Computer Animation
    Traditional animation can be seen in Japanese anime and superhero cartoons. In traditional animation, animators drew on cels, which were sheets of transparent celluloid. The cels were then placed on top of a painted background. In computer animation, instead of cels, there are layers. Computer animation is used to develop video games. Computer puppetry can also be used to move CGI (computer-generated imagery) characters. Computer animation was also used to create realistic dinosaurs, which were combined with live action in Jurassic Park.
    Computer animation can be 2D or 3D. 2D animation was used for the special effects in the film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. One kind of 2D animation is sprite animation, which is a sequence of images that change. Sprite animation is very fast, but the quality is not that great. Morphing, in which one object changes shape until it becomes another, was used in the Michael Jackson video Black or White. Computer animation also allows the removal of objects from a scene. For example, a part of a bridge was removed in the film Speed. Objects such as mountains and clouds can also be created by fractal equations. Fractal animation can be used to render earthquakes and moving clouds.
    3D animation is used to create virtual worlds in games, such as Second Life. An articulated model can be used to represent the joints in a human body. A particle system can be used to show the collision of points with each other, and can be used to model water spray. Deformable objects are used to model hair and water. When an object moves too fast, it causes the problem of aliasing, which is solved by motion blurring. Generating the motion of an object should be realistic. Interpolation is when a computer calculates what is happening between two keyframes. Linear interpolation is not as lifelike as splines. Often, what a computer thinks is happening between two keyframes, is not what you want at all.
    Inverse kinematics and forward kinematics are opposites of each other. In kinematics, the position of an object affects the position of an object below it in the tree hierarchy. In inverse kinematics, the position of an object affects the position of an object above it in the tree hierarchy. Passive simulation is used to determine the movement of bodies that cannot move voluntarily, such as clothes and the leaves of a tree. Active simulation is used to determine the movement of bodies that can move voluntarily, such as animals and robots. Motion capture uses special sensors called trackers, to create a representation of a live performance.
    If computer animation is believable, then watching living beings move, walk and run can give you an amazing feeling, whether you’re ten years old or thirty years old. Now that you understand how computer animation works, you will be able to more appreciate the latest Pixar or DreamWorks releases.
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January 11, 2010
Tags: Animation Posted in: Product
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