Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

All images utilize the Red/Cyan Glasses

The Palace of Fine Arts, with the wife.

The Science Building, SJSU.

My nightly ritual.

Extra Credit

Please let this posting and photograph serve as proof that I, Carlos Nunez, did in fact visit the Oakland Museum of California's Pixar Exhibit during the semester. I wanted to go a few more times, but, unfortunately, ran out of time. I understand that I will not receive extra credit for each ticket, but just wanted to demonstrate my enthusiasm for the show.

Lighting a Scene in Maya

1 Point Lighting

2 Point Lighting

3 Point Lighting

Building a Scene in Maya

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction

The laws of physics are constantly broken or bent to achieve a more entertaining effect in the visual medium of film. If certain properties were portrayed accurately in a particular scene, then scientific realism would be achieved. Although the scene would be considered realistic, the visual aspect would more than likely fall a little flat. In film, certain laws of physics need to be exaggerated so that the audience will not only clearly see what is occurring, but will also feel what is happening. This caricature is necessary for the audience to “suspend their belief”. They are not merely a person in an audience watching a movie; they are an active participant in the world in which they are observing. The principal of falling, among other rules, is one of the most commonly broken principles. In particular, the length of time in the fall is either exaggerated or abbreviated for the purpose of adding dramatic flare. In the Pixar shirt, Knick Knack, important story elements are revealed during an extremely exaggerated fall time. The animated Japanese series, FLCL, frequently uses not only exaggerated fall times, but also shortens the fall time to aid in storytelling. Characters not only achieve exaggerated fall times, but also seem to hover, as the characters demonstrated in the Gobelins film, Oktapodi.

The Pixar short film, Knick Knack, tells the story of a grumpy toy snowman that lives in a snow globe, perched on a shelf. Outside of his little snow globe world, other miniature, tropical characters live their lives. He sees that they are free, and have no barriers between them and the real world. His mood is soon changed after noticing an attractive and buxom sunbather toy that beckons him to join the group. He then notices that he has no way of escaping his plastic prison. He devises various plans to escape the snow globe, each one less successful than the last. His final plan, however, leaves him and his snow globe placed precariously on a ledge. He, and his snow globe, then proceed to fall. This is where the storytelling comes into play.

The distance from the ledge of the bookshelf to the area where he lands could be estimated to be no more than 4 feet. Although the amounts of clues provided are few in number, and it is difficult to be able to give a more accurate guess, this is merely a conservative estimate. Utilizing the table provided in class to calculate the amount of frames necessary to animate a fall from a particular height, it would be very simple to calculate the scientifically sound answer. It would take the snowman and his snow globe approximately half a second, or 12 frames, for the object to leave the ledge of the shelf and hit the fish bowl. Since Pixar places a huge amount of importance on story, however, the snowman and his globe take a significant amount longer to fall. It takes the snowman 16 seconds from the apex until the landing. That is 32 times the duration than is realistic. The snow globe itself should fall for half a second as well. Instead, it takes a whopping 36 seconds from the apex to the landing point. That is approximately 72 times the duration of realistic time.

Although the fall times are ridiculously exaggerated, it simply works. During the fall, the snowman, who has been searching for a way to escape, finally notices that on the bottom of his globe, there is an emergency escape hatch on the floor. When the globe turns upside down during the fall, he is able to escape. This entire aspect occurs during the fall time. It was completely necessary to exaggerate the fall time so that the snowman could make a discovery and move the story forward. The worst culprit concerning law bending, however, is the snow globe. Again, this was completely necessary.

The snowman lands in a fish tank and believes that his life has improved. Although he is far away from the sunbather, he is now distracted with the inhabitant of the bowl: an attractive mermaid. There is some demonstrated anticipation to help the audience register that the snowman will finally be happy. He starts to walk over to her, then, the payoff arrives. The snow globe falls on top of the snowman, via the emergency exit, and places him back in his original predicament. The setup of the gag and anticipation that was necessary to pull it off needed one thing to be successful. Time. The exaggerated fall time of the snowman and the snow globe ultimately aided in the storytelling, and created a more dynamic narrative. Another example of exaggerated fall time is in the Japanese animated series, FLCL.

FLCL is an anime series that follows a 12 year-old-male named Naota. Naota lives in a quiet Japanese town. He lives with his eccentric father and grandfather. An enormous factory shaped like a steam iron mars the center of their idyllic town. Although the series is relatively difficult to decipher, a space alien that takes the form of a woman joins Naota. Her name is Haruko, and they frequently engage in epic battles with creatures that erupt from various places. Lord Canti, a robot that erupts from Naota’s head, battles these creatures. Canti can be viewed as an alter ego of Naoto, providing strength when Naota is weak. Whereas Naota is introverted and awkward, Canti is heroic. Naota’s traits of being unsure of himself and lacking self-confidence change as the show ends. When the final battle happens, he is shown to be a confident young man who possesses Canti’s bravery. At first, Naota dreaded the transformation into Lord Canti. At the end, he initiated the transformation. It is because of the bizarre guidance of Haruko and the battles that he engages in that he experiences emotional growth. It is during these battles that the laws of physics are bent.

Although epic battles are generously sprinkled throughout the series, there is 1 battle in particular where the principle of falling is bent in either extremes. Characters both have exaggerated and abbreviated fall times. In episode 3, a biomechanical creature erupts from the head of one of Naota’s classmates. Haruko, and then Canti engage the creature. At one point, Haruko is shown hovering above the creature, swinging her guitar (her weapon of choice) numerous times at the creature. All the while, she is neither falling nor rising. She is, in fact, hovering. After the period of hovering, she is seen to be flying through the air.

She is estimated to be about 8-9 feet from the ground. Using the same table to calculate the time and frame count during the fall, we could once again find out how long a realistic would take. The fall from the height that Haruko was at would take approximately ¾ of a second, or 18 frames of animation to fall. She spends 8 seconds alone in the air, swinging her guitar.

As with the snowman above, this period of levitation is used to add visual interest to the story. It was used to show that even though Haruko had a strategic advantage over the creature by having a higher position, her opponent was an unstoppable force. All of the time spent in the air, swinging at the creature, had little to no effect on it. Naota himself also experiences an exaggerated fall time.

Naota, who is right in the middle of the battle, is knocked out and is thrown from the roof of the building where the fight is occurring. Below, at ground level, awaits Canti, who is anticipating joining with Naota. Naota is shown to be at the apex of the fall. While at the apex, however, he is shown to be spinning and not falling. Again, this was used to add spice to the storytelling.

Anticipation is an extremely important part of visual storytelling. It lets the audience see what the character is going to do next. In the case of Naota’s hovering, the creators wanted to show how important the joining of Canti and Naota is. So, instead of letting him fall at a normal speed, we see an exaggerated slow fall speed that makes us anticipate the union of the two characters. Naota needs Canti to defeat the monster. Canti is a powerful character, as can be demonstrated by his speed.

Canti’s moves and falls are all extremely fast. Whether he is slapped away or sticks-and-moves, his actions are lightning-quick. When he is knocked off a building by the creature, he hits the ground at a faster than normal speed. Some could say that this was used to show weight, but it was used to effectively show that he is a powerful force who moves quick and decisively. Even when he falls, he moves in a speedy fashion. Conversely, when another effect is desired, the rule can be bent back the other way. As shown above, when a more whimsical effect is desired, the fall time can be, of course, exaggerated.

Oktapodi, by Gobelins, tells the story of a love struck octopus that goes through great lengths to rescue his love from the clutches of a seafood restaurant. In one scene, the octopuses are seen bouncing off a beach ball and attaining altitude. While in midair, they notice that the film’s villain is awaiting them on the ground. They desperately flap their tentacles. Although it’s very subtle, they seem to hover for a slight amount of time. Again, this is used to let the audience have a small amount of “breathing room” to visually decipher what is occurring, and what will occur next.

Anticipation is merely one of the reasons that visual artists bend and break the physics of falling. Even when broken, there is a sense of believability when executed correctly. The exaggeration is necessary in visual arts, where subtly is either mistaken for a mistake, or won’t be noticed at all. If the audience doesn’t notice certain events, then they definitely can’t “suspend their disbelief”, and lose themselves in the movie.

Outline for the Second Term Paper

I. Introduction - Laws of physics are constantly broken or bent to achieve a more entertaining effect in visual media. The principal of falling, among other rules, is one of the most commonly broken principles. In particular, the length of time in the fall is either exaggerated or abbreviated.

• Knick Knack-The snowman and his snowglobe fall for an extraordinary amount of time.
• FLCL-Characters either hover or fall faster than what is believable
• Oktapodi-For storytelling purposes, the octopus characters hover.

II. Knick Knack, the Pixar short film, utilizes exaggerated fall times to aid in the story

• The snowman spends an extraordinary amount of time falling
• As long as the snowman takes, the snowglobe, which began its fall simultaneously, takes almost twice as long

III. The anime, FLCL uses both exaggerated and abbreviated fall times. They are utilized mostly in fight scenes

• Takkun, the central character, experiences a comical "corkscrew" fall that is extremely slow in descent.
• Transversely, Canti, the "sidekick", commonly has extremely fast fall times. This is used to show speed.

IV. In the film Oktapodi, by students at Gobelins, the characters hover. Again, this is for the sake of storytelling

• During the "2-D" animated sequence, the octopus hovers.
• During the chase scene, both of the characters have slightly exaggerated hang times. They successfully prolong their time in the air by flapping their tentacles.

V. Conclusion.

• Although the laws of physics are broken, when done correctly, there is still a sense of believability.
• Sometimes, it is necessary to aid in storytelling.

Stop-Motion Character Animation

I originally set out to animate a "Space Opera" with this character, but he was stubborn. Basically, all he wanted to do was lay there. As Professor Garcia has said before, you win some, you lose some. He kept crumbling and falling apart, so I had to quickly devise an alternate plan.

For this animation, I made graduated notches on the "ground" paper. Those notches followed a line that was parallel to the horizon. This combination of line an notches created a path that the objects were going to follow. The rocket in the back had notches that were closer together, whereas the object in front has wider spacing. This difference in spacing gives the appearance of depth, since objects in the foreground seem to move faster than those in the background. The character was supported with a dowel, which was covered by the tail of his rocket. There are 48 individual frames.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Boundin’ is a computer-animated short created by the animation studio, Pixar. It tells the story of a happy-go-lucky sheep that finds himself in unexpected circumstances, all set to the backdrop of the American prairie. The sheep finds wisdom from the mythical Jackalope and changes his outlook on life forever. The short is very light-hearted and whimsical and the physics in the film reflect those feelings. Characters in the film exaggerate the Action/Reaction rule to demonstrate a feeling of freedom. They also obtain unrealistic jump magnifications to instill that feeling in the audience. Although some rules are exaggerated, others are adhered to for the sense of believability. Timing and spacing rules are adhered to for the sake of demonstrating that the characters exist in a similar world to ours. Furthermore, the characters’ paths of action follow arcs, much in the way that things do in the real world.

According to the often-quoted Newton’s 3^rd law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law is also referred to as the “Action/Reaction” rule. In the case of the Jackalope, the “action” exerted is the character bouncing onto the ground. Every time he bounces, he is exerting force onto the surface of the ground. The “reaction” in the scenario arises from the ground. The ground exerts force back up into the Jackalope every time he lands and launches, propelling him up and outward. However, this is only part of a realistic jump. An important part of a character jump is the crouch. The crouch is a preparatory action that will aid in attaining a great height on the jump.When a character crouches, they will increase their push height, which will ultimately make their jump height a lot higher. In the Jackalope’s case, his crouch is virtually non-existent. Although he has almost no preparation for the jump, he is still able to attain a relatively high push height, and a jump magnification of 4.

Jackalope Jump:

The gophers in the short follow the same exaggerated rule. They have very little crouching action, but the air that they gain is disproportional. The greatest amount of squash that the gophers obtain is a slightly bent leg. They then launch themselves 1 body height into the air, and 3 body widths to the left and right.

Gopher Jump:

The sheep also follows the same exaggerated physics, but isn’t as severe of a “rule breaker”. As demonstrated, the sheep gives a considerable amount more squash than either the Jackalope of gophers. His torso can be seen tucked into his leg, which is bent. His body is lowered to the ground. Although he should gain some height, it shouldn’t be to the degree that is shown in the movie. He not only has a high apex, but the speed at which he moves is shown to be great, as is demonstrated by the almost constant motion blur. There are other instances, however, where the physics in Boundin’ adhere more closely to those found in the real world.

Sheep Jump:

In the animated short, there are various animal co-stars. Each character is depicted in an amusing manner, which contributes to the feeling and essence of the story. Although they are not portrayed in a realistic style, the characters are believable because their movements replicate (to some extent) those found in the real world. It is because of this “foot in reality” that the audience can forget the fact that they are looking at computer-generated images, and focus on the story unfolding before them. One area that demonstrates reality is the timing and spacing. In real world physics, when an object reaches a point near its apex, the ever-present gravity that pulls on the object starts to slow an object/character into its maximum height. The distance that the object moves in each frame significantly diminishes when it nears the apex. On the way down, the object slows out of the apex. Gravity is pulling the object down to the ground. The spacing between the character greatly increases during each frame. The owl quickly jumps out of his hole. Then, after gravity’s pull is too great, he slows into the apex. His stay at the apex is slightly exaggerated for comic timing, but is still believable. The owl then slows out of the apex, and starts a descent back to his home. The animation principle of squash is an important part of animating a jump or a fall, and is present in the owl’s movement. The first and last third of his trip up and down contains a motion blur. This shows that the owl’s movement is so fast at that point of the jump that he seems to stretch. The animators blurred the owl to obtain a more fluid animation. If it weren’t there, the animation would seem more static and would seem as though it was missing frames of animation.

Owl Timing:

The sheep is another character that has an exaggerated amount of time spent at its apex. Although the height of its jump and time spent in the air is exaggerated, the sheep’s jump is made believable by slowing into and out of the apex. This simple tweak of the physics contributes to the theme of the story. The Jackalope encourages the sheep to jump when he’s feeling down. This jump symbolizes the sheep’s feelings; when he’s feeling particularly melancholy, he should merely pick himself up and brush himself off. His long time spent in the apex shows that the sheep is capable of psychologically picking himself up and reclaiming a positive attitude. It also creates a feeling of weightlessness that the audience can feel as well.

Sheep Timing:

The fish in the water also slow in and out of their choreographed dance. This subtle movement continues to aid in the believability of the film. The fish move side to side in rhythm to the song. Instead of having a sudden, abrupt change of their paths, the slow into each extreme pose. The energy that propels them in one direction can’t suddenly and instantly be rerouted. The have to slow down into the pose, stop, and then build up momentum into the next pose. Typically, all things in nature follow an arc such as this, and there are further, clearer ideas in the short.

Another animation fundamental/physics law is the path of action. A path of action is the trajectory of an object. Nature dictates that objects will follow a parabolic arc when they move in various capacities, specifically, when gravity is the only force acting upon it. An arc is achieved because the horizontal movement is uniform while the vertical motion accelerates. This applies to not only broad movements, such as main bodies or large objects, but more specific things as well. Arm swings; leg movements, head turning and hip swaying can all be made more believable if they follow an arc. Characters in Boundin’ follow this principle. The actions such as the arcs and spacing and timing, are animated realistically so that the audiences attention won’t be placed up them. The audience, feeling that is placed in a believable world, concentrates on the motivation behind the character’s actions. The fish characters, although minor, contribute to this believability. Although the fish have teeth and smile, their actions are animated in a correct way. When they leap out of the water, the fish’s path of action follows a parabolic arc. Gravity is pulling on them, and once they reach a certain point, after the apex, they begin their descent back down into the water.

Fish Path of Action:

The Jackalope’s jump, although exaggerated in other aspects, is believable because it follows an arc. The gophers, who are imitating the Jackalope, follow a parabolic arc as well. There are 6 gophers that all move within a certain amount of time at each other. Their movements are staggered to avoid “twinning”. All of these characters, which vary in weight, height and overall muscle mass, have movements that follow a parabolic arc. It is their time in the air, however, that varies. The time in the air is directly related to how high their apex is. The Jackalope, who can attain a higher apex than either the fish or the gophers, can stay in air the longest.

Although certain physics boundaries are pushed on this film, they are done so for either comic timing or they contribute to the themes or feeling of the story. The creators of the short knew exactly what aspects of the story they wanted the audience to focus on. They animated aspects that should recede and have less weight more realistically. Pixar didn’t want the audience to concentrate on physics that didn’t seem believable. If they exaggerated in the incorrect place, the audience would focus their attention on trying to figure out what was odd about what they just viewed, instead of on the important parts of the story. By having believable physics where necessary, the audience can forget that they are looking at 0’s and 1’s on the screen. The audience will even believe that a mythical Prairie creature can, in fact, give advice a down-on-his-luck sheep.

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Physics in the Pixar Short, “Boundin’”

I. Introduction - A down-on-his-luck sheep finds sage-like wisdom in a mythical creature.

• a) Action/Reaction exaggeration
• b) Timing and Spacing
• c) Path of action (nature and gravity)
• d) Thesis statement

II. Action/Reaction exaggeration-Characters jump unbelievably high without preparation (crouching).

• a) Jackalope attains high altitude jump, without any kind of squash at the bottom of his fall.
• b) Gophers attain considerably lower altitude than Jackalope, but jump is still relatively high for the small amount of crouch presented.
• c) Sheep has a considerable amount more of squash than either Jackalope or Gophers, but is still disproportionate to the high apex of jump and time spent in the air.

III. Timing and Spacing - Characters slow in to and out from the apex of an action. It is exaggerated for comic timing.

• a) Owl jumps out of his hole. The speed near the bottom of the path upwards contains the principle of stretch, as demonstrated by the characters’ pose having a motion blur.
• b) Although the height of its jump and time spent in the air is exaggerated, the sheep’s jump is made believable by slowing into the apex, then slowing out of it.
• c) The fish swim back and forth in a synchronized dance. They slow in and out of each side as they move from once step to the next.

IV. Path of Action – Nature and Gravity dictates that objects follow a parabolic Arc.

• a) When the fish fly out of the water, they follow an arc. The fish is moving forward with continual spacing, but gravity is pulling the fish down exponentially.
• b) The Jackalope’s jump, although exaggerated in other aspects, retains believability because it follows an arc.
• c) The gophers, mimicking the Jackalope, jump into the air. Although in extreme perspective, we still see that they are following an arc.

V. Conclusion

• a) Laws of physics are greatly exaggerated in this short
• b) The actions are solid and are laws are bent to make certain aspects more endearing (realism vs. believability).

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

Stop-Motion Animation of Falling

This video was shot on 1's during the stretch. It seems a little fast, but I decided to include it.

Slow Motion of the Stop Motion

First, I decided right away that I wanted to do a stop motion animation involving me. I couldn't think of a more attractive and enthusiastic model to work with. I then began planning the Iron Man/Superman drop/flight by constructing a spacing chart that would create a believable fall from and flight back up to the apex. I then drew diagrams of what my body would look like during different phases of the drop.

I then enlisted my wife to start taking photos of me re-enacting the poses. Like this:

I then took the images into Photoshop and cleared all images of any background, leaving only me in the image, like this:

The image above has a motion blur applied to it to demonstrate speed and the animation principal of "stretch". I then used Photoshop to create the spacing guide and made 18 unique images. Those images were then imported into the animation software, Flipbook. I shot the animation on two's, and copied and pasted the clip so that it would repeat.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

The original video with 5 jumps.

The video with 1 jump analyzed.

The image of the analyzed jump.

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference-Object Drop

This exercise helps animators by reinforcing the importance of shooting reference. Music is "Lonely Bull" by Herb Alpert and the Tiuana Brass. Best viewed in 480p or above at a size larger than the default. The frame rate of the camera that I used is 30 fps.

Mini-Portfolio

Japanese Tea Garden Study

Japanese Tea Garden Study

Figure Study

Art 113B Forest Rendering

Art 28 Animation

Musings

I have always had a deep love for animation and illustration. In 2003, while attending San Jose State, I met my wife. At the time, I was a liberal studies major, with plans to graduate and eventually teach at the elementary school level. I then met my wife, who was an Art History major. I then started hanging out in the art building. That's when everything changed.

I happened upon the Animation/Illustration BFA show for that year. Amazed by the jaw-dropping work that I saw, a seed was planted in my brain that eventually made me change my major to art. Unfortunately, I had already been in school for a very long time at that point, so I looked to obtain an art degree that got me out of school the fastest, pushing Animation/Illustration to the back burner. After a stint in the real world, working at a horrendous job, my wife encouraged me to return to obtain education with my true love, A/I.

I've taken GE courses in Astronomy, Chemistry and Oceanography. I've also taken many drawing and painting courses. I've just started classes both in 2d and 3d animation.

I always thought that I would love to be a Visual Developer, but have come to realize that I might want to pursue animation or storyboarding. As of right now, things are up in the air.

First Post

Let this posting serve as proof that I, Carlos Luis Nunez, am indeed able to use a blog.