Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Had difficulty with how far to move the camera but I found these to work well. The location on campus is the last photo showing the gates to the dorms.

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

This was more challenging then I thought it would be. Took me a while to figure out Maya but I learned lots and I'm starting to like what I got.

Extra Credit: Lighting a Scene in Maya

1 point lighting

2 point lighting

3 point lighting

Second Term Paper

No term paper is being submitted.

I hope that you may enjoy having to grade one less term paper. Either way, have a great Veteran's Day.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Physics principle: Wave

Introduction

• Waves play an integral part in most films. Though it is a basic idea, it's a fundamental element of sound, explosions, and waves. It's simple enough in theory, but it's much more complex in real life which makes it either difficult to replicate in movies or not very feasible to have portrayed accurately.
• Define wave.

Body

• TV Show: The Powerpuff Girls
• Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkpyjQo2xXM 8:16

• How is it incorrect?:
• Bubble's sonic scream glows white like a light source.
• The waves travel slower than the speed of sound.
• The sound is heard before the visual sound waves reaches the camera.
• The waves travel in a line rather than in all direction from Bubbles.
• Bubbles is able to withstand her own sonic scream.
• Film:  The Humpbacked Horse
• Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFXpCtHmU1U 43:31
• How is it incorrect?:
• The waves do not scale appropriately back in perspective.
• The sea foam is not referenced.
• Not very believable.
• Flat.
• Too ordered in its movements. Not chaotic enough.
• Doesn't relate to the wind as seen in the boat and birds.
• Film: Star Wars
• Scene http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qniy8aDSFLA 0:32
• How is it incorrect?:
• Throughout there are explosions that are accompanied with sound.
• In space, there is little air for the waves to travel along and so the sound shouldn't be as loud.
• The physics of it was known but was ignored to increase entertainment value.

Conclusion

• Reasons for such decisions.
• Visuals for the sonic scream may have been used to clarify what was going on.
• The speed helped clarification as well.
• It aided the story to work differently from real physics.
• The physics was not the main focus of the scene.
• It increased entertainment value.
• These films are greatly loved though and as long as the story and characters are good then the physics may be altered for the universe they take place in.

Character Animation

This is Veronica's and my stopmotion.

I drew up storyboards.

She animated scene one, three, four, six, and twelve. I animated scene two. We both did five, and eleven together.

I'm sorry Veronica. I didn't realize in regards to scenes how uneven the work was. I may have dedicated myself too much of my work to being cameraman.

For scene 5, we were having some trouble until I suggested that we shoot the two characters separate and composite them. We then put Batman on a multiply layer which is why that scene looks like that.

For the throw, we shot a video since we thought we had more than enough for the required limit on frames.

Veronica aligned all the frames and I worked all the timing in Flipbook.

She did the voice of Spiderman while I did Batman.

A friend of ours did the voice of the third character and provided the tripod, paints, and some filming.

It was fun.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

First Term Paper

Though squirrels may never die from a fall due to their low terminal velocity, portrayals of “saber-toothed” squirrels seem to shrug off death even better as they withstand run ins with giant glaciers and risky encounters with lightning bolts. This is all seen in directors Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha’s Ice Age, an animated film that takes place in a prehistoric world in which a mammoth (Manfred), a sloth (Sid), and a saber-toothed tiger (Diego) race against time to return a human baby to his father before the coming season blocks their way with ice and snow. Blue Sky Studios granted themselves certain liberties with the physics of their imaginary world such as those regarding the properties of water and ice, compressibility of smaller creatures, and the interaction of momentum and force. Some of these rules are altered due to the constraints of 3-D programming, and though their work is based on truth and facts, Blue Sky Studios are first and foremost entertainers, making entertainment a crucial factor for most of their decisions.

First, water and ice play an important part in the film since the movie is based on an ice age which is short of neither water nor ice. Though water in real life is already unique in its properties, the directors gave the water in Ice Age additional properties or adapted it to the situation at hand. For example, when the party found themselves in a cave, sliding on ice into a snow wall (which seems to be about around three inches in depth), they were able to all leave perfect openings modeled after their silhouettes in the wall. It would seem that the empty space should be quickly filled from the weight of the snow above it but that only happened on the last and largest hole.

Blue Sky Studios’ choice in having such physics may be due to comedy. A different answer may be because the animals are sliding so quickly that the silhouettes help the audience to know which animal had just impacted the snow. Suspense is another possible motivator since the two previous collisions leads up to the final one in which the snow wall finally collapses. Whether it’s for comedy, clarity, or suspense, the choice has been made in the name of entertainment.

Along with snow being able to hold itself together regardless of its own weight for a time being, ice also seems to be quite slow to melt when met with something intense such as a river of lava. When the rescuers caught themselves in a ice field harboring hot steam vents and a body of lava underneath, it can be noticed that none of the ice in close contact ever melts from the sheer blaze of things; they merely fall to the lava shown below it. This can be contributed to the complex process of ice melting being difficult to convey with 3D programming at the time. Surely it has been done as seen in other scenes of the movie. The reason for excluding it in this scene may be because it may be too much to process for the computer since the scope of environment calls for a large scale meltdown.

As proof of their ability to model melting ice, there is a scene in which the beloved “saber-toothed” squirrel, Scrat, is trying to free his acorn from a block of ice by using the small fire built by Sid. A strange behavior exhibited was that the ice around the acorn melted so quickly that the ice seemed to have bypassed the stage of dripping water and jumped right into hissing steam. Regarding the melting process, this also acts as a contradiction seeing as how an ice cube falls to the presence of a campfire while an ice bridge on the other hand falls, but doesn’t actually melt in the proximity of a lava river. Again, this and the lack of dripping water from the ice cube can be blamed on the constraints of the 3D program and complexity.

In the film, the sounds of the ice breaking around them surely brought panic to the main characters but apparently, quivering icicles from above invoke the same sense of urgency though with a different sound, something akin to the playful tinkering of a wind chime. It could be said that the chiming noise was actually the suspenseful music being played as the animals were being caved in but the sound did not fit in terms of musical accompaniment. Also the chimes only played when the icicles were being shown. This could be due to the aesthetics of icicles; the hanging of it may resemble a glass wind chime. A better reason though could be attributed again to suspense. The settling of the icicles is very subtle and could demand much screen time to convey properly the passing danger of being caught in a shower of sharp ice shards. With the sound of the chimes though, the volume could be quickly reduced to have the mind relate the quieting sound to the settling and stability of the imposing icicles without needing to compromise too much screen time.

When the icicles did fall though, the speed of their descent was slowed as seen in the shot in which the camera took on the point of view of the icicles to fall on the main antagonist, a saber-toothed tiger by the name of Sota. The slowing down of the icicles is for clarity since the speed at which the camera would move as a realistic, falling icicle might be too fast for the audience to process the anticipation of Sota’s death.

For the second rule of physics that is to be analyzed, the compressibility of smaller creatures seem to be more exaggerated than in the bigger animals. For example, in the beginning of the movie, Scrat somehow found himself being sandwiched between two glaciers. The crack is less than the full length of the acorn he is holding and yet the compression of his body propels him from the danger without any lasting or visible bodily harm seen on him. Also his eyes seemed to have expanded beyond its normal size, possibly his body squeezing out of the crack into his eyes. Another instance in which Scrat is met with great physical pain is when a migrating herd comes upon him and he is repeatedly stepped upon until his body latches onto an animal’s foot and he is dragged screaming along as the foot comes down with each step. Hypothesis for such resilience is possibly comedic purposes. For explanations as to why they don’t apply this sort of exaggeration to the larger animals is perhaps the larger animals seem strong enough to care for themselves while there would be more sympathy for smaller and weaker creatures .

For the third hypothesis, the relation between momentum and force is exaggerated at certain points through the film. Most notably is when in the beginning of the movie, Scrat has dug his acorn into the ice and that starts a long crack to form. The length of the crack is unrealistic and Blue Sky knows that so they make it even longer for humor. Though the time of impact on the ground is small, the momentum with which Scrat drove his acorn into the ground is also small comparable with the large force produced. It’s unnatural that such a disaster could be produced from a squirrel. Adding to that, pitting the acorn against the ground and ice, it is unexpectedly the latter that wholly surrenders to the former producing an avalanche.

The same event is repeated at the end of the movie except the environment is now that of a sandy beach and the end result is the eruption of a volcano. The food of choice is also that of a coconut but the difference in size is still not enough to warrant the volcanic eruption. With the introduction of the new environ, the lack of smaller particles is more apparent, specifically the absence of proper sand mechanics. While the crack is growing, though the texture of the ground suggest there being sand, none actually fall into the crack due to the shifting weight. This makes the ground plane feel similar to a clean, bare surface which is thrown off by the sight of palm trees growing in such a place. Again, it may be too much for the scene to process millions and millions of sand specks. Also the idea of the ground cracking is less plausible and apparent with the grains of sand able to fill up the hollow space.

In conclusion, for the laws of physics that aren't capped by the the difficulties of 3D programming (melting and sand mechanics), Blue Sky Studios manipulates the scenes to heighten the film's entertainment value (exaggerated force from an acorn/coconut). To an observant eye, the unnatural physics may deter a viewer but to an understanding one, the changes are welcomed if not enjoyed. That is one of the many perks of animated films as opposed to live action. Physics can be played with, sometimes making a more interesting, if not more believable, world. If anything, it's one of the few places in which "saber-toothed" squirrels are struck by lightning.

Outline of First Term Paper

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Film: Ice Age

1. Introduction
1. Squirrels are resistant to death by falling and also by lightning it seems.
2. The world portrayed is our world in the prehistoric age.
2. First hypothesis: Large force can cause disaster.
1. Evidence: Acorn causes a glacier to crack. 1:32
2. Evidence: Acorn causes a volcano to erupt. 1:15:07 Note that it is able to crack sand?!
3. Contradiction?: Has squirrel used acorn to attack other animals without harming them greatly?
3. Second hypothesis: Small creatures are more compressible/resilient.
1. Evidence: Scrat is compressed by two glaciers. 2:50
2. Evidence: Scrat is stomped on by a herd. 3:22
3. Evidence: Scrat is hit by lightning. 14:34
4. Evidence: Baby is fine in the cold temperatures. 42:26.
5. Contradiction: 57:12 Actual concern is noted for the baby.
4. Third hypothesis Water/Ice acts different.
1. Evidence: Ice and snow is picked up by a rolling acorn very easily. 41:56 
2. Evidence: Icicles make chiming noises. 43:55
3. Evidence: Icicles are deadly. 106:28 Kills saber tooth tiger simply by falling on him.
4. Evidence: Ice is more resistant to the heat of a lava river. 53:48
5. Contradiction: Melts slower years later. 1:13:57 Seen as Scrat is stuck in ice block on an island.
6. Evidence: Animals leave full body holes in a snow wall. 47:43
7. Liquids also acts weird. Not viscous enough. 36:09. 3D object interaction problem in 3D programming?
5. Conclusion
1. All for entertainment.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

I was originally going to shoot my scene with my camera standing upright but for easier manipulation, I adhered my camera to a rack, which I anchored to a setup of chairs. My student ID card acted as the floor as well as proof of my participation. The material being manipulated was a kneaded eraser. Its malleability was greatly appreciated for the squash and stretch.

For future reference, note the the timing of things in Photoshop is not how it is exported though my version of PS did not let me save the file for web use so that may be the culprit there.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Reference video

Tracked jump

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference

Fourth Down at Half Time

Mini-Portfolio

     Hi, my name is Anh. I'm an AI student like most of the students in PHYS 123. The most advanced ANI class I've taken so far is the one I'm taking now, 114. I can't really remember my last science course. Most likely it was in high school. My schedule this semester is ANI 114, PHYS 123, and ANI 51A. I would like to work on animated TV shows when I graduate from here which will be a long ways off.

This is my depiction of the superhero Beast Boy. I chose this image because it was a piece in which I was experimenting with losing lines and experimenting with lighting.

This is a study I did from a photo of a friend. I'm quite fond of the apparent strokes and color.

     This is my final from Art28. I don't think I was comfortable with animation enough to put thought into the physics of things. I hope this class can help me with that.

The First Post

It seems I am competent in starting a blog. I only need to show my face now.