PHYSICS-BASED
ANIMATION
CSA2207
Colin Vella
Animated Graphics
Presentations
Entertainment Media
Simulations
Computer Games
Digital Animation Approaches
Scripted Animation
Interactive Animation
Ideal for predetermined
Ideal for interactive
sequences
applications
Requires prescription of the
Requires a physical model
complete sequence
and initial conditions
Can be designed for dramatic
Animation cannot be
effect
controlled directly
Requires skilled animators for
Realism is a by-product of
realistic effects
physics modelling
Animator resources / effort
must scale in proportion to
complexity
Computation resources must
scale in proportion to
complexity
Interactive Animation Applications
Engineering Design
Virtual Reality
Training Simulators
Computer Games
Existing Solutions
Commercial / Closed Source
Havoc Physics™
Nvidia PhysX™
Community Driven / Open Source
Bullet
Open Dynamics Engine™
Farseer
Physics Theory
Classical Mechanics
Rigid Body Dynamics
Soft Body Dynamics
Concepts
Linear and Angular Motion
Forces and Inertia
Collisions, Contact, Friction
Motion Constraints
Physical Models for Animation
Analytical Models
Numerical Models
time
Analytical
Solution
state
start
time
start
state
Numerical
Solution
next
state
next
time
Physical Models for Animation
Analytical Models
Numerical Models
Compute state as a
function of time
Computationally efficient
Very accurate (no error
accumulation)
Limited to simple
predictable configurations
with no interaction
Iteratively update state
over small timeframes
Polynomial complexity
Numerical errors creep into
simulations over time
Can handle interactive
configurations of arbitrary
complexity
Requires solution for every
Generic approach suitable
class of problem
to many problems