Keyframing Particles of Physically Based Systems

Abstract

This paper will present a way to use keyframing methods for particle motion to enhance the visual effects and user controllability of physically based particle systems. This will be done using an adaptive correction methodology. This will allow for three general types of keyframing: position to position, density to density, and boundary to boundary. While similar techniques have been explored in flocking behaviors and robotic motion planning, this paper implements them in conjunction with physically based systems and allows a comparison of particle based keyframing to keyframing achieved using other methodologies. To illustrate the technique we will present two examples. The first morphs between two particle images. The second forces a smoke-like substance to change into various letters of the alphabet. While these are specific examples the techniques presented herein should apply to most any particle based system to achieve a diverse range of effects.