Aug. 21, 2014 | By Alec

As modern computer-driven animated films and special effects become longer, more detailed, breathtaking and spectacular, they also become far more expensive, laborious and time consuming. Animators and designers spent months and sometimes more than a year toiling behind computer screens to make miniscule adjustments to the way on-screen characters walk casually or to the way their hair flutters in the wind. Due to the investments and the long waits for box office success involved, it should come as no surprise that production companies are looking for ways to increase efficiency and cut costs.

Assembled from modular, interchangeable, and hot-pluggable parts (left), this novel device forms a skeletal tree matching the Elephant. As the user manipulates each joint of the device, measured bone rotations animate a skeletal rig, and the Elephant comes to life.


And Professor Olga Sorkine-Hornung and her team at ETH Zurich's Institute of Visual Computing have developed an ingenious solution that does just that. Using 3D printing techniques, they have developed a 3D printed armature known as an 'input puppet', a device the size of a child's toy that slightly resembles the skeleton or shape of the animated character it represents. It's modular parts are all 3D printed, can be rearranged, and are filled with circuitry that copies the puppet's movements and positions to the digital character onscreen. Sensors will make sure that movements, even in the joints, are closely copied. Thus, making the 'input puppet' sit, or bend over will make the digital character do exactly that.


Most importantly, it saves time. By skipping the usage of complex software, spreadsheets and graphs, animators can focus entirely on the creative process and try new poses or movements with great ease. But it will also allow animators to produce more realistic animations. 'Since the device is "physically there", you can hold it in your hands and it is three-dimensional, it becomes much easier to pose a character than manipulating its virtual representation on the computer screen using keyboard and mouse. It is almost like playing with a doll,' explains Professor Olga Sorkine-Hornung in an interview to Wired.

To be sure, this technique is not entirely new. The usage of mechanical skeletons was first pioneered in the making of the seminal Jurassic Park in 1993. But unlike the Dinosaur figures used in 1993, these puppets are able to precisely any measure slight changes in movement and directly and accurately copy these to the screen. Precision is key.

Left: A joint has three rotational degrees of freedom parameterized by Euler angles. Right: Bending range is just over 180 degree and comparing visually measured physical angles with the sensor's reveals an accuracy of about 1 degree.

 

While still a technology in development and not fully applicable to all stages of animation – facial animation is still very time-consuming – it could nonetheless make the lives of animators much easier. Certainly low-budget companies stand to greatly benefit from this technology.


Posted in 3D Printing Applications

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Marco Valenzuela wrote at 8/25/2014 8:26:13 PM:

I had this idea back in 2003. Glad to see it come to light.



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