Brain Springs: Fast Physics for Large Crowds in WALL•E

by Paul Kanyuk

Computer animation is a developed, thriving field that has benefitted greatly from the techniques of traditional animation and its insights into what elements of motion create appealing characters. Pixar Animation Studios introduced the adaptation of such elements as squash, stretch, follow-through, and anticipation to the field, which guide some of the most successful computer animation to date. However, these elements are often neglected in crowd simulations, where rendering challenges, group behavior, and appearance variation are the dominant focus.

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