Rick Parent
Computer Animation
www.cis.ohio-state.edu/~parent
parent@cis.ohio-state.edu; DL787; 2-0055
Research Interests
My main focus is on animating the human form.
The emphasis is to build basic motion control into the model of the human figure so that the model is easily animatable without reliance on vast amounts of time and/or artistic talent.
Examples of the motions considered are facial expression, lip sync animation, reach, grasp, locomotion, balance, skin deformation, hair, and clothes.
The human form is a very complex system with over 200 degrees of freedom, 600 muscles, and a deformable surface.
In addition, it is a very familiar form and unrealistic motion is easy for even the casual observer to notice.
Traditional robotic approaches fall short because the human figure is not just a mechanical system - there is intent and perception involved.
At higher levels of control AI, vision, perception, and memory must be considered.
In addition to animating the human figure, I have started to look at tracking human figures in video.
My approach is to drive the image analysis using 3D models of the figures to be tracked.
I'm working on this with Dr. Machiraju.
This aspect of my research is also related to that of of Dr. Davis.
The Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design (ACCAD) is a graduate-level center in the College of the Arts whose mission is to train artists in the electronic arts.
Most of my students spend time at ACCAD at some point during their graduate-student life.
Current Research
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Lip-Sync Facial animation
| Arun Somasundaram, Ph.D.
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Human Figure Tracking in Video (w/ Dr. Machiraju)
| graduate students: Yisheng Chen, Firdaus Janoos, Shantanu Singh
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Human Figure Gait Analysis
| graduate student: Suba Varadarajan
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Previous work on human figure animation
- Lip-sync animation (Scott King, Ph.D., '01; Arun Somasundaram, Ph.D., '06)
- Automatic inference of articulation control skeleton for arbitrary polyhedra (Lawson Wade, Ph.D., '01)
- Incormporating design knowledge into layered genetic algorithm (Matt Lewis, Ph.D. '01)
- Reaching in a obstacle-filled environment using genetic algorithms (Dave Miller, Ph.D., '93)
- Layered construction of the human figure to support deformation during movement (Ferdi Scheepers, Ph.D., '97; John Chadwick, A.B.D. '89)
- Real-time deformation of the human figure for VR Applications by embedding polyhedra in deformable implicit surfaces (Karansher Singh, '95)
- Facial animation (Beth Hofer, M.S., '90)
Other projects in computer animation
- Inverse kinematics
- Simulation of fire and cloth
Desired background
- 681: Introduction to 3D Graphics
- 682: Computer Animation
- 788.14D: Human Figure Animation
Other useful background:
- other graphics classes
- AI
- Robotics
- Physics
- Mechanics
- Anatomy
- conventional animation, film, photography
- etc.
Current Ph.D. Students
- Arun Somasundaram (figure tracking, facial animation)
- Yisheng Chen (figure tracking; co-advise w/ Dr. Machiraju)
- Janoos Firdaus (camera optimization; co-advise w/ Dr. Machiraju)
- Shantanu Singh (figure activity recognition; co-advise w/ Dr. Machiraju)
- Okhan Irfanoglu (figure activity recognition; co-advise w/ Dr. Machiraju)
- Meg Geroch (motion analysis; inactive)
- Suba Varadarajan (joint tracking; inactive)
General References in Computer Animation
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R. Parent. Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques. Morgan-Kaufmann Publ., 2001.
- A. Watt, M. Watt. Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques: Theory and Practice. Addison-Wesley Publ., 1992.
- N. Badler, C. Phillips, B. Webber. Simulating Humans. Oxford Press, 1993.
- N. Badler, B. Barsky, D. Zeltzer. Making Them Move. Morgan Kaufmann Publ., 1991.