Tools for Efficient Photo-Realistic Computer Animation

Abstract

The goal of the project “Occursus Cum Novo” was to generate a complex photo-realistic animation of nontrivial length in reasonable time at reasonable cost. Photographic realism comprises complex geometric models as well as the implementation of several optical effects. Both can be achieved by simulation. Simulations guaranteeing high quality, as ray tracing does for rendering, are known to be very time consuming. They require the design of powerful data structures and algorithms taking the abilities of todays hardware into account. The first part of this paper is devoted to rendering, here carried out by the raytracing method. An organizing scheme for a network of work stations is described which enabled us to generate 5-minutes of raytraced animation within 2 months without affecting any regular user of the work stations. The second part is devoted to the simulative modeling tools applied in “Occursus Cum Novo”. The recursive generator WAXI and a motion simulator METAMORPHOSIS are described to some detail. The results of the project are of general interest since they show a way leading to efficient high quality photo-realistic animation synthesis in the future.