Animation in Graphics - Research Training Days

We organize on the campus of Ecole polytechnique in Palaiseau three training days dedicated to 3D Animation and Physics Based Simulation in the 10, 11 and 12 April 2024, as part of the GDR IG-RV initiative to propose Young Researcher training.

Along these three days, we will propose lectures and lab classes on the topic of 3D Animation in Computer Graphics, covering fundamental approaches such as real-time character animation, rigid bodies simulation, elastic simulation, and fluid simulations. The class will take a hands-on focus, with a majority of time spent on practice and coding-oriented approaches, allowing the participant to fully implement the related algorithms.

Most lectures and labs will be handled by Damien Rohmer (LIX, Vista). A special invited lecture from Matthieu Desbrun (Inria Saclay/LIX, Geomerix) on the Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBM) for fluid simulation will be given on the last day.

Topics

• - Character Animation
• • Skinning
  • Skeletal Animation
• - Physically based simulation: Solid and Elastic
• • Models: Particles, Solid, Deformable
  • Handling constraints and contacts:
  • • Penalty forces, Impulse-Based, Position Based Dynamics
    • Shape Matching
• - Physically based simulation: Fluids
• • Stable Fluids
  • Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
  • Lattice Boltzmann Methods

Organization

Schedule

• Wednesday April 10th - Room Grace Hopper (2nd floor)

• • Welcome around 10:30-11:00
  • Start at 11:00 in room Grace Hopper
  • 11:00-12:00 Lecture
  • • Procedural Animation
    • Particles in Collision
  • 12:00-13:30 Lunch with "plateau repas"
  • 13:30-15:00 Practice Lab
  • 15:00-16:00 Lecture
  • • Elastic models
    • Solids, Shape Matching
  • 16:00-16:30 Coffee break
  • 16:30-17:30 Practice Lab

• Thursday April 11th - Room Gilles Kahn (Ground floor)

• • 09:00-09:30 Breakfast (coffee/tea + croissant)
  • 09:30-11:30 Lecture
  • • Fluids: Stable Fluids, SPH
  • 11:30-13:00 Lunch at the cafeteria Magnan
  • 13:00-16:00 Practice Lab
  • 16:00-16:30 Coffee break
  • 16:30-17:30 Lecture
  • • Character Animation

• • 19:30 - Dinner at the restaurant "Le 19"

• Friday April 12th - Room Gilles Kahn (Ground floor)

• • 09:00-09:30 Breakfast (coffee/tea + croissant)
  • 09:30-10:30 Practice Lab
  • 10:30-12:00 Lecture with Mathieu Desbrun (also streamed online))
  • • Lattice Boltzmann Methods
  • 12:00-13:30 Lunch with "plateau repas"
  • 13:30-16:00 Practice Lab

Remarks about meals and breaks:

• - Lunches on 10, 11 et 12 are provided by the organization.
• • - Lunches on 10 and 12 will be on a tray and can be taken together on site.
  • - Lunch on 11th will take place at the Ecole Polytechnique Magnan cafeteria, a 5-minute walk from the laboratory. Tickets will be distributed.

• - The mornings of the 11th and 12th are accompanied by a breakfast formula with coffee/tea/croissant provided by the organization.

• - A "social" evening on Thursday 11 evening will be held at the "Le 19" restaurant, a 5-minute walk from the laboratory. This dinner is provided by the organization.

• - Dinner on Wednesday evening (10th) is not covered by the organization, and you are free to make your own arrangements. However, we do have a few Magnan tickets available should some students wish to eat on site at the "cantine".
• • - Various dining options are available on the campus itself, just a few steps from the laboratory: Food Asia, Le 19, Living room.
  • - Alternatively, numerous restaurants are located around the Massy Palaiseau bus/RER station.

Lab and content organisation

• The labs will be conducted using C++ codes that will provide a minimalistic framework to code and run each 3D animation scene.
• During the lab, you will be completing the core of the algorithm enabling the animation/simulation to work. These seance will be supervised and you can get help to understand the code and move forward.

• - All the code structure and framework will be provided as open-source material under MIT license, and can be reused for future research and applications by the attendees.
• - Lecture slides of the lecture will also be provided as open-source material and can be reused for other courses.

• \(\Rightarrow\) Link to content and open-source codes

Targeted Audience

• - These training sessions primarily target PhD students, PostDocs, and starting researchers who wish to have a formal introduction to the fundamentals of animation and look forward practical coding experience of the associated algorithms. This typically includes young researchers who
• • - did not yet have the opportunity to attend animation oriented classes at the master level.
  • - or have practical experience via existing pre-made tools (e.g. via Unity, Godot, Blender), but wish to understand better how the underlying animation algorithm and code works.

• - The course aims to have a wide coverage of fundamental animation and interactive simulation methods (rather than a specific sub-topic), allowing attendees to get a better grasp later on to understand the research literature from the current state-of-art.

Prerequisites and organisation

• - General master level background in computer science and graphics or geometry.
• - Existing experience in C++ programming (even if not advanced) is strongly encouraged to really take advantage of the labs.
• - No prerequisites on technical skills related to GPU programming.

• - A laptop able to compile C++ and run OpenGL 3.3 will be sufficient to do the labs. Windows, Linux and Mac are supported. Laptops can be provided in case you don't have your own equipment (please let us know in advance).
• - All slides and tutorials are in English. The lecture will be conducted in English (unless everyone speaks French).

Venue

Place

• All lecture and labs will take place at LIX (google map):

• - The LIX is located on the campus of Ecole polytechnique, on the "Plateau de Saclay".
• - It is easily accessible from the gare Massy TGV.
• • Then take the bus 91.06 until the stop "Place Marguerite Perey". The bus is very regular, and the trip take about 15 min to reach the lab.
  • Note that Massy TGV is not considered as a train station in Paris using SNCF application, and you may check specifically the train going to this station.
• - You may also access the lab from Paris center in taking the RER B until the station "Massy Palaiseau". The trip will then be about 1h to 1h30 from the main train stations within Paris (gare de Lyon, Nord, Est, Montparnasse, Saint-Lazare).

Hotel

• - The local organization will not provide the hotel for your stay, therefore you need to handle this via your institute.
• - You are strongly encouraged to book a hotel in the neighborhood of the campus, and not in Paris center in order to avoid going back and forth in the morning and evening with the RER line.
• - There are conveniently placed hotels directly on the campus (e.g. Aparthotel Adagio Palaiseau Saclay), or around the Massy TGV train station. Bakery and small shops are now available directly on the campus.

Organizers

• - General organization, lecture and labs: Damien Rohmer
• - Student helper: Rodrigo Stevenson
• - Invited lecturer: Mathieu Desbrun
• - Administrative support at LIX: Fanny Sabatier and Hélèna Kutniak