Stereoscopic rendering is becoming more common place with 3D animation programs. While working on this assignment, I found out that Source Film Maker by Valve Studios has an option to render videos in Stereoscope. This software is based on the Source Game engine, designed and used by Valve Studios to make award winning games such as Half-Life 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.
Source Filmmaker came with the raw files behind some of their advertisement videos. I chose "Meet the Heavy" and rendered it in stereoscopic 3D. I Added ponies in a few shots (why? look no further than my "Laws of Physics in an Animated Universe" term paper; I'm a fan). The Models of the ponies were made by KP-ShadowSquirrel.
Behind-the-Scenes look at Source Filmmaker
Rendering was relatively fast due to the nature of videogame engines
I also tried rendering one of my Maya animated projects with stereoscopic camera. However, due to technical difficulties, I settled for a single frame rendering
Original Animation
For the base requirements of the assignment, I took several photos and tried to make them stereoscopic.
Self-Portrait
One of my shelfs
Martin Luther King Library Atrium, San Jose State University
Newton's Third Law: Action-Reaction Forces:
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
Include diagrams of this law in effect, such as jumping or two objects colliding
Clarify that forces do not "Cancel Out"
Body
"Iron Man" (film, 2008): Hard Landing
Iron Man is well known for landing at high speeds, hitting the ground and suddenly stopping (often causing damage to the surface which he lands on), then immediately rising to a standing pose in dramatic fashion. Such a landing would kill any human being, regardless of vehicle, armor, or physical fitness.
"Team Fortress 2" (videogame, 2008): Pyro's compression blast attack
In
this game, the Pyro has an attack move with which it uses its
flamethrower as an airburst weapon at the expense of a significant
portion of its fuel reserve. This attack is used to send objects and
opponents flying a short distance. However, the Pyro seems to experience
no recoil.
"Megamind" (film, 2010): Titan rams into Megamind's robot suit
At about 1:01 into the film, Megamind is piloting a giant robot suit. Titan, a human with superhero powers and strength, rams himself into Megamind's robot suit, sending it flying from a state of rest. Given Titan's mass and acceleration in the scene, it is unlikely that he could move the mass of the robot as displayed.
Conclusion
Why It is OK to break Newton's Third Law:
For the sake of plot, gameplay or dramatic effect
For this assignenment, I decided to do a walk cycle. When Radny Dutra visited SJSU, he said a character walk was the most challenging task and very telling of animator's skill. I have learned that doing a walk cycle for a toy is very difficult without certain tools such as rigs and posing aids.
I had to lean the toy very far to the side to maintain balance
“My
Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” is an animated TV series that began
airing October 2010. It is the fourth animated series based off of
Hasbro’s “My Little Pony” toy line. This series has gained wide acclaim
for its writing, characters and artistic direction. “Friendship is
Magic” focuses on the adventures of the resident ponies of Ponyville, Equestria and
the lessons they learn about friendship (Fig.1).
Fig.1: Comic-Con 2011 Poster showing the cast of Season 1
And
while magic is commonly used in the series, the world of Equestria has patterns that can be called physics and characters also
implement scientific methods from time to time, especially in Season 1, Episode 15 (Fig.2).
Fig.2: Twilight (left) uses various methods of observation to determine if Pinkie (right) has a 6th sense
With
this in mind, I will apply the physics known on Earth to the world of Equestria, presenting the argument that the series takes
place on a geocentric world, estimating a unit of “wing-power”, and
comparing the physical properties of the different types of ponies.
Equestria is Geocentric
Whether Equestria orbits the sun (solar-centric orbit) or if the sun orbits Equestria (geocentric orbit) does not seem like a big deal, but there are occurrences throughout the series that establish that Equestria shares a lot in common with the world we live in, as well as some significant differences that would not be possible in a solar-centric orbit.
In
Season 1, Episode 1, it is established that Princess Celestia, a
powerful Alicorn (Fig.3), governs the times when the sun rises and sets
in the world of Equestria. This establishes that the sun is a
body that moves relative to to the sky.
Fig.3: Princess Celestia (left) and her student Twilight (right)
In
Season 1, Episode 14, Twilight is having a custom dress made for her by
the town’s top seamstress Rarity. Twilight wants her dress to display
the constellations of the night sky, insisting that they must be
“technically accurate.” She even goes on to describe the constellations
in detail herself (Fig.4).
Fig.4: Twilight (left) describes the constellation Canis Major to Rarity (right)
In
Season 1, Episode 24, the ponies of Ponyville enjoy a night of
stargazing. Twilight even brings out a telescope (Fig.5). With all these
in mind, it can be assumed that the world of Equestria is
in a cosmos with celestial bodies that can be observed and studied.
Fig.5: The ponies enjoy a picnic with stargazing
In
multiple scenes of Season 2, Episode 3, the sun moves across the sky in
notable increments as if it were attached to the arm of a clock
(Fig.6). If the world of the ponies was a planet that rotates as it
orbited the sun like our Earth, such an occurrence would be
absolutely cataclysmic!
Fig.6: The Sun "ticks" across the sky
Using
Newtonian physics and taking centrifugal force into account, the forces
felt by all the land-dwelling inhabitants in these circumstances would
be that of sudden extreme acceleration and sudden extreme deceleration.
Such sensations would be comparable to sitting in a train that suddenly
hits full speed and then suddenly stops, except such forces of the case
originally in question may destroy buildings and cause earthquakes. This
would happen regardless of the shape of the planet and regardless if
the planet orbited and/or rotated. Because these disasters obviously did
not happen in the episode, the sun most likely orbits planet
(geocentric orbit). And because this episode focused on Twilight, who was
frantically trying to completing a task for Princess Celestia before the
day was over, it can be reasonably be assumed that Princess Celestia is
cruel and evil (Fig.7).
Fig.7: Princess Celestia, Tyrant and Ruler of Equestria
Determining the Value of the Constant “Wing Power”
In Season 2, Episode 22, the ponies used an anemometer to sample the
flight of each pegasus pony and calculate their “Wing-Power” (WP).
Assuming that WP is a unit of power (work/time), WP can be compared to
Horsepower (HP) with an analysis to this scene (Fig.8).
Fig.8: Two Pegasi ponies ask Twilight about the anemometer
At
8 minutes into the episode, Rainbow Dash flies past the anemometer and
was then announced to have 16.5 WP (Fig.9). In estimating Rainbow’s
acceleration, mass, time elapsed and distance traveled in passing over
the anemometer, her HP can be estimated, allowing a comparison between
HP and WP.
Fig.9: The sequence that will be used to analyze the scene for "Wing-Power"
To estimate Rainbow’s acceleration, the formula a = (V2 - V1)/t will be used, where a, V2, V1,
and t are acceleration, final velocity, initial velocity, and time
elapsed respectively. In this scene, she starts from rest and
takes 65 frames to pass the anemometer. At 24 frames per second, t =
2.71 seconds. Her final velocity can be estimated with analysis to the
shot of her passing the anemometer (Fig.10).
Fig.10: Estimates on Rainbow's distance traveled
Twilight, the unicorn pony
sitting at the anemometer, can be used as reference to the distance
Rainbow Travels in the shot. Assuming that the ponies are about the same
size as ponies on Earth, which stand at about 1.3 meters tall, Rainbow
travels 5.62 meters between frames 64 and 67, giving her a velocity of
44.96 m/s. Rainbow’s acceleration this scene can now be estimated:
a = 44.96 m/s - 0 m/s2.71s
a = 16.59 m/s^2
Assuming
that these ponies have the same mass as those on Earth, Rainbow would
have a mass of about 350 kg, we can determine the work done in Rainbow’s
flight over the anemometer with W=mad, where m, a and d are Rainbow’s
mass, acceleration and distance respectively.
W = 350kg x 16.59m/s x 25.62m
W =32632.53 Joules
To determine Rainbow’s power, the formula P=W/t will be used.
P = 32632.53 Joules / 0.125s
P = 261060.24 Watts
Watts can be converted to Horsepower:
P = 350.08754836 HP
For reference, 350 HP is roughly the power of a modern Ford F-150 (Fig.11)
Fig.11: Ford F-150 (www.ford.com)
Finally, the ratio between WP and HP can be estimated.
WP: HP
16.5 WP:350.08754836 HP
1.00 WP:21.2 HP
In
this episode, the winged pegasi ponies had to create a tornado to lift
the water from a reservoir and send it to Cloudsdale, a city in the sky
that creates clouds, rain, and snow. The pegasi would create this
tornado by flying in circular formation. The water would then be lifted
through the center of the tornado in the form of an extruded column
(Fig.12).
Fig.12: An Artificial Tornado created by Pegasi flying in circular formation
To accomplish this task, the pegasi had to fly at high enough
speeds to generate a combined 800 WP, which is 16,880 HP. For
comparison, a US Navy C-130A “Hercules” aircraft has a combined 15,000
HP between its four propellers and has a maximum takeoff load of 69,750
kg (Fig.13).
Fig.13: C-130 Aircraft (www.navy.mil)
To determine the volume of the column, we can use a pony on
the scene as reference to find the column’s circumference at its widest
point. In Fig.14, the width of the column is 16m and the height of the
tornado is 46m. The volume of water that would fill the tornado can be
found with V=h(c/2)^2, where h and c are height and circumference
respectively.
Fig.14: Estimating the measurements of the column
Vol = 46m(16m/2)^2
Vol = 9,200m^3
Given
that a cubic meter of pure water has a mass of 1,000 kg, the mass of
the volume of water in the tornado would be about 9,000,000 kg. If 1 WP
is about 20 HP, and given the comparison of the power and take-off load
of an C-130 aircraft, 800 WP is simply not enough to even lift the water
past the top of the tornado at its given volume. But because the task
was completed with 800 WP, the analysis used to determine wingpower must
have been made with bad data (ie, Rainbow Dash should have been
portrayed to fly faster or estimated unit values were off
significantly).
Pegasi Ponies Have Very Low Mass In
the world of Equestria, there are three different types of
ponies: Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi. Earth ponies are established to be
hardworking and strong, Unicorn ponies are established to be able to
perform applicable magic, and Pegasi ponies have wings with which to fly. Although the have the overall same shape and size, they by no
means have similar physical properties.
The
Pegasi ponies can be assumed to have significantly lower mass than the
other two types. In Season 1, Episode 4, AppleJack (Earth type) jumps
from a scaffold onto one end of a seesaw-like catapult, with Rainbow
Dash (Pegasus type) on the other end. For this, Rainbow Dash is sent
hurtling off into the distance (Fig.16) Even though Applejack had
increased her gravitational potential energy by jumping from a scaffold,
there is now way she could have sent Rainbow Dash flying that way if
they had comparable mass.
Fig.16: AppleJack launches Rainbow Dash
In Season 1, Episode 23, Fluttershy (Pegasus
type) is falling from a dangerous height. Her fall is cushioned by
landing on a swarm of butterflies (Fig.17).
Fig.17: Fluttershy falls to a potentially hazardous landing
This
can happen only if either the butterflies have a combined mass
significant enough to break the fall of horse weighing a few hundred
pounds, or if Pegasi ponies like Fluttershy have low mass; the latter
being more likely. Pegasi types could have significantly lower mass than
the other types as this may aid them in their ability to fly, which
supports the assumption that they indeed have lower mass.
However, if
this is the case, would a pegasus pony have a mass low enough where it could not be die from free-fall like a squirrel? Also, the estimated value of Wing Power found in the earlier
calculations is significantly greater than this theory would allow. A
lower mass with all other variables unchanged would result in a lower
power output.
Conclusion Many
occurrences in world of “Friendship is Magic” can be explained with the
physics of our universe, though it certainly has rules of its own. The
creators of the show do a good job at creating a show believable and
enjoyable enough to suspend other disbelief. Entertainment and
storytelling can be enhanced with fantasy and by breaking a few rules,
but it is important that occurrences “feel” right.
The Physics of the world of Equestria in "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"
I.Introduction
a."My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" (TV series, 2010 - Present)
b.Thesis: The physics of Equestria has a lot in common with the world we live in. However, there are some notable differences that can be explained with the physics we know of our world.
II.Determining the value of the constant "Wing-Power"
a.Season 2, Episode 22. The winged pegasi ponies need to create a tornado with a combined "Wing-Power" value of 800 in order to empty a water reservoir.
b.Assuming that water and gravity have the same properties as that on Earth, and in estimating the change in elevation of the water, one can use physics equations to estimate the actual value of "wing-power"
c.The estimated value of wing power can be tested in other instances of the TV series in which the pegasi ponies use their power of flight to push and pull objects that have mass that can be estimated.
III.Equestria is Geocentric
a.Season 2, Episode 3. The Sun rotates across the horizon as if it were attached to the arm of a clock. The consequences of this happening in a solar centric orbit would have cataclysmic effect on all inhabitants of Equestria.
b.Season 1, Episode 1. Princess Celestia, a powerful Alicorn, controls the times which the sun rises and sets in Equestria.
c. Season 1, Episode 14. One of the characters demonstrates that there is study and knowledge of celestial bodies. This implies that Equestria is a world in a cosmos.
IV.Using various episodes to compare the physical properties and strengths of between the three common types of ponies: Unicorn, Earth, and Pegasi
a.Pegasi have very low mass and high strength
b.Unicorn types are incredibly strong physically and can use magic to accomplish tasks that would otherwise require extreme physical labor.
c.Earth types have you to prove themselves more physically capable than the other two types in any way.
V.Conclusion
a.Tools of modern Physics can be applied to the World of Equestria. Even in Equestria, science is used even in a world where magic is commonly used.
For this Assignment, I wanted to compare a few methods on animating the falling and bouncing of balls. The methods used were Odds, a la Chai, and Kinematics.
The Three Test can be downloaded individually in the following links (dropbox.com): Odds.mov | Chai.mov | Kinematics.mov
The making of the video was pretty fun and required a bit of improvisation. The camera used to capture the frames was mounted onto a tripod. The tripod was folded closed and mounted to a shelf, pointing down at the stage. A light was mounted to the tripod as well, and a remote switch was used to ensure minimal shift in the camera's placement as it was being used. The stage was made of foam and laminate board to give a solid background for the ball to read against and to give the illusion of a floor space on which the ball would land. The ball used was a ping-pong ball which was taped to a coin to keep it in place for shots.
The Animation Stage
Camera, Light, and Remote Trigger
Laminate Wood, Measuring Tape, Ping Pong Ball, and coin covered in tape
The results of the kinematic equation was created using spreadsheet software.
I am a A/I Major who just passed portfolio review and hope to, someday, work in videogames as an animator. I was originally a Mechanical Engineer Major and studied kinematics and statics. I am currently enrolled in Animation (ANI 114), Beginning Modeling (ANI 51a), Theater Arts Writing (TA 100W), and of course Physics of Animation (PHYS 123). I have a great appreciation for scientific endeavors, particularly that of space exploration. Personal heroes include Carl Sagan and Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
