Purdue University's departments of Computer Graphics Technology, and Visual and Performing Arts, have collaborated on a project to create a performance that incorporates live dance, and computer graphics imagery that is being generated by both live performances and existing real-time cg and video elements.This group includes professors from each area, several graduate students in computer graphics, and undergraduate dancers and computer graphics students. We have been working together to not only develop a performance, but a way of combining the very different workflows of each area. ResearchIn the fall of 2002 this group worked on a project to develop a small "Black Box" performance which used one dancer, and one virtual character that interacted throughout the performance. We used this production as a test bed for the larger goals we had for the spring of 2003. During this we worked out small issues of collaboration styles and tried to understand where the future of this project lay.We had many successes in our fall presentation. We created a performance in which one dancer was able to communicate and pass emotions through a real time virtual character. At the same time, we also worked with real time choreography. We worked one on one with the director during the performance to allow her to direct the virtual character to adjust to the improvisational nature of the dance piece. She was able to do this through directing the computer operator using FilmBox as a medium. PreproductionOur work at the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003 was the pre-production of a much larger performance than in fall 2002. Our goal was to create a performance that utilizes five dancers, one virtual character driven by a dancer in a motion capture suit, three different projection screens of video and cg virtual elements, as well as many other computer graphics segments run by several computer students. This performance was slated for the beginning of May 2003. ProductionWe have met many challenges inherent in combining the work of two very different disciplines. One of the first issues we dealt with is the combination of the workflows used regularly in each department. Directors and Choreographers that are accustomed to working well within the limitations and peculiarities of traditional performance spaces may be unfamiliar, and in some cases, perhaps even uncomfortable, with the expanse of possibilities (and limitations) offered by the incorporation of the relatively new medium of computer graphics. This works the same way with computer graphics students who don't fully grasp the technical and perceived limitations of the modern stage.Our next stepping stone is found in the variation between the two "schools" familiarity with the "performance frame". People used to working in a live performance space think of the performance frame in terms of the live, viewing, audience--which is typically on one side of the stage (though, of course, there are often variations on this). Whereas people used to working in virtual 3D environments thin...

This paper details the implementation of a system developed to generate 3D motion capture data through the analysis of raster based motion video. The system's general procedure includes acquiring video, processing the raster data to raw motion data through motion tracking technology, formatting the raw data into various useable forms using custom software, importing it to 3D animation software via custom scripts and then applying it to 3D geometry. The purpose of the project is to use the realism and efficiencies that motion capture provides, but without the high cost of traditional motion capture equipment. Though this system may not always provide the resolution or possibility for real time applications that traditional motion capture can, it does allow users to apply real-world motion to virtual objects in an efficient manner.

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A multi-disciplinary team of researchers and students created several simulations and visualizations of the terrorist attack on the Pentagon building that occurred on September 11, 2001. The process took advantage of both animation and finite element analysis (FEA) simulation techniques for visualization. The imagery produced portrays the collision event on the exterior and interior of the Pentagon. This paper details the difficulties and successes of implementing a process to animate and realistically render the approach, impact, and explosion of the plane, based on an expert analysis of the crash and FEA data. One of the purposes of this project was to develop a data pipeline from FEA simulations to 3D animation and rendering programs that can be extended to other simulations thus bridging the gap between two non-coherent systems creating scientifically accurate simulations.