Research and Development of Organic Structures used in Character Deformation
Andre Braithwaite
Abstract:
Since the dawn of mankind, people have been compelled to depict human and animal forms through art. The main focus of this research project is to examine the current level of technology used to simulate organic structures in Computer Graphics. This challenge is increased further when attempting to accurately simulate these bodies in motion. Throughout the course of this project, I will compare and contrast the merits and deficiencies of the current methods that have been employed to solve this unique challenge.
Accurate simulation of human and animal tissue is an area often overlooked in commercial animation packages. To this end, I will hypothesize potential ways in which such packages could be extended. More specifically, I intend to focus my attention on how Maya could be employed to create more convincing muscle deformations. I have chosen
aya as the package to investigate as I feel most comfortable utilizing Maya in comparison to to the other available animation software. For the duration of this project I will mainly focus on human anatomy, although the simulation of other creatures will be considered.
The ultimate goal for any system added to Maya would be to seamlessly integrate into the software's workflow providing easy and accurate customization, without requiring specialist anatomical knowledge. To this end, I will suggest methods that could potentially be employed to achieve this goal.
Although arguably a key consideration when creating living things, I will only touch upon the influence of Shaders and hair simulation. I have left these techniques beyond the scope of this project because comparatively, muscle and skin simulation is in its infancy and I feel of greater interest.
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