Computer animation
Related papers: 20
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Computer animation is the process of creating moving visual content by computationally generating and controlling the motion of digital characters, objects, and environments over time. It encompasses techniques ranging from keyframe interpolation and inverse kinematics to physically based simulation and data-driven motion synthesis, enabling realistic depiction of articulated figures, deformable bodies, facial expressions, and dynamic locomotion. In robotics and AI, computer animation plays a dual role. First, it provides simulation environments where robot motion planning, control algorithms, and physical interactions can be developed and tested before deployment on real hardware. Second, it supplies methodologies — such as physics-based character control, motion capture-driven learning (e.g., DeepMimic), and diffusion-based motion synthesis — that directly inform how robots generate natural, lifelike movement. Techniques like collision detection, multibody dynamics, and rotation-minimizing frames are shared foundations across both animated characters and robotic systems. Computer animation matters because it accelerates robot development through safe virtual prototyping, provides rich training data for learning-based controllers, and bridges human motion understanding with autonomous system design — ultimately helping robots move and interact in ways that are physically plausible and intuitively natural.
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Top Cited Papers
Interactive evolutionary computation: fusion of the capabilities of EC optimization and human evaluation
Hideyuki Takagi
Citations: 1325 • 2001
DeepMimic
Xue Bin Peng, Pieter Abbeel, Sergey Levine, Michiel van de Panne
Citations: 802 • 2018
Multibody System Dynamics: Roots and Perspectives
Werner Schiehlen
Citations: 489 • 1997
Performance-driven facial animation
Lance R. Williams
Citations: 424 • 2006
Layered construction for deformable animated characters
Jason Chadwick, David Haumann, Richard E. Parent
Citations: 380 • 1989
Animation of dynamic legged locomotion
Marc H. Raibert, Jessica K. Hodgins
Citations: 297 • 1991
Furhat: A Back-Projected Human-Like Robot Head for Multiparty Human-Machine Interaction
Samer Al Moubayed, Jonas Beskow, Gabriel Skantze, Björn Granström
Citations: 295 • 2012
A review of deformable surfaces: topology, geometry and deformation
Johan Montagnat, Hervé Delingette, Nicholas Ayache
Citations: 271 • 2001
Motion Planning: A Journey of Robots, Molecules, Digital Actors, and Other Artifacts
Jean‐Claude Latombe
Citations: 266 • 1999
Simulation of object and human skin formations in a grasping task
J.-P. Gourret, Daniël Thalmann
Citations: 209 • 1989
Computation of rotation minimizing frames
Wenping Wang, Bert Jüttler, Dayue Zheng, Yang Liu
Citations: 205 • 2008
Scanning physical interaction behavior of 3D objects
Dinesh K. Pai, Kees van den Doel, Doug L. James, Jochen Lang, John E. Lloyd, Joshua L. Richmond, Som H. Yau
Citations: 196 • 2005
INVERSE KINEMATICS AND GEOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS FOR ARTICULATED FIGURE MANIPULATION
C. Welman
Citations: 182 • 1993
Performance-driven facial animation
Lance R. Williams
Citations: 182 • 1990
Layered construction for deformable animated characters
Jason Chadwick, David Haumann, Richard E. Parent
Citations: 176 • 1989
Simulating biped behaviors from human motion data
Kwang Won Sok, Manmyung Kim, Jehee Lee
Citations: 171 • 2007
Making Them Move: Mechanics, Control & Animation of Articulated Figures
Norman I. Badler, Brian A. Barsky, Lonnie K. Zeltzer
Citations: 160 • 1990
Scanning physical interaction behavior of 3D objects
Dinesh K. Pai, Kees van den Doel, Doug L. James, Jochen Lang, John E. Lloyd, Joshua L. Richmond, Som H. Yau
Citations: 151 • 2001
Performance-driven facial animation
Lance R. Williams
Citations: 151 • 1990
Collision Detection for Continuously Deforming Bodies
Thomas Larsson, Tomas Akenine‐Möller
Citations: 147 • 2001