Wednesday, March 19, 2014

The Rise of Computer Graphics and the Triumph of Visualization. Jurassic Park to Gollum.

Computer graphics are a huge interest for me. They really hit it big with the movie version of "Jurassic Park" and the fantastic Tyrannosaurus Rex. The realism of the dinosaur is so fantastic that it still looks great today. I love watching the segments with the Rex still today. It's hard to match such realism still. But, watching the Lord of the Rings movies made me appreciate how far things have progressed. Gollum continues to amaze, with unbelievably emotive eyes and facial expressions.

One of the hardest things about ultra realistic computer imagery is the fact that the human eye is so incredibly good at noticing fakery. That's why there is such a problem with "dead eye" faces in video games. Your own eye notices that the visuals just aren't right, and look fake. It's like a doll's eyes, bobbling around inside a plastic head. These days, that is a bigger and bigger problem, because the graphics are fantastic but still are clearly fake. However, it's just a matter of time now.

I remember reading stories as a kid about completely holographic actors. We aren't quite there yet, though Gollum is very close. We still need motion capture to get the performances, though I expect that to end at some point as the libraries of human motion are gathered and stored. But, the goal isn't to replace humans in the process, but to amplify the possibilities. There's a lot in store, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

- M

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