Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice

Digital character development consumes a large percentage of the development time of every animated film or video, and is widely viewed as the next major area of advance in computer games. This field now spans the areas of cognition, anatomy, animation, computer graphics, theater, and psychology. While advanced techniques are reported in scholarly journals and academic dissertations, only those that find an implementation in off-the-shelf software (such as Maya) are covered in books. Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice covers the foundational algorithms and research that go into the development of virtual characters. The author, a faculty member of the Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design, as well as studio technical director of Eyebeam Art and Technology Center in New York, was technical director at PDI/Dreamworks on Shrek 2 and Madagascar and is an independent filmmaker and artist. His new textbook guides both students and professionals who need a thorough understanding of character development in order to make decisions about the creation of their own characters. This text bridges the gap between algorithm and software-agnostic applications. The book will include exercises. The manuscript will be class tested at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and others.

*Covers the foundational algorithms and research that go into the development of virtual characters
*Guides both students and professionals to a thorough understanding of character development
*Includes exercises for professors and students

數位角色開發佔據了每部動畫電影或視頻開發時間的大部分，並被廣泛認為是電腦遊戲中下一個主要的進展領域。這個領域現在涵蓋了認知、解剖學、動畫、電腦圖形學、劇場和心理學等領域。儘管高級技術在學術期刊和學術論文中有所報導，但只有那些在現成軟件（如Maya）中實現的技術才會在書籍中涵蓋。《數位角色開發：理論與實踐》涵蓋了虛擬角色開發所需的基礎算法和研究。作者是普拉特學院和帕森設計學院的教職員，也是紐約Eyebeam藝術與技術中心的工作室技術總監，曾在PDI/Dreamworks的《史瑞克2》和《馬達加斯加》擔任技術總監，同時也是獨立電影製片人和藝術家。他的新教科書指導學生和專業人士深入了解角色開發，以便在創作自己的角色時做出決策。這本書填補了算法和軟件無關應用之間的差距。書中還包括練習題。手稿將在普拉特學院、帕森設計學院和其他學校進行課堂測試。