Broad Area Colloquium For AI-Geometry-Graphics-Robotics-Vision

Animating Dynamics

Ronen Barzel
Caltech/Pixar

Monday, April 7, 2003, 4:15PM
TCSeq 200
http://robotics.stanford.edu/ba-colloquium/

Abstract

Dynamic simulation can generate complex and realistic motion automatically, freeing the modeler or animator from worrying about the details. But what if you care about the details? For Pixar's meticulously choreographed animations, pure dynamics simulation alone doesn't necessarily deliver what the director wants. This talk will discuss three different approaches to provide the controls we need for dynamic (or dynamic-seeming) behavior to satisfy production aesthetics. First, "Faking Dynamics" -- a non-dynamic technique we used to animate the Slinky Dog and other Toy Story models. Next, "Pseudo Dynamics", a partially-dynamic technique used to animate the rain drops in "A Bug's Life". Finally, "Plausible Motion", a new approach that is just beginning to be researched in the computer graphics community.

About the Speaker

Ronen Barzel joined Pixar in 1993 to work on Toy Story in various roles, in particular as a modeler with an emphasis on ropes, cords & the Slinky Dog, and as a member of the lighting team and engineer of lighting methodology and software. He has since worked on R&D of modeling, lighting and animation tools, and in technical development for the upcoming film Finding Nemo. Other stints include Lucasfilm (back in the pre-Pixar days), SGI (design team for Inventor 2.0), a visiting position at the University of Washington, and currently wrapping up as a professeur invit at Ecole Polytechnique in France. He has an ScB in math/physics & ScM in Computer Science. from Brown, and a PhD in Computer Science from Caltech, where he worked on "dynamic constraints" and physically-based modeling. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Graphics Tools.
Contact: bac-coordinators@cs.stanford.edu

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