Camera Control in Computer Graphics

Abstract

Progress in modeling, animation and rendering means that rich, high fidelity interactive virtual worlds are now commonplace. But as photographers and cinematographers know, achievement of the intended informational and aesthetic goals is highly dependent on the position and motion of the camera in relation to the elements of the scene. Camera control encompasses interactive approaches, semi-automatic camera positioning, and fully declarative approaches to the management of a user's viewpoint on a scene. Camera control is required in nearly all interactive 3D applications and presents a particular combination of technical challenges for which there have been a number of recent proposals (e.g. specific path-planning, management of occlusion, modeling of high-level communicative goals). We present, classify the approaches, analyze the requirements and limits of solving techniques and explore in detail the main difficulties and challenges in automatic camera control.