Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice [Hardcover]

Rob O'Neill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0123725615 | ISBN-13: 978-0123725615 | Publication Date: November 3, 2008

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice - is exactly that. Rob has managed to put together for the first time an in-depth history of the life of the digital character. His explanation of anatomy and its relationship to the modern Character TD is indispensible for anyone wanting to create convincing digital characters. In addition, his pipeline and methodology share some of the best-kept secrets used currently in character intensive productions. This book isn't a how manual, it's a why manual. I could only wish I had this earlier in my career. It would have saved many hours of mistakes and research. That being said, there is something here for everyone, even the most seasoned Character TD may learn something." -Tony Barbieri, Lead TD, Psyop Inc.


"Computer animation is a field that blends the highly technical with the highly artistic. Digital Character Development covers topics that are incredibly valuable to professionals across the entire spectrum. Subjects are always discussed through the prism of a real production environment and the requirements that such an environment imposes. Although computer animation is a relatively young industry, it benefits from the wealth of knowledge and study that exists in related fields. No other text presents this information and does it in a way that is approachable by programmers and artists alike. Digital Character Development is important for those just starting out in the industry, as well as established professionals interested in a deeper understanding of character technology. Modelers, character technical directors and artists from many related disciplines will benefit from this book." -Daniel Dawson, Character Technology, Kickstand


"This book is great and goes in depth into areas of theory. It goes well beyond the simple "here's-the-button approach" and talks about the actual theory and the "why's." Knowing this content will help you to create your own robust rigs regardless of your software and move away from tutorials into full understanding of just how things work. Rob has managed to make a volume worthy of textbook status." - TJ Galda, Maya Master & CG Supervisor, Electronic Arts

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann (November 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0123725615
• ISBN-13: 978-0123725615
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #625,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars unified view of character development, November 25, 2008

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

The book offers a high level algorithmic view of how to compose a digital character. It is independent of specific software packages. O'Neill describes the algorithms in terms of flow charts rather than pseudocode. Implicitly, when he talks about these algorithms, it should be understood that your underlying software is sophisticated enough that you can implement them. A minimum amount of expertise is required to map from the book's methods to an actual implementation.

The narrative is largely a fluid read. General principles are given, and you are not drowning in long code extracts. The book seems best suited for someone already making characters.

A key idea is to get an understanding of human anatomy. Two reasons. The first is for realistic depictions of human characters. But even when you have monsters, say, these are often in humanoid form. So it still helps in this case to have a deep understanding of the range of "natural" looks and movements, in order to plausibly deviate from these. In other words, humanoid means you start with a human template.

The book presents a unified and coherent view of character development.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, with some flaws, June 18, 2009

By 

Cormac O'Brien (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

Pros:
This book provides a clear overview of the rigging for animation in both movies and games. The exposition is good and the author's experience shows in specific explanations of non-obvious issues in rigging.
There are also some instructive and attractive diagrams.

I came away with a good general picture of the architecture of a character rigging system.

Cons:
Needs more detail. The algorithms included in the book are unhelpful, mostly going something like: "for each bone, rotate bone, done". The focus in this book is not on the mathematical details, and the author aims at high-level pseudocode but unfortunately somewhat fails. Some practical algorithmic information and more diagrams could make the book great.

Needs editing. Many of the sentences in the book are slightly garbled. The meaning is usually fairly clear on repeat readings, but clauses are out of place and this disrupts the flow of reading and understanding of the (rather good) exposition.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent and very different approach, April 14, 2009

By 

Brooklyn Bound (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Digital Character Development: Theory and Practice (Hardcover)

I've got a massive stack of books relating to rigging sitting on my bookshelf. Most deal with the specific and step by step process of rigging a particular character in one specific program or the other.

This book has been open on my desk since purchasing it and hasn't spent any time on my shelf at all. The reason for this, I came to discover was that this book dealt with the "why" rather than the "how." As a freelancer in New York, I have to work with and adapt to a variety of software packages, each with similar building blocks but functionally different user interfaces. Understanding the core principles of rigging and why we do the things we do in any 3D software.

And of course if you're a fan of well bound books like me, it's nice to know that this one will last a while as it's quite well bound... entirely unlike my stack of perfect-bound technical guides.