# Week 1: Introduction
## Goal
- Overview of the 3D animation course: review course outline, intro to projects.
- Intro to computer animation.
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## Introduction to the class
- Couse website: [http://jiharu.github.io/2017datt2501/](http://jiharu.github.io/2017datt2501/)
- Class portfolio website: [http://2017datt2501.tumblr.com/](http://2017datt2501.tumblr.com/)
- Syllabus pdf
- Introduction of instructors
- [Haru Ji](http://haru.name/)
- [Joe Hambleton](http://www.joehambleton.com/)
- Previous class portfolio:
- Sogang university
- York university 2016 datt2501
- York university 2016 datt2500
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# Introduction to Computer Animation
### References
- The Fundamentals of Animation by Paul Wells, 2006
## Terminology
### Animate
**Animate** means ***“give life to”*** and includes live-action puppetry.
A more restricted definition of **animation** is ***the use of a sequence of stills*** to create the visual impression of motion.
### Time
In the world of 3D animation, time is the fourth dimension. An object will appear animated if it either moves, rotates or changes shape from one point in time to another. Therefore, learning how time works is crucial to the animation process.
### Sequence
Both film and video media formats use a series of still images that appear animated when played back as **a sequence**.
### Frame
Film and video images are often referred to as frames and most animation is measured using ***frames as the main unit of time***. The relationship between these frames and real time differs depending on whether you are working with video, film or other digital media.
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## Animation Process
- The Fundamentals of Animation by Paul Wells, 2006
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## Computer animation
- It refers to any computer-based computation used in the production of images intended to create the perception of motion.
- In general, any value that can be changed can be animated. An object’s position and orientation are obvious candidates for animation, but all the following can be animated as well: the object’s shape, its shading parameters, its texture coordinates, the light source parameters, and the camera parameters.
- Three general approaches to motion control in 3D computer animation:
- ***artistic animation*** - the animator has the prime responsibility for crafting the motion.
- [Le régulateur, France, 2004 Philippe Grammaticopoulos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxwTm9nwywU) applying NPR (Non Photorealistic Rendering) animation technique.
- [Making of Le régulateur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmDN9EEyeOM&t=182s)
- ***data-driven animation*** - live motion is digitized and then mapped onto graphical objects. The primary technology for data-driven animation is *motion capture* (MoCap).
- [BVH Animation Technology for Overgrowth - Wolfire Games](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UcXDCEkm5s)
- [The Motionbuilder-friendly BVH Conversion Release of CMU's Motion Capture Database](https://sites.google.com/a/cgspeed.com/cgspeed/motion-capture/cmu-bvh-conversion)
- ***procedural animation*** - there is a computational model that is used to control the motion. Usually, this is in the form of setting initial conditions for some type of physical or behavioral simulation.
- [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_animation)
- [Karl Sims webpage](http://www.karlsims.com/)
Karl Sims is a digital media artist, computer graphics research scientist, and software entrepreneur. He was the founder of GenArts, Inc., a creator of visual effects software for the motion picture industry. He previously held positions at Thinking Machines Corporation, Optomystic, and Whitney/Demos Productions. Karl studied computer graphics at the MIT Media Lab, and Life Sciences as an undergraduate at MIT. He is the recipient of various awards including two ARS Electronica Golden Nicas and a MacArthur Fellowship Award.
- [Locomotion Studies - MIT - Karl Sims (1987)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUdCS1lLiYs)
- [More procedural animations by Karl Sims](https://archive.org/search.php?query=director%3A%22Karl+Sims%22)
- [Dutch interview (VPRO) with Karl Sims](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmrTNrtE-Lk)
- [An embodied approach to arthropod animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1P_B65XW4I)
a system for dynamically animating ground based arthropods in real-time, capable of traversing realistically across a complex, arbitrary environment. The physical simulation of the virtual world further grounds the creatures, enabling complex emergent animations to form.