Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

 #5841 original

 Recreation

45 degree angle

Building a Scene in Maya

"VC"

Second Term Paper

No term paper is being submitted.

Outline for Second Term Paper

1. Introduction
a. Thesis-Films bend laws of physics to suit their needs.
b. action/reaction principle
c. films chosen: 1) Spongebob Squarepants -Artist Unknown-season 2, episode 38b
2)The Matrix
3)The Fall
2. Spongebob
a. In this episode, Spongebob is an amazing artist without trying. In this particular scene he taps a solid block of marble that is roughly 3x his size. With that single, effortless tap the entire marble breaks to reveal a polished sculpture of David.
b. reality- The tap would merely chip the surface. It would take many taps and polishing to get the effect shown in the episode
3. The Matrix
a. When Neo and the agents fight, the power of their hits do not match the reaction. Impact to the chest with a single thrust of one arm would knock the opponent across the room and into the wall, thus breaking part of the cement wall away.
b. reality- one hit could knock the opponent down had he not been planted firmly on the ground, but it would not send him flying into or through a wall.
4. The Fall
a. The blue bandit shoots the princess from roughly 10 feet away. The bullet does not penetrate solid gold locket that hangs from her neck, thus saving her life.
b. reality- At that distance the bullet would have went through the locket and most likely traveled completely through her as well.
5. Conclusion
Action/Reaction principle compromised for the improvement of entertainment: whether it be for comedic value, to emphasize a point, or for the enhancement of a story.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

 Let me first say, I definitely have an even greater appreciation for Ray Harryhausen!

 Even though I am not satisfied with my result, I still enjoyed the process. I first tried thinking of a short story. Then design and molded characters and props. I tried to find a location in my room that I could control the lighting as much as possible. Then I chose how to stage it. I used my mirror to capture a visual of what I wanted to duplicate and tried my best to mimic it in my characters. Originally there was much more to this animation, but after try and try and try again, there was always something I either forgot to move, something fell and wasn't put in the right place...all these little problems that once they occurred you had to start over from frame one. Extremely frustrating, but a good experience.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

Clip A

Clip B

Clip C

Clip D

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

The World Of Megamind Broken Down Into Physics

Megamind is a 3D full length animated film created by Dreamworks in 2010. It follows an Alien super-villain , Megamind, who recently defeated his fellow alien superhero nemesis, Metro-man, and is now trying to find purpose in his life without a worthy villain to fight. The story takes place on Earth, and therefore for the most part stand by our laws of physics. However, there should be some exceptions expected to suspend belief for the super powers that are displayed by Megamind and Metro-man.

                The law of gravity, which for the sake of the story should be broken for Metro-man's ability to fly, doesn't mean it  should be suspended in disbelief for other normal instances. For example, in the opening and ending scene, which were the same scene from different shots, Megamind is falling to what seems to be his death. Being based on Earth, the pull of gravity should not affect him any differently than anyone else since he does not have the power of flight and is not using any means of resistance. He is in a state of free fall. I've watched the scene several times trying to figure out the timing. Using the buildings around him as a distance guide, in one shot Megamind falls roughly 20 Stories in one second of a slow motion scene.  At first I thought if played at actual speed, he would be zooming down too fast, however I then realized he had been falling for possibly more than 3 seconds  in real time before I was able to start counting the levels of stories he was passing per second. Therefore his terminal velocity may have been met and the higher speed would make sense. However I'm sure there were still some tweaking going on, because his falling speed didn't seem to change when the shot went from slow motion to regular speed. Also he was able to somehow lift himself up enough in freefall to grab the gun falling a couple of feet above him. Not to mention his hand and feet movements were moving too fast in slow motion for it too possibly make sense in real time.

                Another scene in regards to the pull of gravity occured when Megamind's and Metro-man's pods came to earth. Similar to an asteroid, the pods came from outer space crashing into earth. Not only did the pods manage not to burn up while entering Earth's atmosphere, but it avoided the asteroid like impact. The size and speed of the pod would have created a crater in the earth upon impact and killed both passengers inside. Instead what occurred was essentially a ball bounce and a skid.  Megamind's pod dropped to the earth and bounced until it found its resting place in a nearby prison.  As far as a bounce goes it had a nice slow in and out/path of action/timing, but that would only work with a more flexible material like rubber, that was not going at light year speed. As for Metro-man, his pod settled on earth way too gracefully; with a bounce and skid without a trace of damage left behind.

                Weight and Mass  was another issue to take into account for this film. There is a scene where Metro-man  juggles three babies. Now first one would have to consider  juggling babies as a normal thing to do. Second, one  would have to imagine what that would look like. One of the factors  that comes to mind is the weight and mass of the babies.  Babies are fairly heavy and flexible in their tiny bodies. This means when they are going through the fall cycle they are expected  to stretch and squash for implication of those two factors. Instead their fall appears to not come down with enough force because its contact point is too stiff.  They squash, but with the consistency of a light bouncy ball. A more significant squash with overlapping action would have given these babies a more believable portrayal of their mass and lively bodies. In my opinion, a reason the animator may have chosen to use less squash is to ease the baby into a settle at the contact point, making Metro-man's juggling appear easy.

                Another mass issue comes up in Megamind's big fight scene at the end. In this scene Megamind is inside a massive robotic machine fighting his new nemesis Titan. This several stories high robot is running rampant around the city in quick and fairly smooth movements. However, his gigantic robotic suit made of metal would actually be very heavy and it's movements would be rigid in comparison to the flexibility and smooth flow it displays. The Mass of the object is not matching the correct movement/rhythm of its kind.

                Following Newton's law of inertia-An object remains at rest unless acted upon  by an unbalanced force. This is a rule that is followed consistently throughout the film. It helps give this world of superheroes coexisting with humans on Earth a sense of verisimilitude. A scene that could be used as an example of this is where baby Megamind is still in his stationary pod, then all of a sudden his pod is sent off and baby Megamind is thrust against the seat of his pod when it unexpectedly fires off into space.  Baby Megamind was the object at rest that was acted upon.  The pod shot up into space, forcing Megamind down into his seat.

                 Lastly, For every action there is a reaction.  Yet another rule that is always constant throughout the entirety of this film especially in Megmind's final fight scene. For every incoming force, a punch or hit from his enemy there was a reaction; a fall back. Sometimes there were several actions in a row; an initial hit, the impact, the reaction, and a secondary, sometimes third or fourth reaction. The relationship between all objects is believable. When Megamind is hit and sent flying off because of Titan's super-power punch, his body is sent at the right speed and even position. A hit with a lot of force behind it is not going to just make the object stumble a bit, it's going to knock them off their feet, in this case flying off (again it was a super-power punch so suspension of disbelief is acceptable for Megamind to be sent flying off). Then when Megamind hits a wall or the ground after the punch there is an equal amount of force in the action and the reaction to connect them together. It is always balanced.

                Over all this film and its regards to physics was extremely well done and not to mention highly entertaining. The suspension of disbelief for superhero powers was not hard to accept, especially since for the most part everything else follows the rules of physics. Finding flaws in the physics was a bit harder than I thought in this film because it was not an over the top breaking of rules like other animations have. Instead many scenes were masked by having  switching camera shots, areas where suspension of disbelief occurred and by containing so much realism in the movements, the environment,  and other tiny details. It all accumulated to making the film feel incredibly real regardless of it being computer animated with.  I was especially impressed with the action and reaction effect of the wind on the characters. Just a small element that added to the realism of the environment  and as far as the action reaction aspect it felt correct and consistent in direction and speed on whatever it affected. As for the flaws that I did find, they could be justified,  for either a comedic or dramatic entertainment. I do not believe any of these were accidents. I think they were just slight exaggerations to improve the story of a scene.

Term Paper Outline

Outline Paper
Introduction
1. Megamind
2. Superhero Metro-man is an alien with super powers that can defy Earth's laws of Physics. However despite supposedly being bound to the Law's of Physics, Megamind and the citizens of Metrocity  also show their own defiance to the rules.

Gravity
1. opening falling scene- it is in slow motion, however when shown at a side view, Megamind falls past dozens of stories high in less than a second, while still in slow motion. If it takes 3.5 seconds to fall 20 stories at regular speed, and he is falling at this rate in slow motion, shown at actual speed he would be rocketing to the ground.
2. The Pull of gravity on Megamind's and Metroman's Pods as they came into earth would have been strong enough to obliterate them and whatever they impacted.  Megamind's pod had a nice bounce/path of action/timing, but that would only work with a more flexible material like rubber, that was not going at lightyear speed. As for Metroman, his pod settled on earth way too gracefully.

Weight/Mass
1.  The weight of the babies Metroman juggles, as if one could juggle babies, is lost. They are to airy and do not come down with enough force. Needs more squash in order to convey the mass. -Prob less effect of mass to show ease in Metroman's juggling ability
2.  Megamind's big fight scene at the end is full of fast pace action however, his gigantic robotic suit made of strong metals would actually be very heavy and it's movements would be rigid in comparison to the flexibility and smooth flow it displays. The Mass of the object is not matching the correct movement/rhythm of its kind.

Law of Inertia
1. a rule that is followed, which helps give this world of superheroes coexisting with humans a sense of verisimilitude.  Baby megamind is thrust against the seat of his pod when it unexpectedly fires off into space. Following Newton's law of inertia-An object remains at rest unless acted upon  by an unbalanced force.
2. For every action there is a reaction. Always constant throughout this film especially in Megmind's final fight scene. For every incoming force, a punch or hit from his enemy there was a reaction, a fall back. sometimes several actions in a row, an initial hit, the impact, the reaction, and a secondary, sometimes third or fourth reaction. The relationship between all objects is believable.

Conclusion.
Everyone is guilty of law bending at some point, superhero and human alike for either a comedic or dramatic entertainment. However there are also strong examples of rules being abided by that allow for verisimilitude to occur.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

Thanks to Mandy Green and Fiona Herse Woo for lending me a camera and apples.

While everyone was asleep and out of the kitchen, I covered the floor with white paper and plotted out my composition. I drew in a bed for my sleeping apple and covered him with a kitchen towel/blanket. Then I drew in the background and let the apple and a series of photographs do the rest of the work. I did everything in sequential order and used white paper to cover any previous markings.


I originally had a lot more planned for this sequence, but used this week's assignment as a simple test in stop motion. I liked this assignment and can't wait to give it another shot.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference

mini portfolio

 I am part of a fortunate group of people studying animation/illustration. I have another 3 years of blood, sweat, and tears until graduation. I hope to land a job in the film industry as a visual development artist. For now I am just enjoying my college years and making the best of all the trials it puts me through. 

Below are just a few of my assignments from last semester. 

I was recently introduced to the PS3 game JOURNEY. I am not one that cares for games, but I was so impressed with the art that I might just give it a try. Check it out for yourself.

The First Post

My name is Vanessa Camarena. Please, call me Veo. I've created this blog for my Physics of Animation class. On the first day of class remnants of tile shot up at a student, and my instructor had this long..nail/stake?...hammered against his chest. Don't worry, no one was hurt. This is going to be one interesting class!