Connecting the dots: discovering what's important for creature motion
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We present an experiment designed to reveal some of the key features necessary for conveying creature motion. The ultimate goal is to find the minimal representation necessary to communicate recognizable locomotion or traits that may be communicated to the viewer through motion such as size and attitude. Motion and form are separable for digital characters and each contributes to viewer comprehension of action and intent. Advances in motion capture techniques have increased the amount and fidelity of data available to recreate performances digitally. However, even minimal information contained in point light displays can be sufficient for human gait perception [Johansson 1973]. Manipulating this minimal information can even affect the perceived gender of point light movement. For example, exaggerating the movement of points representing hips or shoulders can bias gender recognition [Cutting et al. 1978]. Minimal representation of animal motion could benefit animators in a number of ways. Creature animators often use animal motion video as visual reference. However, video does not disclose precise anatomical detail, especially when compared to motion capture data. For wild animals MoCap is generally not a viable option. Therefore, such motion must be created through manual key-framing. Even with a well-built rig, this is not efficient or intuitive for defining motion. To build a better system, we need to determine what level of detail of motion information from reference video is required for recognition and, conversely, what details can be safely ignored. To develop a new way of creating and managing animation and animation controls, a better understanding of how we perceive motion itself is necessary. This work takes a first step toward improving our understanding of animal motion and how it can be mapped to controlling creature motion.
