Output details

Controlled Metamorphosis Between Skeleton-Driven Animated Polyhedral Meshes of Arbitrary Topologies

Context:

As for output number 1.

In this Paper:

We address a shape-modelling problem, encountered in the fields of VFX and, Computer Animation and Games that is difficult (if not impossible) to solve by just using polygonal meshes. Our approach is based on the hybrid-modelling concept that our team has developed to combine polygonal meshes with implicit surfaces. In this instance a hybrid model consists of an animated polygonal mesh representation and an approximation of it by an implicit surface. In this paper we introduce a novel technique enabling animators to metamorphose smoothly between animated meshes of differing topologies. This is a long-standing problem in geometric modelling and computer animation and games. Our approach is intended for animators and is aimed at achieving verisimilitude rather than physically based simulation.

A prototype implementation of our technique (in the form of a Maya plug-in) and several examples of animation tests were presented in the paper.

Originality:

1 Introduction of a novel technique that allows artists to metamorphose between polygonal mesh models of widely differing topologies and animated by their respective rigging skeletons.

2 Introduction of a novel technique for the texturing of the metamorphosing functional representations during the in-betweening process.

3. Creation of a plug-in tool that makes our technique and algorithms available from within a commercial animation system that is widely used by animators in our industry.

Significance:

Our technique addresses a problem that was previously intractable using polygonal representations – the most commonly used representation in CG – alone. The fact that our technique was implemented as a Maya plug-in makes it available to a large number of artists. Two short animated sequences have already been produced by our animation students.

Rigour:

Detailed mathematical derivations, an algorithm and a number of animation tests were presented.