time by
allowing you to easily blend, edit and sequence tracks composed of animations, cameras, digital
video, and audio. You can also make camera shot decisions and re-order and re-time your shots
"on-the-fly", similar to traditional non-linear video editing.

FBX
Autodesk® MotionBuilder™ 7.5 natively supports FBX, a platform-independent, high-
end 3D authoring and interchange format. It lets you acquire and exchange 3D assets and media
from a wide variety of sources quickly and easily. FBX is widely supported by the industry's
leading software and hardware manufacturers and film studios.

Different Languages of Script Animation

There is a whole world following the lead of W3C's SMIL-Synchronized Multimedia

Integration Language and defining animations and especially human animation with XML/XSL
derived markup languages. But the whole problem with the XML/XSL approach is what has
been seen in the Web database development arenas. XSL and XSLT can be used to derive fairly
powerful transformations and queries but only of fairly restrictive XML markup and objects.
Call them the XSL languages - they have only the most primitive of notions for conditional
tests, functional/subroutine calls and iterative control of operations - and forget notions of
operators and operator overloadings. The result is that XSL or XSLT based mark ups really
require a XML-smart scripting agent (think Groovy, Java, JavaScript with E4X extensions,
JudoScript, PHP 5, or Ruby) to really get things done. Nonetheless, there are some fascinating
animation components and interactions being built up. Various Script languages are as follows:

RRL - Rich Representation Language (RRL) which is used in the NECA system. The NECA
system generates interactions between two or more animated characters.

VHML - Virtual Human Markup Language is designed to accommodate the various aspects of
Human-Computer Interaction with regards to Facial Animation, Body Animation, Dialogue
Manager interaction, Text to Speech production, Emotional Representation plus Hyper and
Multi Media information. Given no small mandate, much is going on but primarily declarative
not programmatic.

Metaface - provide a SouthPark-like faces with advanced speech and facial expressions which
can be used standalone or in a browser using Java technology and VHML.

BAML - Body Animation Markup Language, like FAML-Facial Animation Markup Languagaet,ion
and others in the VHML set are primarily declarative and then interfaced to Java or other XML
consumers.

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AML- Avatar Markup Language encapsulates Text To Speech content, Facial Animation and
Body Animation in a unified manner with appropriate synchronization information. A top down
VRML influenced markup.

ActionScript is well represented in this world with two products. Swift3D from Electric
Rain and MindAvenue's Axel 2 both offer dramatically improved 2D and 3D modeling
capabilities including smart output to Flash. But the programming interface to both is primitive
with only very basic Action scripts. Developers must do the advanced scripting within Flash
using carefully constructed SWF movie clips. Not the most effective of interfaces.

In contrast there are some vendors offering scripting and 2D/3D animation but a number
appear to be on the brink of solvency. VisViva appears to have a very powerful 3D and
animation creation system with a nifty language, Script V, that is Web facing. But emails to the
company received no reply. Small has been made open source and is an elegant c-like language
for animation and games; but it appears continued development is limited.

Mel scripting
Mel stands for Maya Embedded language and it's a script language similar to C
embedded in Maya. Code written in Mel can be executed from the script editor, from the shelves
and from drop down menus.

Mel lets the user have more access and more control than the User Interface; some
functions of the software and advanced options are only available by using Mel. All maya
preferences are maya code so are the drop down menus. This means that it is always possible,
with a little digging, to retrieve the mel commands and mel functions that maya calls when you
click a specific button of the UI.

Mel is not object oriented, this means it is not possible create classes and methods or
functions associated to it as you would in C++ or Python. This however shouldn't be seen as a
mere limitation because it gives Mel a strong structure making it accessible and easier to
understand to Maya users and to first time programmers. Also the linear scripting nature of the
language would assist the user in making the most of the maya nodes instead of tempting
him/her to make its own objects, as in case of object oriented languages.

Python
Python is a dynamic object-oriented programming language that can be used for many
kinds of software development. It offers strong support for integration with other languages and
tools, comes with extensive standard libraries, and can be learned in a few days. Many Python
programrs report substantial productivity gains and feel the language encourages the
development of higher quality, more maintainable code.

Python runs on Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS X, OS/2, Amiga, Palm Handhelds, and
Nokia mobile phones. Python has also been ported to the Java and .NET virtual machines.
Python is distributed under an OSI-approved open source license that makes it free to use, eveantion
for commercial products. The Python Software Foundation (PSF) holds and protects the
intellectual property rights behind Python.

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Following are the important features of Python:

Readable syntax and strong introspection capabilities
Intuitive object orientation
Natural expression of procedural code full modularity
Supporting hierarchical packages
Exception-based error handling
Very high level dynamic data
types
Extensive standard libraries and third party modules for virtually every task extensions
Modules easily written in C, C++ (or Java for Jython, or .NET languages for IronPython)
embeddable within applications as a scripting interface.

ActionScript
ActionScript is a scripting language based on ECMAScript. ActionScript is used
primarily for the development of websites and software using the Adobe Flash Player platform,
but is also used in some database applications, and in basic robotics, as with the Make Controller
Kit. Originally developed by Macromedia, the language is now owned by Adobe. ActionScript
was initially designed for controlling simple 2D vector animations made in Adobe Flash. Later
versions added functionality allowing for the creation of Web-based games and rich Internet
applications with streaming media.

**** End of Unit IV ****

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Unit V
Concept (Conceptualizing) Development

This Topic describes the typical sequence of tasks required to complete an

animation project. Let’s pretend you’re an animation studio owner or a top-level
manager in a production facility where you run one or more animation projects. A project
comes to you on day one, and you’ve got to plan and execute the job within a given
amount of time. Your success depends on your ability to manage resources (labor,
computers, and supplies), time (from day one until the deadline), and money (the budget
for the project). What is the work process you must initiate to achieve success?

Conceptualizing the Animation

Often an animation studio head or a lead animator is required to assist the client
in conceptualizing the animation. Sometimes the client may not even know animation is
the solution to the problem. The conceptualization process might not call for animation,
or it might include the possibility of live-action video, photography, and even live
performances. The more experience an animation producer has, the more useful he or
she can be during client contacts. Obviously, client contact requires the highest level of
both animation and personal communications skills.

Conceptualization is the process by which a creative vendor helps a client achieve

a communications goal. If the client wants to sell a designer shoe, for instance, the
conceptualization may take the form of a commercial or a website page. In either case,
the concept must identify the unique sale propositions (USPs) of the shoe (it’s fasionable,
its soft) and present them in a memorable message. This message might be an animation,
live video, graphics or a combination of all three.

As a creative vendor, it’s your job to choose the best combination of media,
images, statements and styles to achieve the client’s goals. If your expertise is animation
youu will be able to address a fair percentage of the requirements of a conceptualization,
but not all. Therefore you will either subordinate your efforts to a creative director who
has broader experience in all media, or you will only meet with clients who require
animation concepts.

At such meetings, and the sessions that follow them, your job will be to solve
problems (or entertain an audience) with animation. A client may have a toy that is
selling poorly west of the Mississippi or a skin cream that employs a new scientific
process. Your job as a conceptualizer is to first understand the client’s problem and be
able to address it with graphic solutions.

Once you think you have the solution, you are required to present it effectively to
the client, who will then have to decide if your solution is worth the money to execute.
As an animator, your solution will tend to be animation oriented, but you must also keep
your mind open for other media that, when combined with animation, will make the ation
solution even more effective. Knowing how to combine animation with video, film, web
site content and even print applications will enhance your effectiveness. And lead you
to

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become a creative director. Your role as an animator therefore may be part of a larger
production or a stand-alone animation.

Sooner or later, your job as a conceptualized must include being able to sketch
your ideas with a pencil and paper. You may need to draw a cute character and convince
your client that the character will win him or her more customers. You may need to
sketch a forest setting or an urban street where your animation will be staged. Finally,
you will be required to create a full, graphic depiction of the entire animation—a series
of drawings, a lot like a comic book. This is called a storyboard.

The Story Development (Storyboard)

The storyboard is the blueprint of an animation. Depending on your role in the
production, you may be required to create the storyboard from scratch, adapt and modify
an existing storyboard, or be given a storyboard that is complete and over while you have
little or no control. I’m going to use a real case study from a recent production.
conceptualization. This project was for JVC’s new line of video projection systems
called D-ILA. The client expressed an interest in creating a one-minute animation that
could introduce the product’s slogan, “Images of Perfection.”

The animation itself would be shown on a D-ILA projector at the National

Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas, the largest technical
tradeshow in the world. The animation had to be completed in 50 days. Because the
projectors were capable of high definition (HD) resolution, the animation would have to
be created in the 1080i HD format, requiring interlaced frames measuring 1,920 pixels
wide by 1,080 pixels high. Given this challenge, I returned to my studio and had a
meeting with Jack Ehrbar, then my chief animator.

Because our meeting only involved the two of us, we sat at a table with a large
pad of white paper. Conceptualization meetings in larger studios or 59 From Concept
to Screen: The Workflow Process advertising agencies can include dozens of people,
so a whiteboard might be used. The paper or whiteboard acts as a kind of visual kick
start, its emptiness prompting you to get thinking.

The first task of conceptualization is to list the objects of the animation. What
does the client want out of the project? These objects might start at the basic level:
➢ Attention to the new product
➢ Immediate sales leads
➢ Product brand recognition
➢ Corporate brand recognition
I usually put basic objects on the board or paper with lots of space beneath,
because once written they demand further details, such as the following:
➢ Attention to the new product
o USPs
o Competitive features
o Weak points ation
o Focus group results

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➢ Immediate sales leads

o Geographic-specific issues
o Direct appeal to action
o Consistency with client collateral
➢ Product brand recognition
o Preexisting product characters or elements
o Preexisting image of the product

Clients who want to know what their customers think about a product often
conduct focus groups. The client, usually anonymously, assembles a group of customers
and has a professional interviewer solicit opinions. Without knowing which company is
sponsoring the group, customers often give frank appraisals that reveal weaknesses and
strengths about the product.

These are concerns that relate to the location in which the animation will appear.
Often, viewer expectations with regard to race, accent, subject matter, and other
demographic issues play a part in animation design, particularly character design.

Collateral consists of material the client is distributing in addition to your

animation. For instance, if the object of an animation is to get the viewer to order a
videotape, should the animation design be adapted to the graphic appearance of the video
and its package?
➢ Radical animation idea
➢ Humor
➢ Clever characters
➢ Corporate brand recognition
➢ Corporate image
➢ Logos and design limitations
➢ Legal issues

Straight away, as an artist, you might look at this outline and think, “What does
all this have to do with a creative design?” A lot. Despite what you might think about
society’s debt to you or your entitlement to enjoy a life of fulfilling, enjoyable work, the
basic fact of life that underscores almost all animation work is that our work is used for
practical purposes. Aside from pure artwork that you might create on spec (that is, you
don’t get paid up front) or under a (rare) grant or commission, your work is going to be
contracted for and judged by its commercial value. That’s why it is important to think
commercially before you create. The closer you can get your creative mind around the
specific business goals of your client, the more completely your end product will satisfy
your client. In the commercial animation business, total client satisfaction is the main
goal.
Learning how to organize your creative thoughts along a predetermined course
of necessities is not such a bad habit to acquire. If you don’t believe me, consider how
many times you’ve sat in front of a blank screen or paper totally lost for an idea. Try
making a personal satisfaction list of what you want out of your animation similar to my ation
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satisfaction list above, and I guarantee the ideas will flow a lot faster. In fact, you
may have to discipline yourself to finish the list as ideas start flowing from your first
notes.

So Jack and I are sitting with this list of client satisfaction issues for the JVC
animation, and we can see some important things forming up right away. Here’s how
our list developed. Under Unique sales points, we wrote “Excellent images, advanced
design chip.” Under Competitive features, we wrote “Best resolution of any projector,
no moving mirrors on chip.” For Weak points, we wrote “Relatively expensive, bulb
lasts 1,000 hours, costs $1,000, $1.00 per hour to run.” Under Focus group results, we
wrote “None.” For Immediate sales leads—Geographic-specific issues, we wrote
“Best to sell in large metro markets, especially New York and LA.” Under Direct
appeal to action, we wrote “Get everyone at NAB to watch the following video
sample reel.” For Consistency with client collateral, we noted “JVC 61 From Concept
to Screen: The Workflow Process Brochure has a full-page logo we should
incorporate as closing frame in animation.”

Under, Product brand recognition—Preexisting product characters or elements,

we noted “Product Slogan: Images of Perfection. Corporate Slogan: JVC Takes You
Further.” I also noted, “Let’s try to find out who actually owns the Nipper the Dog
image?” Jack added, “Egyptian themes popular in current cinema releases (Mummy II,
cover of National Geographic, Indiana Jones).”

Under, Preexisting image of product and Radical animation idea, we wrote “No
controls here. Let’s see how far we can take the client. Humor has to be tasteful and
bicultural (JVC is a Japanese company). Clever characters, but only if they support the
basic sales theme.” Under Corporate brand recognition—Corporate image, we noted
“Excellent engineering at an affordable [Link] bringing out new technology, but
not enough money behind marketing. Need new image for acquired projector line.” (JVC
acquired a division of Hughes that brought video projectors into JVC’s product line.)

Drawing the Storyboard With all of this now on paper, Jack and I let our creative
juices flow. Each idea was filtered through the statements we had written in our list of
objectives. I was keen on using the Nipper the Dog image. This is a really old logo that
goes back to the Victor Company and features a little dog staring into the megaphone of
a wind-up Victrola record player.

Under the picture is a slogan, “His Master’s Voice.” The idea behind this logo is
that the Victrola can record a person’s voice so well that the dog will think it’s real. My
idea was to bring this logo up-to-date and have a dog looking at the screen of the D-ILA
projector and thinking it was really his master. The slogan would be “His Master’s
Image.” I went off to start sketching storyboards that had the dog running repeatedly at
the screen, bouncing off and running back. Finally, the dog, tired out, lifts his leg toward
a fire hydrant that appears onscreen.
ation
Jack took a different approach. He focused on the Egyptian theme and sketched
out a storyboard that was reminiscent of Indiana Jones. In Jack’s story, a group of
Egyptians led by a Dr. Jones tries to break into a pyramid searching for “Images of

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Perfection.” Finally, in the innermost chamber, the explorers find a living pharaoh
watching scenes of his pyramid on the D-ILA projector. This concept especially
countered the bulb-life issue. I’m not as good a storyboard artist as Jack, but after we
were finished, we critiqued each other’s work, pointing out weaknesses, adding ideas in
order to stick to the list of objectives, and otherwise honing the results. Eventually, Jack
finished the two boards in his highly professional hand.

The leg-lifting scene was deleted. It wasn’t in the best of taste obviously. I also
had to call lawyers and the Library of Congress to find out if JVC did or did not own the
logo. JVC thought it was still owned by RCA but were not sure. Jack’s idea got revised
a bit too. We took out the crowd of explorers and honed it down to one Egyptian and Dr.
Jones. The idea worked just as well and it’s easier to animate two characters than eight.

Once the storyboards were done, we set an appointment with the client and then
started to write dialog for the characters in our boards. Adding Dialog It’s not often a
good idea to put dialog in storyboards, unless absolutely necessary for the concept to
work, or unless you are going to send the boards to someone without the benefit of a live
presentation. This is done for two reasons. First, a really good animation board should
work without dialog. This is not to say that dialog is bad. Many great animations can’t
work without the characters talking. It’s just a good test of your visual abilities to try to
create boards that need a minimum of dialog.

The second reason is that clients tend to criticize a board based on text. Text is
easily picked apart. As far as pictures, most clients can’t draw, so they don’t tend to be
critical about pictures. They either like them or they don’t. So if you attach too many
words to your pictures, you are giving the client a chance to criticize and perhaps reject
your work. With animation boards, it’s so much better to go in to a meeting and talk your
way through the dialog. That way, if you see a frown or read displeasure, you can switch
your direction and change the dialog on the spot, that is, if you’re creatively fast on your
feet.

Production Budget
Equipment and Software Obsolescence
In the past, animation equipment was too expensive for a beginner to own. It
wasn’t like today, where you buy a computer for as little as $500 along with some
software for a few thousand dollars and, you’re in business. Back in the 1970s when all
this got started, you had to buy a whole “animation system.”

Computers like the PC and Mac weren’t on the market yet. People didn’t even
know what computers did! The smart guys, who did know, tooled up some computers,
put some proprietary software on them, and sold them as “systems.” These systems, such
as the Bosch FGS4000 and the Dubner CGB-2, sold for upwards of $250,000! That’s a
lot of money even today. Just to impress you with how primitive things were back then,
it was considered cool if your animation system could handle 256 colors onscreen at one ation
time.

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Of course, today, you can buy a video card for $50 that throws millions of colors
on the screen without even trying. Aren’t you glad you’re an animator today? Actually,
in 10 years you’ll be old like me and talking about how long it took to . . .

Okay, how little equipment can you own to get started as an animator?
That’s a good way to start off, isn’t it? Why spend gazillions on a studio if you can start
making “day-one dollars” with no money down. It’s possible. In fact, you don’t need to
own any computers to get started as an animator. Instead you can be a briefcase producer.

Rather than having an office filled with expensive equipment, a briefcase

producer has nothing more than a briefcase. You arrive at a client’s office, show your
reel, get the job, and then hire subcontractors and rental facilities to do the job. You get
the reel, of course, from your internship and entry-level work, done on your employers’
computers. You don’t think this can work for you?

I did it. And I didn’t even have to do an internship or work entry level to get my
first reel. All I did was convince a few animators that I would get work for them. They
gladly lent me their reels and I simply edited them onto a reel of my own, under my
company name, with the appropriate animator’s name preceding each batch of borrowed
clips. In client presentations, I simply said that I represented a group of talented
animators and that I would design the storyboards and make the soundtracks while the
animators did the pictures.

Whenever you buy equipment for a business, you should be familiar with some
basic concepts about money and investing. This topic covers these simple ideas first,
and then the basic tool set for a beginner’s animation workstation will be outlined.
After that, you will learn how to build on that workstation until you have a fairly
diverse platform suitable for animation and compositing productions. I’ll take a chance
and name some products that seem to have lasting value, although they will certainly
go through upgrades and mergers as the months and years pass.

Audio & Video

Refer PRINCIPLES OF MULTIMEDIA – Ranjan Parekh (Chapter 7 & 8)

Color Model – Device Independent Color Model – Gamma and Gamma Correction

PRINCIPLES OF MULTIMEDIA – Ranjan Parekh (Chapter 5.4, 5.11 & 5.12)

3D Animated Movies

1985 - Nov 22, 1985 - One-dimensionalcartoon with 3D technology. Twelve- ation

year- olds and animation freakswill enjoy it. "Star Wars" did it better with live
people, Only 12-year-olds who have never seen or heard of "Star Wars" - and
animation freaks.

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2000 - Jul 31, 2000 - Getty Images; May 13, 2009 ; 167 words ...3D animated
movie "Up crew, executive producer John Lasseter... Full Size JPG (1322 KB) 3D
animated movie "Up crew, executive producer John Lasseter...opening ceremony
and the screening of 3D animated movie "Up" during the 62nd Cannes Film

2002 - Feb 12, 2002 - HIT movie Monsters, Inc. has topped Toy Story 2 to score the
biggest opening weekend for an animated movie in UK cinema history, Full Size
JPG (1322 KB) 3D animated movie "Up crew, executive producer John
Lasseter...opening ceremony and the screening of 3D animated movie "Up"

2003 Mar 30, 2003 - Janus, Prajurit Terakhir is a family movie produced by PT
Spektra Film. Combining live action and computerized 3D animation, ... What
caused the buzz was that Janus will be the first locally made, feature-length, 3D,
computerized-animation movie

2004 Jul 19, 2004 - India is one of the few countries that has the capability to
produce 3D animated movies. The Chennai-based Pentamedia Graphics has
produced the most number of 3D animated movies in the world - six - and a few
more are under production. One of the company's movies, the $6-million Buddha

2005 Apr 18, 2005 - Getty Images; May 13, 2009 ; 167 words ...3D animated movie
"Up crew, executive producer John Lasseter... Full Size JPG (1322 KB) 3D animated
movie "Up crew, executive producer John Lasseter...opening ceremony and the
screening of 3D animated movie "Up"

2006 Nov 16, 2006 - Full Size JPG (1322 KB) 3D animated movie "Up crew, executive
producer John Lasseter...opening ceremony and the screening of 3D animated movie
"Up" during the 62nd ... Picture from: Getty Images; May 13, 2009 ; 131 words ...3D
animated movie "Up" executive producer John

2007 Mar 13, 2007 - Adlabs is producing "Superstar", a 3D animated movie

starring Rajnikanth, which is meant for both - kids and adults. Also, "Gini & Jony",
which is based on the characters of the clothing brand of the same name, is an
animated movie for kids. Both are targeting a 2008 release

2008 Sep 4, 2008 - To graduate from Icreation, students have to create a 3D

animation movie of their own. "Students have submitted their works to compete
with adults in various competitions. They do not have to win, but they may pass into
the final round or receive a complimentary prize.

2009 May 13, 2009 - Its dazzling 3D digital effects add a striking new dimension to
a classic odd couple tale but the filmmakers insisted that they had focused primarily
on conveying old-fashioned emotion. 'I knew this movie was going to be very
unusual but also loaded with heart,' Lasseter told reporters

ation

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ation

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