Stereoscopic 3D Images

All pictures are red/cyan

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

5848

5778

5904

Building a Scene in Maya

Special Effects in Animation and Live-Action

My first two term paper scores were both above 80; I will not be writing a third term paper.

Outline for the Third Term Paper

Green screen
Intro:
A. One of the most common and cheapest effects in movies and tv shows
B. Actors and foreground scenery placed in front of a green screen, which an image is then placed digitally on the green screen
C. Used in place of expensive scenery, making a scene able to film indoors.

Use in Harry Potter
A. Used in many scenes, mostly commonly in scenes with large landscapes, caverns, and most notably, quidditch.
B. Often used in scenes where magically properties use, especially every flying scene. It is almost impossible to tell it's green screen.

Use in Whose Line is It Anyway?
A. In a more humorous fashion, this show uses it in the game appropriately named "Green screen"
B. The "on the field reporter" (usually Colin or Ryan) stands in front of a green screen while two other performers acting as reporters back in the newsroom ask the field reporter questions. The field reporter, based on those questions, has to guess the image being projected on the screen. It is hilariously unrealistic.
C. The reporters usually hint at what's going on using puns.

Conclusion
Green screen is everywhere, and even the most amateur of film makers can use it, as long as they have the appropriate software. Don't wear green when you use it, otherwise you'll blend into the background. I didn't know we had to do the outline until it was almost too late so this is really last minute and I'm a horrible person and I'm sorry.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

"A Day in the Life of Mr. Jenkins"

This was actually a photography final I did back in community college at home in LA. I decided to do a stop motion.  I made most of the props myself out of cardboard and paper. A few of the props were from my old barbies I had laying around.  I set up the camera on a tripod and a table and took pictures of my drawing doll in different rooms in my house going about his life.  It took about 2 weeks to make the prop, shoot everything, and edit the video.  The doll doesn't stand up on its own very easily, so for the (poorly made) walk along the wall I used sticky-tac against his arm to stick him up to wall. I also used stick-tac to make the doll hold things.
While this project was fun, it was also very frustrating because the doll often fell over and I would have to start all over in that shot.

Scientific Fact or Cinematic Fiction

Incorrect Weight and Gravity

Sometimes, in order to make a movie or TV show more exciting, animators ignore the laws of physics. This often results in impossibly high jumps, seemingly weightless characters, and other death-defying stunts that would simply be impossible in real life.  Some laws of physics are also ignored in video games in order to change the difficulty of the game.

In many movies and TV shows, a big, heavy and bulky character might even be animated to seem agile and light as a feather.  This might be done to make fight scenes more exciting and dramatic, but can seem very unrealistic.  It can also be done for timing purposes.

In the animated TV show "Fullmetal Alchemist," Edward Elric, the fifteen-year-old protagonist, has had a prosthetic arm and leg called "automail" made out of steel alloy since he was eleven years old.

The heavy automail resulted in his stunted growth as a teenager, with Ed standing at only about 4'11".  Despite him being vertically challenged and weighed down by metal prosthetics, Ed has adapted to become adept at combat, and is surprisingly agile. He spent many years training with his automail in order to gain strength that compensates for the heavy machinery. This doesn't explain, however, why he can jump so impossibly high and far. In multiple episodes, he is shown to be able to jump at least three times his height, which should be impossible for anyone.  His fight with Greed the homunculus makes his agility and apparent ability to jump at super-human heights apparent:

According to his character profile, Greed is about 6 feet, making him more than a foot taller than Ed:

In this scene, Ed jumps not only more than twice Greed's height, but almost three times his height in distance, as well as spending almost three seconds in midair. 

This would be difficult if not impossible for anyone, but for someone weighed down by metal limbs it should be absolutely impossible.  The animators also animated his limbs as if they weighed the same as his other limbs. Although Edward has trained in order to move his automail with the same agility as his other limbs, he would still be affected by the differing weight.  Later in the show, Ed gets fitted with lighter carbon fiber automail, resulting in his growth in height as well as even greater agility.

Another example of incorrect weight is in the 2003 movie "The Hulk." This video speaks for itself.

I mean it's as if the animators purposely wanted it to look ridiculous. I don't care how superhuman you are, when you're that big and bulky of a character, there's no way you can jump that high and far.  Additionally, when the Hulk lands, it causes such little impact it brings to question if he's really very heavy at all. Although he lands on natural arches that are barely sturdy, they don't break upon impact, despite the fact that he can jump through a ceiling that was barely a foot above his head.  This inconsistency makes the movie laughably bad.  His jumps make him look like he's floating in the air, almost as if there is little to no gravity, or as if he's suspended from wires. But being such a big and bulky character, and knowing that muscles weigh a lot, this should not be so. However, the animators really wanted to get across the fact that he is a superhuman, as if the fact that he's an eight-feet-tall green bodybuilder that destroys entire buildings doesn't already illustrate that.

Skyrim is a video game for the PS3 that is critically acclaimed for its stunning graphics, exciting gameplay and multiple engaging story lines.  But the flawed horse physics is widely known and often exploited by gamers.  When horses were added to the game, the developers realized that there wasn't much of an advantage to owning such an expensive asset, so they made it so owning and riding a horse made scaling mountains and other steep slopes much easier.  However, they forgot to change to model, which means that no matter what angle the horse stands on the mountain, the legs are always perpendicular to the body, as if it's standing on flat ground.   In many cases, this results in the horse looking like it's floating in midair, rather than standing on the mountain.  This also causes a glitch in which jumping on a mountain confuses the game, causing extra hang time in the jump, resulting in a horse that looks like it's flying.

In conclusion, while some physics errors are due to pure ignorance, sometimes the laws are bent in order to make a character or scene more exciting, such as in Fullmetal Alchemist and The Hulk.  Sometimes the animators simply forget or simply overlook a few details. Perhaps the animators simply neglected some laws of physics in order to rely on the audience's suspension of disbelief.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

Incorrect Weight and Gravity Physics Outline/Notes

Fullmetal Alchemist
-despite Ed's heavy automail, he is still quite agile and can jump higher than his height, which shouldn't be possible, also grab greed's head with his feet and smash it to the ground.
-automail weighs him down, makes him shorter, but animated as if it weighs as little as his other limbs
-talk about the structure of the automail in relation to Ed's height
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyKLT3hlmOA

Hulk (2003)
-The way he jumps is ridiculous. He can jump ridiculously high and far, yet the impact with the ground makes him look almost weightless, or like he's on the moon.
-Almost no cracks in ground when he lands or crouching when he jumps, almost like he floats
-he has a big body and lots of muscles, which should weigh a lot. Hence "Hulk Smash"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cof8Fm8zk2c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzceykTiwjs

Skyrim
-scaling a mountain is made easier using a horse, but the resulting images are hilarious, as the legs are often not even on any solid ground, causing it to look like it's floating
-jumping on a slope often causes the horse to hang midair, look like it's flying
-legs are still completely perpendicular to the body no matter what slope the horse is on without slipping or falling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0Ib8D2XhFs

Reverse Video Reference

Clip 1

Clip 2

Clip 3

Clip 4

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

I don't have a tripod or any fancy software. So I positioned an antacid on a piece of paper, and using the Odd rule, constructed a simple ball drop, and had it roll off the edge of the paper.

The Laws of Physics in Big Hero 6

Big Hero 6 is the latest animated movie from Disney animation studios. The 3D animated film takes place in the near future in a city called San Fransokyo. The main character, Hiro Hamada is a 14 year old robotics prodigy who uses his talents to create robots and participate in back-alley "bot-fights." His brother, Tadashi convinces him to go to his university, where he meets Tadashi's friends, Gogo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Fred.  Hiro also meets Baymax, Tadashi's invention created as a healthcare companion.  He presents his microbots, which impresses Professor Callaghan, who is head of the robotics program, and accepts him into the program. A fire causes the building to collapse, leaving Tadashi and, presumably, Callaghan dead. Tadashi's death causes Hiro to go into a great depression and lock himself in his room.

After accidentally activating Baymax, he follows him to the abandoned warehouse where he finds that someone is mass-producing his microbots.  They are attacked by a masked man who is controlling the bots. Hiro and Baymax escape.  Hiro resolves to catch the masked man and creates a suit of armor and upgrades Baymax. When Tadashi's friends offer their help, Hiro refuses at first but after their rescuing him he decides to create suits for them as well, forming the team Big Hero 6.

At first, the team suspects that Krei, owner of Krei Tech, is responsible for stealing the microbots because of video footage they find Krei testing teleportation technology. However, the masked man is actually Professor Callaghan. This infuriates Hiro, and he orders Baymax to kill Callaghan, but his friends stop him. Hiro angrily takes Baymax and leaves.

When Baymax plays clips of Tadashi test-running Baymax, Hiro realizes that killing Callaghan would make him no better than Callaghan, and decides to make amends with his friends.  They confront Callaghan, and it is revealed that he wants to use the microbots to kill Krei because Callaghan's daughter, Abigail, was the test pilot in the teleportation research and was lost in the portal. 

After unsuccessfully trying to convince Callaghan to stop, they destroy the microbots, enter the portal and rescue Abigail. Baymax sacrifices himself to get Hiro and Abigail back through the Portal. Callaghan is arrested.

Later, Hiro discovers that Baymax's healthcare chip is clenched in his rocket fist, and decides to create a new Baymax.  The six friends continue on taking on their new responsibility as superheroes.

The physics of Big Hero 6 is very similar and is almost mirror to our world's, and because it is set in the future, uses it to their advantage with advanced technology.  While the art and design is stylized, the physics and animation are realistic to present a world that is not too far off from ours. Because it a science fiction, Big Hero 6 adheres to the same laws of science of our world, and uses them to their benefit in order to create realistic futuristic technology to enhance the story.

Big Hero 6 makes effective use of different principles of animation to show the realistic physics of their world.   Slowing in and out is apparent throughout the film, especially while Baymax flies.  When Baymax turns off his thrusters while flying, this slowing in and out is much more apparent. Especially the first time when they fly, as Baymax flies straight up in the air. After Baymax turns off his thrusters, he slows into the peak of the arc, and, much like a rollercoaster, slowly tips over and slows out into a freefall, turning on his thrusters at the last second before hitting the water below. Parabolic arcs are also present during the car chase scene, when they jump the car over a ramp, causing it to fly through the air momentarily.

Instead of using stretch or smears to show action, Big Hero 6 goes the more realistic route and uses motion blur. Especially with flying or driving, or any movement that's too fast for us to see, motion blur is very apparent.  This is very effective for creating a world that is similar to ours.

Big Hero 6 also takes into account the way forces and inertia works as well. For example, during the scene where Hiro chases after Baymax, he often runs too fast and is unable to stop in time, causing him to slide past screen and run into things.  Of course, this is exaggerated for comedic effect, but the physics is still sound in the fact that Hiro is unable to stop moving abruptly when he runs quickly.  Baymax, being big in body in having short, stubby legs, cannot run very fast. Instead, he bounces around humorously, similar to a toddler trying to run. This was intentionally done to add to Baymax's "cute" factor, as both Baymax and toddlers are top-heavy, making it hard to run quickly and smoothly. But Baymax's vinyl body proves useful when he and Hiro are thrown out a window by Callaghan, and Baymax is able to break his fall by shielding him with his bouncy exterior.

In addition, the microbots' advanced technology allow for transportation.  By using the downward force of the human body walking combined with the upward force of moving microbots, the masked man uses the microbots to reach higher places and travel quickly, similar to a conveyer belt at an airport.  They also allow him to fall from great heights, as the upward force of the microbots creates a softer impact, breaking his fall without causing too much bodily harm.

The suits are designed with wind resistance in mind, minimizing surface area to allow the user to run quickly and move around without too much air resistance.  The differences in the suits become more apparent during the ending, when the magnetic portal is activated and begins sucking metallic objects towards it.  Wasabi, who has a big body, is able to stay grounded even though his suit has the most metal, because the heaviness and bulkiness of his body acts as an opposing force to the magnetic portal. However, he still feels "lighter" because the forces are not completely balanced.  This gives him somewhat of an advantage, allowing him to jump higher and move quicker.  Hiro's body is much too light to balance the force of the magnetic portal, so he compensates by using Baymax. However, Baymax's carbon-fiber skeleton is light, so he uses his thrusters to avoid getting sucked into the portal.  Gogo uses electromagnetic suspension and speed in order to cling to the microbots and use them to her advantage, effectively balancing the forces.  Neither Honey Lemon or Fred have enough metal in their suits to be affected by the portal.

Baymax's thrusters prove to be quite useful in balancing the different forces and gravity.  But when they enter the portal to save Abigail and find themselves in an abyss of zero gravity, they discover that Baymax's thrusters have become inoperable, leaving them stranded, because the forces are balanced.  Baymax uses his rocket-launching hand as a force to push Hiro and Abigail through the portal, but the force of the push thrusts Baymax in the opposite direction, tumbling deeper into the abyss.

In conclusion, while the technology in Big Hero 6 is more advanced than ours, being a futuristic movie, it is still realistic because of the adherence to the laws of physics and gravity. The movie is able to use those laws to their advantage, without stretching it into impossibility.  The movement and animation is realistic although the art is stylized to appeal to audiences.

The Laws of Physics in Big Hero 6 (outline)

Introduction 

A. Animated Feature Film:  Big Hero 6(102 min) 

B. Talk about the plot a bit, style of animation
C. Thesis- The physics of Big Hero 6 is very similar and is almost mirror to our world's, and because it is set in the future, uses it to their advantage with advanced technology.

Body Paragraphs

1. Animation principles used to show physics

A. slowing in and out with the movement, especially while Baymax flies

B. motion blur rather than smearing or stretching

C. parabolic arcs

2. How the different forces act

A. How Hiro and Baymax run

B. the upward force of the microbots

C. how the magnetic portal at the end affected some characters, but not others (Baymax's thrusters)

3. Gravity and wind resistance

A. How the suits affect the characters

B. How Baymax assists Hiro

C. the abyss's lack of gravity

Conclusion

A. Big Hero 6 uses realistic physics and movement to portray a world similar to ours, but more advanced.

B. Advanced technology is believable even though it doesn't exist, because laws of physics were still adhered to.

Various notes to remember (for personal use)

-Gogo uses electromagnetic suspension to create a bike with no resistance, so it goes faster.

-baymax's carbon-fiber skeleton allows him to be light, but durable.

-some inertia and forces enhanced, like when hiro goes to chase baymax, he often slides when he wants to stop or crashes into things

-baymax, being big with short legs, is slow and can't run very fast, and bounces like a toddler when he walks.

-being basically a giant vinyl balloon, baymax is able to soften the impact of hiro's fall when they jump out a window.

-microbots create an upward force equal to the masked man's falling downward force, breaking his fall without causing him harm.

-parabolic arcs during the car chase scene when it would jump in the air, also inertia in the sharp turns

-The gangs' suits are designed with wind resistance in mind, minimizing surface area to allow the user to still run quickly without too much air resistance.

-When Callaghan throws Baymax and Hiro through the glass window, Hiro continues sliding on the floor.

-lots of motion blur

-when baymax turns off his thrusters while flying, he slows in to the peak of the arc, and slows out to a fall.

-the magnetic portal at the end sucks metal up, but Wasabi's big body keeps his metallic suit from getting sucked up because it is a balanced force keeping it down. However, because his suit has the most metal, he still feels like he is "lighter" because the forces are not completely balanced, allowing him to jump higher and move quicker. Hiro's light body is not enough of a balanced force to keep his suit down, so he compensates by using Baymax and his thrusters. Gogo uses her speed to balance the force. Honey and Fred do not have enough metal in their suits to get sucked up by the portal.

-Baymax used some helix flying patterns

-The magnetic portal brings them to a place of no gravity, and because of Baymax's inoperable thrusts, they can't move, because the forces are balanced. Baymax uses his rocket launching hand as a force to push Hiro and Abigail through the portal, and Baymax deeper into the abyss.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Shooting Video Reference

Mini-Portfolio

About myself:

 My name is Emily Rothbart, and I'm majoring in Animation. I hope to be an animator when I finish school, although I'm not sure specifically what field of animation or specific area of study yet. This is my 2nd year and this semester I'm taking an acting class, advanced figure drawing (ANI 112A), physics of animation, and Inga's 113A class. I've taken the following art courses at SJSU: ANI 12, 24, 50, 55, 14, 1,  and112A.  I previously went to Santa Monica College, where I took a few basic studio art classes.  As for science, I've taken geology, sociology (which doesn't really count as science as far as I'm concerned), and a few psychology classes. 

Here are some examples of my work.

Sad Sack Animation

figure drawings and sketches

The First Post

Hi, this is the first post.