Browsing by Subject "camera"
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Item An Extensible System For Physically-based Virtual Camera Control Using Rotational Motion Capture(2014-04-24) Huebel, Robert ShelbyAn important characteristic of any well-designed system is user interface design. Even in extremely complex systems with high learning curves, a designer?s goal is to create an interface that is simple to use and that feels natural, while at the same time allowing the user full access to all of the system?s functionality. In the field of visual effects and computer animation, effective manipulation of the virtual camera is essential to any successful production. In most cases, the virtual camera is manipulated with standard input devices such as the mouse and keyboard. This thesis presents an alternative user interface design for virtual cameras using physical controls. This thesis describes an extensible system which offers physically-based, real-time virtual camera control in a commercial 3D software package by means of rotational motion capture. The system described is composed of both programmed physical hardware and a software application. The physical hardware consists of multiple analog sensors programmed to work in conjunction to detect rotation about the de- vice?s three axes. The software application interprets the data sent from the physical hardware into a form a 3D software package can use to manipulate a virtual cam- era, while also providing additional functionality for the motion capture and camera manipulation processes. This thesis constructs the physical motion-sensing device using only affordable, commercially-available parts. The software components of the system use freely available programming languages and development environments. The system possesses the ability to be expanded upon to add additional functionality or modify existing components, in order for it to be flexible enough for numerous applications. The result of this research is a working prototype system that captures pitch, roll, and yaw motions that mimic actual physical motions performed by the user. The workflow provided by the system allows for quick iterations and facilitates an inter- active control scheme for the virtual camera that traditional mouse-and-keyboard techniques cannot.Item Determining Nighttime Atmospheric Optical Depth Using Mars Exploration Rover Images(2013-07-22) Bean, Keri MarieMartian clouds and dust play an important part of the radiative transfer and energy balance budget. To assist in fully understanding the impact of clouds and dust, the complete diurnal cycle needs to be characterized. One of the best methods to track diurnal variations on Mars is by measuring optical depth. The spatial and temporal trends of optical depth give insight into the dust and water cycles of the Martian atmosphere. Until now, spacecraft could only obtain optical depth during the day. In this thesis, nighttime images from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are used to calculate nighttime optical depth using photometric methods to capture star flux. Bright stars in well-known constellations are used in this analysis. The observed flux was compared to the expected flux to give nighttime optical depth values. The observed nighttime optical depth was consistently similar to the daytime optical depth values on both an individual image and sol-averaged basis. Recommendations are made going forward to use the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity for conducting an optimal nighttime optical depth campaign to fully characterize the diurnal dust and water cycles of Mars. The Curiosity rover is well suited for nighttime imaging and can potentially provide valuable insight into the nighttime dust and cloud trends.Item Exploring Tools for Improving Negative Capture(Texas Digital Library, 2022-05-23) Mazzei, ErinIn just the past few years, the technology for digitizing slides and negatives has been evolving rapidly. Boosted in part by individual photographers seeking better quality for their own negatives, the result is a wide variety of commercial products to improve image results from both flatbed scanners and camera capture stations. How do some these options compare to each other for use at institutions? This poster proposes to test and compare the results of several types of negative holder and introduce a framework for evaluating the quality and efficiency of others.