Friday, 8 November 2019
Disney Animation’s Matterhorn Advances Particle Graphics
In 2016 Disney released a paper about a software called Matterhorn. Matterhorn is a physics-based graphics, which was behind creating the 2013 Disney film Frozen. By using Material Point Method (MPM), it allows the animators to create highly efficient large quantities of snow to interact with characters when simulated. In 2016 Disney upgraded the software to be able to stimulate more materials such as: mud, foam and sand.
How Matterhorn works
"Snow is a complex substance; on one hand it consists of individual grains and snowflakes, but on the other hand because each flake is so tiny as a mass they behave like a fluid. The Material Point Method uses both Cartesian grids and particles to represent the substance, and controls the strengths of each representation."
"Particles are the key illustration of the material. Every particle has a position, velocity, mass, deformation and further properties that control the appearance of the snow, such as stiffness, wetness, and breaking threshold. Each phase of the simulation upon the previous level. Since particles are not a decent base for computing material forces, they are primarily rasterized to a Cartesian grid, where the force computation is less complicated. These material forces act back on the particles, altering their velocities. Lastly, the particles are advected with their new velocities, generating the next frame of the simulation."
"Disney’s Matterhorn takes away the tedious work and helps the artist focus on the creative side of the project by solving animation production challenges like repetitive illustration of complex materials (snow, sand, water, fire, etc.). The video below provides greater detail."
https://gfxspeak.com/2016/08/19/animations-matterhorn-graphics/
https://www.disneyanimation.com/technology/innovations/matterhorn
Proposal
The
importance of how pathetic fallacy in visual effects can complement a character’s
temperament when used to reflect their emotions.
I propose
for this dissertation, that I will explore how visual effects can be used to
convey a character’s emotional state (pathetic fallacy), and how this use of
pathetic fallacy may change the amount of empathy the audience has towards a
character. By doing this, it will enable me to expand my 3D visual effects skills
in “Maya”, and further my knowledge of how psychology can be used to increase the
connection between an audience and an animation.
The first type
of research I will be conducting will consist of analysing a range of films (hybrid,
2D and 3D animated) to form a case study. To decide on what films to watch I will
be talking to peers, tutors, and using my own knowledge. With this starting
information, I will then watch and listen to interviews of the animators and directors
who have worked on the films chosen. By doing this, I will gain a better insight
as to how they are made and what the thought processes were behind them. Also, I
will be reading articles, books, and journals to understand empathy in relation
to an audience.
To further
my knowledge of ‘Maya’, I will be reading books and watching tutorials online
to ensure I have a greater understanding of how elemental visual effects move
within a 3D environment.
For my
primary research, I will be talking to professionals within the psychology and VFX
field via email. By doing this, I am hoping for original information on both the
subject areas of what they have experienced, and what they know within their area
of expertise.
The main case
study I will be investigating will be the relationship ‘Elsa’ (from Frozen)
has with snow, and how it’s used to reflect her emotions. I will also be exploring
animated characters such as ‘Te Ka’ (from Moana) and ‘Anger’ (from Inside
Out). Additionally, I will be looking into how pathetic fallacy is used in
the theatre using smoke, light and sound. By doing this I will have additional examples
of the use of pathetic fallacy, and the different degrees in which it relied upon
to enhance the emotional narrative.
My
practical outcome for this dissertation will be a series of short animations of
a neutral character physically displaying a range of emotions in different scenarios,
with 3D visual effects mirroring this. To ensure there is another animation to
compare this by, there will be the same neutral character performing the same
actions, but without the visual effects. By doing this, the audience will be
able to indicate if the visual effects are more useful in certain situations and
whether they will in turn have more empathy for the character.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)