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From: nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle)
Subject: Re: Intellectual character "driving" along the curved paths
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Date: Sat, 2 Nov 1996 04:17:12 GMT
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Scott Le Grand <legrand@tesla.mbi.ucla.edu> writes:
>Martin Preston wrote:
>> "Andrew Iones" <iones@creatgraphics.spb.su> writes:
>> >Do you know if somebody ever tried to tackle the problem of real-time
>> >"driving" a (biped) character along a curved path?
Ref:
>> "Simulating Humans: Computer Graphics Animation and Control"
>> Norman I. Badler, Cary B. Phillips, Bonnie Lynn Webber, Oxford University Press
>> 1993.
>I'd just like to comment that this is IMO a mostly useless
>book that serves as little more than an advertisement for
>_Jack_,, a commercial human animation system, although
>one CAN download a free demo version...

>That having been said, skim the references and chapters 3, 4,
>and 5 for sparing coverage of a hodgepodge of algorithms
>on simulating human motion...  You won't learn much from it,
>but you will learn all the buzzwords...
>Isn't there anything better out there yet?  I've had this
>book for 3 years...

    I like the Raibert/Hodgins real balancing locomotion, which can
be seen at <www.bdi.com>, the Georgia Tech web site 
<http://www.cc.gatech.edu/>, and my site <www.animats.com>.
It's hard to do, and still a research topic, but ultimately it's the
right way to do it.  

    Meanwhile, get Biped for 3D Studio or Multiped for Softimage.

					John Nagle
