Efficient Geometry Parameterisation for Modelling and Animation

The modelling and animation of characters, human or otherwise, is a huge and rapidly growing field. The success of movies such as those made by Pixar and the massive computer games market has led to a need for more realistic character modelling and animation, and this realism is demanded in shorter timescales. This is apparent from the large number of computer animated TV series, such as Jimmy Neutron and Excalibur, which have short production times to satisfy the consumer demand.An important point to note is that existing modelling and animation techniques are time consuming and non-intuitive in the vast majority of situations. In this research we propose to develop novel techniques to address these issues. We propose to develop a system that will offer two distinct advantages over existing techniques. Firstly, we propose to adopt a modelling technique that will allow intuitive generation and manipulation of complex geometry. Secondly, and rather more importantly, we propose to develop techniques which would allow both the modelling and animation process to be based on the same underlying geometry model.