Module 5

Physics of Animation

Introduction
Physics-based animation has emerged as a core area of computer graphics finding widespread application in
the film and video game industries as well as in areas such as virtual surgery, virtual reality, and training
simulations.

Much of physics-based simulation is based on the formulation of classical mechanics developed by Isaac
Newton. In his work, he described several laws of motion that remain fundamental in the modelling, analysis,
and simulation of the types of mechanical systems that we are interested in here. Another distinct
formulation of classical mechanics is variational or analytical mechanics, which is based on the principle of
least action, and also has significant use in physics-based animation.

Taxonomy of physics-based animation methods:

At the highest level, the field of physics-based animation and simulation can roughly be subdivided into two
large groups:

 Kinematics is the study of motion without consideration of mass or forces.

 Dynamics is the study of motion taking mass and forces into consideration.

Kinematics and dynamics come in two flavours 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

Frame
The frame is a single image in a sequence of pictures. In general, one second of a video is comprised
of 24 or 30 frames per second also known as FPS. The frame is a combination of the image and the
time of the image when exposed to the view. An extract of frames in a row makes the animation.
Frames are put to the view once they are reconsidered by the next frames. All frames are presented
for the specific time on the display,
Frames per Second:
Frame rate (expressed in frames per second or FPS) is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive
images (frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer
animation, and motion capture systems. In these contexts, frame rate may be used interchangeably with
frame frequency and refresh rate, which are expressed in hertz.

Importance of Size, Scale weight and strength,

The size and scale of characters often play a central role in a story’s plot. What would Superman be
without his height and bulging biceps? Some characters, like the Incredible Hulk, are even named
after their body types.
We often equate large characters with weight and strength, and smaller characters with agility and
speed. There is a reason for this. In real life, larger people and animals do have a larger capacity for
strength, while smaller critters can move and maneuver faster than their large counterparts. When
designing characters, you can run into different situations having to do with size and scale, such as:
1. Human or animal-based characters that are much larger than we see in our everyday experience.
Superheroes, Greek gods, monsters,
2. Human or animal-based characters that are much smaller than we are accustomed to, such as
fairies and elves.
3. Characters that need to be noticeably larger, smaller, older, heavier, lighter, or more energetic
than other characters.
4. Characters that are child versions of older characters. An example would be an animation
featuring a mother cat and her kittens. If the kittens are created and animated with the same
proportions and timing as the mother cat, they won’t look like kittens; they’ll just look like very small
adult cats.
Motion
Types of Motion
 Linear
 Parabolic
 Circular
 Wave
Linear Motion: Linear motion is the motion in one dimension. It is the most basic form of motion. It
is when motion is along one line. Different paths describe different linear motions. Uniform linear
motion is when the velocity is constant, or acceleration is zero. Non-uniform linear motion is when
the velocity is not constant, or acceleration does not equal zero. The main difference between linear
motion and non-uniform linear motion is that one is a scalar quantity and one is a vector quantity.
In non-uniform linear motion, it is vital that we take direction also as a factor. The motion of any
object is governed by Newton’s law of motions. In real life, motion on earth has many forces, like
friction and gravity, making it a non-uniform motion.
Parabolic: If an object moving forward in a straight line is affected by gravity it will fall in a parabolic
arc. Since projectiles are objects affected only by gravity, the path of a projectile moving forward
from the momentum of an initial thrust is parabolic. When working with parabolic motion, some
important equations to know include change in x = the horizontal component of the vector X time
and the vertical component of the vector = gravity x time.
Circular motion: Circular motion, by nature, has to do with a circle. One form of circular motion is
rotation, where an object simply spins around an axis. An object moving along a circular path gives
us another form of circular motion. When trying to figure out how much an object should rotate,
you’ll sometimes need to know the distance the outer edge of the object travels as it rotates. To
learn the distance, you will need to calculate the distance around the circle that defines the motion.
The distance around a circle is called its circumference, which can be calculated with a simple
formula: C=2πr
Let’s try out this formula with an example. You have a car with wheels of
radius 0.25m. If the car travels 24m at a steady speed, how many times do
the wheels turn?
Calculate circumference (one turn of the wheel):
C = 2пR
C = 2 * pi * 0.25m
C = 1.6m = One Turn of the Wheel
Calculate number of turns:
Number of Turns = Total Distance/Circumference
24/1.6 = 15 turns
Wave Motion: Waves are a common natural phenomenon. We see wave motion in the open seas,
and even in everyday flexible objects. In character animation, wave motion appears in hair, fabric,
and leaves when they react to wind or motion. All waves have properties like Amplitude,
Wavelength, Frequency, Wave velocity (speed) and phase. All waves undergo superposition to
produce amplification or de-amplification.
Timing and Timing tools
Timing is the choice of when something should be done; the regulation of occurrence and pace to
achieve a desired effect. Physics has some tried-and-true laws that can help us figure out accurate
timing. Even if you plan to exaggerate your motion for effect, it helps to start with reality.
In animation, timing of action consists of placing objects or characters in particular locations at
specific frames to give the illusion of motion. We work with very small intervals of time; most motion
sequences can be measured in seconds or fractions of seconds. Frame intervals between keys are
usually smaller than one second. Timing is such an integral part of motion that it’s impossible to
completely separate the two. It is a common practice, to set up key poses and set timing for them
afterward. Others like to nail down the timing first and animate the motion afterward.
Linear motion timing and Uniform motion timing:
Linear motion refers to motion in a straight line,
always in the same direction. An object moving with
linear motion might speed up or slow down as it
follows a linear path. A heavy ball rolling on a table or
incline is an example of linear motion. The ball is
rotating, but its center of gravity follows a linear path.
Uniform motion is a type of linear motion with constant
speed and no acceleration or deceleration. The object moves
the same distance between consecutive frames. The longer
the distance between frames, the higher the speed. When
uniform motion occurs, the net force on the object is zero.
Net force is the total of all forces added up. 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. Uniform motion is the
easiest to animate because the distance the object travels between frames is always the same.

Slow in and Slow out:

When motion is accelerating or decelerating, we refer to this type of motion as a slow in or slow
out. This type of motion is sometimes called ease in or ease out. In this book, we use the hyphenated
forms slow-in and slow-out for easier understanding.
 Slow in, ease in—The object is slowing down, often in preparation for stopping.
 Slow out, ease out—The object is speeding up, often from a still position
The term slow out can be confusing, since it
essentially means “speed up.” You can think
of slow out as the same as ease out, as in
easing out of a still position and speeding up
to full speed. For example, a ball rolling down
an incline or dropping straight down is
slowing out, as it goes from a still position or
slow speed to a fast speed. A ball rolling up an incline is slowing in.
Constant Force and Acceleration:
A constant force is a force that doesn’t vary over time.
Examples of constant
forces include:
• Gravity pulling an object to the ground
• Friction bringing an object to a stop
Timing for acceleration can be calculated very accurately when the net force being exerted is
constant. Let’s take a look at these forces and how you can use them to calculate your animation’s
timing.
Constant forces result in constant acceleration. Because the acceleration is constant, we can figure
out the timing for such sequences using a few principles of physics.
The resulting acceleration depends on the direction of the force and motion, if there is any motion
at all to begin with.
 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).
Note that constant acceleration doesn’t mean constant speed. It’s quite the opposite! Constant
acceleration means the object is changing speed constantly.
Forces Exerted by characters:
Forces exerted by people’s bodies are rarely constant throughout an
entire motion. For the purposes of animation, however, you can break
the character motion into short time segments and consider each of
these segments to be responding to constant net force. This will make
it easier for you to calculate the timing for each individual segment.
As an example, let’s look at the push for a jump. The force a character
exerts during the push is somewhat constant, and the timing is very
short (less than half a second). In such a case the timing for a constant
force is an excellent starting point, and in most cases will do the job as
is.
A character walking and pushing a rock is not exerting a constant force throughout the entire
sequence, but during each short part of the walk cycle the net force could be considered to be a
different constant value.

THE ODD RULE

When acceleration is constant, you can use the Odd Rule to time your frames. With this method,
you calculate the distance the object moves between frames using a simple pattern of odd numbers.
Between consecutive frames, the distance the object moves is a multiple of an odd number. For
acceleration, the distance between frames increases by multiples of 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.
For deceleration, the multiples start at a higher odd number and decrease, for example 7, 5, 3, 1.

The Odd Rule is a multiplying system based on the smallest distance traveled between two frames
in the sequence. For a slow-out, this is the distance between the first two frames; for a slow-in, it’s
the distance between the last two frames. This distance, the base distance, is used in all Odd Rule
calculations.
Odd Rule Multipliers:
The Odd Rule in its simplest form, as described above, is just one way to use it. For example, you
can instead calculate the distance from the first frame to the current frame and use these distances
to place your object on specific frames.

If you add up all the consecutive frame multipliers up to a particular frame, you get the multiple for
the entire distance. For example, on frame 4, the consecutive multiples thus far are 1, 3, and 5. If
you add up these numbers you get 9, which is the multiplier for the entire distance up to frame 4.
If you’re calculating the distance for a large number of frames and a chart like this isn’t practical,
you can figure out the odd number multiplier for consecutive frames with this formula:
Odd number multiplier for consecutive frames = ((frame # – 1) * 2) – 1.
In the charts above, note that the distances in the last column are squared numbers: 4 = 22 , 9 = 32 ,
16 = 42 , and so on. One of the benefits of the Odd Rule is you can calculate the total distance
traveled from the start point to the current frame with the following formula:
Multiplier for distance from first frame to current frame = (current frame # – 1)2
When setting your keys, you can use either the consecutive key multipliers or total distance
multipliers. Choose the one that’s easiest for you to use for your animated sequence.

Odd Rule Scenarios:

Here are a few different scenarios for calculating the distance an object travels between keys in a
slow-in or slow-out.
Base Distance Known, Speeding Up
If the object is speeding up, the first frame distance is the base distance. If you know the base
distance, figuring out the distance the object travels at each frame is pretty straightforward. Just
multiply the base distance by 3, 5, 7, etc. to get the distances between consecutive frames, or use
squares to multiply the base distance to get the total distance traveled on each frame.
Base Distance Known, Slowing Down
Suppose you want an object to slow down, and you know the distance between the last two frames
before it stops. For slow-ins, the base distance is the distance between the last two frames. The
solution is to work backward, as if the object were speeding up in the opposite direction. Working
backward, multiply the base distance by 3, 5, 7, etc. to get the distances between each previous
frame in the sequence.
Total Distance and Number of Frames Known, Speeding Up:
If you know the total distance and the total number of frames, you can find the base distance with
this formula:
Base distance = Total distance/(Last frame number – 1)2
Suppose you have a jump push (takeoff ) with constant acceleration over 5 frames, and the total
distance traveled is 0.4m. Using the formula above, we find the base distance.
Base distance = 0.4m/(5 – 1)2 = 0.4m/16 = 0.025m
Using the base distance, you can calculate the distances between each frame.

If you add up the distances traveled, you will find that they add up to exactly 0.4m
First Key Distance Known, Slowing Down
Suppose you have a moving object that you want to slow down, and you’ve set the first frame of
the slow-in to give an idea of the pacing for the sequence. In this case, you can consider that the
distance the object moved between the last two frames before the slow-in is part of the
calculation— the distance between them becomes the first frame distance, and your first slow-in
frame becomes the second frame in the sequence.

One feature of the Odd Rule is that the base distance is always half the difference between any
two adjacent distances. To find the base distance,
you can simply calculate:
(0.5m – 0.35m)/2 = 0.07m
To figure out how many frames are in the slow-in, divide the first distance by the base distance to
find out which odd number it corresponds to.
0.5/0.07 = 7
This means the first distance corresponds to 7 in the 7, 5, 3, 1 sequence, making the sequence four
frames long. Now you can work back the other way, multiplying your base distance by odd
numbers to get the distances for the rest of the slow-in frames.
MOTION GRAPHS
A motion graph plots an object’s position {3D
space (X, Y, Z)} against time. If you’re using
animation software, understanding and using
motion graphs is a key skill in animating
anything beyond the simplest of motions. If
you’re drawing your animation, drawing motion
graphs before animating can help you visualize
the motion.

Constant Speed
With constant speed on any axis, the motion graph is always a straight line. The greater the speed,
the greater the slope of the line.
Acceleration
Graphs of accelerating motion always show a curve. The more the curve bends, the more the
object is accelerating.
Acceleration of Gravity
The motion graph for the Z axis of an object thrown in the air shows a parabola, a U-shaped curve.
Swinging
For swinging back and forth, as with a pendulum, the repetitive motion curve follows a wave
pattern. Each part of the wave has a shape similar to the curve for falling due to gravity. The object
goes up and down repeatedly against and with gravity.
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. jump actions
includes a takeoff , free through the air,
and a landing.
A jump can be divided into several distinct parts:
Crouch—A squatting pose taken as preparation for
jumping.
Takeoff —Character pushes up fast and straightens legs
with feet still on the ground.
The distance from the character’s center of gravity (CG)
in the crouch to the CG when the character’s feet are
just about to leave the ground is called the push height.
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 center of gravity (CG) moves in a
parabolic arc as any free-falling body would. First it
reaches an apex, and then falls back to the ground at
the same rate at which it rose.
The height to which the character jumps, called the
jump height, is measured from the CG at takeoff to the
CG at the apex of the jump.
The amount of time the character is in the air from takeoff to apex is called the jump time.
Landing—Character touches the ground and bends
knees to return to a crouch. The distance from the
character’s CG when 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.
Path of action—The trajectory along which the
character jumps, which can be straight up in the air or over a horizontal distance.
Calculation of Jump Actions
Jump Timing:

Jump Magnification:
When calculating the remainder of the timing for the
entire jump action, you can use a factor called jump
magnification (JM). The JM can be used to calculate the
push timing and stop timing. The JM is the ratio of the
jump height to the push height.

Jump Magnification and Acceleration

Jump magnification (JM) is just a trick for estimating push timing. In fact, it’s an exact ratio that tells you how
much the character has to accelerate against gravity to get into the air. The JM, besides being the ratio of
jump-to-push vertical height and time, is also the ratio of push-to-jump vertical acceleration. Note that this
is opposite the other ratios: while a longer jump time means a shorter push time, a higher jump acceleration
means a much, much higher push acceleration. Knowing about this can help you make more informed
decisions about your push timing. To see how this works, let’s look at the formula for JM and relate it to
acceleration:

The general formula for calculating the velocity of an accelerating object is:

Velocity = Acceleration * Time

Let’s relate this back to our jump. If the landing velocity is the same as the push velocity, we know that:
v = Jump Acceleration * Jump Time

Jump Acceleration * Jump Time = Push Acceleration * Push Time

Because the average velocity is the same for both the push and jump, we can say that d/t is the same for
both jump and push:

PUSH TIME

The JM also gives you the ratio of the jump time to the push time.

JM = Jump Time/Push Time

LANDING

The forces on landing are similar to takeoff . If the landing has faster timing, the forces will be larger than
for a longer timing.

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. If the stop height is larger than
the push height, you’ll just need more frames
for the stop than the push.

Push Height/Push Frames = Stop Height/Stop Frames

This can also be expressed as:

Push Height/Push Time = Stop Distance/Stop Time

You can also flip everything over and express it as:

Push Time/Push Height = Stop Time/Stop Distance

Stop Time = (Push Time * Stop Distance)/Push Height

Walking

Walks feature all the basics of mechanics while including personality. The ability to animate walk cycles is
one of the most important skills a character animator needs to master.

POSES

Walking consists of a series of poses. The four basic poses for

a single step are passing, step, contact, and lift. In the passing
pose, the free foot is passing by the opposite leg, and the
body is at its most upright. In the contact pose, the free foot
has come forward just enough to make contact with the
ground. Passing and contact are the two that are the most
important to get right, as these poses include the most dynamic shifts for center of gravity, limbs, and
secondary motion.

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 the
character travels in a stride, measured from the same part of the foot. Step and stride length indicate
lengthwise spacing for the feet during a walk. Gait is the timing of the motion for each foot, including how
long each foot is on the ground or in the air. During a walk, the number of feet the character has on the
ground changes from one foot (single support) to two feet (double support) and then back to one foot. You
can plot the time each foot is on the ground to see the single and double support times over time.

In a normal walk, each foot is on the ground about 60% of the time. Both feet are on the ground about 20%
of the time. In the contact pose, both feet are in contact with the ground. A normal walking gait ranges from
1/3 to 2/3 of a second per step, with 1/2 second being average.

Walk Timing

Walking is sometimes called “controlled

falling.” Right after you move past the
passing position, your body’s center of
gravity is no longer over your base of
support, and you begin to tip. Your
passing leg moves forward to stop the
fall, creating your next step. Then the
cycle begins again. The horizontal timing for between the four walk poses is not uniform. The CG slows in
going from the contact to passing position, then slows out from passing to contact. The CG also rises and
falls, rising to the highest position during passing and the lowest during contact. The head is in the highest
position during passing. To walk faster, you naturally increase both stride length and rate, and decrease the
time of double support. A fast walk has a stride rate of about 4 feet/sec. At 6–7 feet per second, the
movement transitions into a run.