Crowd

Crowd simulation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crowd simulation is the process of simulating the movement of a large number of entities or characters, now often appearing in 3D computer graphics for film. While simulating these crowds, observed human behavior interaction is taken into account, to replicate the collective behavior.
The need for crowd simulation arises when a scene calls for more characters than can be practically animated using conventional systems, such as skeletons/bones. Simulating crowds offer the advantages of being cost effective as well as allow for total control of each simulated character or agent.
Animators typically create a library of motions, either for the entire character or for individual body parts. To simplify processing, these animations are sometimes baked as morphs. Alternatively, the motions can be generated procedurally - i.e. choreographed automatically by software.
The actual movement and interactions of the crowd is typically done in one of two ways.

 Simpsons Movie - Crowd Aghast - Homer Simpson

Cel-shaded

Cel-shaded animation (also known as Cel shading or Toon shading) is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in video games. However, the end result of cel-shading has a very simplistic feel like that of hand-drawn animation. The name comes from the clear sheets of acetate, called cels, which are painted on for use in traditional 2D animation, such as Disney classics.

 Process
The cel-shading process starts with a typical 3D model. Where cel-shading differs from conventional rendering is in its use of non-photorealistic lighting. Conventional (smooth) lighting values are calculated for each pixel and then mapped to a small number of discrete shades to create the characteristic flat look – where the shadows and highlights appear more like blocks of color rather than mixed in a smooth way.
Black "ink" outlines and contour lines can be created using a variety of methods. One popular method is to first render a black outline, slightly larger than the object itself. Backface culling is inverted and the back-facing triangles are drawn in black. To dilate the silhouette, these back faces may be drawn in wireframe multiple times with slight changes in translation. Alternatively, back-faces may be rendered solid-filled, with their vertices translated along their vertex normals in a vertex shader. After drawing the outline, back-face culling is set back to normal to draw the shading and optional textures of the object. Finally, the image is composited via Z-buffering, as the back-faces always lie deeper in the scene than the front-faces. The result is that the object is drawn with a black outline and interior contour lines. Popularly, this "ink" outline applied to animation and games is what’s called cel shading, while originally the term referred to the shading technique, regardless of whether outline is being applied or not.

Cel shaded image

Flash

" A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash or similar animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many circles is seen as simplistic or unpolished. However, with dozens of Flash animated television series, countless more Flash animated television commercials, and award-winning online shorts in circulation, Flash animation is enjoying a renaissance.
In the late 1990s, when for most Internet users, bandwidth was still at 56 kbit/s, many Flash animation artists employed limited animation or cutout animation when creating projects intended for web distribution. This allowed artists to release shorts and interactive experiences well under 1 MB, which could stream both audio and high-end animation.
Flash is able to integrate bitmaps and other raster-based art, as well as video, most Flash films are created using only vector-based drawings which often result in a somewhat clean graphic appearance. Some hallmarks of poorly-produced Flash animation are jerky natural movements (seen in walk-cycles and gestures), auto-tweened character movements, lip-sync without interpolation, and abrupt changes from front to profile view.
Flash animations are typically distributed by way of the World Wide Web, in which case they are often referred to as Internet cartoons, online cartoons, or webtoons. Web Flash animations may be interactive and are often created in a series. A Flash animation is distinguished from a Webcomic, which is a comic strip distributed via the Web, rather than an animated cartoon. Flash animation is now taught in schools throughout the UK and can be taken as a GCSE and A-level. "

How to make a basic flash animation.

 

3D Animation

3D Animation Studio - What Goes on Behind Those Closed Doors

"Many people are confused when they see the word '3D' tagged on in front of the words 'Animation Studio'.

Although animation has been with us for as long as a few decades now, the concept of animation still seem pretty much magical to the layman. 'How do you make drawings come alive on screen?' is what they usually ask.

With the invention of 3D animation technology, the concept of animation becomes even more hazy and mystical to the layman. They still refer to 3D animation as 'drawing' and know not a thing about the process that goes on behind 3D animation.

As the owner of a 3D animation studio, I feel that it is very important to educate my clients on what goes on behind 3D animation production.

The knowledge does not just help them appreciate the service better, but also helps to facilitate the process and manage their expectations.

This is important because it helps our clients achieve what they want and allows us to communicate effectively with them.

This lens hopes to demystify the process of a 3D animation production and unveil what goes on behind the closed doors of a 3D animation studio.

Get prepared for an educational journey!"

2D animation

http://www.pencil-animation.org/contents/Gallery/tintin.png

" 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) andby techniques specific to them. The word may stand for the branch of computer science that comprises such techniques, or for the models themselves.

2D computer graphics are mainly used in applications that were originally developed upon traditional printing and drawing technologies, such as typography, cartography, technical drawing, advertising, etc. In those applications, the two-dimensional image is not just a representation of a real-world object, but an independent artifact with added semantic value; two-dimensional models are therefore preferred, because they give more direct control of the image than 3D computer graphics (whose approach is more akin to photography than to typography).
In many domains, such as desktop publishing, engineering, and business, a description of a document based on 2D computer graphics techniques can be much smaller than the corresponding digital image—often by a factor of 1/1000 or more. This representation is also more flexible since it can be rendered at different resolutions to suit different output devices. For these reasons, documents and illustrations are often stored or transmitted as 2D graphic files.
2D computer graphics started in the 1950s, based on vector graphics devices. These were largely supplanted by raster-based devices in the following decades. The PostScript language and the X Window System protocol were landmark developments in the field. "

Animation 2d par Meoquanee

Computer Animation

" Computer animation is the art of creating moving images via the use of computers.It is a subfield of computer graphics and animation.

Increasingly it is created by means of 3D computer graphics, though 2D computer graphics are still widely used for low bandwidth and faster real-time rendering needs.

Sometimes the target of the animation is the computer itself, but it sometimes the target is another medium, such as film.

It is also referred to as CGI (Computer-generated imagery or computer-generated imaging), especially when used in films. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer screen then quickly replaced by a new image that is similar to the previous image, but shifted slightly.

This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures. Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to the art of stop motion animation of 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations.

For 3D animations, objects (models) are built on the computer monitor (modeled) and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton.
For 2D figure animations, separate objects (illustrations) and separate transparent layers are used, with or without a virtual skeleton.
Then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc.
of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames.
The differences in appearance between key frames are automatically calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing.
Finally, the animation is rendered. For 3D animations, all frames must be rendered after modeling is complete.
For 2D vector animations, the rendering process is the key frame illustration process, while tweened frames are rendered as needed.
For pre-recorded presentations, the rendered frames are transferred to a different format or medium such as film or digital video.
The frames may also be rendered in real time as they are presented to the end-user audience.
Low bandwidth animations transmitted via the internet (e.g.
2D Flash, X3D) often use software on the end-users computer to render in real time as an alternative to streaming or pre-loaded high bandwidth animations. "

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/computer_animation.htm

History of computer animation