Outline Paper 1

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.

"Stop Motion Animation of Falling"

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.

Video analysis of path of action

Tracker Video Analysis of Falling

Video Reference

"Fourth Down at Half-time"

Mini-Portfolio

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.

The First Post!

Stand back! I'm going to try science!