Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges

Authors:

Anthie Kolokotroni, Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos

Department of Products and Systems Design Engineering, University of Aegean

George Nikopoulos, Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University

Keywords: digital characters in animation, morphological gender characteristics, digital bodies development

Summary

This paper focuses on the morphological analysis and development of digital characters, used in animation films, and more specifically on the morphological differences between genders by studying the triptych male, female, neutral.

It presents the research, development and the first modeling, rendering and animating results of a non-human animated character, a centaur, in three genders (male, female, neutral) in the context of the transmedia work “MONOLOVE” by G. Nikopoulos.

Extended Abstract

This paper focuses on three non-human characters morphological analysis and development in animation films from both a theoretical and practical point of view. The characters analyzed here are non-human characters based on the transmedia project called “MONOLOVE”, applying a case study of morphological issues of non-human characters to define the character's gender differences both visually and kinetically to record its actions, gestures and movement.

Characters are an important part of current entertainment media culture. This article wishes to offer a proposal for thinking about digital characters with different morphological characteristics and how they can be applied to animation offering us satisfactory results.

A greater challenge is the study and development of non-human characters and in this particular case three centaurs (male, female, neutral) since an attempt is made to analyze them and then to model them by determining the gender from the various typical morphological elements. Gender identity is partially defined by social sex, that is, the gender with which a person identifies but this may differ from biological sex.

The protagonists of the transmedia project MONOLOVE by G. Nikopoulos, are three centaurs. There is a, a male, a female and a sexless centaur. These characters are modeled step by step from an original human model giving them the desired form each time based on the genetic gender from the script of the "MONOLOVE" project. Our goal through this process is to investigate issues that determine how a viewer perceives the gender of a digital character in an animation through its morphological characteristics as it is used to, how the morphological characteristics of a human digital character are connected to a non-human one ( in our case the centaur) and finally what are the morphological elements and by extension the personality elements that allow us to define the gender of the characters.

The method we follow is the analysis first of the morphological characteristics of human characters and then of non-human characters through relevant bibliography [2, 5]. Then, based on the theory, the modeling of the three centaurs (male, female, neutral) will be carried out, turning the human parts of the body into human-horse, step by step, examining similarities and differences both in the morphology and in the movement of the characters with the final aim of conducting relevant conclusions.

Trials with Motion Capture technology take into consideration the adaptation of animation to transmedia design [3,6]. Proposed methodologies on Character Design with Personality for Animation purposes are applied in this research such as the 12 principles of Animation defined by Disney Studios [4] and Laban Notation applications proposed by Leslie Bishko [1].

In conclusion, this paper wishes to describe, analyze and propose results from case study trials regarding the morphological gender issues of digital characters through the work “MONOLOVE”, that will be able to adapt in animation films.

References

1. Bishko, L. (2014), Animation principles and Laban movement analysis: movement frameworks for creating empathic character performances, Noverbal Communication in Virtual Worlds: Understanding and Designing Expressive Characters, Pages 177–203

2. Kulpa R., F. Multon, B. Arnaldi (2005), Morphology-independent representation of motions for interactive human-like animation, EUROGRAPHICS 2005 / M. Alexa and J. Marks, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2005.00859.x

3. Kyriakoulakos, P. (2019), The Praxis in Computer Animation: figurative, interactive, engaging, playful. Anifest, Interactive Animation and Video Games Symposium, Canterbury, 8/3/2019

4. Lasseter, J. (1987), Principles of Traditional Animation Applied to 3D Computer Animation. ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics, 21, 35-44.

5. DELAHAYE Mathias Guy (2023). From finger animation to full-body embodiment of avatars with different morphologies and proportions, International Conference on Artificial Reality and Telexistence and Eurographics Symposium on Virtual Environments, Dublin, Ireland, December 6-8, 2023, https://doi.org/10.2312/egve.20231311

6. Kyriakoulakos, P. (2023). Animation [Undergraduate textbook]. Kallipos, Open Academic Editions. https://dx.doi.org/10.57713/kallipos-329

CV OF AUTHORS

Giorgos Nikopoulos is a Postdoctoral in Audio & Visual Arts from the Ionian University which was also his graduate University in 2009. His research topic was the connection between Shadow Theater and Animation from the animator’s / puppeteer’s point of view. In 2010 he started working with theatrical and film director Dimos Avdeliodis as an actor and director assistant. He has worked as a professor assistant during his PhD years teaching mainly two courses: “Direction and Acting Elements” and “Iconography of Sound”. In 2014 he founded his own enterprise called BAUBO Productions and completed his first animation short film “Butter Bunny and his Grape must Cookies”. In 2017 he completed his first feature animation film “THEOX”, a production which was also the main piece of art on which his research was based, and so far has been screened and awarded in various festivals worldwide. This film was the only greek animation feature film that has been participated in Thessaloniki International Film Festival National Competition category until its 57th edition. In November of 2018 the film was also announced as an official nominee by the European Animation Awards in the category of BEST Soundtrack, with 4 more European animation films. In 2018 he was awarded by the 1st SNF Artist Fellowship Program / ARTWORKS as one of 15 awarded young filmmakers in Greece. Since 2019 he has worked a lot as a script writer, director and 3D generalist in Virtual and Augmented reality applications with DOTSOFT company and various Universities (the project Smart Speech / collaborator University of Ioannina in 2020, the project Mouseion Topos / collaborator University of the Aegean in 2021). 

Anthoula Kolokotroni is a PhD candidate at the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean (2022). She is in the 1st year of the master's program "Design Lighting" at the Hellenic Open University (H.O.U.)

She has the following publications (1) Dynamics of technology in contemporary art: Presentation and evaluation of artistic interactive installations and the aesthetic experience of the public at The 1st International Conference of the Greece ACM SIGCHI Chapter, November 25-27, Athens(2021) and (2) The 3rd International Conference on Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges, May 28-29,Corfu (3)Evaluation of two artistic installations in live performances through user experience : artistic interactive installations case study ERASMUS XR | "The art and design of XR'' Symposium,Onassis Stegi , September 23-24, Athens(2022). 

Attending the seminar "The Art of Animation" (2018) a program held in its Product and Systems Design Engineering Department at the University of the Aegean (50 hours). Her Internship was with the KASSANDRAS Architecture Team at the SIFF Film Festival (2017). She was a Volunteer in the Animasyros Festival (Animation Festival) (2017).

She has one year of service in the Ministry of Culture & Sports /Department of Studies as a Design Engineer (2019-2020). Her professional duties concerned the depiction of photorealistic presentations of existing buildings in Archaeological sites and Museums. Also she was an employee at the company named Decoin as a designer where she supervised the design of exhibition stands of various conferences and exhibitions in Greece and abroad(2021-2022). 

Her research interests include digital art forms, human-machine interaction and interactive art.

More specifically, the modeling of characters in a technological and aesthetic context related to video games, animation and artistic installations as well as the study and creation of interactive artistic installations related to the performing arts.

Dr P. Kyriakoulakos is Assistant Professor in Computer Animation at the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering of the University of the Aegean. Prior to that, he served as Lecturer in Computer Animation (2010-2018) at the same Department. He holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master’s Degree (DEA) “Cinema, Television, Audiovisuel” from the Universities Paris 1 and Paris 10, and a Ph.D. (Doctorat) in Sciences of Art from the University of Paris 10. For his studies in Paris, P. Kyriakoulakos received a 3-year Grant from Onassis Foundation. He has extensive experience in Teaching and Digital Production activities both in Greece and France since 1987, including Expertise for the MEDIA Programme of the European Union (Development and Training Proposals Evaluations). He served as Adjunct Lecturer at the UFR d’Arts Plastiques et Sciences de l’Art of Paris 1 University - Pantheon/Sorbonne (1987-1992) and at the Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering (2000-2010). P. Kyriakoulakos received the Award of SCAM (societe civile des auteurs multimedia) in 1991 as Editor-in-Chief of the video-magazine La Vague, Arts en Video, published in Paris. As Managing Director of Post Reality (1994-2006) and New Media Director for PLD Production (2006-2010), as well as a stockholder of Fantasia Audiovisual Ltd (1996-2012), he produced several audiovisual, computer animation and multimedia works, including the first Greek 30 min long computer animated TV special Alexandra Meets the Space Toons (2003) for the Public Broadcaster ERT, and launched the pilot version of the Video-on-Demand Platform Homeweb (2010). Member of the Interactive Systems Design Laboratory of the Faculty since its foundation year 2000, Dr Kyriakoulakos participated in several Research Programmes, including the internationally awarded ARCHEOGUIDE (2000-2002) and HIST3D (2011-2015). His Research Interests include topics on the Creative Process in Computer Animation and Digital Media and on the impact of the Techniques on the Aesthetics of Animation and Interactive works. He is the Scientific Coordinator of the International Conference and Summer School on Extended Arts (XARTS) since 2013. Dr Kyriakoulakos received the Grant of Excellence Research in Paris 2013 from the City of Paris to conduct research in ENSADLab, IRCAV-Paris 3 University, INHA and Inatheque in Paris, in the context of HIST3D Research framework. Dr Kyriakoulakos received the title of Chevalier des Palmes Academiques by the French Ministry of Education (2014) for his commitment to the French-Greek Cooperation in the Sectors of Education and Culture.