RUNNING HEAD: 3D Animation: Annotated Bibliography

The Features of Computer Animation and 3D Modeling Joey Robinson Chapin High School

3D Animation: Annotated Bibliography

The Features of Computer Animation and 3D Modeling This paper will be looking into my subject of study, 3D Animation.

Terzopoulos, D., & Waters, K. (2011). Physicallybased facial modeling, analysis, and animation. The journal of visualization and computer animation, 1(2), 73-80. From this article, I've learned that computer animation and rendering

has a lot to do with geometry, algebra, and anatomy. Since this is what I would like to do, I might need to look into taking some classes at school that would help me with my understanding of this career. Art classes would need to be balanced out with physics and math, because of the ratios and proportions involved in this career path. For example, I would need to know how to proportionally draw something coming closer or I would need to understand how clothes wrinkle when a character bends their joints. These types of skills are what makes an animation so realistic and believable. When real-life scenarios act as if they were controlled by real-life factors, an animation becomes so much easier to relate to. Sragow, M. (1995, November 22). Toy story: A new form of life. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1995-11-22/ lifestyle/9511221690_1_toy-story-tin-toy-computer-animation Although this article is a bit older, I was able to realize how new this form of animation is. It's a newer concept and something that's part of the future of the animation. Computer animation, while difficult, is easier to fix

3D Animation: Annotated Bibliography

than other forms such as clay or drawing. I also was able to realize some of the problems that I might come across when animating. In Toy Story, Woody and Buzz's heads poked through the cups they were supposed to be hiding in. This is because the cups weren't sized to the proportion of the character. When modeling objects, this would need to be taken into account to save time in the future. Wang, H., Hecht, F., Ramamoorthi, R., & O'Brien, J. (2010). Example-based wrinkle synthesis for clothing animation. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), 29(4), 107. This helped me notice how much algebra and math is put into the animation process. Because of this, focusing solely on artistic geared classes wouldn't be the best thing to do. I need to have an understand of math and geometry. This will help me a lot when it comes to animation the way hair falls, clothes wrinkle, and objects fall. I'm not sure how much of this math I would be doing in my field, because of the modeling/animating sides. It involves lots of geometry and physics, to know when an article of clothing would hang on someones shoulders, and when it would be tight. Simple mistakes like these are the ones that make animated movies turn into failures. The way an animation incorporates gravity and reactions is what allows us to relate to it in a much more in-depth way. Gadgets, N. (2011, April 05). Too real means too creepy. Gadgets.ndtv.com. Retrieved March 03, 2013, from http://gadgets.ndtv.com/others/news/too-real-means-too-creepyin-new-disney-animation-226553

3D Animation: Annotated Bibliography

While animation has visually been progressing throughout the years, we have finally seemed to reach a point where people say it's almost "too real. With examples such as Mars Needs Moms and Polar Express, when the animation is so realistic, the smallest details left out begin to creep people out. I need to take this into account when I begin to try to animate people. As the article states, we begin to relate to things that have human aspects, which is why a rag-doll or teddy bear seem cute to us. However, when they begin to look more like us, but with minor flaws, we tend to be creeped out. It was described as a valley, that, in my opinion means if you want to make something cute, either do it completely right, or not too much. When you end up in the middle-zone, things aren't going to work out too well. So if I ever have to question myself on if an animation isn't perfect, it probably isn't.