Physically-Based Animation

The physically-based simulation of rigid bodies, deformable solids and fluids is an important and active research topic in computer graphics and an essential part of many modern computer tools in a wide range of application areas such as virtual prototyping, animation software for digital production including special effects in film and animation movies, computer games, and training simulators – just to mention a few. In these application areas interactive simulations are often of particular interest, where a user can interact in real-time with the simulated bodies.

This lecture course gives an overview over the most important research areas in physically-based animation. In particular, we will consider the following topics:

• basics of physically-based animation
  • particle systems
  • rigid bodies
  • numerical integration
• simulation of deformable solids using discrete and continuous models
  • hair simulation
  • elastic rods
  • cloth simulation
  • soft bodies
• fluid simulation
• collision detection and collision response
• physics engines