Archive - Past Presentations

Çudamani
Jeffrey Katzenberg visits ACCAD
Guest Speaker Lecture by Steve Anderson
Guest Speaker Lecture by Dr. Ben Shneiderman
Dr. Hanspeter Pfister, MERL Research Lab
Dr Lizbeth Goodman, SMARTlab
The Builders Association and dbox
Roger Copeland
Chris Bregler
Jude Adamson
Dr. Norman Badler
Wooksang Chang
John Donkin
Irfan Essa
Todd Fechter
Hui Gao
Dr. Jessica Hodgins
Ed Hooks
Chara Huckins and Andy Noble
Scott Meador
Zoran Popovic
Vanitha Rangaraju
Arun Somasundaran
Stuart Sumida
Luc Vanier
Student Workshops

Çudamani

The 25 virtuoso dancers and musicians of renowned gamelan ensemble Çudamani are considered a national treasure in their native Bali. They are coming to OSU for one day only. This is a special opportunity to experience an  Indonesian approach to dance, musicality, rhythmic structure, and physical  training. To learn more and see pictures go to: www.cudamani.org 
 
The dancers' graceful bodies mirror every musical nuance of the gamelan as  they bring to life vivid tales of gods and heroes of Balinese mythology and history. Beyond mere aesthetic entertainment, Balinese arts capture and  amplify the shifting dimensions of human emotion, nature, the spirit world,  and the cosmos. Their outstanding musicianship and dance technique add  weight to the revival of classic works. In addition, their efforts  demonstrate a respect for and dedication to the senior masters who are too  often dismissed as outdated by the young tourist- oriented artists of Bali.  

Jeffrey Katzenberg visits ACCAD

Jeffrey Katzenberg will visit ACCAD on Wednesday, March 9th to cap off a quarter long learning partnership between ACCAD and Dreamworks that brought six Dreamworks artists and scientists into the classroom during the winter quarter. Katzenberg will also give a public talk on that same day at 3:00 in the Bowen Theatre at the Drake Performance and Event Center.

Jeffrey Katzenberg is the Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG. Katzenberg is also a co-founder and principal partner of DreamWorks SKG, the studio he formed with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, in October 1994. DreamWorks Animation has enjoyed several successes under Katzenberg’s leadership, including the sequel “Shrek 2,” which is the top-grossing animated feature and the highest-grossing comedy film of any kind in history. Also in 2004, Katzenberg served as an executive producer on “Shark Tale.” Both “Shrek 2” and “Shark Tale” have been honored with Academy Award® nominations for Best Animated Feature. Katzenberg also served as a producer on 2001’s smash hit “Shrek,” which won the first-ever Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. The following year, Katzenberg received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature as a producer of the traditionally animated “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.” Prior to co-founding DreamWorks, Katzenberg served as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios for ten years from 1984 to 1994.

Guest Speaker Lecture by Steve Anderson
Electronic Arts OSU/ACCAD alum Steve Anderson will visit ACCAD on November 15, 2004 to speak about EA and to review student work. Steve is currently the Chief Technology Officer at the Los Angeles studio of Electronic Arts, LA. EALA is currently about 100 people and is responsible for, among other things, the "Medal of Honor" series of games.

BIOGRAPHY
Steve has 18 years experience in 3D computer graphics and has programmed a variety of diverse graphics devices, ranging from supercomputers to handheld consumer devices. Prior to joining EA in 1999, he spent six years at SGI where he was a member of the team that designed the Nintendo64 video game console. Steve has a BS and MS in computer science from The Ohio State University.

Guest Speaker Lecture by Dr. Ben Shneiderman

The Office of the CIO, CSE, Design and ACCAD are sponsoring a visit by Dr. Ben Shneiderman on November 9 and 10. He will give two public lectures during his visit:

TUESDAY, 11/9 - "The Eyes Have It: User Interfaces for Information Visualization"
3:30pm in Dreese Labs, Room 480
Emphasis on scientific and statistical data analysis such as gene expression studies, multi-variate temporal data sets, and hierarchical clustering.

Wednesday, 11/10 - "Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies" The Stecker Lounge, 3rd floor, OSU Union at 9a.m.

BIOGRAPHY
BEN SHNEIDERMAN is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science Founding Director (1983-2000) of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/), and Member of the Institutes for Advanced Computer Studies & for Systems Research, all at the University of Maryland at College Park. He was elected as a Fellow of the Association for Computing (ACM ) in 1997 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2001. He received the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

Ben is the author of "Software Psychology: Human Factors in Computer and Information Systems" (1980) and "Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction" (4th ed. 2004) http://www.awl.com/DTUI/ . He pioneered the highlighted textual link in 1983, and it became part of Hyperties, a precursor to the web. His move into information visualization helped spawn the successful company Spotfire http://www.spotfire.com/ . With S Card and J. Mackinlay, he co-authored "Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think" (1999). "Leonardo's Laptop" (MIT Press) appeared in October 2002, and his new book with B. Bederson, “The Craft of Information Visualization” was published in April 2003.

Guest Speaker Lecture: "Data-Driven Computer Graphics"

Speaker: Dr. Hanspeter Pfister, MERL Research Lab, Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1996

Date: Friday, October 8 Time: 1:30 pm
Location: ACCAD, BALE Theater, 1224 Kinnear Rd.,
West Campus Directions: http://accad.osu.edu/contact/directions.htm

ABSTRACT In this talk I will explore new, data-driven approaches to computer graphics that model the world around us directly from measurements. These approaches differ from the classical analytic models and instead depend on cameras for data acquisition, machine learning for generalization, and signal processing for image synthesis. I will discuss three specific computer graphics applications of data-driven modeling. The first, called image-based 3D photography, addresses the problem of creating and rendering high-quality computer graphics models of arbitrary real-world objects. Second, I will discuss the problem of interpolating and extrapolating new reflectance models (specifically isotropic BRDFs) from a collection of acquired samples. Finally, I will present a practical data-driven system for the animation of faces, where identity and performance parameters are lifted directly from video.

BIOGRAPHY Hanspeter Pfister is Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist at MERL - Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories - in Cambridge, MA. He is the chief architect of VolumePro, Mitsubishi Electric's real-time volume rendering hardware for PCs. His research interests include computer graphics, scientific visualization, and computer architecture. His work spans a range of topics, including point-based graphics, 3D photography, 3D face recognition, volume graphics, and computer graphics hardware.

Guest Speaker Lecture: "SPIRITLEVEL: making and sharing assistive technologies informed by artistic agendas in performance and communication"

Speaker : Dr Lizbeth Goodman, Founder and Director, SMARTlab
http://www.smartlabcentre.com/

Friday, October 15, 1:30 pm
ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Road
BALE Theater

ABSTRACT
This multi-media presentation will demonstrate a range of projects underway at the
SMARTlab and its international partner sites, all creating and applying new applications
in drama, dance, music and assistive technologies in the creation of games and alternative
interfaces and story forms to connect communities and extend accessibility to the
'knowledge economy'. Dr Goodman will also show some of the work of the SMARTlab's
practice-based PhD Programme in New Media Arts and its parallel thinktank and blueskylab
projects for interdisciplinary art-science collaborations, and will open discussion to
explore possible links to NASA programmes as appropriate.
Projects to be presented

BIOGRAPHY
DR LIZBETH GOODMAN is Founder and Director of the SMARTlab Centre for Site Specific Media,
Performing and Digital Arts (connecting SMARTsystems, spaces & people). She is a
practice-based researcher, author and professional performer/media presenter, with many
years of experience in live and telematic writing, improvisation, performance and
direction. She has worked extensively in comedy and theatre and television/convergent
media entertainment, and has recently won commissions to create a new style of empowering
online and live performance game, and to work on convergent media publishing projects
utilising and inventing new interfaces for the world's many varied communities.

She is the author and editor of some 13 books including a range of titles on performance
technologies, women and theatre, the arts, representation and creativity. She has also
written and produced a wide range of multimedia programmes ranging from educational CD
ROMs and video/media packs to more experimental online performance events, including the
Extended Body Project. She is also developing a multimedia book format for electronic
sharing of art and text online and on dvd.

The Builders Association and dbox in residence

July 24th – August 5, 2004
the Wexner Center and ACCAD Motion Capture Studio, 1224 Kinnear Road

The Builders Association and dbox will be in residence at ACCAD’s motion capture lab and the Wexner Center from July 24th – August 5, 2004. The Builders Association creates theater projects exploring the interface between live performance and media. The company’s productions combine texts with sound, video, and architectural sets to create a world onstage that reflects contemporary culture. Currently The Builders Association and dbox are working on a new production, SUPER VISION, that explores the modes and mechanisms of visual surveillance. Several ACCAD students will have the opportunity to shadow the company and engage in aspects of their process.

Performance by Chara Huckins and Andy Noble

Thursday, May 27, 28
ACCAD Motion Capture Studio, 1224 Kinnear Road

Chara Huckins and Andy Noble from the Repertory Dance Theatre perform in the ACCAD Motion Capture Studio. Andy and Chara will be dancing parts of Anna Sokolow's Steps of Silence, a work created in1968, about the oppression of a people and based on the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Franz Kafka, in ACCAD's motion capture facility as part of a documentation project between Professor Valarie Mockabee and ACCAD. Students and faculty are invited to observe the motion capture process. On Friday, May 28th, at 3:00 PM, Andy and Chara will have an open discussion with students, faculty and staff.

Vanitha Rangaraju of PDI/DreamWorks Visits ACCAD

Monday, May 24, 10:00 a.m.
ACCAD/BALE Theater, 1224 Kinnear Road

Vanitha Rangaraju will present an overview of her work at PDI/Dreamworks, show clips from the production of Shrek 2 and answer questions. On May 25, Vanitha will meet with individual students and give input/feedback on their work

Friday, April 16, 3:30 PM - Chris Bregler, Assistant Professor, Media Research Lab, Courant Institute, New York University

Friday, April 16, 2004
3:30 PM
BALE Theater, ACCAD

"Capturing Muybridge, Kangaroos, and Cartoons"

This talk surveys our current efforts in human, animal, and cartoon motion capture and animation. It includes techniques based on kinematic chain and 3D non-rigid blend-shape capture, statistical models for synthesism and how to retarget motion to new characters. We show several examples on capturing kangaroos, giraffes, human body deformations, facial expressions, animating hops and dances with natural fluctuations, and retargeting expressive cartoon motion.

This reports on joint work with: Kathy Pullen, Lorie Loeb, Lorenzo Torressani, Danny Yang, Gene Alexander, Erika Chuang, Hrishi Deshpande, Rahul Gupta, Aaron Hertzmann, Henning Biermann.

Friday April 8, 2004 - Visiting Lecturer Roger Copeland, Professor of Theatre and Dance, Oberlin College

Friday April 8, 2004
1:00-2:30 PM
BALE Theater, ACCAD

Dancing for the Digital Age: Merce Cunningham and Computer Technology- adapted from his new book, "Merce Cunningham: The Modernizing of Modern Dance"

Roger Copeland is Professor of Theatre and Dance at Oberlin College. He is co-editor of the widely used anthology "What is Dance"? His essays about dance, theatre and film have appeared in numerous publications. He has worked as a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, the "Dance in America" series on PBS and the eight part television series, "Dancing".

February 27, 2004 - Visiting Lecturer Scott Meador, Assistant Professor, Purdue University

Friday, February 27th, 2004
Time: 11:00 am
BALE Theater, ACCAD

"Collaborating: Working Across Disciplines to Merge Live Motion Capture
and Video with Theatrical Dance"

He will talk about two past projects and a new one involving live dancers, a live virtual character, virtual scenery, and real lighting. He will also mention the Envision Center and some of the other projects going on using real time visualization techniques in support of the arts and design.

W. Scott Meador currently holds a joint appointment at Purdue University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Graphics Technology, and a Media Specialist and Application Engineer in the Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. Scott's background is in theatre scenic and lighting design and he has been creating graphics professionally for live events and broadcast video. Some of his clients include Metallica, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Lucent Technologies, and Avaya Communications among others. Scott's research interests are in motion capture, virtual scenery, design visualization, and integration of video and 3D graphics.

More information http://www.tech.purdue.edu/cg/

November 17, 2003 - Visiting Lecturer Dr. Stuart Sumida

Monday Nov. 17, 10:00am-12:00pm
ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd., Bale Theatre

"How Anatomy Drives Movement and Design Features
in Animated Characters"

Standard features of animal anatomy and feeding will be presented in regards to how they impact on body design. In turn, this will focus on how such information is important to artists, designers, and riggers for the processes of both traditional and computer generated animation. Human design and function will also be reviewed with an eye toward features characterizing adults versus children (the "cutification factors") and female-male dimorphism. For both animals and humans, locomotion and movement in general will be emphasized.

Dr. Stuart Sumida is a Professor of Biology at California State University San Bernardino. His specialization is in vertebrate paleontology and vertebrate morphology. He has B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Biology from University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Sumida has been a consultant for studios, such as Disney Studios, DreamWorks, Warner Brothers, DreamQuest, and other animation/movie studios. He has taught animators about anatomy and locomotion of animals and humans for films and animations, such as "Beauty and the Beast", "The Lion King", "Pochahantas", "The Dinosaur", "The Prince of Egypt", "Mulan", "Hercules", "George of the Jungle", "Tarzan", "Mighty Joe Young", "Fantasia 2000", "Stuart Little", "Lilo and Stitch", "Osmosis Jones", "Spirit", "Harry Potter", "Stuart Little II", "Brother Bear", and "Scooby Doo"..

November 14, 2003 - Visiting Lecturer Zoran Popovic

Friday Nov. 14, 3:00
ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd., Bale Theatre

"Rapid Design of Realistic and Expressive Animations"

Dr. Zoran Popovic
University of Washington

Animation is a tremendously powerful medium of expression. Unfortunately, even when the concept to be conveyed via animation is simple, the process of creating the animation is inordinately difficult. In this talk, I will describe some of the recent advances towards making the process of animation easier, specifically the task of automatically creating realistic motion and the task of creating expressive animations without having to learn the complexities of an animation system.

The first part of the talk will focus on novel algorithms for creating realistic motion of humans as well as other animals. I will show how some basic principles of natural motion together with motion and shape data can be used to create both the realistic skeletal motion as well as the detailed skin deformations of the human shape.

In the second part of the talk, I will describe an approach for rapid-animation paradigm that allows the animator to act out the motion instead of forcing the artist to use the keyboard and the mouse.

Zoran Popovic is an Assistant Professor in computer science at University of Washington. He received a Sc.B. with Honors from Brown University, and M.S. and Ph.D in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He has held research positions at Sun Microsystems and Justsystems Research Center and University of California at Berkeley. Zoran's research interests lie in computer animation, primarily in physically based modeling, high-fidelity human modeling, and control of realistic natural motion. He is a recent recipient of the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and a NSF CAREER Award.

November 7, 2003 - Visiting Artist Luc Vanier

Friday Nov. 7, 3:30pm
ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd., BALE Theatre

"Bob’s Palace: Motion Capture and Live Animation for Dance Theatre"

While some motion capture stages have been built, very few attempts have been made at bringing motion capture to the performance stage and running high quality animation live – and for good reasons. Bob’s Palace became the test of whether this could work or not. I will show a video of the work and discuss the various issues we faced in doing this both at a technical, collaborative and artistic level.

Bob’s Palace is a multi-media dance piece for nine dancers, one video operator, two camera technicians, one motion capture animation artist/designer and one composer/musician. The subject matter of the dance revolves around panic, anxiety and everyday fears. It premiered at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Urbana, Illinois, on February 4th, 2003.

Luc Vanier (Director/Choreographer), a visiting assistant professor at the University of Illinois, teaches ballet technique, composition and Alexander Technique for dancers, among others. Originally from Montreal, he studied at L'Ecole Superieur du Quebec under Daniel Seillier. In 1998, he retired from Ohio Ballet having danced roles such as the Workman in Kurt Jooss’ Big City and the lead in Paul Taylor’s Aureole. Mr. Vanier was also a company choreographer; his dance Square Play, with a score by Libby Larson, was presented as part of the company’s 1995 Joyce season in New York City. He both received his MFA from the University of Illinois and became a certified Alexander teacher in 2001. Mr. Vanier interest in technology began with Ohio Ballet where he took care the company’s video needs. Video became integrated into his creative work during his graduate research work in Digitally Delayed Broadcasts and its application to dance. He has been a member of FAA’s DESIGN+DIGITAL REHEARSAL STUDIO for the last four years. His most recent work Bob’s Palace (Feb 2003) is the culmination of three years of collaboration with Hank Kaczmarski, Director of the Beckman Institute’s Integrated System Laboratory. Presentations on Bob’s Palace have been seen at SIGGRAPH 2003 and The Ninth Biennial Symposium On Arts And Technology at Connecticut College.

October 14 & 15, 2003

"ACTING FOR ANIMATORS" 2 day Workshop by Ed Hooks

ACCAD will host a two day workshop with Ed Hooks, actor, author, teacher, director and coach.

The workshop will be held on October 14 & 15, 2003, from 10:00am-5:00pm in the Bowen Theatre, at the Drake Performance and Event Center.

Mr. Hooks has been a professional actor for over thirty years. He has
numerous film and TV credits and has coached internationally known
actors and actresses.

THE WORKSHOP

"Acting For Animators" involves group improvisations, lecture on acting
theory and deconstruction of scenes from live-action and animated films.
The basic thrust of Acting For Animators is an examination of the
correlation between thinking, emotion and physical action.

Tuesday Oct. 14:
*Introduction to Essential Acting Principles
*Introduction to Power Centers (improv/lecture)
*Introduction to Status Transactions (improv/lecture)
*Introduction to Psychological Gesture
*Charcter Analysis
*Introduction to concept of Adrenaline Moment
*Day #1 clips include: Charlie Chaplin ("Modern Times"), "Multiciplicity", "A StreetcarNamed Desire".
*Acting Analysis of Academy Award Winning short, "Father and Daughter"

Wednesday Oct. 15:
*Introduction to Paul Ekman (the expression of emotion in the human face)
*Introduction to Laban Movement Theory
*Improv (open-ended script)
*Acting Analysis of scenes from "The Iron Giant"
*Discussion of various and specific techniques animators can use

BOOK TITLES by Ed Hooks

"The Audition Book -- Winning Strategies for Breaking into Theater, Film
and Television" (required text at the NYU Tisch School of Drama).
"The Ultimate Scene and Monologue Sourcebook"
"Acting for Animators" (now in its fourth printing).
"Acting Strategies for the Cyber Age"

He currently writes a monthly column for the on-line publication Casting
Connection (http://www.castingconnection.com)

October 7, 2003 - Guest Lecturer Irfan Essa

"Analysis and Synthesis of Video for Special Effects and Animation:
A showcase of research and educational endeavors."

Friday Oct. 3, 3:30pm
BALE Theatre, 1224 Kinnear Rd.

ACCAD Offers Student Workshops

To attend a workshop participants must be enrolled in a class at ACCAD.

Workshops will run on Thursdays from 6:30 - 8pm in Room 205 at ACCAD.

Thurs. March 13:Maya to Quake with Scott Swearingen
Thurs. April 10:UV Mapping with Scott Swearingen
Thurs. April 17:Video Editing with Eric Farrar
Thurs. April 24:Character Modeling with Jun Oh
Thurs. May 1:Working with Motion Capture with Vita Berezina-Blackburn
Thurs. May 8: Rigging in Maya with Matt Derksen
Thurs. May 15:Dynamics in Maya with Matt Derksen
Thurs. May 22: After Effects with Jun Oh
Thurs. May 29: Maya to Deep Paint with Jenny Macy

"A Technical Director's View of the Visual Effects Industry"

Presentation by Jude Adamson, Lighting Technical Director, Rhythm and Hues

Wednesday, May 14
1:30 PM, BALE Theatre at ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd. (West Campus)

Jude Adamson will describe the pipeline (process and stages) of a large
feature film production based on her experiences. She will discuss
details about her job as a lighting technical director. A compilation
of Rhythm & Hues (R&H) production work will be shown. Jude would like to
also discuss ways to open doors into the industry. Jude Adamson has been Lighting Technical Director in the Hollywood visual effects industry for 5 1/2 years. She grew up in New Zealand and Australia. In the 1980's she obtained a degree in graphic design from Perth (pre-computers!). Her greater interest was amateur photography and stage lighting, but in the mid-90's she moved to Toronto and studied CG Animation. At the completion of the course, she was hired by Rhythm and Hues. Jude has also worked for Sony Imageworks and Digital Domain. Projects include: X2, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scooby
Doo, Stuart Little, The Ring and Babe: Pig in the City.

Alumni Presentations

Wooksang Chang
Monday, April 14
Time: 3:00 PM
Location: OSC's BALE Theatre at ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd.

Wooksang graduated from the Department of Art in 2000. He was one of the
earliest to graduate with the "Art and Technology" MFA degree. After leaving OSU, Wooksang was hired by Blue Sky Studios to work as a "lighting" specialist on the Oscar nominated film, "ICE AGE".

Following the success of ICE AGE, Wooksang was hired by PDI/Dreamworks as "Lead Lighting Artist" for the animated film, "Sinbad" (July 2003 release). Wooksang is completing his work with Dreamworks, but his next move is to return home. He has accepted a teaching position at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, Korea as an Associate Professor. He will be teaching graduate level 3D animation in the Art and Technology program, beginning Fall semester 2003.

Todd Fechter
Friday, May 16
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: ACCAD 1224 Kinnear Rd. Classroom 405

Todd graduated from the Department of Design in Spring 2002. He received his MFA in "Digital Animation and Visualization". His thesis title was, "Creating a Computer Animated Short - A Guide to Computer Animation for Designers".

Todd is currently employed by DNA Productions in Irving, Texas. His working title is "Modeler/Set-Up". Todd will share industry experience and discuss his current work on the "Jimmy Neutron" TV series for Nickelodeon.

The Human Figure Motion Synthesis, Analysis, and Animation Symposium

The Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) at The Ohio State University was recently awarded a grant by the Ohio Board of Regents to enhance study in human figure motion synthesis, analysis and animation. As a part of the grant ACCAD is bringing in experts to share their knowledge and experience with current graduate students, faculty, and business leaders here at the University.

All lectures will be held in OSC's BALE Theatre

"Representing and Parameterizing Embodied Agent Behaviors"
Friday, March 14, 2003

Presented by Dr. Norman Badler, University of Pennsylvania
Director, Center for Human Modeling and Simulation
Professor, Computer and Information Science Department

"Animating Human Characters"
Friday, April 25, 2003
Time: 1:00-2:30

A presentation by Dr. Jessica Hodgins, Carnegie Mellon University
Associate Professor, Robotics Institute and Computer Science Department

Fellowship Presentations

PhD students Hui Gao and Arun Somasundaran have been working as Research Fellows in the "Human Figure Motion Synthesis, Analysis, and Animation" Doctoral
Incentive Program in the Department of Computer and Information Science and will be presenting their work at ACCAD in May.

"Modeling and Recognition of Human Movement Styles"

Human actions can be performed with various styles. Of interest to computer vision and computer animation is a tool that can extract this stylistic information from the movement patterns to aid in analysis, synthesis, and recognition. We present a computational approach employing three-mode principal components that is capable of learning (via training data) which motion trajectories best express the differences between motion styles, so as to reliably recognize the style for new motions. We demonstrate the model by examining motion-capture walking movements that emphasize three different stylistic aspects: carrying load (light, heavy), walking pace (leisurely, in a hurry), and gender (male, female). Results show the ability of the framework to successfully model and recognize the different motion styles.

Presented by Hui Gao
Friday, May 9th
Time: 1:00-2:00 PM in ACCAD Classroom 405

Hui Gao got his B.S. and M.S. degree from the Department of Computer Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, P.R.China in 1998 and 2001. Currently, he is a second year Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer and Information Science, The Ohio State University. His research interest lies in the area of Computer Vision, Artificial Intelligence and Computer animation, or more specifically in human motion analysis, recognition and understanding. He is supported by ACCAD Ph.D. Fellowship in Human Figure Motion Synthesis, Analysis and Animation for the academic year 2002-2003. During that time, he won the William James Award for Best Graduate Poster at CogFest03, March 14, 2003 and a Lockheed-Martin Best Paper Award in IEEE Workshop on Motion and Video Computing, Orlando, Florida, December 5-6, 2002 for his research work.

"Facial Animation"

Realistic facial synthesis is one of the most fundamental problems in computer graphics and one of the most difficult. The complex geometric form of the human face; the underlying skeletons and muscles as well as the mechanical properties of the skin and subcutaneous layers; the coordinating brain and the uncanny ability of humans to read expressions - all make facial animation very difficult. The applications of facial modeling and animation include character animation for films, computer games, video teleconferencing, user-interface avatars, facial surgery planning etc.

In this talk, I will present my ongoing research and the various issues involved in facial animation. Current motion capture systems can capture fine 3D facial movements that can be used to understand and synthesize facial motion. 3D facial movements were captured during speech and expressions using an optical motion capture system. I will describe a method to transfer motion capture marker movements to varying geometric facial mesh models. I will present a technique to add facial expressions to captured neutral speech imposing speech and geometric constraints to produce expressive speech animation and compare it with captured expressive speech. I will also present my ongoing preliminary work in developing a physically based face model and in building algorithms learnt from motion capture data to animate it. Finally, I will discuss some of the research issues involved in
facial animation.

Presented by Arun Somasundaran
Monday, May 12th
Time: 4:00-5:00 PM in ACCAD Classroom 405

Received Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical and Electronics Engg. from the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras, India in 1999.

(1999 - Current) Direct PhD student in the Department of Computer and Information Science. 2002 - 03 ACCAD Research Fellow in "Human Figure Motion Synthesis, Analysis and Animation" Doctoral Incentive Program.

Summer 2001 - Intern at Honda Fundamental Research Labs, CA.
Summer 2003 - Will be a Technical Director Intern at Pixar Animation Studios, CA.

Research interests include computer animation, modeling, rendering and computer vision.

John Donkin from Blue Skys Studios Visiting ACCAD
John Donkin will be in to screen "ICE AGE," answer all your questions, and review student portfolios.

• November 5: Screening and behind the scenes of "ICE AGE," Wexner Center Theatre, 2:30-5:00pm
• November 6: Student Portfolio Review, ACCAD, 9:00-11:00 am. Email ssteele@accad.ohio-state.edu to sign up.