Objective
Within a growing number of multimedia (MM) applications, recourse is taken to animated sequences in order to improve the look-and-feel of the titles at issue. These sequences can be produced utilizing traditional hand-crafted techniques, or can be created by means of computer based approaches. In the computer animation domain computers and software are supporting the animation production which is almost entirely directed towards three-dimensional (3D) animation. In traditional animation, which is mostly dealing with two-dimensional (2D) and two-and-a-half-dimensional (2.5D) animation (being layers of 2D animation), various categories can be indicated: ranging from pencil-drawn animation over cut-out shape animation to the conventional cell-based key-frame animation (an exception of 3D traditional animation is, e.g. physical puppet animation).
The emphasis of ERASTA will be put on servicing the MM industry involved in traditional animation.
With the continuing proliferation of television channels internationally, the growing global home video market, and interactive title production in general, the demand for traditional animation production is growing rapidly. As the production of traditional animation sequences can often be a very tedious and time-consuming task, it is worthwhile to take recourse to tools improving the production process. The various partners of the ERASTA consortium have the intention of integrating and utilizing high-end real-time animation specification techniques for servicing the various players in this field: At LUC-EDM, specific effort is put into servicing the development of tools for facilitating the production of two specific kinds of traditional animation: (i) cut-out shape animation, in which animators have to position and orient carefully dozens of (paper) cut-out shapes for each frame, and (ii) free form 2D character animation with the look-and-feel of traditional comic strip books. This is done by integrating a growing set of software modules on a graphics supercomputer (SGI ONYX) with a later migration to more standard equipment; ANDROME is looking for opportunities to utilise these tools in the service they currently offer to their animation customers; NOB Interactive envisions to integrate and to utilised innovative real-time 2D animation specification techniques in facilities for the TV broadcast world; Wavecrest wants to look for arising new market opportunities in context of its links to Cambridge Animation Systems (a major worldwide developer and vendor of 2D cartoon animation systems).
In this context, the objectives and expected results of the ERASTA Multimedia Support Network proposal are:
- to put a real-time animation specification system as a service at the disposal of the European multimedia industry involved in the production of animation (in two targeted traditional animation domains: cut-out shape animation and comic stripbook cartoon animation);
- to utilise the real-time 2D animation specification techniques as a facility service in TV broadcast applications;
- to put supercomputer 2D animation services at the disposal of SME's;
- to investigate the exploitation capabilities of a selected set of real-time 2D animation specification techniques as a new capability in existing systems;
- to increase awareness of the European multimedia industry utilizing 2D animation techniques of the potential in real-time 2D animation specification;
- to continuously search for spin-off activities utilizing the ERASTA (alike) services: e.g. generation of cartoon movies; generation of interactive comic strip-books; generation of Internet-based applications; ...
- to collaborate with an open character in the European MMSN-formula of ESPRIT, both on specific animation services as well as on the advancement of MM in general.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- humanities arts modern and contemporary art cinematography
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering computer hardware supercomputers
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Coordinator
3590 Diepenbeek
Belgium
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