CS567 – Computer Animation

 

Fall 2010-2011

Instructor: Tolga Çapın

 

 

 

Description:

This course will teach you about state-of-the-art in computer animation algorithms. By the end of the course you should be able to:

       use the basic animation techniques to produce motion for an animated sequence

       read and critically evaluate the current literature in computer animation

 

This course will introduce techniques such as keyframing, morphing, procedural methods, motion capture, and simulation. The course will also explore state-of-the-art research topics in computer animation such as dynamic simulation of flexible and rigid objects, automatically generated control systems, and evolution of behaviors.

 

The class meets on Wednesdays (8:40-10:30) and Fridays (10:40-12:30).

 

Homeworks:

Please make sure you fully understand the Bilkent University Policy on Academic Honesty / Öğrenci Disiplin İlke ve Kuralları. Cheating and plagiarism on homework assignments will be punished according to the regulations of the University.

 

Submission Policy:

Each assignment should be submitted electronically by email, before the beginning of the class on the day the assignment is due. You have 5 late days that you may use for any of the project stages during the semester (except the final project presentations).

 

Lecture Notes:

 

Week

 

Course Notes

 

 

Videos

 

 

Assignments

Week 8

(1.11-5.11)

07.01- Motion Editing

Motion Editing

Spacetime Constraints

RA4: (due Wednesday, November 24th) Lucas Kovar, Michael Gleicher, and Frederic Pighin. 2002. Motion graphs. ACM Trans. Graph. 21, 3 (July 2002), 473-482. DOI=http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/566654.566605

 

AS4: (due Friday, November 26th): Present your draft animation to class. Explain how you have used Maya tools.

 

PS3: (due Friday, December 3rd): Present your project interim results to class.

 

Week 7

(25.10-29.10)

07.01- Motion Capture

FIFA08

Mocap with Maya

Microsoft Natal project

 

RA3: (due Wednesday, November 3rd) Bodenheimer, B., Rose, C., Rosenthal, S., and Pella, J. The process of motion capture: Dealing with the data. In Proceedings of the Computer Animation and Simulation Conference 1997. 

 

Week 6 (18.10-22.10)

04.04- Deformations

04.05- Shape Interpolation

06.01- Hierarchical Models

Blue Sky Studios: No Time for Nuts (2006)

--

Week 5

(11.10-15.10)

Paper (PS1) and animation (AS2) presentations.

--

 

PS2: (due Friday, October 22nd) Email your project proposal (2-page PDF). Should include: objective, motivation, and key references for your project.

 

AS3: (due Friday, November 12th) Demonstrate the first version of your animation.

Week 4

(4.10-8.10)

04.01- Project Schedule

04.02- Implementation Assignment

04.03- Path Following & Animation Systems

Peter Foldes: Hunger-La Faim (1974)

Chris Wedge: Balloon Guy (1987)

Pacific Data Images: Locomotion

Pixar Tennis Commercial

Free-Form Deformation

 

No paper review assignment for this week.

 

IA1: (due Wednesday, October 27th) Implement interpolation schemes for human animation.

 

AS2: (due Wednesday, October 13th) Create the scene and models for the animation.

 

PS1: (due Friday, October 15th) Pick 4-5 recent animation papers that you like. Present them in class on October 15th.

Week 3

(27.9-3.10)

02.04- Orientations (contd.)

03.01- Keyframing

Pixar: Toy Story 3 (2010)

Pixar: For the Birds

Pierre Coffin: Hippo and Dog

RA2: (due Wednesday, October 6th) Shoemake, K. 1985. Animating rotation with quaternion curves. SIGGRAPH 1985, 245-254. DOI=http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/325165.325242

 

AS1: (due Wednesday, October 6th) Study Maya features for animation. Develop the storyboard of your video. Send your report by email.

 

Week 2

(20.9-24.9)

02.01- Principles of Traditional Animation

02.02- Technical Background

02.03- Mathematical Background

02.04- Orientations

Pixar: Luxo Jr (1986)

Pixar: Adventures of Andre and Wally (1986)

Pixar: Knick Knack (1989)

Pixar: Geri’s Game (1997)

RA1: (due Wednesday, September 29th) Lasseter, J. 1987. Principles of traditional animation applied to 3D computer animation. In Proceedings of SIGGRAPH '87, 35-44. DOI=http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/37401.37407

 

AS0: (due Wednesday, September 29th) Install Maya on your computer. Send an email if you have problems.

Week 1

(13.9-17.9)

01.01- Introduction

Pixar : Ratatouille (2006)

Email info about yourself (due Wednesday, September 22nd)

 

Links:

Google Video: Ratatouille

 

 

Required Textbook:

Rick Parent, Computer Animation – Algorithms and Techniques, second edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2007. 

 

Prerequisites:

The course prerequisite is the undergraduate level course on computer graphics (CS465) and knowledge of OpenGL and basic animation techniques. Students are expected to be very comfortable with programming and graphics at the level of the undergraduate advanced course.

 

 

Grading:

 

Activity

Grade

Project

30%

Programming Assignments

20%

Paper Reviews & Participation

20%

Mini-Exams and Final

30%

 

The largest contribution to your grade will be a 10-week course project. This includes selecting a topic, submitting a proposal, doing the actual work, writing a research paper, presenting the results, and creating a video based on the project. The project topic may be either a design of an original solution and implementation of a new research idea, or detailed evaluation and categorization of recent research publications.

 

Subjects Covered:

 

Week

Subject

WEEK-1

Introduction to animation, principles

WEEK-2

Keyframing

WEEK-3

Deformations

WEEK-4

Virtual Humans

WEEK-5

Virtual Humans (contd.)

WEEK-6

Motion capture, motion editing

WEEK-7

Higher-Level motion control, behavioral animation

WEEK-8

Facial animation

WEEK-9

Dynamics

WEEK-10

Natural phenomena - gas, fluids, plants

WEEK-11

Real-time animation

WEEK-12

Rendering issues

WEEK-13

Future of animation

WEEK-14

Project presentations

WEEK-15

Project presentations