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Armature (computer Animation)
An armature is a kinematic chain used in computer animation to simulate the motions of virtual human or animal characters. In the context of animation, the inverse kinematics of the armature is the most relevant computational algorithm. There are two types of digital armatures: Keyframing (stop-motion) armatures and real-time (puppeteering) armatures. Keyframing armatures were initially developed to assist in animating digital characters without basing the movement on a live performance. The animator poses a device manually for each keyframe, while the character in the animation is set up with a mechanical structure equivalent to the armature. The device is connected to the animation software through a driver program and each move is recorded for a particular frame in time. Real-time armatures are similar, but they are puppeteered by one or more people and captured in real time. See also * Linkages * Skeletal animation Skeletal animation or rigging is a technique in compute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kinematic Chain
In mechanical engineering, a kinematic chain is an assembly of rigid bodies connected by joints to provide constrained motion that is the mathematical model for a mechanical system. Reuleaux, F., 187''The Kinematics of Machinery,''(trans. and annotated by A. B. W. Kennedy), reprinted by Dover, New York (1963) As the word chain suggests, the rigid bodies, or links, are constrained by their connections to other links. An example is the simple open chain formed by links connected in series, like the usual chain, which is the kinematic model for a typical robot manipulator.J. M. McCarthy and G. S. Soh, 2010''Geometric Design of Linkages,''Springer, New York. Mathematical models of the connections, or joints, between two links are termed kinematic pairs. Kinematic pairs model the hinged and sliding joints fundamental to robotics, often called ''lower pairs'' and the surface contact joints critical to cams and gearing, called ''higher pairs.'' These joints are generally modele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computer Animation
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtual cinematography, Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics. Computer animation is a digital successor to stop motion and traditional animation. Instead of a physical model or illustration, a digital equivalent is manipulated frame-by-frame. Also, computer-generated animations allow a single graphic artist to produce such content without using actors, expensive set pieces, or Theatrical property, props. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the computer monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new similar image but advanced slightly in time (usually at a rate of 24, 25, or 30 frames/second). This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and Film, motion pictur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverse Kinematics
In computer animation and robotics, inverse kinematics is the mathematical process of calculating the variable joint parameters needed to place the end of a kinematic chain, such as a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton, in a given position and orientation relative to the start of the chain. Given joint parameters, the position and orientation of the chain's end, e.g. the hand of the character or robot, can typically be calculated directly using multiple applications of trigonometric formulas, a process known as forward kinematics. However, the reverse operation is, in general, much more challenging. Inverse kinematics is also used to recover the movements of an object in the world from some other data, such as a film of those movements, or a film of the world as seen by a camera which is itself making those movements. This occurs, for example, where a human actor's filmed movements are to be duplicated by an animated character. Robotics In robotics, inverse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Key Frame
In animation and filmmaking, a key frame (or keyframe) is a drawing or shot that defines the starting and ending points of a smooth transition. These are called ''frames'' because their position in time is measured in frames on a strip of film or on a digital video editing timeline. A sequence of key frames defines which movement the viewer will see, whereas the position of the key frames on the film, video, or animation defines the timing of the movement. Because only two or three key frames over the span of a second do not create the illusion of movement, the remaining frames are filled with " inbetweens". Use of key frames as a means to change parameters In software packages that support animation, especially 3D graphics, there are many parameters that can be changed for any one object. One example of such an object is a light. In 3D graphics, lights function similarly to real-world lights. They cause illumination, cast shadows, and create specular highlights. Lights ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Puppetry
Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers. It is most commonly used in filmmaking and television production but has also been used in interactive theme park attractions and live theatre. The exact definition of what is and is not digital puppetry is subject to debate among puppeteers and computer graphics designers, but it is generally agreed that digital puppetry differs from conventional computer animation in that it involves performing characters in real-time, rather than animating them frame by frame. Digital puppetry is closely associated with character animation, motion capture technologies, and 3D animation, as well as skeletal animation. Digital puppetry is also known as virtual puppetry, performance animation, living animation, aniforms, live animation and real-time animation (although the latter also refers to animation generated by com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linkage (mechanical)
A mechanical linkage is an assembly of systems connected so as to manage forces and Motion, movement. The movement of a body, or link, is studied using geometry so the link is considered to be Rigid body, rigid. The connections between links are modeled as providing ideal movement, pure rotation or Sliding (motion), sliding for example, and are called joints. A linkage modeled as a network of rigid links and ideal joints is called a kinematic chain. Linkages may be constructed from open chains, closed chains, or a combination of open and closed chains. Each link in a chain is connected by a joint to one or more other links. Thus, a kinematic chain can be modeled as a graph in which the links are paths and the joints are vertices, which is called a linkage graph. The movement of an ideal joint is generally associated with a subgroup of the group of Euclidean geometry, Euclidean displacements. The number of parameters in the subgroup is called the degree of freedom (mecha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeletal Animation
Skeletal animation or rigging is a technique in computer animation in which a character (or other articulated object) is represented in two parts: a polygonal or parametric mesh representation of the surface of the object, and a hierarchical set of interconnected parts (called joints or bones, and collectively forming the skeleton), a virtual armature used to animate (pose and keyframe) the mesh. While this technique is often used to animate humans and other organic figures, it only serves to make the animation process more intuitive, and the same technique can be used to control the deformation of any object—such as a door, a spoon, a building, or a galaxy. When the animated object is more general than, for example, a humanoid character, the set of "bones" may not be hierarchical or interconnected, but simply represent a higher-level description of the motion of the part of mesh it is influencing. The technique was introduced in 1988 by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Richard Lape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3D Graphics Software
3D computer graphics, sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering digital images, usually 2D images but sometimes 3D images. The resulting images may be stored for viewing later (possibly as an animation) or displayed in real time. 3D computer graphics, contrary to what the name suggests, are most often displayed on two-dimensional displays. Unlike 3D film and similar techniques, the result is two-dimensional, without visual depth. More often, 3D graphics are being displayed on 3D displays, like in virtual reality systems. 3D graphics stand in contrast to 2D computer graphics which typically use completely different methods and formats for creation and rendering. 3D computer graphics rely on many of the same algorithms as 2D computer vector graphics in the wire-fram ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
