Creating 3D Stereoscopic Images

Welcome to the oddly shaped 3D images!

My friends desk!!!

 Hey everybody! Look! It's Tower Hall!!!

 Now just what am I pointing at in the distance? Must be more interesting than Tower Hall!

Recreating Cameras and Lights in Maya

Photo

Maya Render

45 Degrees

Extra Credit "Lighting a Scene in Maya"

One Point Lighting

Two Point Lighting

Three Point Lighting

Building a Scene in Maya

Second Term Paper

No term paper is being submitted.

Outline for Second Term Paper

Intro-
Newtons Third Law: Action/Reaction Principle.

1st Body Paragraph: Kaleido Star (2003)
-In this anime series in the final episode the main character Sora and her trapeze partner Layla are performing a death defying stunt on the trapeze. As they launch themselves at each other off of their trapeze they come careening towards each other and stop each other in the middle by holding out their hand. But when they impact they show no recoil whatsoever, neither bends their arm and they just simply connect.

2nd Body Paragraph: Hellsing Anime (2002)
- In this Seras the side character Seras Victoria after being changed into a vampire wields a new weapon. A single breech loaded 30mm cannon to be exact. The problem with this is, in the interest of making her look menacing and immovable, in the final episode and fight scenes when she wields her weapon every time she fires it she receives no recoil to give credence to her stature in strength, while even if she may be strong, it is a 30mm round with considerable powder behind it which would warrant some kind of recoil as she discharges the weapon.

3rd Body Paragraph: Resident Evil 5 (2009)
- In this video game, in a flash back sequence the main character Chris Redfield and his partner Jill Valentine enter a room looking for the antagonist, Albert Wesker, they locate him in the room and a fight ensues. Wesker has been modified somehow and moves faster and is stronger in every sense than the two protagonists. The issue here is when they move from a gun battle to a hand to hand battle between Chris and Wesker, while when Wesker hits Chris, we can visibly see it, every strike Chris lands on Wesker is stopped cold, even one in mid punch is caught, through these scenes and moments, not once does Wesker recoil, even his hand doesn't move when he catches the punch mid swing. This clearly runs against Newtons third law in favor of displaying the futility of a characters actions.

Final Conclusion:
- Each example broke the Third law outright, and for different reasons. Kaleido Star did it just because it would've thrown off the majesty of the final trick the pair were about to perform. But in both Hellsin and Resident Evil 5, the lack of recoil from Seras firing her weapon and Wesker after Chris hits him is both for cinematic intensity to display how strong they really are that they can simple shrug off and all together nullify any sort of kick back from any force. Both in anime and video games, the principles are followed when it works in their favor, but the rules are broken outright in the name of storytelling and a character.

Character Animation

When coming up with this idea molding the clay was a fast but easy part, however, putting large legs on it was central because it helped ground the figure and give it stability. I wanted my character to do something simple short and sweet. So after making my character move across the screen, making it eat was tricky, especially albeit convincingly with a good profile. Without detailed extremities I suffered as I peeled the orange for the animation, as the orange just opened, but then taking a bite then replacing it, I created the illusion of a eating, I wanted there to be repercussions so I had the figure actually pass out from eating too much, I only added a little bit of mass each time the orange was bitten this was partially due to the fact it was more difficult than I thought to add mas without moving the figure, but I ended with a good silhouette of the figure passing out after eating to much, an aid in the falling the figure came about by really pushing the figure in at an angle so a mid fall shot could be achieved. Afterwards all the shots were compiled in monkey jam and held on 4's for timings sake and then uploaded to youtube.

Reverse Video Reference

Walk 1

Walk 2

Walk 3

Walk 4

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Super Hero Physics: The Incredibles

Pixar’s The Incredibles is a fun filled superhero family animated movie released in 2004. Pixar grounds their movie in a balance of realism and fantasy, in a post 1960’s Americana universe, sticking to this universe, the audience is granted the belief of a realistic universe. However with the benefit of animation, in this case 3D animation, Pixar is granted the ability to push poses, arcs, paths of actions, and with that comes the ability to push physics to their limit, and build a world that cannot exist outside of animation. But how often can Pixar move away from realistic physics or push believability to it’s limit and get away with it. However as it will be presented in some cases, the physics are pushed beyond their breaking point but we believe and buy into it for entertainments sake, or certain laws will be brushed aside for the sake of a plot device. But throughout it all they maintain complete control of the viewer.

One of the first elements of The Incredibles that leapt out at me was the physics of the cars within their universe. Cars are heavy bodies that have a hefty amount of acceleration behind them, so when they go they have a good amount of weight behind them. However in certain scenes it can be seen how that is disregarded for the sake of the story and the moment in entertainment. A good first example is in the opening scene of The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible is en route to intercept a car chase, and has to help an old lady, in the cut away scenes we can see the cars traveling at a high rate of speed. Mr. Incredible is traveling through the city and passing through each block in less than 6 seconds, if a city block is 1/8^th of a mile, and traveling 60 miles per hour, means 1/10^th of a mile in 6 seconds. In simplest terms Mr. Incredible is traveling over 60 miles per hour and when he stops in front of the old lady, he stops in less than 30 feet, and most vehicles given basic physics most vehicles require 120 to 140 feet to stop, in the real world, Mr. Incredible would’ve hit that old lady. But for the sake of cinematic intensity Pixar bends the rules to hold onto the viewer.

The next instance of physics defying cars comes in near the end of the movie, where the whole Incredible family is flying in from space in a mobile home towards the city where a robot is attacking. A normal plane object on re-entry reaches speeds of around 17,500 mph, and upon re-entry, the space shuttle has to enable a series of s-shaped breaking maneuvers to bleed off speed, even after bleeding speed upon landing the speed is still so great that the space shuttle still employs a parachute to slow itself down. Looking at the mobile home it is not aerodynamically sound, so given its shape it has to bleed off speed as well, but at a speed to keep it hurtling through the air given its weight, a passenger airplane is traveling between 120 to 150 miles per hour on landing, giving the car a little more speed than that because it has no way to break, and it still has to be traveling fast enough to be flying through the air. Mr. Incredible’s mobile home is moving at a rate of 90 mph according to his speedometer, given the discrepancy in speed, the mobile home should bounce forward more than it does, and at the momentum it is carrying it could possibly rip out the bottom axel of the rear wheels that aren’t matching speed. Neither happens, the mobile home makes two hops forward of about 50 feet and then given its rate, continues at its present speed does not decelerate at all, while slightly bleeding on the edge of realism, when actually analyzing the scene, it falls a little short, but the next sequence with the mobile home coming to a stop is the most obvious set where there are car defying physics.

As Mr. Incredible tries to hit the brakes on the mobile home, the vehicle fishtails from extreme deceleration and begins to tumble sideways. As we watch the mobile home fishtail from side to side hitting other cars before pulling real hard on the rear axel before it turns side and begins to tumble sideways end over end. The mobile home bounces up and down before coming to a complete stop right on the sidewalk. This scene right here is where Pixar suspends belief in it’s farthest stretch for entertainment value. As we see the mobile home rolling side over side down the street, it not only comes to a complete and arrested stop right at the curb of the sidewalk bleeding off any extra momentum it has with a really careful play. Pixar tips the mobile home on its side, but not just a slight tip, the vehicle tips to a point where the side of the tires are resting on the curve, and it’s line of gravity passes a vertical limit and pushes past that. The line of gravity passes the outward wheels its balancing on and leans heavily to the right all before it pulls itself right and balances itself out. Pixar pulls a quick punch that in its split second we accept, but at a second glance the vehicle tips way beyond it’s balance point and somehow recovers is where Pixar pushes physics it’s furthest for entertainment and comedic value.

Frozone is another character that Pixar has created but has grounded in realism for his super power that it becomes believable.  In an early sequence Frozone and Mr. Incredible enter a burning building to rescue the trapped inhabitants, however there plan reaches a halt when they become trapped, in an increasingly dire situation Mr. Incredible asks hastily of Frozone to cool the area with his ice powers. Frozone hastily points out the lack of moisture in the air because of the fire. This is an interesting sequence because of the limits based on the actual nature of fire drying out the air due to it’s heat, gives Frozone a level of believability and a weakness to his character that wouldn’t be given in another circumstance since they apply a certain level of real world rules to the character in this case was the moisture in the Earths air.

Frozone’s power is supported right away in the next scene where we discover his power is not only dependent on the moisture in the air but also his system. If he himself  is dehydrated he can’t generate as much of an ice, which makes sense if he was to siphon off the moisture from himself he could dehydrate himself which leads to the idea his super powers has a very finite limit based on his body. Frozone is being held a gun point by the officer in the jewelry store and asks for a cup of water, he motions to the water cooler next to him, after having a full cup of water Frozone is able to generate ice once more and freeze the officer in his spot. This basically alludes to the fact if Frozone is “out of ice” and proceeds to rehydrate himself he can get back into the battle, basically making water in the air and his environment very useful. As can also be seen in the final battle where he battles the giant robot and uses the lake to his advantage as he lays down a longer strip of ice to skate across and turns the water into snow the lessen its impact.

The most interesting concept however is that of Syndrome’s zero point energy technology, and how it defies the ideas of weight. There are two scenes on the island where Syndrome encounters the Incredible’s family and freezes them with his zero point energy. Forgoing the fact zero point energy seems to also act like a stasis for anything trapped within it, Syndrome in the first scene captures Mr. Incredible and lifts him off the ground and spins him, it’s readily apparent that when Mr. Incredible is held up in the air at least 10 feet off the ground at a distance of more than 20 feet, Syndrome does not alter his stance at all despite his new center of gravity at carrying Mr. Incredible. Paired with how Syndrome spins around, before throwing Mr. Incredible into the rock, there is absolutely no drag whatsoever and Syndrome doesn’t even change his posture to adjust for the weight of Mr. Incredible which is also not taken into account when Syndrome uses this energy to toss Mr. Incredible up in the air, only using his arm in motion. The zero point energy is a piece of technology and one that seems to bend laws of weight and the idea of a center of gravity.

But also laws of inertia are also negated with Syndromes zero point energy as can be seen in one of the final battle scenes, when Syndrome comes swooping in to save the mother he arrests the fall of a tanker mid fall in an instant with no drag or deceleration, he stops it in the stop. That is around 68,000 pounds fully loaded stopped instantly, a serious amount of force needs to be applied to negate all of that tankers inertia immediately and suddenly. Something his zero point energy seems to do, and once again as can be seen in that scene as Syndrome is flying, that dramatic weight increase doesn’t affect his stance as if there is no shift in his center of gravity as he carries this tanker in midair, even when he throws it he just uses his arm. For the sake of the film Pixar seems to have given this character something to balance his powers when he goes up against super powered heroes as the villain. Syndrome is a normal boy who grew up with extraordinary inventions he created, for story and balance they gave his inventions large powers that seem to skirt around the laws of physics while in use.

A studio as top notch as Pixar doesn’t follow the rules and laws of physics to the T, as it seems, the follow it where it works and reference where useful and the ignore it where it can be completely forgotten. Physics are useful in film, they help a films believability and certain characters attributes based around real world conditions such as a necessity of water in the air for Frozone helps bridge the gap for the audience. And in some areas they can disregard it completely such as with the flying mobile home and most of the cars in their movie, and Syndromes zero point energy. Physics can help and hurt the story in different ways what this has shown me is how it can hold a viewer’s attention and actually make a world more believable, so in other areas when they skirt the laws we give them passes because other areas feel believable to the audience. With that delicate balance of believable and pushed physics, Pixar captures the viewer and never lets go for the sake of entertainment and storytelling.

Term Paper Outline: The Incredibles

1^st Term Paper Outline

Movie: The Incredible

Body Paragraph 1: Car Defying Physics

-In the beginning, Mr. Incredible and the initial Police Cars in a car pursuit seem to stop on a dime, going more that 60 MPH they seem to stop in a distance of less than 10-15 feet.

-When the mobile home is being dropped from the space craft near the end of the film, despite gliding into the freeway even though it is not aerodynamically sound, pushing 90mph on the speedometer even though it appears to be traveling at least over 100mph coming out of flight the difference in speed doesn’t seem to affect it much.

-When the mobile home comes to a halt tumbling end over end, it ends up at an unrealistic angle about to tip over and fall over sideways, but regains it’s balance even though it’s past it’s center of gravity.

Body Paragraph 2:  Frozone uses his environment to his advantage and disadvantage

-In the movie, Frozone’s power which is based around the generation of ice, is solely dependent on the environment, we can see how advantageous it is in a situation like when he is battling the giant robot and can scate across the lake and use the lake.

-However, this can also be a disadvantage as can be seen earlier in the movie, where while combating the fire, Frozone’s powers become useless as the fire has sucked up the moisture, and left him dehydrated, which seems to be a weakness, which is also pointed out in the next scene where Frozone needs to ingest water before using his power.

Body Paragraph 3: “Zero Point Energy” Defies ideas of weight

-In the movie the villains technology of Zero Point energy seems to render mass irrelevant as when he first encounters Mr. Incredible, once captured in this energy, from a beam emitted from the finger, weight/mass seems to be a non factor as the characters pose does not change to compensate for what would be a redistributed weight and center of gravity.

-This can be seen once again when Syndrome, stops a tanker from falling on a mother, which also implies the idea that the laws of inertia and acceleration and deceleration are irrelevant.

Conclusion:

-The Incredible's defies physics and understanding of normal laws for a more cinematic and story driven approach, while grounding some of their characters powers with some realistic limitations such as Frozone’s need for moisture to generate ice.

Stop Motion Falling

So when going about this assignment, I had seen a friend post a stop motion paper cut animation as inspiration and I decided to go the same route, I sat down and cut out paper props of a desk and a ball, also making sure I had a squash and stretch cut out as well. Then on paper I planned out using the 1,3,5 rule as well as the previous experience with drop tests in 114, however I seemed to have missed a frame after it bounces off the wall. I also used double sided tape to get the paper to stick to a wall, while using my roommates DSLR and Tripod to shoot this effectively.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Five Jumps Video



Single Jump Analysis Video




Shot of Tracker Path of Action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference!

Mini-Portfolio

My name is Jules Kenville and I am an Animation/Illustration major at San Jose State University. Currently I am working towards an Illustration focus and have my time divided between visual development and 3D modeling. Below are a couple of samples of my work, and passions of mine, I will describe things I have discovered in recent years and achievements I have made in art that I felt were worth sharing. Beyond art and performance as you will see below, I am an avid rock climber, and gamer, I like to lead an active lifestyle where I can, beyond very few things I live a free form life, I've been learning how to scuba dive and will get certified soon, I am very interested in the cirque arts, and I love being apart of a team and helping things come together. I hope you find the post below enlightening and informative.

This assignment was to recreate a qing coin sword that was used to ward off ancient spirits, demons, and other such entities. I particularly enjoy this piece as I pushed it beyond the requirements of the assignment adding in variety to the coins along with the extra cord and trying to recreate it draping properly. During my time in ANI 51A, I discovered I've had an affinity for 3D modeling and have been exploring that as an option to pursue as a career.

Above is a sketch I did last summer while on a sketchcrawl through Oakland with a friend. That summer I had been working on my sketchbook for the program after passing the portfolio review. To me this sketch was an achievement, as it appeared near the end of my sketchbook near the end of the summer. I had never done my on location sketching, needless to say it was a little daunting to be judged entirely on that, but I felt confident in my abilities to learn and improve to meet the requirements. Perspective was something I enjoyed, but I had always lacked giving anything personality or any story to it, and this sketch brought the best of what I had accumulated that summer into one piece, as I was taking the information I saw finally and I was digesting it into my own vision and storytelling. I wasn't just copying the world anymore, and to me that was a great achievement.

Above is a video I got from a tumblr I follow, who reposted it from a site. Hooping.org. This video was their solo video of the year winner along with one other for the hooping awards of 2012. Just like any other Animaton/Illustration student I find my passion in the art I create. And I am an active participant in the club, volunteering when I can, and working in the charity committee for SHM to help our local community. But in the time beyond that I need to find an escape to keep me going, an outlet with no repercussions. I love yoga and rock climbing as I have recently fallen into a weekly routine with them. But before that, last summer I went through an experience, I spent 4 days in a forest, at a festival with other flow artists learning craft and expanding our world views. It was my first time camping, first time seeing the night sky without light pollution and boy was that beautiful. But the real treats came from what I did there, I spun fire poi (First time lighting up my poi too), discovered hula hooping, as a dance form, and I walked on hot coals. The experiences I made that weekend and the friends I made were unbelievable and transforming. It has developed into a steady passion that keeps me loose and free. Hula Hooping has become a lovely outlet for me, and an avenue to new worlds, such as Aerial(Tissu), Wand, and Fire Eating. It has left me without a doubt that if I was not an illustrator, I would gladly be a circus performer. The people I have met in that world have been amazing, friendly, and accommodating, I wouldn't trade it for anything, so above is a video of a beautiful hooper and the skill she brings to the craft, and the beauty that I see with all my fellow hoopers in such a simple but beautiful tool.

The First Post

First Post!