And a little something extra- since I've been learning a lot about shaders lately, I figured I'd try turning my initials into a bit of a simple lamp in Maya.
For my stop motion character animation I worked with my roommate Clayton Chan. I set up a (rather risky) camera rig by propping my Surface Pro 3 on a chair. Then we crafted some small figurines from kneaded erasers and each animated a humanoid character. The third surprise character at the end was animated by Clayton, and we split up the work by putting myself on compositing and editing and him on audio (since he worked on the third character). Overall it was a really silly process that got ourselves some good laughs at the end.
Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction? The Violation of Conservation of Mass in Video Games
Let's talk about
conservation of mass. The principle behind conservation of mass and
energy is pretty simple, going back to the idea that something cannot
be created out of nothing. Ergo, any system of mass and energy cannot
be created nor destroyed—though mass and energy may transfer
between energy and mass states, but that's probably a lesson geared
more towards chemistry. Granted, it doesn't take a genius to figure
this principle out, as conservation of mass is one of the most basic
principles of the universe that can be observed just about all the
time. However, adhering to this principle in every single story
really does not help stretch the imagination in fantasy situations.
Often times, conservation of mass can act as a hindrance in video
games by limiting the possibilities of what can be done in such games, thus many games have opted to ignore this principle in the
name of entertainment, be it for story or gameplay purposes. So, without further ado, let's take a look at a few games that do what can't be done in the real world: completely ignore one of the most basic principles of physics in the universe.
Street Fighter VI
Wait, wrong Street Fighter game. Wow, I remember playing this on my bootleg NES. Time sure have changed since then...
Ask any fighting
game enthusiast what the quintessential fighting game is, and most of
them will definitely point to the Street Fighter series. Capcom has
been developing this fabled fighting game franchise ever since the
first game debuted in the arcades back in 1987, and has been going
strong ever since with its current iteration of the series dubbed
“Ultra Street Fighter VI” (which is actually the...4th
version of Street Fighter 4, which makes it...the umpteenth version.
Seriously, there are way too many for me to count). The games feature
characters with very unique fighting styles that can be pit against
each other in one on one duels. Most of the fighting styles of these
characters are founded upon real forms of martial arts such as karate
and Muay Thai, but the game also featured more whimsical elements
such as fireball projectiles that are usually referred to as a
“Hadouken” attack for most characters (unless you play Sagat,
who's attacks are just..."thaiger"-everything). These shots can be
fired off without any limit so long as your character was still
alive, allowing for a play-style that involved testing your opponent
at a safe distance with fireballs.This is a pretty
clear violation of the conservation of mass principle as the fighters
that are capable of such seem to have limitless energy so long as
they were conscious.
This kind of sequence is what I like to call getting "Daigo'ed," as named after the famous Daigo Umehara. Don't know what I mean? Take a look at this video:
Seriously, this is one of the most annoying things that can happen to you in this game.
Among the stranger
characters in the roster lies Dhalsim, an Indian yogi whose “yoga”
fighting style involves spitting flames, teleportation, and
stretching out limbs in ways that clearly defy every principle
of anatomy and mass.
Don't mess with Dhalsim's reach, because he will mess you up.
Street Fighter as a
series has generally been inclusive of a heavy use of the mystic due
to the heavy influence of Asian martial arts in the series, but aside
from that element, the main purpose of this game's refusal to follow
the simple principle of conservation of mass—as well as many other
rules of physics—is to allow for a large diversity of game-play
styles between different characters. From these limitless possibilities spawned characters of many different types, some with varying degrees of realism, all working towards making the fights different at a character-against-character basis. Because of this, Capcom has
definitely built up a roster of fighters in their latest iteration of
Street Fighter that is nothing short of a healthy diversity.
Look at all these cool cats. I play that ninja girl who's...somewhere in the top middle left of the screen. She's cool. Kind of.
The Mass Effect Series
We looked at Street
Fighter VI (excuse me, Ultra Street Fighter VI) as a game which
ignores conservation of mass to promote variety in a competitive
game-play environment. What about a game that tries to explain its
lack of coherence to conservation of mass as a major lore point? For
this, we will look at the Mass Effect series. The Mass Effect series
is a set of space-shooter science fiction RPG in the vein of Star
Trek-like storytelling. The game-play features guns that fire an
unlimited amount of projectile bullets that, in the first game, do
not run out until the gun overheats and needs to cool down. Certain
characters also gain access to “biotic” powers,
psychic-controlled blasts that consist of energy beams and explosions
that often altered space, time, gravity, and mass. All of this is
coupled with the existence of space ships that are gargantuan in size
and implausible faster-than-light warping, elements that feel more
science-fantasy than science-fiction.
The pistols in Mass Effect 1 were pretty notorious for being able to shoot an almost unlimited number of shots
Examples of biotics in action around 2:40
Many of these elements would
normally seem baffling and could be written off as “space magic;”
however, the writers behind Mass Effect at Bioware were kind enough
to give this space magic a name and how it works. The premise of Mass
Effect is founded upon the discovery of a new element, deemed
“element zero,” which releases “dark energy” that can modify
existing masses when exposed to an electrical current. This offers an explanation for a lot of the more fantastical elements of the game, from the strange space magic that is biotic powers to the sheer violation of mass conservation that the guns commit in the first game. The
introduction of this element provides the entire lore and story point
behind the game and allows for the exploration of a rich,
intergalactic society that has been exposed to this kind of power.
...I should go.
Saints Row: The Third
Now, Ultra Street
Fighter VI and Mass Effect are both games where the violation of
conservation of mass is thought out in a meaningful way, one for the
sake of diverse multiplayer gameplay and the other in the name of a
rich, science-fiction universe. However, there is no rule that states
that breaking that rule of mass conservation has to be serious
business! After all, cartoons violate physics for the sake of
violating physics all the time, so why can't video games?This next
game play sequence may be the most hilarious, asinine, stupid, beautiful example
of a video game going all the way to the extreme of breaking this
rule. I present to you, the second mission Saints Row: The Third,
appropriately titled Yes I'm Free, Free-falling:
Skip to around 5:00, and just watch the beautiful carnage. Oh, and just for reference, you will see the plane around the 7 minute mark.
There are so many
stupid things going on with this scene that it is hard to figure out
which one to start with. This particular mission of this GTA-like
starts off in a reasonably-sized private jet, in which the main
character and his or her sidekick Shaundi end up bailing out of by
opening the cargo hatch of the train. This in turn releases not only
a bunch of thugs into the sky that attempt gun the player down in the
free-fall, but also in turn releases a bunch of full-sized vans that
end up raining down in the sky, in which the player would go through
a high-octane action sequence of having to shoot through the falling
vehicles to get to the free-falling Shaundi. The only problem is, if
you reference the plane that the characters were initially in, you
would find that there was no way that plane could have fit nearly all
of those cars. In most cases, this
would entail a level of distaste that would border on the imbecilic,
but anyone who is familiar with the Saints Row series should know by
now the ridiculous, over-the-top nature of the Saints Row games,
considering that the starting level was just as over-the-top with a
reality-TV-demo-bank-heist-gone-wrong and the hallmark of the second
game that is the poop-flinging truck. Despite the seemingly-normal
setting of “normal” streets and cities, the Saints Row games
establish early on that the universe is ridiculous and wacky. There
are so many points in the game where physics is straight up denied;
why should this scene be any exception to that? Ultimately, nobody
really cares that multiple rules of physics aren't being followed, as
the game is just really stupid fun.
Beautiful. So beautiful.
These are just some
of the countless examples of video games breaking the physical rule
of continuity that is conservation of mass and energy. Much of the
charm of these games have very much to do with their lack of
coherence to one of the most basic rules of physics, yet they are no
worse for doing so. It is important to remember that, in the midst of
a long movement that has been pushing for higher visual fidelity in
graphics and physics, many fun games are often founded upon the
premise of broken physics. Things like bunny hopping in Counter
Strike, the insane movement speed in Arena shooters, weird glitch
exploits that increase efficiency, and of course all of what was
mentioned in previous paragraphs prove the point that games are not
necessarily defined by the fidelity of the physics, but more so by
the intent of the developer. After all, in a video game, game play
comes first. Everything else—the art, the music, the physics,
etc—need to wrap around what the game play is meant to be.
Scientific Fact or Cinematic Fiction? Outline for Second
Paper
Violation of Conservation of Mass and Energy in Video Games
1.Introduction
a. In the real world, the principles of conservation
of mass and energy state that mass can neither be created nor destroyed.
b. This principle is frequently violated in
video games, often for entertainment, gameplay, or story purposes.
2.Street Fighter VI
a. Many characters, such as Ryu, Ken, and Akuma for
example, feature fireball moves that can be fired repeatedly without limit so
long as the player’s character is alive.
b.Dhalsim in particular is a character that can
stretch his limbs to fight in a way that doesn’t quite make sense
c.Though not related to conservation of mass, many
characters also featured “dive kicks” that allowed them to alter trajectory and
velocity mid-air in controlled ways that were far from realistic
d.These inaccuracies to physics serve the purpose
of not only creating interesting characters in a mystical sort of martial arts
society, but also serve the purpose of creating a diverse set of gameplay
styles for specific characters.
3.The Mass Effect Series
a.The way guns worked in the Mass Effect series
has always been rather baffling. Most guns in the series fired physical
projectiles, yet there was no actual ammo system in the universe (according to
the rules of the Mass Effect universe)
b.Not to mention, there were such things as “biotic
powers,” which consisted of strange “space magic” energy beams and explosions
that often altered space, time, gravity, and mass.
c.The writers of the Mass Effect series attributed
these violations of physics to a fictional element called “element zero” which releases
“dark energy” that can modify existing masses when exposed to an electrical
current. This is a case where the laws of conservation are bypassed for the
sake of story.
4.Saints Row: The Third
a.The beginning sequence of the game features an
over-the-top skydiving gameplay sequence where, after escaping an airplane, the
player has to shoot through random goons in the air and massive amounts of
falling cars presumably from the airplane itself. The player has infinite ammo
and the amount of cars raining in the sky clearly would not have entirely fit
in the plane itself
b.This level is obviously tongue and cheek and
is not meant to be taken seriously, providing the player with an extremely
exciting and explosion-gratifying action sequence.
5.Conclusion
a.While physics are incredibly important, it is
not always necessary for video games to follow realistic physics all the time.
Many great games are actually founded upon the premise of broken physics. At
the end of the day, it comes down to the game developer’s intent.
For this test, I wanted to keep the animation setup fairly simple, so I opted to using a simple background on paper, a quarter, some kneaded eraser, and a down shooter in the animation lab. I used the kneaded eraser bit as a stopper for the quarter "ball" and simply animated the ball rolling off the ramp, bouncing off the wall and continuing its bounce off the other side of the page. I mainly shot in twos and tweaked specific frames to ones in certain timing areas. The fortunate thing about this setup is the fact that I can sort of "flip" through frames using flipbook, so if I mess up a frame it is as easy as going back and readjusting the quarter. That is probably a luxury I will not have with a more 3D setup in the future.
In
2010, DreamWorks Animation released an animated feature film titled How to Train Your Dragon, a story based
upon children’s author Cressida Cowell’s book series of the same name. Dreamwork’s
Dragons quickly became a success,
with its high-energy action and a lovable story, a timeless tale of boy and
dragon learning to understand one another. The film was an experience that put
us in Hiccup’s shoes, bringing us along for the ride as he and Toothless soared
through the air. However, that experience was heavily carried by the fact that,
despite the obviously fantastical elements of whimsical character design and
flying, fire-breathing dragons, much of the film was grounded in reality. How to Train Your Dragon achieved what
many other more cartoon-like animated films did not: make the fantasy feel real.
The test flight, one of the most iconic scenes in the movie.
Now,
before we talk about how the film utilizes physics to sell the reality of the
film, it first needs to be clarified that yes, How to Train Your Dragon is a highly stylized film with aspects
that clearly bypass the physics you would expect from reality, aside from the obvious
part that there are flying, fire-breathing dragons in the film. Most notably,
the film does this through its whimsical character design. Overall, the design
of most of the adult Viking characters are very large and bulky, and these burly
men and women seem to move at speeds that would be unexpected for people of
their sides. In contrast, most of the teen characters—with the exception of
Hiccup, who is portrayed as physically feeble—seem too skinny to pull off some
of the physical feats that they do. Now, the design that seems to epitomize
this crazy stylization of proportion would definitely have to be that of those
giant, flying heaps of meat known as the Gronkles. Don’t know what I mean?
Here, just take a good look at one of these guys:
Seriously, I have no idea how it even get itself in the air, much less when there is an overweight Viking on its back...
Appropriately
called an “overgrown sausage” by ours truly Gobber the Belch, the Gronckle is a
large, heavy type of dragon with disproportionately large heads and bodies and
short, stubby appendages. Gronckles in the film are animated in a way that
makes them feel slow and heavy, yet they feature tiny wings that flutter around
in a bumblebee kind of way that clearly do not have the kind of surface area to
generate lift on their own. Now, some may argue that perhaps the gases
contained within the dragon help balance out the dragons’ density to allow for
buoyancy within the air, but let’s be honest here; the Gronckle’s design, in
all of its dorky charm, is so ridiculously un-aerodynamic that there is no way
anything that big and heavy could even hope to maintain a constant flying
status.
So majestic. So very, very majestic.
That being said, DreamWorks used the impracticality of their whimsically-fun character designs to their advantage by accenting the laws of inertia to match the kind of mass that seems appropriate for each design and kept such rules consistent throughout the entire film. Once again we will use the Gronckle as an example. Gronckles are shown to move slowly and sluggishly through the air. They are not particularly adept at moving quickly and dynamically (well, they are better at it in the second film somehow, but that is a topic for another day), and the Gronckle portrayed through the majority of the film in the arena is shown to have a lot of trouble turning, lacking the friction from air drag to do sharp turns due to its overall ball-like shape, heavy weight, and tiny wings. Often times these dragons would sort of “slide” in the air, which usually resulted in either a tantalizingly slow turn or a collision against a wall where the dragon would then reorient itself in the right direction. These dragons were slow, often broke through wooden objects, and overall felt as heavy as we would perceive them to be, and there was never a moment where this movie broke that rule.
We
can also use our protagonist, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, as a stellar example
of the principles of inertia and force being accentuated through a character
design. Unlike the rest of his Viking counterparts, Hiccup is small, skinny,
and feeble, with his strengths lying in his innovation, empathy, and problem
solving skills. Throughout the film it is apparent that Hiccup struggles with
carrying heavier objects. At the beginning of the film in the forge, the mass
of weapons he is carrying is seen dragging Hiccup’s arms down due to his lack
of strength. The same could be said for when he carried a large basket of fish
to feed Toothless later in the film; as Hiccup is small and light, it is
required of him to use much more force to carry and move heavier objects. And just
as how the Gronckles are consistently portrayed as heavy and slow, Hiccup’s
physical impediment is kept consistent throughout the entire film.
Pay particular attention between 0:38-0:43 in the nuance in animation where it is apparent that Hiccup has to exert excess force to move the basket of fish.
Another part of what makes the film so believable is on how the dragons themselves adhere to rules of physics outside the improbability of their flying. One
aspect of the Dragons experience in
the film that was always very fascinating was the rules that were set up in an
almost video game-like fashion. The dragons themselves (at least in the first
film; the second film seems to deviate from this a little bit) strictly
followed very specific sets of physical rules. These were things like blind
spots, disorientation from loud noises, and shot limits. Now, the idea of a
shot limit is incredibly impressive under the consideration of believable
physics. Whereas blind spots and noise disorientation are rather thoughtful in
an anatomical sense, the shot limit respects conservation of mass. Unlike in more
fantastical settings, the dragons in this film cannot just summon an unlimited
amount of flames out of nowhere; they are only able to carry a finite amount of
fuel for their flame inside their bodies, and using up that fuel means no more
fire.
In
the end, the Dragons experience is
heavily carried by the consistently realistic aspects of the film that are
taken into consideration once the more fantastical aspects of the film are
established as fact through suspension of disbelief. It establishes a world
where dragons that can fly and breathe fire exist, then assumes that the rest
of the physical laws of the universe work in the same way that our world does.
Combine that with a touching coming-of-age tale of understanding the unknown
and a visceral adventure of soaring heights and you get a film experience that
can never be forgotten. How to Train Your
Dragon is definitely a film that takes the fantasy and make it seem real,
and it is for that reason that it will remain my favorite animated film for a
very long time.
"Forbidden Friendship" will always be one of my favorite movie scenes. Ever.
NOTE: Because my original outline had way too much content, I ended up cutting a lot of material. I stuck with the same ideas but instead focused in on the Gronckle's improbably design for the first topic, consistent inertia and force with the Gronckle and Hiccup for the second, and the shot limit and conservation of mass for the third.
a.How to Train Your Dragon is an animated film
that, despite its obvious fantastical elements, really sells its experience
through believability that is grounded in reality
2.Improbable balance in characters- whimsical
character design
a.Adult Vikings are large characters that seem to
be able to move a lot faster than they actually can
b.Most of the teen characters, notably Astrid and
the twins, seem improbably skinny to pull off the physical feats that they are
able to do. Hiccup? Well, he kind of makes sense since he is actually pretty
weak.
c.Gobber is probably one of the most impossible
characters, designed only in the name of stylization; his peg leg does not seem
like it can carry his weight. That inbalance is really felt in his limp
d.Fishlegs also falls under this category as he is
able to move rather daintily when running away, even though he is extremely
overweight
e.For God’s sake, Gronkles do not look like they
can fly.
3.Laws of Inertia felt and pushed with the
character designs
a.First scene where Stoick jumps on top of a
Deadly Nadder, his heavy weight forces the dragon’s head down rather heavily
b.Friction from Hiccup’s shield due to his bad
rolling technique stopped his roll from completing—outside unbalanced force
that stopped his forward motion
c.Many of Hiccup’s actions with heavy objects;
obvious that it takes more of an effort for him to get these objects to move
d.Gronkles move slow and do not turn very well due
to their heavy weight, as opposed to Toothless who is designed aerodynamically,
looks like it can cut through air
e.Training sequence with the Nadder: the dragon
slips and rams into an obstacle wall, the wall breaks down
4.The dragons themselves are grounded in reality
a.The shot limit. The dragons are not just able to
spew infinite amounts of fire indiscriminately. Conservation of mass
b.Toothless’s missing half of the tail. Needed to
control the air flow in flight.
c.Dragon proportions and its effects on inertia.
d.The “Test Flight” scene. Sharp motion arcs in
faster aerodynamic turns, drag against Toothless and Hiccup (inertia). Break
down this scene.
e.Behavioral movements of the dragons based upon
actual animals
5.Conclusion
a.Though there are obvious fantastical elements to
How to Train Your Dragon, the realistic aspects of the film make the fantasy
seem real. You believe you are there along with Hiccup and Toothless.
Jeffrey Gene Liu here! I am a 5th year animation/illustration major here at SJSU, currently focusing on visual development but gaining a rising interest in 3D modeling and computer science. Currently, I am enrolled in a triple-whammy of visual development (117B), advanced 3D modeling (130B), and introduction to programming; these three classes will most likely be the cause of my lack of sleep, but I am most definitely excited for all three of them. My goal is to eventually work in game development, though that is not necessarily strictly limited to being an artist! Video games have always been a large part of my life, and I look forward to being able to give back to the gaming community with my own contributions.
Anyways, here are some examples of my work!
This first pair of images is from Ani113B, an intermediate painting class focused on drawing and painting trees. The final assignment was to design a "hero" tree and its environment around it, lit in two different times of the day. It was a very fun project that allowed me to really get my feet wet for digital painting.
These two sets of images are character designs that I did for a 100W project. It is set in a cyberpunk setting, and the story follows a couple of cyborg orphans who live among the slums of floating metropolises in the sky.
This is a somewhat more recent painting study that I did last semester off of a famous photo of Anna Lee Fisher, the first mother in space.
This video here is an excerpt from my 115 final animation. The effects were particularly fun to do!
Jeff Liu speaking here! No, not the Jeff Liu who's currently working for Cartoon Network (although it would be...very interesting if he and I ever ended up working together), but a current student studying in the animation/illustration program at San Jose State University. If for whatever reason that ever gets confusing, feel free to call me by my full name (Jeffrey Gene Liu); for some reason many of my peers decided that it would be trendy to do so.
In any case, this will be my Physics of Animation blog for the Fall 2014 semester. Fun times of learning to be had!
