Module- 5

Applications of Physics in Animation

& Computing

Dr. G H Pujar
Asst. Professor and Head
&
Controller of Examinations

Department Engg. Physics,

Research Centre (Recognized by VTU Belagavi)
 Chapter-1

Syllabus
Physics of Animation: Taxonomy of physics based animation methods, Frames, Frames
per Second, Size and Scale, Weight and Strength, Motion and Timing in Animations,
Constant Force and Acceleration, The Odd rule, Odd rule Scenarios, Motion Graphs,
Examples of Character Animation : Jumping, Parts of Jump, Jump Magnification, Stop Time,
Walking: Strides and Steps, Walk Timing. Numerical Problems

Statistical Physics for Computing : Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, Poisson
distribution and modeling the probability of proton decay, Normal Distributions (Bell
Curves), Monte Carlo Method : Determination of Value of π. Numerical Problems.

2
 What is Animation…!!!?
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images to create an
illusion of movement.
Ex: Even after the object is removed, the impression of an object seen by the
eye remains on the retina for 1/16th of a second- “optical illusion”
When multiple images appear in fast succession, the brain blends them
into a single moving image.
The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture

4
 History of Animation
• Paleolithic (old stone age) cave paintings
– animals depicted with multiple legs in superimposed positions to convey the
perception of motion
 History of Animation

• Zoetrope
• As the cylinder spins, one looks through the slits at
the pictures
• One sees a rapid succession of images, producing the
illusion of motion
• The earliest known zoetrope was created in China
around 180 CE (may have existed in China even 300
or so years before that)
 History of Animation
• Phenakistoscope
• A spinning disc attached vertically to a handle
• A series of drawings around the disc's
center
• A series of equally spaced radial slits
• The user spins the disc and looks through the
moving slits at the disc's reflection in a mirror
• Invented by a Belgian physicist Joseph
Plateau in 1841
 History of Animation
• Praxinoscope
– Improved on the zoetrope by replacing slits
with an inner circle of mirrors
– Invented in France in 1877 by Charles- Émile
Reynaud
– In 1889, he invented an improved
version that allowed one to project
the images onto a screen
 History of Animation
• Flip book
– The first form of animation to
employ a linear sequence of
images, rather than a circular
set
– In 1868, John Barnes Linnett
patented it under the name
kineograph ("moving picture“)

Click for movie

 History of Animation

• Cinematograph
– Fed the linear film through with a hand operated crank
– Projected the images onto a large screen
– Invented in 1895 by the Lumiere brothers
– Took their “film projector” around the world,
charged admission for movies
– Original films were 17 meters long and lasted 50
seconds
 Hollywood

• First film studio established in

Hollywood in 1911, followed by
15 more later that year
• Charlie Chaplin Studios
established in 1917
• Silent Film Era until 1929
• 1st Academy Awards in 1929
Golden Age of Hollywood
• 1927-1963
 Cartoons
• Produced in large numbers in the
Golden Age of Hollywood; usually
shown before feature films
• First animated full length film:
Snow White, 1937 (took 4 years
to make)
• Moved to TV in the 1950’s,
when TV became popular
– Flintstones: first successful prime
time TV cartoon
 Cartoon Computer Animation
• Traditional Animation was replaced with 2D Computer Animation circa 1990 while still using
the concepts of static backgrounds, key framing, animation cycles, etc.
How Animation is created……..!!!!?
Typical examples include:
• Keyframing (hand-drawn animation)

• Data-Driven (motion capture-Computer)

• Procedural (rules, flocks)

• Simulation (laws of physics)

How Animation is created……..!!!!?

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 Taxonomy Based Animation Methods
The field of physics-based animation and simulation can roughly be subdivided into two
large groups:
 Kinematics : The study of motion without consideration of mass or forces.

 Dynamics : The study of motion taking mass and forces into consideration.

• kinematics and dynamics come in two flavors or subgroups.

• Inverse is the study of motion knowing the starting and ending points.

• Forward is the study of motion solely given the starting point.

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 Frames and Frames per Second

Frame : A frame is a single image in a sequence of pictures.

Frames per Second : Number of such frames displayed per

second.

In general, one second of a video is comprised of 24 or 30

frames per second also known as FPS.
 Size and Scale
Larger Characters : Weight & Strength (Hulk)

Smaller Characters : Agility and Speed (Jerry)

While designing animation, we come across
different situations to do with size and scale
Human or animal-based characters
• That are much larger than we see in our
everyday experience.(Hulk, Superhero, Monsters)
• That are much smaller than in our everyday
experience (fairies and elves)
• Characters that need to be noticeably older,
heavier, lighter, or more energetic than others.

• Characters that are child versions of older

characters.
 Scale and Proportion

Creating a larger or smaller character isn’t just a matter of scaling everything about the
character uniformly.
• For ex: While scaling a cube, its volume changes much more dramatically than its
surface area.
• Doubling the size of the cube along each dimension, its height increases by 2 times, the
surface area increases by 4 times, and its volume increases by 8 times.
 Weight and Strength
Body weight is proportional to volume.
• Ability of muscles & bones depend more on cross-sectional area than volume
• To increase muscle/bone’s strength, it is needed to increase the cross-
sectional area.
• Strength increases by squares & weight increases by cubes, the proportion
of a character’s weight that it can lift does not scale proportionally to its size
• Ex: A man 6 feet tall weighing 180 pounds and can lift 90 pounds.
• If you scale up the body size by a factor of 2, the weight increases by a factor
of 8. Such a character could then lift more weight.
• But since the character weighs 8 times more than it did before, it can not lift
the arms and legs as easily as a normal man.
• Such a giant gains strength, but loses agility.
 Motion and Timing in Animation
Introduction to Motion:
 Motion is an essential component in games and animations. The motion is governed by
the Newton's laws and kinematic equations.
 When animating a scene, there are several types of motion to consider. These are the
most common types of motion: 1. Linear, 2.Parabolic, 3. Circular, 4. Wave

Motion Lines and Paths:

 Individual drawings or poses have a line
of action, which indicates the visual flow
of action at that single image.

 Motion has a path of action, which

indicates the path along which the object Motion and timing go hand
or character moves. The path of action in hand in animation 22
refers to the object’s motion in space.
 Timing and Timing Tools in Animation
 Timing in animation refers to the choice of when something should be done.
 It helps to create movement that obeys laws of physics & to add interest to the animations.
 Animators, have the ability to move forward and backward in time to place objects
when and where they are to be.

Timing Tools:
 In animation, timing of action consists of placing objects or characters in particular
locations at specific frames to give the illusion of motion
 Animators work with very small intervals of time and most motion sequences are
measured in seconds or fractions of seconds.
 Fortunately, physics has some tried-and-true laws that can help to figure out accurate
timing.
 Linear Motion Timing
• Linear motion refers to motion in a straight line.
• An object moving with linear motion might speed up, slow down or move with a constant
speed and it follows a linear path.
• Ex: A heavy ball rolling on a table or incline is an example of linear motion. The ball is
rotating, but its centre of gravity follows a linear path.

24
 Uniform Motion Timing
• When uniform motion occurs, the net force on the object is zero. There might be several
forces acting on the object, but when both the magnitude and direction of the forces are
added up, they add up to zero.
• It is a type of linear motion with constant speed and no acceleration or deceleration.
• Uniform motion is the easiest to animate because the distance the object travels
between consecutive frames is always the same.
• The longer the distance between frames, the higher the speed.

25
 Accelerated Motion Timing: Slow-in and Slow-out
 When motion is accelerating or decelerating, referred as a ‘slow-out’ or ‘slow-in’.
 ‘slow-out’, sometimes called ease-out—object is speeding up, from a position.
• The term slow out essentially means “speed up.”
• One can think of slow out as the same as ease out, as in easing out from a position
and speeding up to full speed.
 ‘slow-in’, sometimes called ease-in—object is slowing down, often in preparation for stopping.
For example,

‘slow-out’- Speed up, ‘slow-in’- Slow down

 Constant Force and Acceleration
 Timing for acceleration can be calculated very accurately when the net force being exerted
is constant.
 Constant Force : A constant force is a force that doesn’t vary over time.

 Examples : (i) Gravity pulling an object to the ground

(ii) Friction bringing an object to a stop
 Constant forces result in constant acceleration. Because of constant acceleration, we can
easily figure out the timing for such sequences using principles of physics.

 The resulting acceleration depends on the direction of the force and motion,
 When constant net force is applied to an unmoving object, the result is
acceleration.
 When constant net force is applied to a moving object in the same
direction as the motion, the result is acceleration.
 When constant net force is applied in the direction opposite the existing
motion, the result is deceleration (acceleration in the opposite direction).
 Forces Exerted by Characters
 Forces exerted by characters are rarely constant throughout an entire motion in animation.
 For the purposes of animation, the character motion could be divided into short time
segments and consider each of these segments to be responding to constant net force.
 This will make it easier for one to calculate the timing for each individual segment.
Ex: (i) The push for a jump. Force exerted by character during the push is somewhat constant
and timing is very short. In such case, the timing for a constant force is an excellent
starting point.
(ii) A character walking and pushing a rock is not exerting a constant force
 The Odd Rule
 When acceleration is constant, the ‘Odd Rule’ is used to time the frames
(Simple Pattern of Odd Numbers).
 Between consecutive frames, the distance covered
by object is a multiple of an odd number.
 For acceleration, distance between frames increases by multiples of 1, 3, 5, 7……..
 For deceleration, the multiples start at a higher odd number, ……………7, 5, 3, 1
 “Odd Rule” is a multiplying the system based on the smallest distance travelled
between two frames in the sequence.

Base distance
 For a slow-out: it is the distance between the first two frames
 For a slow-in: it is the distance between the last two frames
The Odd Rule

30
 The Odd Rule Multipliers
 Odd multipliers for Consecutive Frames = ((Frame# − 1) × 2 − 1)

 Multiplier for distance from first frame to current frame = (Current Frame# − 1)2
Multiply by Base distance to get
Distance between
Consecutive 1St Frame &
Frame #
Frames this Frame
1 n/a 0
2 1 1
3 3 4
4 5 9
5 7 16
6 9 25
7 11 36
 The Odd Rule Scenarios

1. Base Distance Known, Speeding up: :Base Distance × odd rule multipliers from the first frame

2. Base Distance Known, Slowing down : Base Distance × odd rule multipliers from the last frame

3. Total Distance and Number of Frames Known, Speeding Up: :

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = 2
𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜. −1

Example: Suppose there is a jump push (takeoff) with constant acceleration over 5 frames, and the total
distance traveled is 0.4m. Using the above formula, we find the base distance.
 The Odd Rule Scenarios
4. First Key Distance Known, Slowing down : A moving object is about to slow down.
 The distance between the last two consecutive frames just before slow down are considered to find
the Base distance.

 Distance b/w the first two frames is the first key distance & the next frame is first slow in distance.

 One of the features of the Odd Rule is that the Base distance is always half the difference between any
two adjacent distances.

i.e., Base distance = 0.5m−0.35m = 0.07m 2. Base Distance Known, Slowing down
2
• To figure out how many frames are in the slow-in,

Consecutive Frame Multiplier = First Distance = 0.5 = 7

Base Distance 0.07

• Thus Consecutive Frame Multiplier ’7’ Corresponds to ’5’ Frames

Consecutive Distance from

Frame #
Frame multiplier previous Frame
1 7 7*0.07=0.50m
2 5 5*0.07=0.35m
3 3 3*0.07=0.21m
4 1 1*0.07=0.07m
 The Motion Graphs
 A motion graph plots an object’s position against time.
 If one is using animation software, understanding and using motion graphs is a key skill
in animating.
 For designing the animation, drawing motion graphs before animating can help to
visualize the motion.
 On a motion graph, the time goes from left to right across the bottom of the graph,
while the object’s position is plotted vertically against the time.
36
 Examples of Character Animation
Jumping:
 A jump is an action where the character’s entire body is in the air, and both the
character’s feet leave the ground at roughly the same time.
 A jump action mainly includes a takeoff, free movement through the air, and a landing.
Parts of Jump:
 Crouch—A squatting pose taken as preparation for jumping.
 Takeoff—Character pushes up fast and straightens legs with feet still on the ground.
The amount of time (or number of frames) needed for the push is called the push time.
 In the air— Both the character’s feet are off the ground, and the character’s CG moves
in a parabolic arc as any free-falling body would.
 Landing—Character touches the ground and bends knees to return to a crouch.
Stop Height : It is the distance from the character’s CG when his/her feet hit to the ground to the point where the
character stops crouching is called the stop height. The stop height is not always exactly the same as the push height.
Parts of Jump:

 Crouch—A squatting pose taken as preparation for jumping.

 Takeoff—Character pushes up fast and straightens legs with feet still on the ground. The amount of time (or
number of frames) needed for the push is called the push time.
 In the air— Both the character’s feet are off the ground, and the character’s CG moves in a parabolic arc as any
free-falling body would.
 Landing—Character touches the ground and bends knees to return to a crouch.
Stop Height : It is the distance from the character’s CG when his/her feet hit to the ground to the point where the
character stops crouching is called the stop height. The stop height is not always exactly the same as the push height.
  Crouch—A squatting pose taken
as preparation for jumping.

 Takeoff—Character pushes up fast and

straightens legs with feet still on the
ground. The amount of time needed for
the push is called the push time.

Stop Height : It is the distance

from the character’s CG when
his/her feet hit to the ground
to the point where the
character stops crouching is
called the stop height.

 In the air— Both the character’s

feet are off the ground, and the
character’s CG moves in a parabolic  Landing—Character touches the ground and
arc as any free-falling body would. bends knees to return to a crouch.
 Calculation of Jump Actions
 When animating the timing for a • When planning the jump animation, the most
jump, one need to first decide on: likely scenario is that you know the jump height
 Jump height or Jump time (inch or cm) using for the animation.
 Push height • Placement and timing for frames while the
 Stop height character is in the air, follow the same rules as
 Horizontal distance that any object thrown into the air against gravity.
character travel during jump
Example:
 From these factors, one can
• Jump height = 1.2m
calculate the timing for the jump
sequence. • Jump time for 1.2m =
2ℎ
=
2×1.2
= 0.5 𝑠
𝑔 9.8

• Jump time at 30fps = 0. 5 * 30 = 15 s

 Jump Magnification
 When calculating the remainder of the timing for the entire Example:
jump action, one can use a factor jump magnification (JM). • Jump height = 1m
 The JM is the ratio of the jump height to the push height. • Push height = 0.33m
𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 • 𝐽𝑀 = =3
𝑱𝑴 = 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡

 JM can be used to calculate the push timing and stop timing

𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑱𝑴 = = Example:
𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒
• JM= 3
𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 • Jump time = 15 s
→ 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 =
𝑱𝑴 15
• 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = = 5𝑠
3
 Jump Magnification & Jump Acceleration
 Jump Magnification is in fact an exact ratio that tells one how much the character has to
accelerate against gravity to get into the air.
 Let’s look at the formula for JM and how it is related it to acceleration.
𝑱𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑱𝑴 = = =
𝑷𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝑯𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
But magnitude of jump acceleration is always equal to gravitational acceleration, with
deceleration as the character rises and acceleration as it falls.

𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

𝑱𝑴 = =
𝐽𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
 Landing & Stop Time
 Landing : The forces on landing are similar to takeoff. If the landing has faster timing, the
forces will be larger.
 Stop Time : The stop height is often a bit larger than the push height, but the timing of the
push and stop are the same in the sense that the CG moves the same distance per frame in
the push and stop. Example:
• Push Time = 5 s
• Push Height = 0.4m
𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
 i.e., =
𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 • Stop Height = 0.5𝑚

(𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 × 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) (5 × 0.5)

→ 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = → 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 = = 6𝑠
𝑃𝑢𝑠ℎ 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 0.4
 Walking : Strides and Steps
 Walking : Walks feature is based on the basics of mechanics.
 The ability to animate walk cycles is one of the most important skills in animation.
Strides and Steps :
 A step is one step with one foot.
 A stride is two steps, one with each foot.
 Stride length is the distance that character travels in a stride.
 Step and stride length indicate lengthwise spacing for the feet during a walk.
Gait :
 It is the timing of the motion for each foot, including how long each foot is on the ground or air.
 During a walk, the number of feet, that character has on the ground changes from one foot
(single support) to two feet (double support) and then back to one foot.
 A normal walking gait ranges from 1/ 3 to 2/3 sec per step, with 1/2 sec being average.
Odd rule multipliers and Odd rule Scenarios, Jump
magnification (JM), Stop time
Example 1. Given the base distance 0.5 cm for the slow out. Calculate the distance between
the frames
(a) #4 and #5
(b) #1 and #7
using odd rule multipliers.
Given: Base Distance = 0.5 cm

Solution: We know that, for Consecutive Frames = ((Frame# − 1) × 2 − 1)

Multiplier for distance from first frame to current frame = (Current Frame# − 1)2

(a) Multiplier for consecutive frames #4 and #5 = ((5 − 1) × 2 − 1) = 7

⸫ distance between the frames #4 and #5 = 0.5 x 7 = 3.5 cm

(b) Multiplier for #1 and #7 = (7 − 1)2 = 36

⸫ distance between the frames #1 and #7 = 0.5 x 36 = 18 cm

Example 2. Given the base distance 1 m for the slow in. Calculate the distance between the
frames.
(a) #2 and #3
(b) #1 and #4
using odd rule multipliers.

Solution:
Example 3. While animating a Speeding up car, the total distance travelled over 6 frames is
25m. Calculate the base distance.

Solution: 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = 2
𝐿𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜. −1

25
𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = 2
6−1

25
𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 =
25
𝑩𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = 1 𝑚
Example 4. A slowing-in object in an animation has a first frame distance 0.5m and the first
slow in frame 0.35m. Calculate the base distance and the number of frames in sequence.

Solution:
Example 5. In a case of animating a jump the Push Height is 0.5m and the JM is 5. Calculate
the Jump Height and Push Acceleration. Given Gravitational Acceleration 10𝑚𝑠−2

Solution:
Example 6. The jump animation is associated with a Push Time of 5 frames, Push Height
0.4m and Stop Height 0.5m. Calculate the Stop time. Express the push time and stop time in
second if the animation is played at 30fps.

Solution: