CMPUT-605
Topics in Computer Graphics: Character Animation (Winter 2010)

Summary

This course will explore computational techniques for animating computer-generated characters in games, virtual worlds, movies, and other applications. The first part of the course will cover basic techniques. The second part will be devoted to reading, analyzing, and discussing recent research in character animation, with an eye towards open problems.

Contact Information

· Instructor

o Pierre Boulanger

o Office: CSC 414

o Office hours: by appointment

Meeting Times

· Thursday, 10:00AM-12:15PM CSC 363

Readings and Handouts

Class	Description
January 14th	Geometric continuity, shape parameters, and geometric constructions for Catmull-Rom splines
January 21th	Animating rotation with quaternion curves
January 28th	Computational modeling for the computer animation of legged figures
February 4th	No class
February 11th	Principles of traditional animation applied to 3D computer animation Motion warping
February 18h	Motion signal processing
February 25th	Animation of dynamic legged locomotion Animating human athletics
March 4th	Spacetime constraints
March 11th	Reusable motion synthesis using state-space controllers
March 18th	Motion editing with spacetime constraints Retargeting motion to new characters
March 25th	Verbs and adverbs Motion capture assisted animation: texturing and synthesis
April 1st	Motion graphs Interactive motion generation from examples Interactive control of avatars animated with human motion data
April 8th	Student Presentation

Lecture Slides

Class	Description
January 14th	Course Overview
January 21th	Keyframing
January 28th	Animating Orientation
February 4th	-
February 11th	Kinematics
February 18th	Motion Capture

Exams

No Midterm/Final.

Grading

1. Paper presentation (25%)
2. Class participation (15%)
3. Project (60%)

Webpage

http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~pierreb/Animation-2010

Background

A good knowledge of computer graphics (CMPUT411) and a reasonable familiarity of the C programming language is necessary. You might have to know some C++ depending on the programs you choose for your project.

Projects

Most of your grade will come from two projects that will total 60% of your grade. Both projects are mandatory. Plan on check pointing your project with the instructor (showing your progress) at various stages during your project. You must checkpoint at least once for the first project and at least twice for the second part of the project. These checkpoints will be part of your grade. You are not required to stay with the same group for both projects. Check the syllabus for more details.