Browsing by Subject "graphics"
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Item A nNon-photorealistic Model for Procedural Painterly Rendered Trees in the Style of Corot(2009-05-15) Losure, Michael RobertThis thesis describes the development of a system for the procedural generation and painterly rendering of trees. Specifically, the rendered trees are modeled after those found in the oil landscape paintings of 19th century French painter Camille Corot. The rendering system, which is a combination of MEL-scripted Maya tools and Renderman shaders, facilitates the creation of still images that look convincingly painterly, as well as 3D animations with temporal coherence. Brush stroke properties are animated based on distance from the camera, so that traditional painting techniques for representing depth are incorporated into the computer-generated animations. During the development process, the system was generalized to apply to other structures, such as grass and rocks, and allows for the creation and rendering of entire landscapes. Several example animations were created with the system to demonstrate the ideas developed during the process and the quality of the results.Item Automated Vehicle Articulation and Animation: A Maxscript Approach(2011-02-22) Griffin, Christopher CoreyThis thesis presents an efficient, animation production-centric solution to the articulation and animation of computer generated automobiles for creating animations with a high degree of believability. The thesis has two main foci which include an automated and customizable articulation system for automobile models and a vehicle animation system that utilizes minimal simulation techniques. The primary contribution of this thesis is the definition of a computer graphics animation software program that utilizes simulation and key-frame methods for defining vehicle motion. There is an emphasis on maintaining efficiency to prevent long wait times during the animation process and allow for immediate interactivity. The program, when implemented, allows for animation of a vehicle with minimal input and setup. These automated tools could make animating an automobile, or multiple automobiles of varying form and dimensions much more efficient and believable in a film, animation, or game production environment.Item Caricaturing buildings for effective visualization(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Rice, Grant G., IIIThe objective of my research is to identify and analyze the techniques of exaggeration, simplification, and abstraction used by caricature and cartoon artists. I apply these techniques to an expressive 3D modelling process which is used to create building caricatures. This process minimizes the number of unimportant details and increases the recognizability of the buildings. Additionally, the building caricature process decreases the time spent modelling the buildings and reduces their overall file sizes. The building caricature process has been used to create other building caricatures, as well as interactive visualizations and 3D maps of the Texas A&M University campus.Item GPU programming for real-time watercolor simulation(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Scott, Jessica StacyThis thesis presents a method for combining GPU programming with traditional programming to create a fluid simulation based watercolor tool for artists. This application provides a graphical interface and a canvas upon which artists can create simulated watercolors in real time. The GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit, is an effcient and highly parallel processor located on the graphics card of a computer; GPU programming is touted as a way to improve performance in graphics and non?graphics applications. The effectiveness of this method in speeding up large, general purpose programs, however, is found here to be disappointing. In a small application with minimal CPU/GPU interaction, theoretical speedups of 10 times maybe achieved, but with the limitations of communication speed between the GPU and the CPU, gains are slight when this method is used in conjunction with traditional programming.Item Physical Simulation of an Embedded Surface Mesh Involving Deformation and Fracture(2012-07-16) Clack, BillySimulating virtual objects which can deform or break apart within their environments is now common in state-of-the-art virtual simulations such as video games or surgery simulations. Real-time performance requires a physical model which provides an approximation to the true solution for fast computations but at the same time provides enough believability of the simulation to the user. Recent research in object deformation and fracture has revolved around embedding portions of the simulation for graphical display inside a much simpler physical domain which is invisible to the user. Embedding complex geometry in a simpler domain allows for very complex effects to occur in a much more robust and computationally efficient manner. This thesis explores a novel method to efficiently embed a high-resolution surface mesh inside a coarse tetrahedral physical mesh for the purposes of interactive simulation and display. A technique to display interior regions as solid geometry without explicitly re-meshing the graphical mesh during fracture has been explored and developed. Keeping the graphical mesh static in memory during simulation allows the geometry to be off-loaded to the GPU while shaders can be utilized to only display portions of the geometry which are locally contained within the physical mesh. Recent advances in GPU technology have also been exploited in order to provide an increase in visual fidelity and help achieve the illusion that the virtual object itself is breaking apart in a physically plausible manner.Item Tearable Cloth(2010-01-16) Phillips, Kurt T.This document proposes modifications to an established cloth simulation algorithm to allow for stretch deformation and tearing of simulated cloth in computer-generated imagery. Previous research is presented, followed by the development of a cloth simulation system with the addition of tearing behavior. Several results are given that show off individual features and behaviors that this thesis models.Item The morphological development of a wood burl shader(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Moyer, Robert SimmsIn the field of computer graphics, shaders provide an interface between lights and surfaces, giving the appearance of metal, plastic, wood, etc. As the field progresses, more and more shaders are required to simulate a wider and wider variety of materials. We present a new shader for the simulation of wood burl, a complex material used in furniture, art, car interiors, and a host of other luxury items. This shader was developed through a morphological approach - a study of the original material, its structure, and growth. Consequently, research began with a thorough look at wood burl, polished and unpolished, in an assortment of different species. We discovered the appearance can be broken into three sub-appearances - knots, curl, and a subtle undergrain. These three sub-appearances interact to create the characteristic swirls and whorls of burl. For the subtle undergrain, we used a common oak shader, added noise, and faded it into the background. We then developed a system of randomly placing points through the material to act as knots. Since the knots grow and distort the surrounding grain, we used distance-scaled forces to push the surface coordinates around and between all the knots. When the oak shader is applied, it appears to swirl and curl around the knots, much like a stream between rocks. This created the first level of curl or swirly grained wood, but one level alone appeared flat. To solve this, we procedurally blended levels of curl to give a look of increased depth. Finally, we added reflection, gloss, and other surface properties to give a look of warmth and polish. All of these properties are controlled by a set of parameters in the shader's interface. By adjusting these parameters, the user can emulate a variety of different burl types.