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The inspiration for the piece developed from an idea that has been evolving for the past four years, the initial catalyst being a book entitled ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, this looks at relationships between all things, in particular a persons perceptions of their surroundings. It was from this starting point I began to think about human interaction.

In this project I research and develop techniques used to create two very different effects shots involving fire. The first is a trail of petrol being lit at one end, with the petrol subsequently burning down the trail. The second is the resulting explosion of a car at the end of the trail. This report follows my work from the research stage, right through to the final results.

By stacking frames from an image sequence one behind the other, to form a volume of pixels (or voxels), new

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The idea with this project is to investigate ways in which one could change the topology of an object in mid animation and morphing between two shapes with different pointcount and point connectivity.

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This report aims to give a critical view of a genre of games known as Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). It investigates reasons for play, what makes a game of this genre popular and current innovations in the field. The report also examines the traditional methods of Role-Playing for fantasy games, and attempts to analyse whether or not the genre has successfully made the transition to computers whilst retaining the full experience of role-playing. In addition there is an appendix detailing my experiments in the field of games design based on the research previously described.

Collision detection is a major processing bottleneck in all real time physics simulators. Many developments have been made to increase the efficiency of this extremely arduous and expensive task, featuring many inventive techniques and methods of data processing. Some of these structure the data cleverly, some of them tend to reshape and truncate objects to mathematically simplify to their evaluation. This project aims to fill a niece pocket where there is possibly still more performance to be gained from some interesting polygonal trickery, without losing any of the integrity of the original collision shape. Through a specific patching algorithm, and collision detection functions which use it, the three programs demonstrate each process of the creation and use of the modified models.

I have been fascinated by stereoscopic 3D imagery for some time and have even come up with a few of my own ideas relating to the field.

Maya Fur is a tool increasingly seen in animation work throughout the industry in recent times, from adverts to such feature films as Monsters Inc. and Shrek. As most computer-generated films strive to impress the audience with realistic special effects. The means to create these effects become more and more complex and technical to accommodate the demand, causing more knowledge to be required to use them. This knowledge may not however be possessed by the newer users of the software, but with the desire to create the final effects, problems arise.

Computer Animation influences all areas of our every day life. Since the 1990?s commercial Speech recognition systems have been available off the shelf, but it has not been until the last few years that systems can now boast up to 99% accuracy (Dragon NaturallySpeaking? Pro V8 Program). This has greatly expanded the market of such systems and challenged companies to push the technology further. The majority of this extended research has been emotion recognition. This report will explore speech and emotion recognition and will look into methods of extracting basic meaningful data from sound files, with the use of Houdini, and expressing their content visually through colour and shape.

The predominant methods of texturing for production rendering in computer graphics are currently based on bitmap images and procedural algorithms. Although sufficient in many cases, both methods are in some way limited in terms of resolution, be it by storage requirements or issues of speed.

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Over the past three years I have been very interested in the process of transferring a drawn or imagined idea into a full 3D geometric model.

Although there has been extensive rendering research into the simulation of real camera behaviour such as depth of field and motion blur, due to the increased render times these behaviours inherently bring, they are all simulated approximations.

With the advent of three-dimensional graphics as the norm in contemporary video and computer games, the use of two-dimensional graphics has become something of a rarity. Using the recent Parappa The Rapper game on the Sony Playstation as inspiration, which combined two-dimensional characters with three-dimensional environments, I produced an animation which aimed to investigate and experiment with the juxtaposition of the 2D and 3D in games and animation.

I too in the end found myself on the trail of these mud men. Get a bunch of slimy little river people (Newport Mud Men to the layman) to march past the screen and seem convincing and startlingly real. That was my eventual challenge.

This project outlines the techniques and methods that were used to create those comics from the

This report describes the development of a project for the Innovations module. The brief was to develop a way of simulating distortion caused by ‘fish eye’ lenses, which could be used interactively in computer graphics.

Most of the available literature on fluid simulations has not included air bubbles. This paper presents a technique to add air bubbles to a pre-computed or dynamically calculated fluid simulation. Bubbles form naturally in splashing water so the omission of bubbles detracts from the believability and visual realism of a fluid simulation. In this paper I propose a particle-based system that can be implemented with any particlebased simulation of a fluid. The bubble particles are only created where needed and their movement is then dynamically simulated according to the flow of the fluid into which they are introduced.

Presenting a method using a curve guided deformation between two meshes with matching vertex count. This allows control over the intermediate positions of the vertices being deformed. Through this method it is also possible to gain

Music in the 21st Century has become a commodity that has saturated the conciousness of the planet.

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Facial animation is the most important part of character animation, and realistic and natural expression of emotions is one of the most important parts of animating a believable character. This, however, is also one of the most challenging aspects of animating a character. The human face is one of the most interesting and intricate parts of the human body. We can detect even the subtlest change of expression within the face, and its familiarity allows us to recognise one face out of a sea of hundreds that we come into contact with every day. In order to successfully animate facial expressions and emotion, a thorough understanding of the human facial muscular structure and how expressions are formed is necessary.

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This project is concerned with the research and development undertaken in the creation of a digital image filter that is able to process an animated sequence of frames to mimic the aesthetic of paint, pencil or chalk. The filtered images are similar in style and aesthetic to the inspirational works of Dave McKean and in particular, his illustrations within the graphic novel “Black Orchid”. As a post-process, the workflow created is capable of filtering an animated sequence using only the source animation as input. Research into optical flow and stereo disparity algorithms also result in motion extraction, influencing texture generation to retain the visual continuity and coherency movement within the animation.

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Group Project with Negar Bagheri

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This essay explores the subject of art influenced by music. It aims to place the subject in

CG animation is usually thought of as being the process of animating a character

Digital technology has revolutionised the way we produce and experience art today. Traditional art forms have been transformed, and completely new forms of art have surfaced as a consequence of digital techniques and media. This report consists of research into new media arts, personal experiments and the production of an interactive installation that would be exhibited at Bournemouth University. The developments I made in my own work are presented to showcase my thought process and the methods I used. Finally the report ends with a critique of my final interactive artwork and the reactions of the staff and students of Bournemouth University.

An exploration into the emotions of discouragement and the problems faced by those dealing with the discouraged. An attempt to find, between the audience and the animated characters, a common ground in which the audience can connect and care for the characters emotional well-being. Also an attempt to offer understanding to those in the audience who have experienced discouragement. A 2D-animated short entitled ‘Giving Up’.

For this project I was assigned the task of creating an innovative piece of work within Computer Animation. The aim of this project was to experiment with new ideas and methods, and to learn more about an area of Computer Animation of interest to me. My project was a state machine flocking system of butterflies created using MEL (Maya Embedded Language). This report explains the processes I went through to create my final piece, with references to the research and design.

I have implemented a tool in Maya that has the ability to generated particle simulations that

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Computer graphics is normally presented on a screen which in most cases is watched by viewers passively, this project attempts to explore an alternative way of presenting computer graphics, taking it out of the cinema setting and TV screens.

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The idea began on a bus journey. I was playing a game called Warioware (Nintendo, 2003) on the Gameboy Advance. I’d already played each of the two hundred so-called microgames and completed the other modes. All that was left was to play the same microgames over again, competing against my own score. Since microgames are as simple as they are, I also had plenty of time to think about what I was doing. I realised that after exploring and unlocking every part of the game by now, it was no longer as fun as when I had first played it. The reason was because there were no surprises left to find which, when unlocked, each feels like a little reward for playing a new piece of game; the reward being a new challenge set and being new somehow recreates the exciting feeling of playing a game for the first time. (Well, you are playing that piece of game for the first time.) If only there was something left to unlock, although I would still be playing the same game, the possibility of a new discovery would give me more incentive, making the same experience more fun. If only there was more to unlock, if only it never ran out of freshness, then it would never run out of fun. It seemed a totally impossible idea, but it was so crazy that I thought it just might work. I was certain that, even if someone else had already thought of it before, in the modern state of the computer games industry, it’s an idea that sounds far too risky to even attempt, it’s an idea without proven success. Even so, it was an idea I became interested in trying out for myself, it contained the same excitement as playing Warioware did when I was trying to unlock a new level: the reward for taking the risk is the possibility of unlocking a brand new discovery.

This paper looks at the various methods available for the implementation of real-time deformation for use in computer game environments. We will analyse a number of published methods and we will examine how these methods can be used to produce real-time deformation in future game developments.

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Facial Animation , particularly on a realistic human face, can be a very elusive subject to animate. Capturing the myriad of tiny nuances that give a character expression and emotion has proved to be a very tough task. Animators have turned to hardware solutions, such as motion capture to achieve their goals. While this method has proved to be a time-saving technique in the fast paced production industry, I have chosen to direct my research into a software based solution. As a student in the art of 3d computer animation this is a subject which interests me. Through this report I intend to chronicle both my research and experimentation into software keyframe based facial animation.

This project is an investigation into the Design and Implementation of advanced

The objective that I set out to achieve for this project was to create an accurate replica of a toy Transformer robot using 3D computer modelling software and to build a working mechanical rig that would enable him to transform. This allowed me to explore the techniques used to model mechanical, robotic type characters and to understand and gain knowledge about the most apt methods for rigging them. On top of this, I decided to explore the possible uses and applications of my virtual toy model as a marketing tool for the toy company. My objectives provided me with a project that was to be both challenging and innovative. The practical side of this report is targeted at an audience who understand the concepts and terminology of 3D computer modelling and rigging in Alias Maya.

Fairies appear a lot in art and motion pictures as they are a sight of wonder and mystery. Also, in more recent animated films, visual artists have been trying to create images that have a painterly feel to them whilst still working in the realm of 3D. This project shows a study of how a fairy is to be portrayed and move in a 3D animation as well as creates a 3D animation that has a similar look to the painterly effect that has

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This study is an investigation into the creation of an automatic CG rig generator, using a

To firstly formulate a comparative analysis of existing production disciplines and to investigate the techniques and methods used in both 2D and 3D productions. I will then back up this investigation by using these techniques for the creation of my own animated.

For my innovations project, I decided to look at the issues surrounding image recolouring, including current techniques, their drawbacks, and possible solutions. I then wanted to try to implement a new image recolouring algorithm to attempt to address the limitations inherent in these current methods.

A method is described which models a simplified global illumination solution. Current techniques require long rendering times and so are not widely used. Approximations are employed but these take time to set up and are often derived from guess work. A simple environment is used to illustrate the technique.

This project aims to explore and find a suitable way of creating environments for a proposed side-scrolling adventure game.

Before single strip multi-layered colour motion picture film was ‘developed’ at the end of the 1940’s, the main method of producing colour movies was a system invented by the Technicolor corporation, and hence commonly known as Technicolor. Other systems existed but the methods were essentially the same. Light from the lens was split into separate beams, each of which passed through a coloured filter onto a strip of black and white negative, so creating colour records that could be combined with filters and lights at projection time to recreate the scene in colour. The technique was characterised by a rich, vibrant colour that distinguished it from single strip colour films that eventually replaced it. After filming in Technicolor was discontinued, it was still common to create release prints from the colour film using the Technicolor printing process and recent films have also emulated the process on digitised film([2] & [3]). Digitally captured images lack the depth of film and new methods of mimicking photography are continually being thought up, grain, lens flare etc. This paper aims to develop a physically based method of emulating the Technicolor process on digital images through the use of spectral data.

This paper presents a simple method for implementing a practical skin shader for use within a production pipeline. The method enables effects that BRDF (see introduction) models cannot capture, such as subsurface light transport within the skin. The model was designed with the purpose of providing a practical skin shader to be easily integrated into a production pipeline.

This paper looks into character rigging. It covers many areas of character setup, and

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Artificial intelligence is used in modern computer games extensively such as real-time-strategies in

As any visual artist will know, the use of colour plays an extremely important part in a piece or work whether we are dealing with still or moving images. However, throughout history the way that colour is used has evolved in a way that can be seen to vary greatly between different nations, continents and religions. Colour does not follow a unique, universally recognisable code, and we must be aware of this not only as viewers, but perhaps more importantly as artists and directors. The associations that we make with any form or media that involves colour are dependent upon the culture in which we have been raised. Therefore problems may arise when we are dealing with media that is intended to be shown across a range of cultures. You could, for example, choose a colour palette in such a way as to encode a hidden message that would provide extra information to the viewer who was able to interpret the signs. However if you do so, it is important that you are aware that depending on the cultural or religious background of your audience, the signs and thus the message that you wish to convey, may be misinterpreted or even completely overlooked.

This project has been an informal exploration of the creation and human perception of digital life. I have created a supporting program in order to try out some ideas and expand my knowledge of programming. So far in the program I have created basic digital creatures called Freaktures which move around the screen making decisions on where to go based on random values. I have purposely left the Freaktures without any textures or secondary animation because, based on my friends reactions even early on in the project, this seems to encourage a more natural, uninhibited use of the

This paper is concerned with the development of non photorealistic rendering in the form of pen-and-ink illustration. In particular, I will be presenting two methods of shader creation through the RenderMan process, a two-dimensional method that involves striping along the u and v directions of an object and a three-dimensional method that is based on solid texturing. Non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) is still a relatively new area in computer graphics but has developed a strong appreciation in recent years. In this report, related work in this field will be briefly addressed and then the development of my own techniques will be explained. Finally, an animated short will be created using the shader, intending to emulate the aesthetics of traditional Pen and Ink illustration in a digital medium.

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The object of this project is to introduce a drawn animation style and to replicate it in computer graphics using the available software tools, in order to produce a similar result as that used as inspiration. The state of contemporary animation is reviewed in an attempt to justify the chosen topic, and a solution to the proposed task is presented, as well as a description of the paths taken to arrive at the result.

There are many different ways to approach the recovery of a camera position in three dimensional space. Most modern methods use the information presented from the scene’s two-dimensional projection on the image plane (screen), as opposed to using mechanical devices controlling the live-action camera’s motion. The final system that is illustrated in this paper is a piece of software which manipulates information given by the user and from a tracking program (which is also outlined in this paper). The tracking program determines the concurrent positions of reference points, on the image plane, that make up a recognisable feature. The basic feature that is being tracked in this system is a set of three points, on a planar surface, which define two perpendicular, intersecting lines (such as the top and side edges of a window or poster). This means that only three points need be tracked by the computer.

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When we were originally approached by the Medical Insurance Agency, their requirement was for a ‘kiosk’ style information delivery system. The information would be interactive, and ideally would be touch-screen driven. This would be located near the entrance to their new head-office building. The layout of this building contained an indoor car park, which was described by the Managing Director, Bob Bycroft, as ‘more of a Mercedes Benz showroom than a car park’. After company guests had parked their car however, the route to reception was not immediately obvious. The kiosk would be situated near to the doorway and instruct guests primarily upon how to reach reception, but it would also dispense information pertaining to the many branches of the company. MIA sent an information pack to us that contained much of the information that they envisaged would make up the content of the kiosk.

This project explains the development of several C++ programs which generate 3D image based effects.

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This report is concerned with the creation of virtual evolutionary worlds. It discusses world design with particular attention to the problem of achieving open-endedness. This is followed by a description of a virtual machine aimed at achieving this goal and a summary of several experiments performed using this system.

Described as the most revolutionary modern art movements, Cubism, was discovered in the early 20th Century and abolished all traditional views of perspective and ways of seeing. Objects were expanded , pulled apart and placed in order to show them from multiply points of view. This project presents to you a technique interacting Cubism into Computer graphics. The method aims to use the technique of Analytical Cubism, particularly the work of Picasso and Braque to create computer generated models which fundamentally have the appearance of a painting so being a flat two-dimensional image.

Documentation on Asset creation for next generation computer game engines

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My intention in the following paper is to produce a piece of software written in MEL script as a plug-in for Maya which will be a camera matching device and as an aid for computer animators to achieve a successful camera match between live action and CG before compositing so that all aspects are complimentary and the images when composited are visually convincing. If subject distance and spatial information is known it will be possible to position the camera and tilt in the correct direction.

For this project I wanted to select a task that would let me develop my creative skills away from the computer. I wanted to develop and design a

Group project with Matthew Stevens and Mandy King Wong, researching animaton for children. The group presented a verbal report of which there is not record. See the final animation in Matthew Steven’s section.

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The art of animation blending has been used in games for many

I have always been amazed by the ingenuity and innovation of the early pioneers of

The human body is a tool through which motion can be relayed. It is through intensive study and creative expression that this tool is able to channel and perform through art. When a dancer appears on stage her body is her tool. She expresses her emotions and her choreographed piece in an almost effortless fashion, floating across the stage seamlessly. She is the subject of our gaze. What if we were to alter our concentration slightly however and instead of focusing on the dancer herself, instead only saw her motion, the product created by the tool. Can the piece still be appreciated as much as when the visual stimuli of the tool itself was present, enabling better understanding and interpretation of the motion.

Discussed in this report, is the relationship between 2D and 3D computer graphics during the production of live-action visual effects. An investigation will take place to analyse the similarities and differences between these two categories. I will explore how passing information, specifically depth map imagery, from 3D to 2D graphics effects the pipleline. Emphasisi will then be placed on evaluating the uses, importance and methods of capturing depth information in order to achieve believable integration between computer generated imagery and live-action footage.

Trail effects and motion blur take time to set up and compute. This process can be sped up by combining all the necessary operations in a tool. The user can mix and map different parameters to create their own trail rather than sticking with some more conventional trail visuals. Points (particles), curves, patches and blob meshes can be generated as output. Using ramps and forces allows drastically different results which gives the user more creative freedom.

This project is a character driven animation limited on a minimum amount of visual information to communicate a story. All the visual elements are restrained to the simplest essence of form in space, the silhouette. Such restriction implies the lack of many of the natural visual properties, such as color, tone and texture, which are key elements for the perception of depth, volume and light. Using only black orwhite and the filled shape of the characters and the environments I would like to explore and demonstrate the power of shape in visual communication.

The purpose of this project is to study how light behaves in different time and space scales, as well as in frequencies of the spectrum that are not visible to the human eye. There are optical phenomena, such as Doppler shift, which humans can not easily observe because of the extremely high speed of light. But as the technology of computer graphics has evolved over the last few decades, it is possible to simulate and visualise some of those phenomena. In this report, the practical techniques and the theory needed to simulate such phenomena in computer graphics is presented. In one case, a detailed implementation is given for the Doppler shift. On the other hand, a theoretical discussion explains the advantages and disadvantages of different ways to implement simulations like bending of light near strong gravitational fields and also the delay of visual perception because of the finite speed of light.

Geometric algebra is an algebra that spans multiple dimensions and provides us with an alternative way to analyse geometry. In this report I provide an introduction to 3-dimensional geometric algebra. I go on to discuss its implementation in a ray tracer so as to determine its relevance within computer graphics.

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For my Innovations project I decided that I wanted to do a detailed study of animation. In the past I have looked at human animation, but have not ever done any animal animation. I therefore wanted to study something that was unlike anything I had looked at before. I did not want to animate anything that had been animated realistically many times before, such as a feline or even a dinosaur.

My aim in this project was to produce, on computer, a piece of fine art. This piece was to be a continuation of work I had previously done at art A-level.

The work for my Innovations project comes under two broad categories. My first idea was to look at the use, authoring and implementation of mental Ray shaders. As work on the project progressed, my work was more focussed upon skin and the techniques used in 3d computer graphics to represent it.

‘Motion Capture – Satan’s rotoscope…’ (1)

Two dimensional animation has been around for many years. Early examples include Snow White up to current day blockbusters such as The Lion King and The Emperor’s New Groove. They have all been very successful films, sporting some extremely good animation. The development of 3D animation has produced some amazing new films such as Toy Story leading the way forward.

When being set a project which aims to push you to test ideas you have or try and solve problems that you have come across, there is a decision to be made. Do I start by looking at this project as an entity of its own or do I look to link this to an already on going project. I decided to look at the latter of these two options, linking this project with a comical piece of work I am producing for my major project.

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As video art becomes a more prominent part of nightclub entertainment, promoters are also becoming more aware of the advertising potential of video projected information. For the most part, financial assistance is not generally offered to produce sophisticated animated typographic sequences, rather it is an expected service to be provided as part of a show. Production of animated sequences takes time. The process involves creating the type, marking key frames or choosing paths for the type to follow, rendering and finally editing and outputting to a format to be displayed. By having a quick and easy tool to display logos and text on-screen the video artist is given more time to work on sequences outside the realms of unpaid corporate advertising.

This project sought to research into current and past simulations, into teaching methods which use computer graphics and to make a teaching tool that would demonstrate the principles of a nuclear reaction.

This project is a study of the impor tance of anatomy in character design. The practical side is essentially six different characters created out of the exact same mesh, each with a different physique based on a real body structure, with only slight changes made to create a character, thus the character is largely defined by its anatomy. By morphing between these, the final product (a thirty second animation) displays how the body changes. This mean that the viewer can see the muscles weakening, or the bones growing, or fat forming, or whatever change they are viewing, thus helping them to understand how many different characters can be created out our existing natural design, and hopefully educating them in an enter taining way. It should be stressed that this is not a study into character design, any of the characters in this project could be infinitely more fleshed out, but one of the ideas behind the project was to have as minimal change from reality as possible, to show how real anatomy can be the basis of many characters.

‘Whether the object in the hand is a coloured pencil, a marker or a computer control, the basic design and visualizing skills needed to use them effectively remain the same.’ (Powell 1990 p.9)

This report discusses the physical process of aging, including the structure of the skin and wrinkle formation. Research into different approaches using the aging process in computer graphics is documented. The report proposes a tool designed for Maya using MEL scripting that allows a user to apply wrinkles or other textures, as layered bump maps, to selected faces. Further applications and future ideas are also discussed.

My research for this unit is on the subject of Machine Learning, a topic which greatly interests me. Last year, my house-mate mentioned to me that on his course, they had been touching upon the idea that computer programs could, perhaps, write themselves (!). Computer programs that write other programs? Surely not, I hear you ask. Well, that’s

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The investigation and development of traditional artistic techniques and theÂ

The aim of this project is to research and acquire an understanding of

Since the dawn of mankind, people have been compelled to depict human and animal forms through art. The main focus of this research project is to examine the current level of technology used to simulate organic structures in Computer Graphics. This challenge is increased further when attempting to accurately simulate these bodies in motion. Throughout the course of this project, I will compare and contrast the merits and deficiencies of the current methods that have been employed to solve this unique challenge.

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This report discusses the role of animation in education. It looks at how the human mind learns, subdividing learning into two major components: ~ UNDERSTANDING and MEMORY. It addresses the issue as to whether animation can improve both components for individuals of all learning categories: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic.

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This is a report on my attempt to develop an application that will take multiple sound inputs and convert them into live 3d visuals. The libraries used were OpenGL, OpenML and FMOD. This report covers my initial aims, how I went about trying to achieve those aims, the results I achieved and the conclusions I came to.

For this project, my aim is to produce a series of short animations, each conveying different expressions, applying animation principles to a character, which is limited in the way it can express itself. (i.e. the character will be almost an inanimate object). The character will be modeled and animated using the Maya software package.

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In this report a series of steps for applying a painterly motion blur to an object in motion is presented. The techniques used can in general be applied to any sequence of 2D images where the subject can be separated from the background. These steps were developed from a series of experiments generated from research within the area of non-photorealistic rendering and motion blur for animation and games. It uses a combination of motion vectors and a number of displacements by filmed footage.

This report draws from many divergent areas of research in the field of 3D game engine design and documents the varying degree of success of their implementation in the context of a real life game, Boona Taxi, created for this purpose. In the process of exploration and explanation of many of the theories and concepts, from the purely technical to the purely aesthetic, it is hoped that the reader will gain a knowledge of the subject in the same way that the Author has found this project to be a learning curve.

The main purpose of this project is to examine how CG humanoid characters are traditionally constructed. The word humanoid could apply to the majority of biped characters whether human or invented so although this will be based on the mechanics of a human body and how it moves, this will be quite a loose or general association.

The animation and control over fluid simulation is an intricate and testing application of computer graphics. In this report we study the propagation and dynamics of water waves, and look at examples of how waves have been represented in computer graphics in the past. We take ideas outlined in recent papers and develop a tool of our own that generates a representation of a breaking wave surface in Maya.

The reoprt is a working business plan exploring the potential benefits of 3D Motion Capture in sports analysis in comparison to existing techniques.

The overall goal of this project is to create resources aimed at artists that will improve their ability to create believable photoreal heads and try and cut the amount of time taken to do so.

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For this project, I wish to investigate my theory that a digital puppet can be used as a motion capture device. I intend to compare this idea against the standard methods that have been used in the animation industry to record the movements od actors. Hopefully, by the end of the project I will have created a puppet device that demonstrates how this theory can be put into practice.

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Image-based lighting was developed by Debevec[1998], it uses photography to light objects based on an environment map. This method along with HDR image based lighting is limited to static lighting. To gather light from a location with changing and/or moving lights we will look into the use of Video-based lighting.

The report focuses on the study of the techniques used to combine 2D and 3D elements in animated film. The report then goes onto describe how these methods can be applied in the research and development of a 2D animation system that can be implemented in the 3D environment of Maya.

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The connection between traditional media and digital is very rarely explored often resorting using non-photo realistic

The work in this gallery was submitted as part of the Innovations Unit of the BA Computer Visualisation and Animation Programme.

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This report will explore the use of several media to portray a single story-world, considering the advantages of and disadvantages of such an approach, and considering what criteria should be used to judge stories told in this manner.

Iridescence is a natural phenomenon which is caused by the wave nature of light. In this report we will be looking at modeling light as a wave to generate interference in light waves, which can then be taken further to create the iridescent effect of the Morpho butterfly. Interference of light and how representing light as waves, as opposed to the more commonly used particle representation, can give us these results.

The aim of this project is to research onto the reasons why we play video

This paper describes a system that automatically generates multiple variations of a piece of 3D facial geometry. The position of a facial feature drives the position of another feature using a set of rules obtained through observed associations between features on a human face. The system allows for a user to modify features on a face manually. The fundamentals and power of Fuzzy Logic is explored in depth, and the potential use of this method of logic inside the system is hypothesised. It is proposed that realistic variations of a face can be generated automatically by the system, and that the need for modelling multiple faces in the 3D environment could become unnecessary by the use of this method of generation.

The purpose of this project is to investigate a number of real time graphical effects primarily concerned with the difference between pre-calculation and dynamic effects. The two major areas of research have been into performing lighting calculations outside of the normal openGL renderer, in order to investigate whether it is possible to create a higher visual quality. The second has been into investigating real time shadows and effects.

This innovations project deals with a texture mapping approach that has been greatly influenced by Image-Based Rendering. In the report, different IBR fields of research will be outlined and existing software will be discussed as to their advantages and limitations. I will present my own method, which is a manual approach to photo-based texture mapping aimed at time-effective creation of photorealistic environments and matte paintings. The key to the project is that photos are used as modeling templates as well textures. I will demonstrate this concept on two cityscape scenes. Finally I will analyse my work and discuss its usefulness and its limitations.

The aim of the project was to research and acquire an understanding of the main principles of animation and to experiment and execute several short animations of a simple character, with a focus on the movement and performance, using the medium of traditional 2D animation.

The purpose of this report was to investigate the aesthetic potential for physical effects footage

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Creating a background/environment combining three

This report describes several possible designs of modular neural networks for use in the AI system of a Virtual Garden Game. Neural networks have a lot potential for creating intelligent, entertaining behaviour because they can be used to simulate learning. This report will show how simple neural networks could be used to do complex tasks such as problem solving, while still addressing the need for clarity, and ease of debugging which has so far has worked against neural networks in the games industry.

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This report is an investigative study into methodologies to enhance the gaming experience. I will also be looking at the longevity of 3D pre-rendered games in comparison to the relative flexibility of 3D run-time games. In particular I want to focus on pre-rendered games of the ‘interactive movie adventure’ genera type. These games focus on the story line narrative thus creating a richly detailed immersive environment.

Group Project with Mariana Giuglaris.

Animation has always been interested in creating that which does not exist naturally within our

Described here is an intuitive manipulation system for virtual scenes, using hand movements tracked by a domestic web camera. Methods for tracking position and hand shape are discussed as well as methods for affecting virtual objects using this data.

Anthropomorphism, originally the word referred to as the attribution of human forms to gods (Daston and Mitman 2005) is now commonly considered as the attribution of human characteristics and qualities to non-human beings, objects or natural phenomena (Wikipedia 2006) The context of this study will be concentrated on the use of anthropomorphism being applied to animals in animation. This paper will be aimed towards animators and therefore will assume the reader has a basic understanding of general animation principles, particularly in the field of computer animation.

The aim of this paper is to find the best method to produce the animation described in detail in appendix A. The technicalities of the animation are to animate paper tearing with the image on the paper changing. This paper, discusses the various ways that the animation of tearing paper could be implemented. Testing various potential solutions leads to an analysis of the approach, which highlights any technical problems. Various solutions to technical problems are attempted, and analysed. Finally the paper makes comparisons between the methods and results of the approaches, in order to deduce which is the best method of production.

This report outlines the design and implementation of a Music driven Flocking System. Section 1 introduces the initial aims of the project including what is intended to be the final product of the project. It also looks at what challenges are foreseen. Section 2 documents research on Flocking and Music Analysis. It investigates why flocking occurs in nature and how it is simulated in computer graphics. The Music Analysis research also looks at a plugin for Maya created by Andrew Mitchell that performs music analysis. Section 3 presents solutions for the challenges that were foreseen, and also gives a comprehensive description of how they were implemented in Maya to make the MusicDriven Flocking System. Section 4 concludes the report, giving a summary and a critical analysis of the project. Future work is also outlined.

For my Innovations project I decided I wanted to focus on portraying a specific idea. The idea is related to my final year project which is about the life cycle of the planet Earth in a semi-abstract form. My project uses various symbolism and metaphor to communicate certain ideas related to the growth of our planet, such as evolution and exploration. Towards the end of my animation occurs the concept of manufactured enemies or threats. This is a concept which is important in my animation as I see it as very relevant in the world today. It is important that I convey this idea effectively, which is why I have chosen the problem of portraying the theme of manufactured threats for my innovations project.

Working with an external commission to produce abstaract work based on architecture surface cracking was investigated and modelled using mel.

This project was centred on character animation. The creation of successful character animation is achieved by observing the world around you, understanding exactly what message you want to send across to the audience, and to know the principles of animation off by heart.

Facial animation has traditionally been a difficult subject in computer animation. Good results are difficult, so game developers typically shy away from putting lip-sync in games. However with the increasing realism coming from today’s workstation quality graphics accelerators and the next generation of consoles, it is an area which needs to be addressed.

A dramatic increase in the processing power and graphics capabilities of modern games systems has led to a demand for an increase in realism in their visuals. For the most part, game developers have responded by simply throwing more polygons and textures into the scene. Even most of the clever lighting and atmosphere trickery such as smoke, fires, and light halos are either textured polygons or images composited into the scene.

This is a test

Group Project with Thomas Stratford

The importance of real-time character animation in computer games has increased considerably over the past decade. Due to advances in computer hardware and the achievement of great increases in computational speed, the demand for more realism in computer games is continuously growing.

The initial idea of exploring a process to simulate the eating process developed from questioning why it has not been shown in current films. While there has been experimentation in different areas such as simulating elasto-plastic materials and fractures in real time,

Behavioural systems are amazing ways of representing flocks of animals or simply one animal’s behaviour. This project aims to create a different behavioural system to the ones existing by attempting to mimic the behaviour of dogs and bouncing balls. The report will explain briefly the research into the behaviour of dogs. It will also cover important aspects of a behavioural system such as the state engine, field of view, and collision detection. The system has been written in MEL for use in Maya and the report will also explain the use of expressions in the system.

This project constitutes an investigation into the possibilities of procedurally generating abstract compositions with the artistic styles of artists Roberto Matta, Wassily Kandinsky and J.M.W. Turner as a goal. All results are derived from an source image, which works as a seed from which patterns, variation and colour can be extracted and built upon. The investigation involves exploring concepts of computer vision and image processing, as well as my own artistic direction and development.

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The aim of this project is to create a 3D shader that is able to render a computer generated scene. More specifically, a scene which is visually similar to the backdrop created in the 1967 film Jungle Book. I will use a nurbs surface as the base that the

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Computer graphics software is frequently used to generate photorealistic imagery. This may be for motion pictures or simulations. Even graphics for computer games are often intended to appear as photorealistic as possible. Computers are also used to produce graphics for mathematical or scientific simulations, for instance for medical imaging.

Rocks, Cave, Monk, Monster, lava,Demon

fat, halloween, costume, sweets, bully

17th Century, London, Plague, Cobbles, Death, Doctor, street

Toy, Toy Shop, derelict, shop

Chinese, Water, Pot, stream, water carrier, flowers

zombies, crowbar, derelict, horror, teeth, Lpndon

aesop fable, plants, heathland,seed, nettle

audio driven visuals, colour, abstract

rabbit, ninja, flag, battle, swords

desert cat, sand, jar, desk, boy

shark, sharkman, bike, gun, improvisation, plane, car

game, evolution, plant, environment, C++, openGL, evolve

silhouette, bus stop, bus, diary, bench

giant toys, toys, playmobil, jenga, rubber duck, lego, weeble

meditation, monk, buddist,forest, clearing, space,

comedy, childrens, playground, guns,

2d, toon shader, toon, house, ghost, baseball bat, cartoon

underground tube, colour, bench, railings, abstract

Mermen, Merwomen, Merfolk, Mermaid, wheelchair, bath house, cartoon, tony blair, merpeople, protest, police,

corridor, man, film, door, lift, ice, water

sketchy, dream, tv, snow, rain, sea, loop, non photoreal

man, suicide, gun, mental health, mental, hallucinations, schizophrenia

Highway, Road, collision, aftermath, fire, crash, smoke, truck

Transport, vehicle, sci-fi, science fiction,

Airport, war, planes historic, flight, sea, coast, runway

soldiers, motion-capture, guns, war, helicopter

Flood, water, town, waterfall, flash flood, tidalwave

sins, seven deadly sins, animals, pig, goat, cow, horse

forest, non photoreal, clouds, girl, cartoon

Space, Spaceship, Break, Explode

fluid, transition, metamorphosis, lava, rocks

customs officer, suitcase,airport, man

Seed, Asteroid, planet

Zombies, Zombie, Building, Campus, Explosion, bomb, countdown

Diva, Dream, Singer, Club, shower, fat lady

Cookie, Robber, Girl, scout, house, money,

Kiss, Girls, Wind, destruction, break,doors, wood

Fairground, ride, carousel, boy, dream, fair decayed, old, horror

Stop Motion, Survival, Horror, Game, Sound, Puppet, Candle, Underground, Tunnel

Computer Mouse, Fibre Optics, Jelly Fish, Trees, Tree, Swarm, fly, bug, speaker, ocean, sea, space

Manga, Anime, Sci-fi, Robot, Spaceship, fight, Armour

Doll House, DollHouse, Rat, Wardrobe, Clothes

Green Screen, Zombie, Underground, Tube, Tunnel

2D Game, Allegro, Red Riding Hood, Fairy tale, programming

Empty, Corridors, Doors, rocking chair

Victorian street, London, street, chimneys, rooftops,

modelling, figure, rose, particles

roads, time-lapse, motorways, spaghetti junction

forest, campfire, tent, fire, woods

unusual, siamese twins

boat, ship, clouds, canon, children, hide and seek, forest

boy, living room, sofa, school uniform

car, audi, transformer, robot

mouse, tree trunk, pink, prey, run, owl

church, ring, wedding

Lava lamp, Lamp, Bubbles, blobs, morphing, liquid

Montage, Collage, life,images, stop motion, time lapse

computer lab, computer, desk, alien, monster

game engine, game, woods, oil drill

run, smash,jump,glass,break,office,shatter,gun

robber, criminal, art, art gallery, security, laser, diamond

ton, exclamation, box, tnt, red button, comical, explosion

morph, ufo, sphere, prisim

castle, battle, epic, potion,elf, magic

flower, garden, man, shadow

ants, ant, garden, lawn, army, flock, swarm, grass, gun

game, soldier, city, street, gun, rain, shooting,war

planet, rubble, destruction, science fiction, robot, desert, sci-fi

library, books, bookshelf, librarian, toon

falling, office, geometric, abstract, illusion

drinks machine, vending, vending machine, office, man, can, fustration

banana, apple, fruit, kitchen,strip tease banana skin

o

blue cars traffic warden cartoon

bridge orb watchman chase

Statue Cave Moon Nympth moonlight

lollipop lady street town football pitch goal notepad

Architecture plan building technical drawing interior

tube train underground briefcase suit

centaur horse briefcase bustop bus

neon lights Zoetrope praxinoscope

Casino graphics chips joker playing cards dice