Graphics Plus/Graphics Plus.iso/info/faqs/animatio

Internet Message Format | 1994-10-15 | 29.9 KB

Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!grapevine.lcs.mit.edu!uhog.mit.edu!news.kei.com!MathWorks.Com!solaris.cc.vt.edu!uunet!munnari.oz.au!mel.dit.csiro.au!etrog.citri.edu.au!angus
From: [e-mail] (angus y montgomery)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics.animation,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.graphics.animation FAQ v1.2 (12 sep)
Followup-To: comp.graphics.animation
Date: 13 Sep 94 04:56:25 GMT
Organization: Collaborative Information Technology Research Institute
Lines: 777
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
NNTP-Posting-Host: godzilla.cgl.citri.edu.au
Summary: This posting is what currently passes for a
    comp.graphics.animation FAQ.  It has information on computer
    animation for end-users, hobbyists, career animators, and
    programmers.  Please read this FAQ before posting to
    comp.graphics.animation.
Keywords: Computer Animation, Resource, FAQ.
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.graphics.animation:11357 comp.answers:7239 news.answers:25630

Archive-name: graphics/animation-faq
Last-modified: 12 sep 1994
Version: 1.2
Posting-frequency: Monthly
Last-issue: comp.graphics.animation FAQ v1.1 (8 aug)

This FAQ
--------

This is a growing FAQ skeleton, not a complete FAQ.  Contributions and
suggestions are encouraged.  Computer animation is a large and growing
field, and people want different things from it; this FAQ tries to
cover all bases, and as a result is rather thin on many of them!  This
FAQ skeleton will one day grow into a fully-hypertextified document
(name your favorite format) available for delivery by news, FTP,
email, WWW, and hand.  Until then, however, it's only available here
on comp.graphics.animation once a month, and by FTP on rtfm.mit.edu.

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Changes
-------

Hardly anything new.  I've done very little, and very little has been
sent my way.  I'll soon post a survey so that a start can be made on
an "animation packages" section.  The FAQ is late again.

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Sections
--------

There being so much to cover, the FAQ is broken down (and may in the
future be broken up :) into a number of broad sections:

* Using Animation        : how to find and view animation
* Hobby Animation        : animating on my computer
* Animation Media        : animation media properties and I/O
* Career Animation        : joining the computer animation industry
* Animation Theory        : how does it work?

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Contents
--------

Subsections marked `#' are largely incomplete or non-existant.

* Fluff *
  This FAQ            : what we're covering
  Changes            : what's new
  Sections            : broad breakdown
  Contents            : recursion alert!
  Related Resources        : don't look here, look there

* Using Animation *
  Animation File Formats    : types, conversion, docs
  Animation Players        : look what we've got
  Animation Sites        : where to find it

* Hobby Animation *
  Animation Process        : what gets done
  Animation Software        : what, where, and by who #
  Animation Venues        : where to see/send animation #

* Animation Media *
  Media properties        : video, film
  Media I/O            : getting it on and off your computer #

* Career Animation *
  Animation Courses        : back to school! #
  Profile of an Animator    : an anthropological exercise #
  Your Union            : well, just one: Local 839 IATSE

* Animation Theory *
  Types of Animation        : 2d -> physically based and beyond
  Interpolation            : how to get from A to B #
  Animation References        : computer, classical, industry

* Miscellaneous *
  Animations            : what's been done
  Acknowledgements        : people who've helped

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Related Resources
-----------------
or, do i really belong in comp.graphics.animation?

Computer animation, like its progenitor computer graphics, abuts on a
large number of fields.  If everyone from all related fields posted
here, the newsgroup would be swamped with irrelevance.  Here are some
places to which your comments, information, or questions might be
better directed:

Newsgroups
~~~~~~~~~~
 comp.graphics            : image generation, modelling
 comp.graphics.algorithms    : algorithms for graphics
 comp.graphics.raytracing    : bouncing light around
 comp.graphics.visualisation    : scientific / data visualisation
 comp.graphics.XXX        : \
 comp.sys.XXX.graphics        :  \
 comp.sys.XXX            :   } how do i do YYY
 comp.sys.XXX.hardware.video    :   } on/under XXX
 comp.os.ms-windows.*        :  /
 comp.windows.*            : /
 comp.multimedia        : sound and text and vision
 alt.3d                : SIRDS, holograms, &c. 3d perception.
 rec.arts.{anim*,disney}    : discussion of actual animations
 alt.graphics.pixutils        : picture manipulation, conversion
 alt.binaries.pictures*        : posts of pictures and anims, formats, ...
 rec.video.{desktop,production}    : video, desktop video
 sci.image.processing        : sophisticated image manipulation
 sci.virtual-worlds*        : anything about VR
 comp.compression        : compression issues (incl. JPEG, MPEG)
 *.test (misc.test, &c.)    : test postings (some people...)

 Read these groups' FAQs before posting to them -- don't be flamebait.
 DO NOT post animations to this group -- remote access (ftp, &c) is
 much better, or try alt.binaries.pictures* if you must.

Internet Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
References to FAQs and other postings in this document look like this:
 faq:newsgroup:archive-name:name
 faq:comp.graphics:resources-listing:"Computer Graphics Resource Listing"
     ^newsgroup    ^archive-name      ^name (minus date,part,group info)
 All "official" FAQs are posted to news.answers, and archived for anon
 ftp on rtfm.mit.edu under /pub/usenet/news.answers/archive-name.

References to WWW documents look like this:
 http://site/path/document
 http://www.crs4.it/~luigi/MPEG/mpegfaq.html
        ^site       ^site path  ^hypermedia-document
 More information about WWW (the world wide web) is available: ?

References to anonymously FTP-able files look like this:
 ftp://site/path/document
 ftp://avalon.chinalake.navy.mil/pub/format_specs/iffspecs.lzh
       ^ftp-site                 ^path            ^document
 `/pub' at the root of the path is often assumed.
 More information about FTP is available: ?
 Many FTP'able files are mirrored on other sites to reduce bandwidth;
 use `archie' to find a copy near you.

References to mailing lists look like this:
 mail:address:subject:body
 mail:[e-mail]::"subscribe animaster-l"
      ^who to mail to      ^what to put in the message body
 Note that the second (subject) field is often blank, as is the third (body).

General Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
faq:comp.graphics:faq:"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)"
 { gfx refs, groups, standards, various algs }
faq:comp.graphics:resources-listing:"Computer Graphics Resource Listing"
 { ftp sites, rendering, 3d modellers, GUIs, visualisation, image analysis,
 textures }
faq:comp.graphics.algorithms:?:"FAQ"
 { (coming soon) gfx algs in abundance }
faq:comp.graphics.animation::"proto-FAQ"
 { (this!) animating, playing anims, anim "theory" }
http://mambo.ucsc.edu
 { facial animation }

Package-Specific Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alias Animator (Alias Research):
 mail:[e-mail]::"subscribe alias-l Your_Name"
Animation Master (Hash):
 mail:[e-mail]::"subscribe animaster-l"
 http://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gavingav/Home.html
 ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gavingav/Hash_Info
 ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gavingav/
Animation Pro (Autodesk) (PC).
DCTV (Digital Creations) (Amiga):
 mail:[e-mail]::
Imagine (Impulse) (Amiga, PC):
 mail:[e-mail]::
Lightwave 3D (NewTek) (Amiga):
 mail:[e-mail]::"subscribe lightwave-l"
Playmation (Hash): see Animation Master
3D Studio (Autodesk:PC):
 see faq:comp.graphics.animation:?:"3DS FAQ"
 mail:[e-mail]::
  "subscribe 3dstudio-L <[e-mail]> (Your Real Name)"
 objects on ftp://avalon.chinalake.navy.mil/pub/objects/3ds/
Toaster (NewTek) (Amiga):
 mail:[e-mail]::
  "subscribe toaster-l [e-mail]"

Format Resources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AVI (PC):
 ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/...
 { RIFF AVI format. does _not_ include compression format }
DL:
FLI, FLC (Autodesk) (PC):
 FLC article in DDJ'93. ftp://simtel20.../graphic/...
 ftp://avalon.chinalake.navy.mil/format_specs/Autodesk_fli_and_flc_format.txt
 { specification of format }
GIF (PC):
 see faq:comp.graphics:faq
IFF ANIM (Amiga):
 ftp://avalon.chinalake.navy.mil/pub/format_specs/iffspecs.lzh
 { specification of format }
Moviesetter (GoldDisk) (Amiga):
MPEG (lossy):
 faq:comp.graphics:mpeg-faq:"MPEG-FAQ: multimedia compression"
 also as ftp://ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de/pub/msdos/dos/graphics/mpegfa??.zip
 { covers specification, future, software (players, &c), hardware,
   incl. pointers to other information, ... }
 faq:alt.binaries.pictures.utilities:?:"WHERE TO GET MPEG UTILS"
 http://www.crs4.it/~luigi/MPEG/mpegfaq.html
 http://w3.eeb.ele.tue.nl/mpeg/index.html
 ftp://ftp.crs4.it { mpeg, and other image compression techniques }
RLE (Unix):

for code that reads: DL, FLI, FLC, GIF, IFF, MovieSetter, PFX,
Quicktime, and RLE animation formats, see the xanim entry in
"Players", below.  Other players' source may also be useful for these
and other formats.

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---------------------
** Using Animation **
---------------------

Animation File Formats                [mark podlipec and others]
----------------------

// (naive/compressed/compacted, conversion, players)

DL:

AVI (PC):

FLI, FLC (Autodesk) (PC): FLI support is for 320x200 images, and is a
 series of images and deltas.  The colour map can be changed during
 the animation.  FLC has a few additional chunks and supports larger
 image sizes.

GIF (PC): A GIF file consists of a screen colour map and a series of
 images, each with an optional colour map.  The images don't have to
 be at the origin and can be any size smaller than the screen size.
 This allows GIF animations to be created that only update the part of
 the screen that changes.

IFF ANIM (Amiga): The Amiga's IFF format was designed as a universal
 (extensible) data format.  Many different data types and chunks can
 be found in IFF ANIMs.  Many ANIMs include sound chunks or colour
 cycling.  There are a plethora of compression techniques (with
 different tradeoffs) used.  Most IFF ANIMs are meant to be
 double-buffered, with deltas applying to frames two distant.  A
 looping ANIM means the last two deltas produce images that are the
 same as the first two.  The Amiga has a large number of display modes
 (a couple of them, EHB and HAM are unusual; HAM is the hardest to
 emulate.)

MovieSetter (GoldDisk) (Amiga): A very flexible animation format.
 Animations are stored as a bunch of backgrounds, sounds and sets.
 Sets are smaller images that get placed on top of the background
 (with transparent pixels).  A frame list at the end describes each
 frame.  Each frame specifies which background to use (backgrounds can
 also scroll in different directions and speeds), and a list of sets
 to put on that background with depth information so characters can
 pass behind or in front of each other.  Sound information is
 contained here as well to sync it up to the action.  There is also
 colour cycling and specialty fades and wipes.  Can come as one file
 or as three directories and a control file.

MPEG (lossy):

PFX (PageFlipper Plus F/X) (Amiga): A series of deltas with a play
 list at the end.  Supports colour map changes, nested loops and
 dynamic timing.

RLE (URT) (Unix): One or more runlength encoded images, viewable with
 an X11 viewing program.  Tools for creating consistent colour maps
 and for many other operations are part of the toolkit.

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Players
-------

display v1.84 (PC) (Jih-Shin Ho): AVI, DL, FLC, GL, MPEG
 ftp://nctuccca.edu.tw/PC/graphics/disp (also on simtel20)

MPEG players for IBM, Mac, Unix, VMS, Next: see
 faq:alt.binary.pictures.utilities:?:"WHERE TO GET MPEG UTILS"
 also http://w3.eeb.ele.tue.nl/mpeg/index.html { Atari, X11, IBM }

xanim (X-Windows) (Mark Podlipec): DL, FLI, FLC, GIF, IFF, MovieSetter,
 PFX, Quicktime, RLE
 ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/applications/xanim???.tar.Z (official ftp site)
 http://www.univ-rennes1.fr/ASTRO/fra/xanim.html (www page)

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Animation Sites
---------------

ftp://ftp.univ-rennes1.fr/Images/ASTRO/anim/    { Space anims }
ftp://ftp.cnam.fr/Fractals/anim/    { Fractal anims }
http://w3.eeb.ele.tue.nl/mpeg/index.html { Various }

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---------------------
** Hobby Animation **
---------------------

Animation Process                [charles king and angus]
-----------------

Things don't necessarily have to happen in this order (or at all), and
there's room for plenty of feedback between them, especially in
computer animation, but here's the basic flow.  Although it's an
advantage (both for the animator and the software) to integrate as
many stages as possible in the one package, and most `animation'
packages do so, in practice all packages have their relative merits
and work may be swapped from package to package to exploit their
strengths, especially in `high end' studios.  This sequence assumes
that the animation has already been scripted.

Model Design:
input:    script
tool:    Modeller
task:    making the models to be animated
output:    models

Animation Design:
input:    models, script
tool:    Animation Package
task:    planning and tuning sequences of motion, action, interaction, ...
output:    animation script

Production / Rendering:
input:    models, animation script
tools:    Renderer front-end, Renderer
task:    generating images from which the animation is to be constructed
output:    images

Post-Production:
input:    images, script
tools:    Editor, Compositor, Paint, Image Processing, other SFX Packages
task:    modifying, compositing, sequencing the images
output:    final sequence of images

Transfer:
input:    sequence of images
tools:    various media, media i/o hardware
task:    transferring the frames to the desired medium
output:    the product

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Animation Software
------------------

* Reviews            : software reviews
* Design            : design an animation
* Production            : from design to pictures
* Post-Production        : from pictures to animation

Reviews
~~~~~~~

Reviews of six High-End UNIX animation packages (Alias PowerAnimator,
SoftImage Creative Environment, TDI Explore, ElectroGIG GIG3DGO,
Vertigo, Wavefront Advanced Visualizer) are soon to be available by
ftp.  originally published in Computer Graphics World Oct-Nov 1993,
net distribution thanks to Chris Williams.
// : ftp://avalon.chinalake.navy.mil/misc/?

// copyright status: PD / FD / SW / Commercial
// platform: generic/home (amiga mac pc)/w'station (SGI X)/other

Design
~~~~~~

// Alias Animator, Softimage, Lightwave, Wavefront, Symbolics, 3D Studio, ...

Production                    (trivial renderer front-ends)
~~~~~~~~~~

Post-Production
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Venues
------

[see Animation Sites subsection for ftp sites]

Conferences     [see references section for more information on these]
~~~~~~~~~~~
SIGGRAPH (siggraph)
EG w'shop (eg)
CGI (cgs)
Computer Animation (cgs)
GI

Events
~~~~~~
Imagina
Prix Ars Electronica: International Competition for the Computer Arts.
     ~42k$US in prizes for animation.
     General Info '94: (Peter Schoeber)
      mail: ORF-Prix Ars Electronica, Europaplatz 3, A-4010 Linz, Austria.
      phone: [phone], fax: -270, telex: +21616
      email: [e-mail]
      Presentation: 22 jun 94.
     Animation Info '94: (Christine Schpf) phone: [phone]
      Deadline: 28 feb 94.

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---------------------
** Animation Media **
---------------------

Media Properties
----------------

video
~~~~~
(NTSC PAL SECAM HDTV fields composite component synch RGB analog digital...)

video formats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-format-    -by-    -use-        -A/D-    -comp...-    -other-
VHS        JVC    home        analog    composite    1/2"
Video8/8mm    Sony    home        analog    ...        8mm
Betamax        Sony    home        analog    composite    1/2"
SVHS        JVC    prosumer    analog    ...        1/2"
Hi-8        Sony    prosumer    analog    ...        8mm
ED Beta        Sony    prosumer?    analog    component    ...
M (M1)?        Matsu    industrial?    analog    ...        ...
U-Matic 3/4"    Sony?    industrial    analog    composite    3/4"
Betacam        Sony    industrial?    analog    component    1/2"
M2        Matsu    broadcast?    analog    component    ...
U-Matic SP    Sony?    broadcast?    analog    ...        ...
Betacam SP    Sony    broadcast    analog    component    ...
D-3        Matsu    broadcast    digital    composite    ...
DCT        Ampex    broadcast    digital    component    compressed
D-2        Ampex    master on-air    digital    composite    uncompressed?
D-1        Sony    master RGB    digital    component    uncompressed

other formats?
other properties (image encoding techniques, sound quality,
effective number of "lines", ...)
notes:    D-1 endorsed by SMPTE committee
Matsu == Matsushita == Panasonic

film
~~~~
(8mm super-8 16mm 32mm 72mm anamorphic stock ...)
normal film grain ~2500 lpi resolution.
slow film <-> higher resolution.
32mm: 0.875" x 1.3125" (2:3)

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Media I/O
---------

(VCRs genlocks frame-stores film-scanners)

film recorders:
most film recorders have at least 2000 lpi resolution, 4000 is typical.
for optimum quality, your image should be a little over twice the resolution
of the recording medium.

screen-to-camera:
a cheap (but surprisingly effective) option for images that can be displayed
at full resolution on your monitor is to photograph the screen directly using
a single-framing camera.  film better than super-8 is likely to be overkill.
any lights on your monitor should be taped over, and the whole lot should be
put under a black hood (made of cardboard or anything else handy).  A slow
film (100 ASA or slower, the slower the better), f8 exposure, and loong
exposures should eliminate any scanline artifacts.

resolution / aspect ratio
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
film recorders: 2000+ lpi (4000 typical).
35mm: ~2500 lpi at .875" x 1.3125" ~= 2200 x 3300 pixels. (2:3)
lpi == lines per inch.

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----------------------
** Career Animation **
----------------------

[see Hobby Animation section for Process, Software, Venues]

Your Union
----------

The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists and Affiliated Optical
Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE (California) has an ftp
site with copies of their negotiated awards, news, courses, etc:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mpsc839/ (email [e-mail] for more)

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----------------------
** Animation Theory **
----------------------

Types of Computer Animation                (guide and glossary)
---------------------------

2d
~~
Most computer animation takes place in the 3-d world, as our world is
itself basically 3-d, and model interpolation becomes a problem in
fewer dimensions, due to a lack of context.  2-d animation packages
mostly replicate the processes of cel-based animation, where
*key-frames* are used to plot the course of the animation, and the
*inbetweens* (interpolating the keys) are filled in later (by an
animator, not the computer).  The main difference is that the images
are created using pixel-based, rather than oil-based techniques.
*Morphing* is probably the major 2-d animation technique in use
today.  Like most other computer work used for SFX in film
(wire-removal, compositing, other retouching, etc), it is largely a
matter of image manipulation (image processing) rather than image
creation (computer graphics), although morphing _is_ an animated
technique, unlike many other SFX `graphics' techniques.
A good starter on morphing by Valerie Hall (1992) is
ftp://marsh.cs.curtin.edu.au/graphics/bibliography/Morph/morph_intro.ps.Z,
it references more detailed works for those interested, she's also
written a morphing article in DDJ (1993).

3-d
~~~
Almost all "computer animation" done today is done within the
*event-based* or, interchangeably, *track-based* computer animation
paradigm, which is based loosely on the key-framing system used in
cel-based animation.  Most computer animation systems today are built
around time-varying parameters, known as *tracks*, which determine the
state of the animation world at any time.  Tracks take the place of
the variables which determine the state of a static scene: they're
"animation variables".  A track's value at a given time depends on the
*events* (<time, value> tuples) that define the track's state, and on
the interpolation technique being used [see Interpolation].  Events
are conceptually similar to the key-frames of cel-based animation, but
allow much more flexibility due to their finer grain (state-variable,
rather than world-state).
Although tracks may not be independant, they may usefully be treated
as such, leading to the *hierarchical animation* technique espoused by
Lasseter [see References], where the gross motion of a model is
animated first, followed by animation of progressively finer detail.
The number of tracks that need to be dealt with, and their often
compicated interdependencies, make animating anything of reasonable
complexity a big job both in terms of time and effort.  Hence most of
the subsequent research in computer animation.

Inverse Kinematics
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Kinematics* is the science of movement: position, velocity,
acceleration, and their rotational equivalents.  *Forward kinematics*,
used in the context of an articulated structure (something with
joints), is determining the positions of the links given the joint
angles between them -- ie starting at the "top" of the hierarchy, we
work our way along it, applying the relevant transformations, until
the end-positions are known -- it's easy for the programmer, and it's
the way things are normally done.  However, it's quite difficult for
an animator who simply wants the hand of a model to be "here", or
"there" -- what the animator has to do is adjust each of the joints in
the structure in order to arrive at the desired position.
*Inverse kinematics* reverses the situation, making things easy for
the animator by allowing an end-effector to be dragged wherever
desired, but hard for the programmer/computer because the problem is
underconstrained (many configurations of the joints may produce the
desired end-position, which one is used?) and ill-conditioned (small
changes in the end-position can mean large changes in the joints).

particle systems and flocking
dynamics (forward/inverse dynamics)
teleological (goal-directed, optimisation)
behavioural (cf flocking)

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Interpolation
-------------

1-d interpolation
3-d rotation interpolation
euler angles and gimbal lock
quaternions

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References
----------

For general computer graphics references, check out the comp.graphics FAQ.
In particular, "Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice" and "Digital
Image Warping" both have relevance.

Books (Industry)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morrison, Mike, "Becoming a Computer Animator", Prentice-Hall, 1994.
 { covers computer animation history, technology (and how to keep up
   with it), techniques.  with tutorials, interviews with industry
   luminaries, buyer's guide (s/w and h/w), how to find work, getting
   an education.  a chapter ea. on: television, motion pictures,
   visualisation, forensic, games.  incl. 600Mb CD-ROM of PC & Mac
   animation and software. }
"International Directory of Computer Animation Producers", Pixel, 1994.
 { 800+ separate listings of producers in 44 countries. listings
 include company profiles. also lists animation schools.
 see Pixel, in "Publishing Organisations", below, for ordering info. }
"The Roncarelli Report on the Computer Animation Industry", Pixel, 1993.
 { market status and strategic analysis for the global computer
 animation industry. an annual. }

Books (Computer Animation)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leister, W, M"uller, H, and St"o\3er, A, "Fotorealistische Computeranimation",
 Springer-Verlag, 1991. ISBN 3-540-53234-X.
 { text in German.  introductory text for both artists and computer scientists.
 covers: animation , modelling, rendering, video, post-production.  includes
 60-page glossary. [thanks Wolfgang Leister] }
Vince, John, "3D Computer Animation", Addison-Wesley, 1992.
 { very introductory animation theory for programming. }
Watt, Alan and Watt, Mark, "Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques",
 Addison-Wesley, 1992.
 { an excellent text, covering important implementation theory and
 details. }
Whitney, John, "Digital Harmony".
 { ?. storyboarding. }

Books (Animation)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arijon, Daniel, "The Grammar of the Film Language".
 { ?. storyboarding. }
Culhane, Shamus, "Animation: from script to screen", St. Martin's Press, 1988.
 { ex-disney animator describes the whole animation process. including
 production details, setting up a studio, storyboards, character
 animation, and more.  culhane manages to fit a lot into relatively
 small book. }
Halas, John, "Visual Scripting".
 { ?. storyboarding. }
Hoffer, Thomas, "Animation: a reference guide", Greenwood Press, 1993.
 { ? }
Muybridge
 { muybridge spent years taking sequences of strobe photos of animal
 and human movement.  the photos are a great help for anyone trying to
 make something move properly.  some more good books for the coffee
 table ;-}
Russet, Robert, and Starr, Cecile, "Experimental Animation".
 { ?. storyboarding. }
Thomas, Frank and Johnston, Ollie, "Disney Animation: the illusion of life",
 Abbeville Press, NY, 1981.
 { a look at many of the techniques and approaches used by the disney
 studios.  occasionally referred to as "The Animation Bible" (due to
 its size and the value of its contents).  the disney "rules of
 animation" and many other useful rules-of-thumb are included.
 unfortunately out-of-print, so grab any copy you can.
 lots of pretty piccies make it good for your coffee table, too! }
?, "The Cinema as a Graphic Art".
 { ?. storyboarding. }

Journals
~~~~~~~~
"Cinefex", Cinefex.
 { the special-effects industry magazine, with reviews of how the SFX
 in major films were done. increasingly, this means computer
 animation. }
"Computer Artist".
"Computer Graphics", ACM/SIGGRAPH.
 { SIGGRAPH's journal. Proc. SIGGRAPH is published in one issue.
 some special issues are also of note. }
"Computer Graphics Forum", Eurographics (EG).
 { Eurographics' journal. Proc. Eurographics is published in one
 issue. rarely contains anything of note for animation. }
"Computer Graphics World", CGW.
 { a graphics industry magazine. product reviews, industry news. }
"The Journal of Visualization and Computer Animation", ?.
"Pixel - the computer animation newsletter", Pixel.
 { "inside" news on the computer animation industry. }
Proc. "Computer Animation", Springer-Verlag / CGS.
 { proceedings of CGS's computer animation conference }
Proc. "Computer Graphics International", Springer-Verlag / CGS.
 { proceedings of the second-largest graphics conference }
Proc. "Eurographics", see "Computer Graphics Forum".
Proc. "Eurographics Workshop on Animation and Simulation", Eurographics.
Proc. "Graphics Interface".
 { proceedings of an important graphics conference. }
Proc. "SIGGRAPH", Addison-Wesley / ACM Press / ACM/SIGGRAPH,
 { see "Computer Graphics".
 proceedings of the largest graphics conference }
"The Visual Computer", Computer Graphics Society (CGS).
 { a good graphics journal }

An extensive list of computer graphics journals, including ordering and other
information is available from Juhana Kouhia <[e-mail]>

Organisations
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ACM/SIGGRAPH - The ACM Special Interest Group on Graphics.
Computer Graphics Society.
Eurographics.
Pixel - the computer animation news people, inc.
 109 Vanderhoof Ave, Suite 2, Toronto, ON, Canada M4G 2H7.
 [phone]. (Fax) 424-1812.
 PO Box 1674 5325 Sheridan Drive, Williamsville, NY, USA 14231-1674.

Papers
~~~~~~
Lasseter, John, "Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer
 Animation", Computer Graphics, July 1987, Proc. SIGGRAPH '87.
 { Lasseter relates the disney principles of animation (see Thomas and
 Johnston, above) to computer animation, and introduces
 "hierarchical" animation while he's at it. }

Shoemake, Ken, "Animating Rotation with Quaternion Curves", Computer
 Graphics, July 1985, Proc. SIGGRAHP '85.
 { an early quaternion paper.  there are probably better ones, anyone? }

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-------------------
** Miscellaneous **
-------------------

Animations                        (what's been done)
----------

other
~~~~~

// (big screen, video, ...)

see faq:comp.graphics:faq for PIXAR ordering info

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Acknowledgements
----------------

Thanks to:
 Sean Brandenburg    <[e-mail]>
 Matt Carpenter        <[e-mail]>
 Mark Crawford        <[e-mail]>
 Luigi Filippini    <[e-mail]>
 Andy Gough        <[e-mail]>
 Eric Haines        <[e-mail]>
 Paul Hertz        <[e-mail]>
 Jih-Shin Ho        <[e-mail]>
 Dudley Hunkins        <[e-mail]>
 Colin Jensen        <[e-mail]>
 Charles King        <[e-mail]>
 Juhana Kouhia        <[e-mail]>
 Alan Larson        <[e-mail]>
 Nadine Leenders    <[e-mail]>
 Wolfgang Leister    <[e-mail]>
 Jeff Massie        <[e-mail]>
 Akira Mito        <[e-mail]>
 Mike Morrison        <[e-mail]>
 Jimmy Ning        <[e-mail]>
 Mark Podlipec        <[e-mail]>
 Frank Roussel        <[e-mail]>
 Ole Villumsen        <[e-mail]>
 Chris Williams        <[e-mail]>
for their contributions and comments, large and small.
(i'm still working through some of it...)
--
 [e-mail]  graphics/animation postgrad  melbourne, australia