State of the Art in Example-Based Motion Synthesis for Virtual Characters in Interactive Applications

Animated virtual human characters are a common feature in interactive graphical applications, such as computer and video games, online virtual worlds and simulations. Due to dynamic nature of such applications, character animation must be responsive and controllable in addition to looking as realistic and natural as possible. Though procedural and physics-based animation provide a great amount of control over motion, they still look too unnatural to be of use in all but a few specific scenarios, which is why interactive applications nowadays still rely mainly on recorded and hand-crafted motion clips. The challenge faced by animation system designers is to dynamically synthesize new, controllable motion by concatenating short motion segments into sequences of different actions or by parametrically blending clips that correspond to different variants of the same logical action. In this article, we provide an overview of research in the field of example-based motion synthesis for interactive applications. We present methods for automated creation of supporting data structures for motion synthesis and describe how they can be employed at run-time to generate motion that accurately accomplishes tasks specified by the AI or human user.     

Physically Based Sound Synthesis for Large-Scale Virtual Environments

By offering a natural, intuitive interface with the virtual world, auditory display can enhance a user's experience in a multimodal virtual environment and further improve the user's sense of presence. However, compared to graphical display, sound synthesis has not been well investigated because of the extremely high computational cost for simulating realistic sounds. The state of the art for sound production in virtual environments is to use recorded sound clips that events in the virtual environment trigger, similar to how recorded animation sequences in the earlier days generated all the character motion in the virtual world. In this article, we describe several techniques for accelerating sound simulation, thereby enabling realistic, physically based sound synthesis for large-scale virtual environments     

Planning interactive task for intelligent characters

Motion planning is an important problem in character animation and interactive simulation. However, few planning methods have considered domain‐specific knowledge that governs the agent's behaviors, and none of them is capable of planning the interactive task in which the agent interacts with the objects in the virtual environment. This paper presents a novel method to plan the interactive task based on Q‐learning for intelligent characters. The approach can be described as a three‐phase framework: data preprocessing phase, controller learning phase, and motion‐synthesis phase. In the data preprocessing phase, we abstract the motion clips as high‐level behaviors and construct the interactive behavior graph (IBG) to define the interactive capabilities of the agent in terms of interactive features. For the controller training phase, with IBG, Q‐learning algorithm is employed to train the control policy in the discrete domain with interactive features. In the motion‐synthesis phase, the optimal motion sequences can be generated by following the policy to accomplish the interactive task finally. The experimental results demonstrate that the uniform framework can generate reasonable and realistic motion sequences to plan interactive task in complex environment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interactive motion mapping for real‐time character control

It is now possible to capture the 3D motion of the human body on consumer hardware and to puppet in real time skeleton‐based virtual characters. However, many characters do not have humanoid skeletons. Characters such as spiders and caterpillars do not have boned skeletons at all, and these characters have very different shapes and motions. In general, character control under arbitrary shape and motion transformations is unsolved ‐ how might these motions be mapped? We control characters with a method which avoids the rigging‐skinning pipeline — source and target characters do not have skeletons or rigs. We use interactively‐defined sparse pose correspondences to learn a mapping between arbitrary 3D point source sequences and mesh target sequences. Then, we puppet the target character in real time. We demonstrate the versatility of our method through results on diverse virtual characters with different input motion controllers. Our method provides a fast, flexible, and intuitive interface for arbitrary motion mapping which provides new ways to control characters for real‐time animation.     

Smart Motion Synthesis

Creating long motion sequences is a time‐consuming task even when motion capture equipment or motion editing tools are used. In this paper, we propose a system for creating a long motion sequence by combining elementary motion clips. The user is asked to first input motions on a timeline. The system then automatically generates a continuous and natural motion. Our system employs four motion synthesis methods: motion transition, motion connection, motion adaptation, and motion composition. Based on the constraints between the feet of the animated character and the ground, and the timing of the input motions, the appropriate method is determined for each pair of overlapped or sequential motions. As the user changes the arrangement of the motion clips, the system interactively changes the output motion. Alternatively, the user can make the system execute an input motion as soon as possible so that it follows the previous motion smoothly. Using our system, users can make use of existing motion clips. Because the entire process is automatic, even novices can easily use our system. A prototype system demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.     

基于参数化运动合成的运动图构建及其应用

虚拟人运动的可控性和逼真性是虚拟现实应用中追求的重要目标,为了实现对虚拟人的灵活控制,合成出逼真的运动序列,提出了基于参数化运动合成的运动图方法.运动图的结点中存储了具有明确含义的控制参数,通过改变控制参数合成不同的运动片段,可以实现对虚拟人的灵活控制;提出了一种改进的运动融合方法,运动图的边将不同运动片段进行融合,有效的避免了脚步滑动和根关节朝向抖动的产生.根据用户对交互控制和路径轨迹的不同应用需求设计实验,实验结果表明,方法不仅具有较高的控制精度,而且合成的运动序列逼真自然.     

虚拟环境中履带式车辆运动仿真

为了对虚拟环境中履带车辆进行建模,满足虚拟现实系统沉浸感和实时性要求,研究了基于ODE(多体动力学仿真库)的履带式车辆多体动力学模型和仿真方法.将模型应用于虚拟现实系统,对履带车辆运动、翻越垂直墙、壕沟等障碍进行实时仿真.结果表明该模型能较好地表现虚拟环境中履带式车辆运动的动态过程,以及履带、负重轮等行走系统部件的相对运动.提出的模型及仿真方法能较好地应用于虚拟战场、装备模拟训练系统等虚拟环境,具有一定的应用价值.     

一种支持多种运动方式的三维虚拟角色路径规划和姿态调整方法

针对三维动画场景,提出了一种支持多种运动方式的虚拟角色路径规划方法。根据具体角色的动作特征(飞、爬、走)建立不同的模型,然后利用A*算法搜索出一条无碰撞路径,最后对路径进行优化。实验表明,应用该方法规划出的路径适应于不同尺度的虚拟角色,并支持飞行、爬行、行走等多个运动动作,体现了三维路径规划的基本特征。     

Snake terrestrial locomotion synthesis in 3D virtual environments

We present a method for a 3D snake model construction and terrestrial snake locomotion synthesis in 3D virtual environments using image sequences. The snake skeleton is extracted and partitioned into equal segments using a new iterative algorithm for solving the equipartition problem. This method is applied to 3D model construction and at the motion analysis stage. Concerning the snake motion, the snake orientation is controlled by a path planning method. An animation synthesis algorithm, based on a physical motion model and tracking data from image sequences, describes the snake’s velocity and skeleton shape transitions. Moreover, the proposed motion planning algorithm allows a large number of skeleton shapes, providing a general method for aperiodic motion sequences synthesis in any motion graph. Finally, the snake locomotion is adapted to the 3D local ground, while its behavior can be easily controlled by the model parameters yielding the appropriate realistic animations.     

一种虚拟人运动生成和控制方法

利用运动捕获数据,通过学习获得虚拟人运动的统计模型,从而创建真实、可控的虚拟人运动.提出了一种方法:通过对原始运动数据聚类,提取出局部动态运动特征--动态纹理,并用线性动态系统描述,有选择地注释有明确含义的线性动态系统,构建注释动态纹理图.利用这一统计模型,可生成真实感强、可控的虚拟人运动.结果表明,这种方法在交互环境中能够生成流畅、自然的人体运动.     

Tracking dynamic textures using a particle filter driven by intrinsic motion information

In this paper, a new method for tracking dynamic textures is presented. Its novelty is to use a particle filter driven by the intrinsic motion of the tracked dynamic texture. Many research works have indeed shown that dynamic textures are well characterized by their intrinsic motion (in proceedings of 4th international conference on computer recognition systems CORES’05, pp. 17–26, 2005). In this work, we compute motion statistics of dynamic textures and use them in the observation model of our particle filter. Our tracking method is successfully applied on test sequences. The algorithm is fast and is able to track a dynamic texture moving on another dynamic texture with different intrinsic dynamics. The method is also able to track a dynamic texture in cases where classical particle filters based on color information only fail. Comments and future prospects raised by this method are finally described.     

运动串:一种用于行为分割的运动捕获数据表示方法

运动数据的行为分割是运动捕获过程中非常重要的一环.针对现有分割方法的不足,提出了一种可用于行为分割的运动数据表示方法,并基于该表示实现了数据的行为分割.运动数据经过谱聚类(spectral clustering)、时序恢复和最大值滤波法(max filtering)后生成一个字符串,该字符串称为运动串,然后采用后缀树(suffix tree)分析运动串,提取出所有静态子串和周期子串,对这些子串进行行为标注,从而实现运动数据的行为分割.实验表明,基于运动串的分割具有较好的鲁棒性和分割效果.     

Path planning directed motion control of virtual humans in complex environments

Natural motion synthesis of virtual humans have been studied extensively, however, motion control of virtual characters actively responding to complex dynamic environments is still a challenging task in computer animation. It is a labor and cost intensive animator-driven work to create realistic human motions of character animations in a dynamically varying environment in movies, television and video games. To solve this problem, in this paper we propose a novel approach of motion synthesis that applies the optimal path planning to direct motion synthesis for generating realistic character motions in response to complex dynamic environment. In our framework, SIPP (Safe Interval Path Planning) search is implemented to plan a globally optimal path in complex dynamic environments. Three types of control anchors to motion synthesis are for the first time defined and extracted on the obtained planning path, including turning anchors, height anchors and time anchors. Directed by these control anchors, highly interactive motions of virtual character are synthesized by motion field which produces a wide variety of natural motions and has high control agility to handle complex dynamic environments. Experimental results have proven that our framework is capable of synthesizing motions of virtual humans naturally adapted to the complex dynamic environments which guarantee both the optimal path and the realistic motion simultaneously.     

Enriching a motion database by analogous combination of partial human motions

We have synthesized new human body motions from existing motion data, by dividing the body of an animated character into several parts, such as upper and lower body, and partitioning the motion of the character into corresponding partial motions. By combining different partial motions, we can generate new motion sequences. We select the most natural-looking combinations by analyzing the similarity of partial motions, using techniques such as motion segmentation, dimensionality reduction, and clustering. These new combinations can dramatically increase the size of a motion database, allowing more score in selecting motions to meet constraints, such as collision avoidance. We verify the naturalness and physical plausibility of the new motions using an SVM learning model and by analysis of static and dynamic balance.     

基于骨骼的三维虚拟人运动合成方法研究

针对虚拟人运动合成中建立的人体模型存在复杂化、合成的虚拟人运动序列逼真度差的问题,提出了一种基于骨骼的虚拟人运动合成方法。在分析人体结构的基础上,通过三维图形软件获取人体骨骼数据,构建虚拟人体的骨骼模型。另外,将关键帧四元数球面插值算法与时间和空间变形方法相结合,生成多样化的虚拟人运动序列。实验结果验证了该方法的有效性。     

Real-Time Physics-Based 3D Biped Character Animation Using an Inverted Pendulum Model

We present a physics-based approach to generate 3D biped character animation that can react to dynamical environments in real time. Our approach utilizes an inverted pendulum model to online adjust the desired motion trajectory from the input motion capture data. This online adjustment produces a physically plausible motion trajectory adapted to dynamic environments, which is then used as the desired motion for the motion controllers to track in dynamics simulation. Rather than using Proportional-Derivative controllers whose parameters usually cannot be easily set, our motion tracking adopts a velocity-driven method which computes joint torques based on the desired joint angular velocities. Physically correct full-body motion of the 3D character is computed in dynamics simulation using the computed torques and dynamical model of the character. Our experiments demonstrate that tracking motion capture data with real-time response animation can be achieved easily. In addition, physically plausible motion style editing, automatic motion transition, and motion adaptation to different limb sizes can also be generated without difficulty.     

动态3维场景中多角色动画的交互式模拟研究

当前角色动画的合成大多是在预设的场景中,采用导入与角色骨骼模型匹配的运动捕获数据的方法,这就满足不了多种拓扑结构的骨骼模型和实时变化场景的需要。针对上述问题,提出重定向运动捕获数据到多个任意骨骼拓扑结构的算法,通过采用以实时3维动态寻径算法为基础的角色智能寻径模型,结合语音用户接口代替图形用户接口的方法,实现虚拟角色在动态3维场景中的真实感运动。实验结果表明,本方法可以合成流畅而逼真的,与环境实时交互的角色动画,提高了数据重用性,降低了动画合成成本,满足不同动态3维场景中动画合成的需要。     

基于关键姿态分析的运动图自动构建

高结点聚合运动图(snap together motion graph, STM graph)是刻画虚拟角色运动序列关系的一种结构化运动图.其特点是图中每个结点都包含多条与之相连的边,能够实现对虚拟角色的灵活控制.然而现有的高结点聚合运动图构建方法存在手工标注任务繁重、关键姿态提取结果不准确等问题.针对上述问题,提出了一种基于关键姿态分析的运动图自动构建新方法：通过维度约简和非参数密度估计分析样本数据的概率密度,获得一组关键姿态;然后通过分割获得运动片段,最后构建高结点聚合运动图.该方法不仅提高了关键姿态的提取精度,减少了构图过程的主观因素,同时提高了对虚拟角色控制的灵活性.实验结果表明了该方法的有效性.     

一种分层的和多分辨的镜头边界检测方法

提出了一种分层的和多分辨的镜头边界检测方法。该方法对各种不同的镜头间过渡类型给出了用不同方法进行联合检测的方案,该方案主要分为突变镜头检测（即视频切分）,淡化过渡检测、溶解过渡检测及划变过渡检测4个部分。检测方案并不是简单地将各种方法拼接在一起,而是通过小波变换的多分辨分析将它们有机地结合起来,相互关联,达到有效检测结果。首先用FCM聚类算法进行视频切分,然后根据聚类结果分别在整数小波分解后的高频部分用Gaussian加权Hausdorff距离结合边界改变率算法检测淡化过渡;对分解后的低频部分用所提出的SCD算法（Similarity of color distribution based method）检测溶解过渡,并通过自适应调节权系数（系数盲调节）使检测相异度函数更能适用于多种视频片段。最后根据切分以及前面两种过渡检测的结果,利用三维小波分解后高频成分中的运动部分所定义的运动矢量来检测划变过渡。用实际视频数据所做的仿真实验结果表明,该方法不但能同时检测突变过渡和渐变过渡,而且能准确地判断渐变过渡的类型及其位置。此外,还能有效地抑制闪光、运动等的影响,从而提高了检测精度。