Motion Composition for Character Animation My Ph.D. Dissertation. Dissertation

Flipping with Physics: Motion Editing for Acrobatics A new method for creating complex, multi-flip ballistic motions from simple, single-flip jumps. It also allows an animator to interact with the system by introducing modifications to a ballistic phase of a motion. Motion trajectories are then automatically adjusted to assure physical validity of the motion after the modifications. The presented technique is efficient and produces physically valid results without resorting to computationally expensive optimization. Paper Draft   Video (Dvix)

Automatic Splicing for Hand and Body Animations We propose a solution to a new problem in animation research: how to use human motion capture data to create character motion with detailed hand gesticulation without the need for the simultaneous capture of hands and the full-body. Occlusion and a difference in scale make it difficult to capture both the detail of the hand movement and unrestricted full-body motion at the same time. With our method, the two can be captured separately and spliced together seamlessly with little or no user input required. In addition, we provide a method for supplying user input, useful to animators who want more control over the integrated animation. Paper Draft    Video (Dvix)

Dynamic Response for Motion Capture Animation A novel technique for incorporating unexpected impacts into a motion capture-driven animation system through the combination of a physical simulation which responds to contact forces and a specialized search routine which determines the best plausible re-entry into motion library playback following the impact. Using an actuated dynamic model, our system generates a physics-based response while connecting motion capture segments. Our method allows characters to respond to unexpected changes in the environment based on the specific dynamic effects of a given contact while also taking advantage of the realistic movement made available through motion capture. Paper Draft    Video (Dvix)