Tracking in logistics concerns a process starting with determining the current and past locations and other status of property in transit. In the context of hunting it involves the science and art of learning about a place via animal trails and other environmental evidence. In navigation, tracking concerns setting up a track on other objects momentarily viewed from the observer’s own location.

Thus ‘urban tracking’ collates to observing urban movement and habitation habits and the rapid cancerous growth of eco-hostile conglomerates. Using the process of dead reckoning one determines one’s location with respect to certain points in the vicinity. Thus by mapping one’s location with a constantly growing habitat, we track the urban cancer in its rabid growth to overcome enroute the road to total annihilation.

The response was impressive. Some 70 respondents offered innovative ideas for employing computer graphics tools and techniques in a host of applications, ranging from improving airline safety and enhancing emergency-response training to employing counter-terrorist measures and raising consciousness about the precursors and aftermath of terrorism. What follows is an edited sample of the comments:

• Here at the space center, we build 3D virtual environments that allow engineers to visualize in real time items ranging from space-station equipment to facilities where operations take place. One suggestion is to develop traffic-control data into a viewable 3D virtual environment, with overlaid flight data. Merge this with geopolitical-infrastructure information and 3D physical feature data. Build soft envelopes around physical features (such as buildings, arenas, towers, and bridges) as well as abstract features (such as flight corridors and restricted air space). Then develop software that can compare flight data with these features, detect anomalies in flight behavior, and automatically signal an alert. -Danny Fogle, Boeing
• At the ramp, immediately before boarding the plane, every passenger and crew member would have his or her photo taken or hand scanned. If there were any matches of these images with those in a database of known or suspected terrorists, the plane wouldn’t take off. At major points of entry between the US and Canada, the Im-migration and Naturalization Service has already implemented something similar with its PortPass system. For this, you fill out some forms, show your passport and other documentation, have your hand scanned, and get a PortPass card with your picture on it. When you travel, you insert your PortPass card into a station, which confirms your flight, and you place your hand on a scanner and image-recognition system. If there are no matches, you proceed. Over time, this database could be built up to cover a very high percentage of travelers, and in the worst case, there would be a detailed record of exactly who was on any given flight. -Kevin Tureski, Alias|Wavefront
• Each plane could have a unique electronic ID and pass code that would be monitored via satellite and ground-tracking methods. Each pilot would enter the plane’s password-protected ID before each flight with the departure and arrival information. Each terminal would be able to confirm each flight plan, and the system would track the filed flight plan. The central database would provide an early-warning system that recognizes when a plane has diverted from its intended plan. If the flight path is changed, intentionally or not, the computer would initiate an appropriate warning. Automatic responses would be set up to alert the pilot, who would be required to send the appropriate ID and pass code information and explain the reason for the deviation to the tower. If the deviation continued, an alert would go into effect, and fighter jets would be would scrambled for interception, if needed. -David Toy, Nia Creative
• We have developed a new imaging technique that greatly enhances the surface detail of objects. We have worked with archeologists to apply this to examining cuneiform tablets. In fact, we uncovered a fingerprint on one of the tablets that was left by a scribe who originally wrote the tablet 4000 years ago. Obviously, this technology could be used in forensics, and we are currently working with the San Fran cisco police department to find applications for it. -Tom Malzbender, Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
• For years, technology has been available to use photographs of real objects to create virtual 3D models. The greater the number of photographs, the greater the detail and accuracy of the final model. I can’t help but wonder if all the video footage we’ve seen in the news of the World Trade Center disaster could be mapped into a computer model of the event. If this were possible, it might allow viewing from previously unseen, unrecorded angles, to provide closer, more telling views of it. This virtual model of the event might provide a level of detail and an ability to analyze it in ways that are otherwise impossible. It might be used to give structural engineers a greater understanding of how and why the buildings collapsed. It might help investigators locate specific objects in the resulting pile of rubble more quickly. Or it may allow them to look for and see things that we wouldn’t even think about.
  -George G. Rodgers, AFG Industries
• One area our industry can help in is training. I recently worked with instructors at a pilot-training center on a video showing emergency procedures for dealing with hazardous materials. All the information is available to the pilots in their manuals, but there is no substitute for a visual simulation. Emergency-response teams can get realistic experience with any worst-case terrorist scenario with good computer visualizations. All the destructive energy that goes into creating violent video games could be put to constructive use in developing virtual-reality programs.
  -Judy Gardner, Gardner Animation
• Many would agree that desktop 3D and immersive virtual-reality software can be used to enable realistic rehearsals of potential encounters and situations. These can become effective training exercises if the software includes virtual mentors, that is, digital characters that provide guided suggestions based on the collected knowledge and intuition of human experts. One challenge is to make this technology af fordable and to remove the requirements for custom art and animation. The tools used to author immersive-training software are targeted at programmers and technical artists. But it is not necessary to create the level of realism achieved, for example, in the film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. We need simple tools for art directors and producers. We also need to use royalty-free licensed models, employ physics-based character animation to reduce the amount of custom animation required, and reuse the same characters, vehicles, and equipment models in different applications.
  - Graham Rhodes, Applied Research Associates
• As a 3D animator for a major flight-simulation company, I can tell you we are involved in developing real-time scenes for training military pilots. While our commercial aircraft-training sites provide our own flight instructors, some training facilities allow student pilots to bring their own instructors. One suggestion is to have the simulation software monitor the actions of the training session, and if illegal acts (such as flying into buildings) are performed, the necessary authorities could be notified. -Rich Lacy
• If VR environments of public buildings could be built, the data would be available to give police, firefighters, rescue workers, and hazardous-materials teams knowledge about the best way to enter a dangerous situation. Systems based on these could provide both training and diagnostic tools. One such tool could allow hazardous-materials teams to simulate the dispersion of a biochemical agent over a city and visualize the effects of weather in real time. An example of this is the Lawrence Livermore National Lab visualization system used after the Chernobyl disaster to track the radioactive cloud around the world. -Anonymous
• Since the terrorists use our technology, I think the programmers in the US could get together and create programs that sniff email, computer systems, cellular phones, and bank accounts for terrorist plans, then disable them with viruses and worms, and basically make their lives and plans impossible. -Thomas Morrissey
• There are those in the development community that could help our government track, trace, and possibly capture much of the flow of information between operatives. We hear every day of viruses that are being created to shut down corporations. Why couldn’t this energy be put to use in this situation? I realize that many of the individuals that write viruses are “mavericks.” But I think that everyone in the software business needs to band together to prevent the recent events from occurring again. -Terry Krebs
• The high-end fx community could be put to use in creating “disinformation” aimed at our enemies. Using digital technology in this way is an idea that I first became aware of in a novel by Caleb Carr entitled Killing Time, in which a band of righteous scholars take it upon themselves to digitally alter and manufacture information in order to keep balance in the world. -Andrew Deal, AFD Creative
• Computer graphics tools and techniques can be effective in improving and accelerating the military decision-making pro cess, which involves four steps: observation, orientation, de cision, and action. In observation, GPS data-collection systems can greatly im prove our ability to locate and utilize geographic information with great precision. In orientation, large-scale displays-such as video walls and reality cen ters-can play an important role in creating a big picture for group understanding of where targets are, what is around them, and how to get to them. In decision-making, videoconferencing and simulation techniques can enable teamwork and coordination with forces and allies in far-flung geographic locations. Action can be monitored by computer graphics in real time, and instant feedback can be provided to commanders on how plans are proceeding. Finally, computer graphics also plays a vital role in mission rehearsal, during which pilots, tank drivers, and ship handlers can rehearse and evaluate a plan in a virtual environment with human-in-the-loop response, and see photorealistic terrain and environments to help ensure first-time success. -Francis X. Govers III, SGI
• The FAA, local police, as well as our rail, trucking, vehicle-rental, and vehicle-safety agencies, all need to get tied to a global tracking network. Look at Intergraph’s suite of geographic information systems and mapping products tied to Oracle’s graphics object-oriented database with US Customs and allies tracking travelers as dynamic objects on a world grid. Objects have attributes that can tie to security database flags. The programs are there, and these two companies have a long history of service to intelligence operations around the world. -Lloyd Philpo’t, Philpo Design
• Computer graphic artists are well known for being able to alter reality. How about if we were to take all the photos of known or suspected terrorists and use computer graphics to alter their appearances in as many believable ways as possible. These altered images could help to serve in tracking down and identifying terrorists. -Craig Ehrman, Gensia Sicor
• A single look at the video from any security camera shows clearly that the ONLY thing clear in those pictures is the immediate need for on-the-fly video compression in that industry, so that law enforcement gets usable information. Otherwise, these cameras are little better than the fake ones some businesses use. -William M. Bennett, The Bennett Group
• The first thing that I think of is contingency planning in architecture. We already model projects the size of the World Trade Center. The architect should be able to subject a virtual building to any attack. Name a credible threat. Can the building withstand it per code? Name an incredible threat. How will the building perform even then. -Christopher Church
• I think computer graphics can help prevent terrorism by not letting people forget what happened in NYC. One way to do this would be to rebuild the World Trade Center twin towers virtually and put inside every person who died, exactly where they use to work. -Stefano De Troia, Italy
• Within our professional realm, we should refuse to design or execute work that condones random violence and racism. Such images can lead to a naive and indiscriminate view of other people and cultures. We should research how to make peaceful interaction into best-selling games and animations. How can we ever, after September 11, blow up virtual buildings and people and call that entertaining? -Mechthild Schmidt, House-Works Digital Media
• Computer graphics in conjunction with the Internet can be used as a new tool to promote human understanding and cooperation. The Internet was built from the ground up with the goal of connecting people and allowing them to share information. It excels at this like no other technology. Computer graphics allow people to share their thoughts in exacting clarity. It excels at this like no other technology. If we marry the two, humankind has a means of understanding such as we have never known before. The ultimate deterrent to terrorism lies in understanding. This proposed use of technology to promote understanding is no different from our use of technology to solve any other problem. This is our new and universal challenge. How vital is it that we all understand each other? Is there really any other goal that is more important? -John Price, Net3D Productions

Mind Game recounts the story of Nishi, a wienerish manga artist who’s too shy to confess his love for his childhood friend Myon. After a chance meeting, they go to the yakitori restaurant that Myon runs with her sister Yan and her pathetic, egocentric father, who is wanted by the yakuzos. The gangsters show up, and in a weird twist of events Nishi is murdered in one of the most degrading manners conceivable. After a brief stint in the afterlife, Nishi makes a break for it back to earth with a new lease on life and the balls to match. He rescues everyone and skips off with Myon and Yan in the gangsters’ car, but the yakuzos are soon on his tail. The chase goes well for Nishi and crew until they ramp off a bridge and are swallowed by a huge whale. There they make friends with a fellow Jonah and settle in for a long, fascinating stay.

This movie is brilliant for more reasons than I can even begin to describe. Masaaki employs a dazzling array of anime styles and techniques, tampering joyfully and explosively with everything his medium has to offer. To watch this film is to examine life through more colorful lenses than I almost thought possible to the imagination. Masaaki dances between perspectives, flits along mad tangential flights of fancy, peeks incessantly at bright possible-worlds, back-flips through reminiscences, makes unthinkable connections, and somehow, incredibly, still leaves much to the imagination.

Anifest India '08

Anifest India explores challenging ideas from a wide range of artistic and intellectual perspectives, including traditional mediums, cutting edge technology, production and management, education, film appreciation and associated crafts. Festival participants are encouraged to view the art of animation and the world in new ways, and to approach the task with the vitality, humor and candor one finds in conversations among close friends.

The festival will take place in the picturesque IIT, Powai campus in Mumbai between August 15-17, 2008, and in the pipeline are dynamic speakers internationally renowned for their talent and accomplishments. The festival’s artistic lineup will be announced shortly.

“We were exhilarated by the stupendous success of our festival the past year, and are all geared up for an action-packed version 2008,” said TASI Secretary Ranjit Singh, who is scheduled to make his first appearance as a speaker this year on production management and control. “Based on the positive response from participants so far, I am confident the festival will be an even greater success this year.” he added.

Vaibhav Kumaresh, the Joint Secretary of TASI talks about IP, focusing on creation rather than marketing and copyright protection. “First get the ball rolling (create IP) then start playing the game (owning and marketing IP)” says Vaibhav whose studio has been producing successful original content ever since their inception. Their creations like Simpu and Mangal Pandu are household names.

According to the NASSCOM report on animation the Indian Animation Industry Expected to Reach USD 950 Million by 2009. The market size of the global animation industry (from the demand perspective) was estimated at USD 55 billion in 2005. The industry is expected to witness a CAGR of eight percent and is estimated to be USD 75 billion by 2009. Of the total animation market, approximately 40- 45 percent goes towards the cost of development. Based on this, the global animation market (from the developers’ perspective) was estimated at USD 25 billion in 2005, and is expected to increase to USD 35 billion by 2009.

The size of the Indian animation market is expected to witness a CAGR of 35 percent from 2005-2009 and increase to USD 950 million by 2009. Currently, activities at the production stage form a major portion of outsourcing, with postproduction accounting for a small share. The share of post-production activities is expected to increase in future. The entertainment sector contributes as much as 68 percent of the total Indian animation market (from the developers’ perspective). In entertainment, the share of fully animated movies is expected to increase significantly, from 15 percent in 2005 to 28 percent by 2009.

At Anifest India 2008 a new attraction is the Dedicated Interactive Session for added excitement and fun. The TVCA Awards which are unique to Anifest India have also seen some additions this year where the audience votes for the prize-winning film! All pre-selected films for the competition are also screened for the audience. This year a new category has been introduced: Commissioned Films which include animated ad films, promos, packaging, music videos and public service films. Last Date for entries: 5th August 2008. TASI takes a very holistic view towards animation and strives to involve all those who are connected to the industry in some form or other. If you are interested in supporting the festival

Volunteer
As a festival volunteer, you will have a hands-on role in implementing the Anifest India vision. Whether you are interested in a year-round volunteer leadership position or would just like to contribute a few hours during the week of the festival, your involvement is a fun way to support the festival and meet people who share your interest in the arts. To volunteer, simply get in touch with the our Volunteer Co-ordinator Devang Parikh.

Attend
Your presence in the festival audience is one of the most important ways you can support TASI’s efforts. Check out their events calendar and bring your friends and family along to share the experience when the curtain rises this Independence Day!

Be there or be square!

shooting film - Cameras record the action going on.
in a realtime 3d – the time needed for the computer to transform the abstract data into a 3-dimensional visible representation is so little that you do not notice it. The whole calculation takes less than 1/10th of a second. Thus the term “realtime”.
virtual environment – the actors aren’t human, but virtual Avatars or Objects, controlled by user input or scripting and act in a virtual world that is simulated using a computer game.

Machinima (pronounced [mə.ˈʃiː.nə.mə] or [mə.ˈʃɪ.nə.mə]), a portmanteau of machine cinema or machine animation, is both a collection of associated production techniques and a film genre defined by those techniques.

Actually, it was a typo thing that led to the integration of the term animation. Originally the word “machinima” was just machine and cinema. But somehow it’s fashionable and nice to have animation in there, right?

Ways to make Machinima

As you probably learned before, machinima is filmmaking in a virtual environment. To clear things up, let’s talk a bit more in detail about how machinima movies can actually be produced and what ways there are to do machinima. Generally speaking, there a two main ways to produce a machinima movie:

1. Live Action Machinima

• The action takes place in a networked computer game, mainly using a FPS game. Every player controls a virtual character via mouse and keyboard commands.
• Each actor uses a headset with a microphone to perform dialogue, if there is any. Though, sometimes the dialogue is added later in “Postproduction”.
• One of the players is serving as the cameraman/-woman. His/her point of view is recorded to tape (or harddisk) and represents the “film-footage”.
• Most of the time, the settings and characters are taken from the game that’s being used for filming.

This way of making machinima is easy to learn and feels close to “real-life” filmmaking. It has room for spontaneity and improvisation and adds that human touch to the behaviour of your actors. Probably the best known example of “Live Action” machinima is the series “Red vs. Blue” Using the XBOX console, the game Halo and no further technical tricks, the series quickly managed to become the best known machinima piece to date.

2. Scripted Machinima

• Each actor is controlled through a pre-defined script, telling him what to do and when.
• The script can be set up either via the game mechanics or by using the game’s Modding Tools. Cameras can be assigned to pre-defined paths and actions can be triggered through scripts as well. Sounds and music can often be imported into the game.
• Using scripts, some movies run entirely in the game environment that they are created in without the need to record “footage”.
• Also, scripted movies often allow for a higher level of customisation, as most tools let you import your own characters, animations, and/or textures.

Scripted machinimas have that big advantage that you need only one person to make one. However, the technical problems inevitably linked to the use of Modding Tools are a big price to pay for your artistic freedom.

Machinima’s future

If you think machinima is cool, just think about how cool it gets with all the fancy new tehnology that is being developed right now! Machinima’s future is closely linked to developments in the gaming world. Looking at the techdemos of today means looking at the machinima movies of tomorrow. However machinima’s future is not limited to what we see at gaming conventions or next generation game trailers. There’s a lot of scientific development ranging from artificial intelligence to automated storytelling that will ultimately lead to even easier ways to make movies. Here are some points and hints that you might want to think about:

• more complex physical simulation, including more realistic lighting with more advanced rendering hardware
• intuitive tools through visual high level scripting and better integration of filmmaking options into games
• more content in games with more flexible ways to use – more animations, more characters, more detail
• new forms of linear and non-linear stories emerging from mixing both worlds together – think talkshows, documentaries, etc.

Social Impact

Machinima is not just a new technique, it’s a whole new approach to filmmaking. Some might call it revolutionary, others a simple hype. Fact is though, that machinima is shaping today’s (and maybe tomorrow’s) culture. Here are some areas that machinima definetly has an impact on:

• machinima resembles Film inside the new medium computer game.
• it provides necessary criticism to computer games from people that are actually playing computer games and thus, know what they’re talking about.
• machinima further adds democracy to filmmaking, enabling nearly anyone with a computer and a suitable game to make a movie.
• Game technology is not just providing visual quality but is integrated in the very content of the medium itself. Think of in-game movies that play differently each time they run!
• it is a prime example of a new way of distributing a niche product and gaining a worldwide audience for your creative productions.
• it raises the question of intellectual property rights and the necessity of finding new ways to copyright IP. Mostly using IP from the game itself, machinima is one of lots of newly emerging forms of remixing and re-contextualisation.

i. preparation of a platform for creative design development, design promotion and partnerships across many sectors, states, and regions for integrating design with traditional and technological resources;
ii. presentation of Indian designs and innovations on the international arena through strategic integration and cooperation with international design organizations;
iii. global positioning and branding of Indian designs and making ‘Designed in India’ a by-word for quality and utility in conjunction with ‘Made in India’ and ‘Served from India’;
iv. promotion of Indian design through a well defined and managed regulatory, promotional and institutional framework;
v. raising Indian design education to global standards of excellence;
vi. creation of original Indian designs in products and services drawing upon India’s rich craft traditions and cultural heritage;
vii. making India a major hub for exports and outsourcing of designs and creative process for achieving a design-enabled innovation economy;
viii. enhancing the overall tangible and intangible quality parameters of products and services through design;
ix. creation of awareness among manufacturers and service providers, particularly SMEs and cottage industries, about the competitive advantage of original designs;
x. attracting investments, including foreign direct investments, in design services and design related R&D;
xi. involving industry and professional designers in the collaborative development of the design profession.

The strategy to achieve this vision would focus on strengthening quality design education at different levels, encouraging use of designs by small scale and cottage industries and crafts, facilitating active involvement of industry and designers in the development of the design profession, branding and positioning of Indian design within India and overseas, enhancing design and design service exports, and creating an enabling environment that recognizes and rewards original designs.

Draft National Design Policy (pdf) (dated October 2005)

Korea: Design Policy Plan
Dutch Design Foundation’s Policy Plan

John Thackara on Design Policy
Bureau of European Designers Association on Design Policy

UK Design Council: Design policy actions for Government
Japan: Toward the New Design of Competition Policy

One of these is rough and ready, close to painting slogans on a wall, and is clearly seeking self-advertisement; this type of work is the work of those who leave their signature or tag and are the original graffiti writers, aware that what they do is illegal and therefore unpopular; “Nobody likes having graffiti painted on their door”. Serving the community, or making space available for free expression in the centre and outskirts of cities could be an alternative.

The other extreme is more sophisticated and nearer to painting murals, which for centuries was a synonym for painting. This type has an aesthetic objective, forms part of the architectural structure, is inscribed on walls and their surroundings and fulfills pre-determined functions.

Urban graffiti has been evolving and the side effects have included commercial and aesthetic interests; the primitive gesture of modern graffiti, the self-expression of those who feel themselves to be a minority, the search for the respect and recognition of fellow-citizens, give a sense of sub-culture to dissident groups or those who feel excluded from the established system. This artistic manifestation of popular culture is analysed by anthropologists as having documentary value, and is also appreciated by sociologists and historians as bearing witness to the present times. From an artistic viewpoint, it offers an evocative wealth of graphic contamination, “The roots, trunk and branches of a movement called graffiti” have developed easily identifiable styles; for this to happen, there must be dialogue and mixing, critical and intense interchange, between graffiti writers and the society in which they live. Some predators, aware of this reality, creative designers in publishing and advertising were the first to phagocyte images and attitudes for application in publicity campaigns with sales methods aimed at the highest spending sectors of the consumer market. Paradoxically, many youth who started by painting illegally in the streets have ended up working in advertising or designing. Others have taken up painting or sculpture as a continuation of their adolescent enthusiasm for graffiti.