Stereoscopic 3D Images

I think I got the whole 3D thing for the most part...or at least the concept. The middles one were probably too close to the camera or I should have fined tuned it more in Photoshop. I think the classroom one really feels 3D.

Lighting A Scene In Maya

**Sorry, these are in reverse order, top one is with three lights, then two and then a single key light.

Building a Scene in Maya

I hope the "T" reads well. I know it does for me, but if you didn't know my last name started with a "T" would you know the object represented one?

Science Fact or Cinematic Fiction?

Cinematic adventures are a great pass time for most individuals. They enable us to leave our world behind and allow us to be enveloped by a universe that holds different rules and restrictions. Many of the same rules of reality remain in place, but are warped to show individuals with extreme powers. Newton’s third law, action/reaction principle, is often distorted in films to allow for dramatic battle poses and to demonstrate the unwavering strength of a person. There are countless examples of this law being bent for a character’s benefit. Naruto of the series “Naruto” defies this law every time he uses his special attack called Rasengan. Arnold Schwarzenegger bends this law in nearly every film he is in, but most notably is in his role as a terminator in the movie “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Even everybody’s favorite child that never grows old, Peter Pan, finds it possible to ignore Newton’s third law (as well as the law of gravity).

My first example of animation breaking the law of physics is in the series “Naruto.” This series deals with the world of ninjas and each individual has their own special abilities. The main character, Naruto, develops a special technique called Rasengan which concentrates a dense amount of chakra (fuel for ninja abilities) into the palm of his hand. When an opponent is hit point blank with this attack they are sent flying from the immense force of the attack. The first time he uses this attack in combat is in episode 95 where he is fighting Kabuto. In the scene he extends his arm fully to hit Kabuto and he even leans forward to extend his arm further when he strikes. Afterwards, Kabuto is sent flying clear across the battlefield into a massive boulder which he makes a nice indention in. Kabuto flies roughly 50 yards prior to being pressed into the boulder by the force of the attack. Naruto’s battle pose is quite dramatic with his body fully extended showing that he put all his effort into the one strike. Unfortunately, if you actually attacked with your limbs straight like that and with that much force then you probably would have broken a bone or two from the opposing force from Kabuto’s body. This is of course if you stayed in the same spot like Naruto did. Since the force is so much greater than the force of friction from the contact of his feet with the ground what is more likely to have happen is that he would be pushed back as well.



Naruto isn’t the only character in this series that defies Newton’s third law. Many of the other main characters also have similar abilities which contain huge amounts of force. Just like Naruto they extend their limbs for a dramatic pose and release the force with no corresponding force reaction upon their own bodies.

Newton’s third law is often broken or bent in films for dramatic effect. In the animation “Naruto” it was to help display the sheer strength of an individual’s attack and to allow their battle poses to have more power behind them. In my next scene the law is ignored to help show the solid frame and will of the individual. In “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” the terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is often seen shooting firearms that usually would have a high recoil. The main scene from this movie I wish to comment on is when the terminator is shooting down on the police that are surrounding the lab he is in the process of destroying. During this scene the terminator uses a mini gun to shoot at the police. Usually, a mini gun requires to be mounted is some fashion so that an individual can use it accurately. otherwise the recoil would be too strong for someone to aim properly with it. Schwarzenegger, on the other hand, is able to hold it merely with his hands without any visible kickback from the high velocity bullets being fired out of the gun. I am uncertain if the terminator’s metal frame is solid and heavy enough to imply that holding it is the equivalent of it being mounted to a solid frame or if they just wanted to show how badass he can be. In a typical situation, if a person tried to fire a mini gun with their bare hands, and no mounts, they would probably be pushed back rather hard and wouldn’t be able to fire accurately. There is even a high possibility of them being pushed to the ground due to the combination of the force from the recoil as well as the sheer weight of the mini gun itself.



This wasn’t the only instance where the action/reaction principle was ignored in the movie. The character Sara Conner also fired off a shot gun which did not have recoil. This example is easier to see the error due to the fact that we know she represents a human and therefore should follow the same rules without a hidden exception. The scene takes place near the end of the film when she is trying to shoot the T1000 terminator into the pit of lava. Prior to the scene she was attacked by the T1000 and her right arm and leg were injured badly. Despite this damage to her, and her apparently frail body frame, she was able to fire a shotgun several times to knock the T1000 back towards a pool of lava behind it without feeling any force of recoil from the firearm. In reality, each shot should kick her arms back from the force and more than likely in her specific situation knock her whole body back or down to the ground.

The application of Newton’s third law is easier to see when the effect of gravity is no longer in play, such as the case in space or a fictional character that can fly. My final example is from our favorite child that never grows old, Peter Pan. There are many renditions of “Peter Pan,” but my example comes from the 2003 live action version. There is a scene towards the end of the film where Captain Hook learns how to fly. Peter and Hook have their final sword fight in the sky. In this situation there is no force from gravity to apply to a ground thereby eliminating the possibility to use the associated friction force to prevent them from wavering with each strike of their blades. Assuming that Newton’s third law should still apply, even though other laws of physics are being broken, with each strike from their swords the characters should recoil from the opposite force being applied. In this specific scene, Peter actually starts to spin his blade around Hook’s blade which causes Hook to also spin from the affiliated force. Peter remains firm in his position in the air as Hook spins frantically. While this helps portray our hero’s triumph over evil it does not portray the action/reaction principle. If Hook is spinning clockwise then Peter should also be affected by the opposite force and be spinning counter-clockwise. There is the possibility that whatever ability he has to defy gravity also allows him to effortlessly emit a force from his body to enable him to remain in his constant upright position. If that were the case then he would be much like a spacecraft that has to blast a rocket in one direction to enable it to go in the other direction.



In conclusion, cinematic films are well known for bending and breaking the laws of physics. Each law is broken for specific reasons throughout films. Newton’s third law is ignored to allow for powerful poses and to demonstrate our hero’s unwavering nature, even the laws of physics can’t stand against our protagonist. If cinema didn’t ignore Newton’s third law then our heroes would be flung back nearly as far back as their opponent when they strike with their power attacks. Also, it would be near impossible to show how solid their structure is when they are firing a mini gun held steady only by their bare hands. Finally, ignoring the action/reaction principle allows the hero to stand even more triumphant as their foe spins uncontrollably due to their fantastical sword play.



**Slight change from my original outline. Instead of a scene from "V for Vendetta" I will use a scene from "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." I changed movies because I looked back at the original scene I was going to do and noticed that they did show a reaction on his face from the punch. I picked "Terminator 2" to show the lack of a recoil when firing a gun. Also, I am changing what scene from the series "Naruto" I looked at. I changed to a scene where Naruto uses an ability called Rasengan which is a more exaggerated example of improper use of Newton's third law. **

Outline for Second Term Paper

I. Introduction – Action-Reaction Principle in Cinema
• a. Naruto - Reaction not proportional to the action
• b. V for Vendetta - Strike without reaction
• c. Peter Pan (live action version) - No recoil to strikes while in mid air
• d. Thesis statement

II. Naruto
Naruto is hit with a single finger is flung several yards away. The other individual shows no signs of any notable force being applied to them. Will the force applied to Naruto the other individual probably should have at least slide back on the ground a bit.

III. V for Vendetta
In the process of V saving Evey he is punched in the face by a fingerman. V is suppose to have a hard head, but even so there should be some reaction when hit. Despite how solid his head is it should still push back a little.

IV. Peter Pan
Peter and Hook fight one another in mid air. During the battle each contact with the swords should send both characters back a bit since they don't have the force of friction on the ground to keep them from moving from place.


V. Conclusion
• a. Summation of points
• b. Restate thesis

Stop-Motion Character Animation

I started out by trying to find figures that could move their joints well. This was a greater challenge than I thought and I ended up using Bionicles despite the face that they can't bend their knees or elbows. Once I had the characters I thought of an action and then recorded some reference of me doing the desired motions. I am not really set up for stop motion so capturing some of the unbalanced poses weren't really possible, but I used play dough for part of the ground to help with some of the poses.

Reverse Video Reference of Walking

Clip A



Clip B



Clip C



Clip D



Clip E

Mid-semester Survey

"This is to certify that I completed the anonymous mid-semester survey for Art/Physics 123 and am requesting the five points of extra credit.

As a student at San Jose State, I understand the university's Academic Integrity Policy (http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/narr/catalog/rec-2083.html)."

The Laws of Physics in an Animation Universe

Physics in "Shaolin Soccer"

The universe within “Shaolin Soccer” is similar to our own. Most of the individuals and objects within that universe obey the same laws of physics as our own. Things fall at the same rate due to gravity, each force has an equal and opposite force, and if your center of mass isn’t above a support then you lose your balance. These rules hold true in most circumstances, except in presence of a Kung-Fu master. Within the film’s universe, a Kung-Fu master is able to bend the laws of physics. The effects of gravity can be reduced or even ignored completely when confronted by a master. Their limbs can exert greater forces than are applied to themselves. Balancing is as easy as breathing to the true master, with nothing more than a toe on the ground someone trained in Kung-Fu could maintain balance regardless of the body’s position. Being able to bend the laws of physics sounds enticing, but what exactly would you be able to accomplish with this skill granted to Kung-Fu masters?

One of the traits of the Shaolin masters in the movie is the capability to limit gravity’s effect on the individual. This supernatural ability is seen several times throughout the film. The most obvious example is in the first half of the movie shortly after all the brothers gain their Kung-Fu consciousness back. During a practice match of soccer the youngest brother, also the largest brother and ironically named Light Weight, runs up into the air to kick the ball down. There are several ways we can evaluate this feat. Either this was a jump that where he nearly didn’t crouch at all prior to and therefore would’ve released an immense force to launch himself high into the air (unless he was capable of reducing his mass at will without having to reduce his volume, then the force wouldn’t be as large). The other possibility would be that he was somehow able to invert the force of gravity and instead of pulling him towards the ground it would push him away from it.

A similar example of this disregard for gravity occurs several times in the movie by the main character, Steel Leg. During the soccer tournament he jumps into the air to prepare to kick the ball. Unfortunately, the soccer ball is usually several feet ahead of him in the air and he begins to run towards it in mid air as he continues to slowly progress higher into the air. Usually, the force of gravity remains consistent on an individual throughout the entire jump cycle, but in this particular case it would appear that the force of gravity actually decreased as Steel Leg approached the apex of his long jump. This would allow him to still incline as long as his net acceleration is still positive.

Kung-Fu masters aren’t only limited to bending the law of gravity as in the prior example, they can completely ignore it. Once again, Steel leg is the one to break the rule during the team’s first official soccer match. One of this long kicks guides the ball within the goal of the opposing team, but immediately after the ball makes contact with the net it halts in the air and spins for a couple of seconds with absolutely no movement on the vertical or horizontal. Negating gravity’s effect on any item would be a useful skill to anyone.

Another one of the perks the masters have is their ability to use unbalanced force relations. Typically, every force has an equal and opposite force, but this is not the case for the masters of Kung-Fu. One of the more obvious moments of this unbalanced force relation within the movie is both near the beginning and the end when an individual pushes a cart or car into and open space. In both instances the individual pushes a vehicle that is roughly 2000lbs and within moment they push the item with sufficient force to move it about 6 feet. Throughout the process no damage appears to be done to the vehicle or the ground where the person was standing. In a normal situation, if you assume the person has the strength to push a car in an instant, there would have been a mark left where the person stood due to the force required to keep them in that same spot. Otherwise, the car shouldn’t move and the individual actually may slide back a little. In that situation there are two forces interacting with the person. There is the opposite force from the person pushing the car and then there is the opposite force from the individual pushing down on the ground. The force on the ground actually has to be larger than that of the force on the car otherwise the vehicle won’t move. Fortunately, in the movie the masters can ignore this balance of force and can parallel with ease and not worry about causing damage to the vehicle or the streets.

This force relationship also appears a few times near the end of the film during the final soccer match. There is a scene where the main character, Steel Leg, kicks the ball with enough force to generate heat, actually the ball burns with the heat of a puma, and the opposing goalie stands his ground and stops the ball in a fraction of a second with a fully extended arm. Regardless of whether you have the strength to actually stop a ball with that much force, in that situation the person catching the ball would have bent their arm at least a little to increase the time to stop the ball and reduce the impact. A normal man would have just shattered most of the bones in that arm.

The final example of the force relations deals with the force of Steel Leg’s kicks on the soccer ball. The movie is actually inconsistent with this force relation and I believe they only show the more realistic scenario when they slow down the play rate for dramatic effect. The most obvious scene involving this is when Steel Leg and his brothers first get together to practice soccer and he kicks the ball extremely high. The implied force would be that of a rocket and yet there was no compression of the ground around Steel Leg due to the force he exerted onto the earth. There are other scenes, on the other hand, where the ground around him is digitally enhanced to show the compression of the earth around him due to the immense force. This is a similar situation to the Hulk’s jump where he would damage the ground around him to get the heights he was aiming for, but the scale is a little small than the Hulk.

Finally, there is the unusual ability of the Kung-Fu masters to be able to balance in any physical position they can get into. The two examples of this are Light Weight and Iron Shirt right after they had reawakened their Kung-Fu skills. They both stood on a single leg, but visually their center of mass was not above their supporting leg. In a normal situation the individual would simple fall down. There only explanation I can come up with for their incredible balance is that they are now able to shift where their center of mass to far greater degrees of a normal person. If I wanted to change my center of mass I could do it by extending my arms or some other appendage, but that would only move it a small distance. In the case of Light Weight, he would either of had to be able to concentrate all his weight into the supporting foot or somehow reduce the weight of the rest of his body so the overall mass is closer to the supporting foot.

To conclude, it would be ideal to be one of these Kung-Fu masters. You would be granted with the ability to hinder gravity and enabling you to reach greater heights. Parallel parking would no longer be an obstacle and ignoring the force relationships would prevent you from damaging your car or getting a ticket for damaging the street with your forceful presence. Also, balancing yourself will no longer be an issue and you could even impress people with the unique stances you will be able to achieve. The most important of all, you would be able to play soccer the way it was meant to be played.

First Term Paper Outline

Physics in "Shaolin Soccer"

I. Introduction – Supernatural Kung Fu
• a. Kung Fu allows an individual to bend the laws of gravity
• b. Unbalanced force relations
• c. Shift center or mass without corresponding shift of actual mass
• d. Thesis statement

II. Kung Fu Essence – gravity’s effectiveness is based on the master’s will
• a. Brother “Light Weight” – Walks on air
• b. “Steel Foot” – Suspended in mid air to ready a kick
• c. Flying Sword technique for cutting trees – Master is in the air for extended duration

III. Unbalanced force relations
• a. Woman parks her car by pushing it hard
• b. Fast ball stopped in short time w/o damage to ball or individual’s hand
• c. Ball kicked hard enough to go into the stratosphere

IV. Shifting Masses
• a. Brother “Light Weight” balanced on one foot in and unbalanced position
• b. Individual balanced on one foot without majority of mass over point of contact

V. Conclusion
• a. Summation of points
• b. Restate thesis

Stop Motion Animation of Falling

How I went about animating...

This was the first time I have dealt with stop motion and there were a few challenges I came across. Since I didn't know exactly how to go about it I first just took a small handful of images of a ball and moved its position around to show it move. After that I attempted to animated the images with Photoshop. It was when I tried to animate it that I realized that I was really going to need to get a tripod...I have no clue why I thought I could do it without one. I also realized that Photoshop was annoying to work with so I wanted to find another program. After that initial test run of everything I decided to look up some other stop motion animation to see if they can give me ideals on how to approach the final product. That is when I came across this animation:



I really enjoyed this animation and thought it was well thought out, but I wasn't able to suspend my camera from the ceiling. I was able to borrow a tripod and then did a real quick test run with animating a sequence of photos that laid a basic foundation of what I was approaching. I ended up animating the second test with Windows Movie Maker and it worked out relatively fine...I also tried Quicktime Pro, but found Windows Movie Maker easier to work with at the moment. After test two, I began actually planning the spacing and timing of the scene. I decided to push the ball over a ledge at a rate of 2 inches per image and I progress with the falling using David Chai's rule of thumb animating technique which is pretty close to the Odd's Rule. As far as the hand and the paper air plane, I just kinda eyeballed it the best I could...I don't think it is great overall, but for my first time at it I enjoyed it.

Video Analysis of Path of Action

(Five Jumps)



(Tracking Jump)

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference

Here is the link to my video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSjrnv0P1J0

(frame rate = 15 fps)



(New video reference at 30 fps)

Mini-Portfolio

Hi all,

I am Nathan, currently a junior in college. I am a transfer student majoring in animation. This is actually only my second semester at SJSU. I have taken a handful of art course, but as far as my major I still have a ways to go. I am currently enrolled in ART 50 & 28 and therefore I am just now getting introduced to the animation portion of the major. As far as science, I enjoy both math and physics, but since they aren't immediately required for the courses it has been awhile since I have taken either (actually, the better half of a decade). As of now, I would like to work as an animator for Pixar or Dreamworks, but I am open to opportunities as they arise. I haven't really worked on a portfolio, but I do keep my work throughout my courses. The images above are two of my favorite works. I haven't done any vids, as of yet, but I included a clip that always makes me laugh (SNL - Debbie Downer).

The First Post

Testing Testing ...1...2...3