3D Character Model Research Articles

Charamin : Software to enjoy 3D Character Models

Charamin : Software to enjoy 3D Character Models

SD Models: Super‐Deformed Character Models

AbstractSuper‐deformed, SD, is a specific artistic style for Japanese manga and anime which exaggerates characters in the goal of appearing cute and funny. The SD style characters are widely used, and can be seen in many anime, CG movies, or games. However, to create an SD model often requires professional skills and considerable time and effort. In this paper, we present a novel technique to generate an SD style counterpart of a normal 3D character model. Our approach uses an optimization guided by a number of constraints that can capture the properties of the SD style. Users can also customize the results by specifying a small set of parameters related to the body proportions and the emphasis of the signature characteristics. With our technique, even a novel user can generate visually pleasing SD models in seconds.

A novel template‐based automatic rigging algorithm for articulated‐character animation

ABSTRACTRigging is a process for creating skeletons used to animate articulated characters. In conventional computer‐animation software, this process must be performed manually. Although several automatic rigging algorithms have been proposed, these methods still require user intervention. This paper proposes an automatic algorithm that generates an inverse kinematic skeleton for a character by locating an appropriate template skeleton on the extracted curve skeleton of the input 3D character model. After the curve skeleton is extracted, it is analyzed and classified into an appropriate category. The classification conditions are developed from the characteristics of each kind of real animal. We also develop an algorithm to extract the anatomical meaning of each skeleton segment. On the basis of the classification result, a suitable template skeleton is retrieved from the database. Each bone of the template skeleton can then be located on the appropriate skeleton segment of the input skeleton graph by using the extracted anatomical meanings. In contrast to previous methods, the algorithm does not require the input 3D character models to have certain poses or orientations. Moreover, all processes can be completed without user intervention. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

HandPuppet3D: Motion capture and analysis for character animation

Motion capture is a technique of digitally recording the movements of real entities, usually humans. It was originally developed as an analysis tool in biomechanics research, but has grown increasingly important as a source of motion data for computer animation. In this context it has been widely used for both cinema and video games. Hand motion capture and tracking in particular has received a lot of attention because of its critical role in the design of new Human Computer Interaction methods and gesture analysis. One of the main difficulties is the capture of human hand motion. This paper gives an overview of ongoing research "HandPuppet3D" being carried out in collaboration with an animation studio to employ computer vision techniques to develop a prototype desktop system and associated animation process that will allow an animator to control 3D character animation through the use of hand gestures. The eventual goal of the project is to support existing practice by providing a softer, more intuitive, user interface for the animator that improves the productivity of the animation workflow and the quality of the resulting animations. To help achieve this goal the focus has been placed on developing a prototype camera based desktop gesture capture system to capture hand gestures and interpret them in order to generate and control the animation of 3D character models. This will allow an animator to control 3D character animation through the capture and interpretation of hand gestures. Methods will be discussed for motion tracking and capture in 3D animation and in particular that of hand motion tracking and capture. HandPuppet3D aims to enable gesture capture with interpretation of the captured gestures and control of the target 3D animation software. This involves development and testing of a motion analysis system built from algorithms recently developed. We review current software and research methods available in this area and describe our current work.

Character animation creation using hand-drawn sketches

To create a character animation, a 3D character model is often needed. However, since humanlike characters are not rigid bodies, to deform the character model to fit each animation frame is tedious work. Therefore, we propose an easy-to-use method for creating a set of consistent 3D character models from some hand-drawn sketches while keeping the projected silhouettes and features of the created models consistent with the input sketches. Since the character models possess vertexwise correspondences, they can be used for frame-consistent texture mapping or for making character animations. In our system, the user only needs to annotate the correspondence of the features among the input-vector-based sketches; the remaining processes are all performed automatically.