cse558 Physics Based Computer Animation

Spring Quarter 2000

Syllabus

This course will discuss the state-of-the-art methods for synthesis of realistic computer animation.  It covers the basic computational and physical methods for modeling naturally occurring motion, as well as the advanced techniques for character and secondary motion synthesis.   In additional to synthetic approaches to computer animation, the course will also explore the methods which transform motion acquired from real actors.  The final course project is aimed at extending the current research efforts in novel directions.

Administrivia

Prerequisites

Text

Grading

There will be no final exam for this course.

Projects

Students have the option of using the graphics instructional lab for their project work.  The lab consists of 14 Intel machines running NT, and it is located in Sieg 228.

Here is a tentative list of projects:

Project 1: Constrained particles
An exercise in differential equations, and constrained particle systems.
 
Project 2: Inverse kinematics
Differential solution to the problem of robustly computing joint angles from the intermittent motion capture data. The fastest and most robust implementation wins a prize.
 
Project 3: Final project
This project is intended to be research exploration.

Projects should be done in groups of two.  Depending on the size of the problem, the final project groups may include 3 people.  Projects will be graded during the in-person sessions with the instructor. Each member of the team should be able to answer questions on the structure of the code, the design trade-offs, and the implemented algorithms.

One grade will be assigned for all members of the team for the project's implementation. Separate grades will be recorded for each team member's "knowledge of the project." For some of the projects, the last component of the grade will involve using your project to create an artifact, hopefully, of some artistic merit.

Project Turn-in & Late Policy

Projects should be demo-ed during the allotted time on the due date. Late assignments are marked down at a rate of 33% per day (not per lecture), meaning that if you fail to turn in an assignment on time it is worth 66% for the first 24 hours after the deadline, 33% for the next 24 hours, and it is worth nothing after that.

Exceptions will be given only in extreme circumstances and only in advance.