Motion Transfer for Anime-like CG Animation

What is it about?

Anime is a hand-drawn animation style that originated in Japan. The style is unique and attracting worldwide attention. The purpose of this research is to create a transformation formula to stylize Computer Graphics (CG) motions as anime. The proposed method analyzes the motion characteristics from an input motion capture data and automatically converts it into a motion suitable for lower frame rates. The key to the conversion lies in the omission of the redundancy of speed changes inherent in real motions.

Featured Image

Photo by John Carlo Tubelleza on Unsplash

Photo by John Carlo Tubelleza on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Anime’s unique style of motion has influenced 3DCG animations. For example, non-photorealistic CG animation attempts to mimic the style of anime motions by reducing the number of frames per second (fps), in addition to pursuing aesthetic. However, because joint motions are complex, they are sometimes created from physically captured motions. Further, because these motions have a small speed strength, lowering the fps constantly does not result in an anime-like motion, but rather reduces the quality of the motion, where the jerkiness of the motion causes discomfort. To make the motion more attractive with fewer drawings, the timing, spacing, and camera shot angles must be adjusted according to the unique motion drawing techniques established by Japanese animators over many years.

Perspectives