Superman
Kian Dinyari
CSC471 Fall 2010
Superman is an animated demonstration of hierarchical modeling and animated textures. Once activated (Evil) Superman flies into the air and lights the building behind him on fire by shooting his laser at multiple windows. There is also a free look mode with various Superman animations that can be triggered with hot keys.
Controls
n - Starts and plays the whole superman animation
b - Puts the camera into free look mode
The following keys are used to control the camera in free look mode:
w – forward
s – backward
a – strafe left
d – strafe right
mouse - rotates camera
l – animates legs in free look mode
y - toggles head shaking animation, press again to stop
i - turns head left
o - turns head center
p - turns head right
Concepts
The following concepts were used in this animation.
Camera (Animation Mode): The camera in animation mode follows Superman as he burns the building. Various transformations are used on the camera from having it zoom in and out, rotating around Superman, and translating behind Superman as he flies.
Camera (Free Look Mode): The camera in free look mode allows the user to move forward, back, strafe and pitch/yaw using the mouse.
Lighting: Superman's normals are calculated and he does receive lighting using a stationary light
Hierarchical Modeling: Superman is modeled using 17 seperate parts (Such as his hair, eyes, mouth, head, arms, hands, etc). This allows him to move seperate body parts while still translating the body as whole.
Transformations: Superman is translated in various ways. During the beginning and end of his animation he is rotated along the Y axis. Furthermore various parts of superman are rotated such as his legs (which close for flight) and his head when he looks around. Furthemore Superman is translated as a whole along the X and Y axis as he flies around.
Texture mapping: Using the texture mapping techniques used in class Superman's whole world is texture mapped, as is himself. The street, grass, and buildings all use 1 texture map a piece. Superman however is mapped in parts. For example his logo, face, hair, and arms all use seperate texture maps.
Animated texture mapping: The explosion and fire animations that are present after superman shoots his lasers are done with animated texture mapping. This is done by looping through a series of BMP files. The fire for example is 88 BMPs which are looped through to create the effect of an animated fire.
Model: The Superman model was obtained as one piece for 3Ds Max. The model was the broken up into various pieces and exported into obj files. Those obj files were converted into arrays of vertices and normals and imported into opengl.
Screenshots
Superman in flying mode. Animations such as his legs closing occur before flight mode. In this shot the head turning animation is also active.
Superman shooting a laser. The explosion animated texture is present here.
Superman in all his glory.
Resources
Resources used during this project:
CSC471 labs, lectures, and notes
Google for lessons on animated textures and obj file specifications