“Computer Animation” by Csuri
Conference:
Type:
Title:
- Computer Animation
Session/Category Title: Current State of the Art in Computer Animation
Presenter(s)/Author(s):
Moderator(s):
Abstract:
A comprehensive 3-D real-time computer animation system is based upon a broad range of research activities in the field of computer graphics. In many ways the requirements for such a system are more challenging and complex than for other graphics systems. This is particularly true if one builds a language and system which is truly user oriented and which has viable production capabilities for researchers and film makers. Too often systems which are the result of a research experiment in hardware or soft-ware design do not go beyond a beautiful demonstration of potentialities. Such experimentation is essential to advance the state of knowledge but if computer animation is to become a new research and production instrument we must, in addition, provide more examples of useable systems.
Although each of the following topics are aspects of a real-time animation environment deserving a detailed explanation, they will be dealt with in a way to introduce to the reader basic requirements and problems. The topics are:
I. STATE OF THE ART SYSTEMS, AND LANGUAGES
• Used as references and as a basis of comparison.
II. AN ANIMATION ENVIRONMENT
• Several systems and languages are being implemented to run underRSX-11/D on our PDP-11/45 computer.
A. VISIBLE SURFACE SYSTEM
• Allan Myers’ algorithm
• VILAN (VIsual LANguage)
B. GRAPHICS SUPPORT SYSTEM
• Manfred Knemeyer’s system for handling hardware devices, data structures, management of transformations and time, and memory management for the graphics buffer.
C. ANIMA
• A new graphics programming language has been designed and is being implemented.
D. DATA GENERATION SYSTEM
• Some approaches to problems are briefly discussed.
III. DISPLAY HARDWARE AND GRAPHICS ALGORITHMS
• The problems presented by the order of transformations in an algorithm are briefly described.
IV. HIGH PERFORMANCE GRAPHICS
• Some speculations
References:
1. Rougelot, Rodney S.; Schumacker, Robert–“G.E. Real-Time Display”, NASA Contract NAS 9-3916, Defense Electronics Division, General Electric Company, Syracuse, New York.
2. Wild, C.; Rougelot, R.; and Schumacker, R. A., “Computing Full Color Perspective Images”, General Electric Technical Information Series R71ELS-26, (May, 1971).
3. Greenberg, Donald, “Computer Graphics in Architecture”, Scientific American, pp. 98-106, April, 1974.
4. Sutherland, Ivan E.; Sproull, Robert F.; Schumacker, Robert A., “A Characterization of Ten-Surface Algorithms”, Computing Surveys, Vol. 6, No. 7, March, 1974, pp. 1-55.
5. Watkins, Gary S., “A Real-Time Visible Surface Algorithm”, Computer Science, University of Utah, Technical Report UTEC-CSC-70-101, July, 1970.
6. Sproull, Robert F., and Sutherland, Ivan E., “A Clipping Divider”, Proceedings of the Fall Joint Computer Conference, pp. 757-764, Thompson Publishing Company, 1968.
7. Gourand, Henri, “Computer Display and Curved Surfaces”, University of Utah, UTEC-CSC-71-113, June, 1971 and IEEE, TC-20, p. 623.
8. Brooks, Joan, et. al., “An Extension of the Combinatorial Geometry Technique for Modeling Vegetation and Terrain Features”, MAGI, Inc., NTIS report no. AD-782883, June, 1974.
9. Goldstein, Robert A., “A System For Computer Animation of 3-D Objects”, Proceedings of the Tenth Annual UAIDE Meeting, 1971, pp. 3-128-3-139.
10. Eastman, Jeffrey F.; Staudhammer, John; “Computer Display of Colored Three-Dimensional Objects”, The 2nd Annual Symposium on Computer Architecture (ACM-SIGARCH) Vol. 3, No. 4, December, 1974, pp. 23-27.
11. National Science Foundation report 1972, “Real-Time Film Animation”, see section I, “Graphics Symbiosis System”, by T. DeFanti and The Computer Graphics Research Group (contact C. Csuri for copies).
12. Csuri, Charles, “Real-Time Film Animation”, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual UAIDE Meeting, 1970.
13. _____, “Real-Time Computer Animation”, Proceedings of the IFIP Congress 74, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 707-711. North-Holland Publishing Company.
14. Gillenson, Mark, “The Interactive Generation of Facial Images on a CRT Using a Heuristic Strategy”, Ph.D. Dissertation in the Department of Computer and Information Science, The Ohio State University, March, 1974.
15. Clark, James H., “3-D Design of Free-Form B-Spline Surfaces”, University of Utah, Ph.D. dissertation and NTIS report no. AD/A-002 736, September, 1974.
16. Sutherland, Ivan E.; Sproull, Robert F.; Schumacker, Robert A., “Sorting and the Hidden-Surface Problem”, Proceedings of AFIPS 1973 National Computer Conference, Vol. 42, pp. 685-693.
17. Sutherland, Ivan E.; Sproull, Robert F.; Schumacker, Robert A., “A Characterization of Ten-Surface Algorithms”, Computing Surveys, Vol. 6, No. 7, March, 1974, pp. 1-55.
18. Sutherland, Ivan E., “Three-Dimensional Data Input by Tablet”, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 453-462, April, 1974.
