Creating Stereoscopic 3D Images

Lighting A Scene In Maya

Main Light


Fill Light


Rim Light

Building A Scene in Maya

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

When the apple felt on top of Isaac Newton’s head, he discovered a law that unknowingly affects everything in this world—Sir Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity. Gravity is the natural force that affects everything in this world. It is the force that gives weight to objects with mass by making them fall to the ground. This natural force also affects the gravitation pull of many objects in the universe. It prevents planets from colliding to one another and it is also responsible for the formation of the tides on Earth. Gravity also plays a big part in today’s entertainment. By bending it, today’s blockbuster movies are capable of creating astonishing visual effects. They are capable of accomplishing a wide variety of visual effects, such as: making a man fly, levitate objects, and other stunning things. Some of these effects are shown in movies such as: Superman Returns, Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix, and the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. In all of these movies, gravity is broken in order to create visually stunning effects. Specifically, gravity is broken in these movies because of its specific generalized genre, which is sci-fi. In sci-fi movies the visually stunning effects that are created captivate the viewer. Gravity is broken in movies to accent the supernatural and magical effects.
Superhero movies are an example of what visual effect wizards do to bend the laws of physics. Within this genre, Superman: Returns is one example that breaks the laws of gravity repetitively. Superman, a popular DC Comics superhero character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1932, is of galactic origins. It is insinuated that because he is an alien, he has abilities that the average man does not have. It is through this reasoning that visual effect wizards feel that Superman can break almost every physical law. Yet, the laws of physics, regardless of Superman’s galactic origins, still apply to him. In the movie, just like it is portrayed in the comic book, the character has superpowers. Powers that range from flight, super strength, invulnerability, and others.
In Superman: Returns the character breaks the gravitational law in multiple occasions. Superman’s capability of flight in reality is impossible. This is shown by his ability to change direction at will, thereby showing that he has some control over gravity. According to Newton’s Law, in order for an object to be able to fly, it needs an upward force to balance the downward force. But, there is nothing that is able to lift “the man of steel” upwards. So, what exactly is pushing Superman upwards if there is no propulsion coming out of his body? A possibility is that Superman could somehow manipulate gravity and nullify the weight of his body as he chooses to. Essentially, it is impossible for Superman to fly if there is nothing pushing him up.

In another situation where Superman: Returns violates gravity is when he throws the giant island in a straight motion towards space. Completely disregard the fact that Superman, someone whose mass and weight is probably lower than the island, is capable of throwing the island. Consider the way that the satellites that are bound for outer space exploration take off. In order for them to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull, they must first circumnavigate around its field before they can launch away. Superman is somehow able provide with enough force for the island to fully escape this pull. This pull of force is described in the Law of Universal Gravitation, which states that every object attracts another object with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of separation between the two objects. In the movie the way the island is thrown out looks very interesting, but still erroneous.

Another way that gravity is violated again in the movie is when bullets are being shot straight out of gun and gravity does not seem to affect it after it travels a distance. Even though the bullet travels the distance in theoretically at a flash of a second, gravity would have somehow influenced its mass and the weight of the bullet would have pulled it down a little bit. In the movie, the trajectory of the bullet remains straight, thereby completely disregarding gravity. It is only effective by the fact that it looks better to have a bullet travel in a straight motion, but other than that it is also unreal.


In contrast to the superhero movies, the law of gravity is also broken in another type of movie such as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The movie is mainly about magic. In the movie Harry is a young student who must go to a magical school and face villains with powerful dark magical powers. The reason why the visual effects people tend to break a lot of the laws of physics in this movie is because magic is an area that does not agree a lot with reality. In magic themed movies all or any physic law will be broken, mainly to increase the viewer’s interest. They create the illusion that the impossible could be possible.
Just like in Superman: Returns the main character also flies, the difference is that he flies on a broomstick. As it is known broomsticks cannot make a person fly. As it was stated, anything without propulsion will not make the person fly. This is again seen in the movie, therefore it is again affecting the gravitational law. Even, if it had a source of propulsion, there is no way that the rider would be able to stabilize himself and fly the broomstick. Just like Superman, Harry Potter is breaking the gravitational law for the sake of entertaining the audience.


In another instance, the students use their magical wands to levitate another student. This kind of looks as if they had telekinetic powers, which is basically having the power to move objects with the mind, but in this instance it is with their wands. This is impossible, unless the wands were continuously shooting something that is preventing the student from falling onto the floor. But, as it is known, objects in free-fall will fall as a result of gravity pulling it down. The same thing could be said about the floating candles. Objects that exist in the same realm of gravitational pull have to be affected equally, otherwise it would mean that gravity is being selective. Objects cannot float without having an opposite force acting upon it. Also, those candles should have fallen since the pull of Earth’s gravity is 9.8 m/s. Again, the effects just creates a nice effect.



Another superhero movie that also breaks the laws of gravity is The Fantastic Four. In the movie the group of superheroes must face a menace known as the Silver Surfer from destroying the world. In this movie, gravity is manipulated by changing the weight of the subject. For an instance, when the Human Torch is thrown from outer space back to the Earth, he is somehow able to survive. In reality, there is no way that he could have survived mainly because at the rate he falls. Objects at free-fall gain a speed of 9.8 m/s. Potential energy is described as the factor of mass, gravity, and height. At the speed the Human Torch felt should have ended up killing him. But, the gravity pull in this situation was bent, since the impact in the end did not seem to be as drastic as it should have, it even felt as if the weight of the Human Torch was altered so that he ended up being lighter. In this situation, the law was bent in order to let one of the main characters survive the deathly fall.
In another scenario, when the Fantastic Four try to prevent the ferries wheel from falling, the force of gravity seemed to be altered. In this scenario the team is somehow able to prevent the wheel from falling by having the Thing hold it. Even though the Thing is made out of some rocky material, there is no way that he was capable of holding the wheel by himself especially since he seems to weight less than the whole wheel itself. Therefore, the weight of the wheel must have being changed. The same thing could be said when the Invisible Woman, who absorbed the Human Torch’s power, starts floating in mid-air. Even though she is enveloped with fire, and is somehow able to prevent herself from burning up, there is no way she could start floating. Her weight must have changed, which means that the gravity affecting her must have changed. The Fantastic Four , as the title itself states it, is meant to astound the audience with visually interesting scenarios. The only reason why it was put that way is to make it look more interesting for the viewer.


Overall blockbuster movies are not meant to accurately depict reality. They are meant to entertain the viewer and make them wonder the possibilities of the visual effects. In all three movies the effect of bending the laws of gravity are meant to entertain the viewer. By bending it they are able to create worlds of superheroes with incredible powers and magical worlds that has no limits to its possibilities.

Outline For the Second Term Paper

Introduction:
1. Introduction to the law of gravity.
2. Introduction to the movies Superman Returns, Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix, and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
3. The law of gravity is broken in movies to accent the supernatural in movies.
Body:
1. Superman Returns
A. Intro to the film explaining the superhero genre.
B. Superman’s capability of flying.
C. Throws giant island towards space in a straight motion.
a. An object would have to circle around the world before escaping its gravity pull.
D. Bullets are shot straight without being pulled down by gravity.
E. Reasons why the laws are broken.
2. Harry Potter: The Order of the Phoenix.
A. Intro to film explaining the magical aspect.
B. Capability of flying on broomsticks.
C. The students levitate a wooden dummy.
D. Objects don’t fall to the ground.
E. Reason why the laws are broken in the magical world.
3. Silver Surfer
A. The Silver Surfer is able to fly without anything propelling.
B. Mass of objects change when they are getting sucked by the giant vaccum.
C. The human torch is able to fly.
D. Reasons why they are broken.
Conclusion:
1. Tie in all movies together.
2. Restate thesis.

Stop Motion Character Animation

For this assignment I collaborated with Christina Chan.

I basically edited the images and handled the camera. We used

an action figure as the main character and a stuffed animal.

We storyboarded the sequence and the camera angles in order to have

a clearer vision of how the movie was going to take place.

Reverse Video Reference

The Laws of Physics In An Animation Universe

The Laws of Physics Behind Transformers

Transformers is a popular American live-action movie released in 2007.The story takes place in present times, and revolves around the struggle of two cybernetic organisms, the Autobots and the Decepticons. In the movie, these two factions are determined to recover a powerful talisman that could determine the outcome of their war, and it just happens to be in Earth. The protagonist of the story is Sam Witwicky, a young boy who unknowingly is in the possession of a map that would reveal the location of the talisman. Eventually, Sam ends up helping the Autobots and save Earth from the Decepticons. Transformers is an overloaded action movie full of CGI visual effects and animation. These CGI elements are mainly used to hype-up all the action that is taken place within the movie. Even though, the story takes place respectively in this reality, the physics that surround the movie contradict some physic laws. Some laws that are broken in the movie includes: Newton’s action-reaction, gravity, and speed. These laws are broken in order to make the action more exciting and legible for the viewer. Transformers is a movie that is powered mainly by its astonishing CGI effects, which break certain laws of physics and makes the movie more pleasing for the viewer.

By examining one of the parts of the last battle scene, it can be determined that Newton’s law is broken. An example of how this law is broken is when Jazz, a Pontiac Solstice that weights approximately 2877 lbs, is thrown almost half a block by one of the Decepticons, and the Decepticon does not even move back at all. According to Newton’s action-reaction law “for every action there must be an equal opposite reaction”. Even if the Decepticon weights more than Jazz, some reaction force must be present. Yet, this law is broken in order to demonstrate how much more power the enemy has over Jazz.

Another example is when Irohide, a Hummer H2 that weights approximately 6000 lbs, is battling the same Decepticon. He jumps towards the enemy around 20 feet, mainly because of his size, and in mid-air he shoots twice to the enemy. While he is shooting his arms barely move back, so the recoil seems to be really small. But, for a cannon shot the recoil should have being big enough to push Ironhide back. Ironhide should have being pushed back with the same amount of force that was shot by the projectile, but instead he manages to fly through with barely any recoil. The momentum of the projectile should have being great enough to push Ironhide to the opposite direction. This proves that Ironhide is somehow capable of shooting high-speed projectiles without having any opposing force acting upon him. Newton’s law is broken in this case just to add a little bit more texture to the action.

The next example is when a group of soldiers shoot at another Decepticon and somehow manage to make him flip 360 degrees in mid air. The soldiers seem to be using mid size weapons, nothing greater than a grenade launcher. The average force exerted by hand guns and mid size weapons is 2301N, in this case it looks like the Decepticon was shot by a cannon that exerted a high -speed force greater than the weight of the Decepticon. A Newton is around 0.225 lbs, so a regular shot would be around 517. 73 lbs. The Decepticon transformed from a tank that weights approximately 61.3 tons, therefore the force emitted by the bullet shots is not enough to make him flip. They would require guns that, if shot, would recoil back the soldiers at a great distance. In this case, the exaggeration of the shots is just meant to spice up the fight scene between the good and bad guys.

Another one is when Optimus (the Autobot leader) shoots Megatron (the Decepticon leader), and Megatron manages to absorb the shot. In contrast Megatron shoots Optimus and the blast sends him four to five square blocks flying through the air as a result of the impulse. Taking into account that Optimus transforms from a Peterbilt 379 truck that weights around 46,000 lbs, Megatron should have had a recoil that would be great enough to send Optimus flying. In this case the physics were not consistent in this scene, since one is thrown at an exaggerated distance, while the other does not feel any force. Again, the physics are exaggerated to spice up the battle.

The physics are greatly exaggerated in order to introduce some excitement in each battle scene. At the beginning of the movie, the viewer sees M1A1 Abrams tanks flying through the sky as a result of the explosions. M1A1 tanks weight 61.3 tons or 135,166 lbs. An explosion of that magnitude would have needed to be greater than the one that is portrayed in the scene. As it has being demonstrated the physics are broken to accent the drama in the action.

Respectively another law that is broken multiple times is the law of gravity. Within the same tank scene, it is demonstrated that two objects that reach their respective apexes at the same time, fall to the ground at different times. The reason why this is done, it is because the animator chooses to make the two objects fall at different times in order to reduce twinning. Twinning is a term used by animators that basically is done by creating symmetry. In the eyes of the animator twinning is bad, because it makes a scene seem boring. By making the tanks fall at different times the animator reduces the amount of twinning, and also bends the laws of physics. According to the laws of gravity, objects that are released at the same time should reach the ground at the same time, unless there is terminal speed involved. Even then, both objects, since they are the same tank models, should have similar results. Yet, the time that each one falls is different one falls 33 frames after reaching the apex and the other one falls after 50. This is an example of how the timing of a fall is adjusted to increase the legibility of the action shots.

The same law is broken when it comes to the landing of the objects. Megatron along with the meteors that land on Earth should have a greater impact mainly because the force emitted as a result of the force weight created. In the movie, the weight that is created by the impact would in reality be light. When Megatron lands, being a metallic object that can lift and throw cars easily should have a great amount of mass, therefore he should land hard on the ground. But, this is not the case. Whenever he lands the ground barely shakes. It’s the same when the meteorites land on Earth. For objects that traveled at a high speed they barely create a deep impact, so the impact of those objects in reality is lighter than it is assumed in the movie.

Speed is also played around to introduce legibility for each action scene. One of the scenes that involve Ironhide doing a summersault takes 280 frames the speed is greatly decreased to introduce legibility into the action. The summersault would only take around 60 frames maximum, yet in this scene it takes almost five times longer. Even the missile takes the same amount of time. In reality, a regular projectile shot would take around 1500 ft/s, in this scene it is slowed down greatly to show the viewer that a missile is getting shot. Speed is played around in order to introduce texture into the scene and create a dramatic action.

In contrast to speed being slowed down, it is also sped up. In a highway scene where Optimus, while in truck mode, transforms into robot mode, his speed increases. This wouldn’t happen in reality, since while transforming the wind resistance would make him slow down. The wind would instead push him back. Normally cars are built in such way, in order for them to easily cruise against wind resistance. But, the wind resistance is completely ignored and instead of slowing Optimus down, he is sped up. This is another example of how bending the laws of physics create a dramatic scene.

Transformers is a live-action film that is heavily influenced by CGI special effects. The reason why a lot of the physics behind it are broken is to spice up the action behind the film. The people in charge of the effects bend the rules in order to make every action-packed scene more legible. The laws that they break include: Newton’s action-reaction, gravity, and speed. Bending or breaking the laws of physics is very normal in most action movies. The viewer is more entertained by something that is impossible, yet still hints the possibility of such action scene happening. Films like Transformers are meant to break some laws in order to introduce entertainment.

Side Notes: I altered my outline a little bit, but for the most part it remains the same

Outline: The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Physics in “Transformers”

I. Introduction- A teenager ends up in the middle of an intergalactic conflict between cybernetic beings, who are in search of a powerful item that could determine the outcome.

a. Introduction to the movie, and the special effects that are used.

b. The laws of physics are broken to create the illusion of a more action oriented movie.

c. Thesis

II. Action-Reaction is exaggerated.

a. Jazz is thrown at an exaggerated distance. 1:56

b. Shots fired by the soldiers take down an enemy that probably weights too much to be taken down by those shots. 1:56

c. The shot that Optimus shoots is absorbed, while the shot by Megatron throws Optimus really far away. 2:02

d. The tanks are thrown too high because of the explosion 0:08

III. Laws of gravity are broken.

a. Megatron lands slowly for someone who should have probably landed really hard. 1:57

b. Bigger objects should fall faster than Sam 2:07

c. Some characters that weight a lot land lightly. When they arrive in the form of meteors the impact should have being greater.

IV. Exaggerated acceleration/ lack of acceleration.

a. Missiles are shot too slow, so that the viewer can see what it is. 1:55

b. Optimus acceleration is increased exponentially in the highway.

c. Shots fired a slower.

V. Conclusion.

a. The physics that are used in the movie are meant to create an unrealistic action just to increase the intensity of the movie.

b. Consistency throughout the movie.

c. Restate thesis.

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

For this assignment I decided to make a stop motion of a falling coin.

First I designed my very simple background, then I got some reference

by rolling a can of soda down a small ramp that I made. Afterwards, I

planned the path of action along with the timing. I decided to keep it

simple, so that it wouldn't overcomplicate the motion. Then, I started

shooting.

Analysis of Path of Action

Jump Reference

Video Analysis of Path of Action

Track Video Analysis of Falling

Ball Bounce

Here is my ball bounce 5 times and i think it shot at

30fps.

Mini-Portfolio

Here are some of my past class work and some doodles.

Something about me:

I am an Animation/Illustration student at San Jose State University.

I want to work for either the gaming industry or the film industry as

a concept artist, mainly because I grew up with it. I especially like the

freedom that they are given when it comes down to designing something

that no one has ever seen before. I want to be able to design things that

will entertain the viewer.

Physics of Animation

So, I just opened my blogspot for the Physics of Animation class with Professor Garcia.