Notes for Wednesday November 4 class -- Animation and Geometry with Splines

We spent the class working in Javascript, first to build the framework for evaluating Catmull-Rom splines, then to use them for animation, and finally to use them to create a "lathe" shape -- a surface of revolution.

We also added sliders to the scene, so that users can vary different values from the HTML page.

At the end of the class, we did a brief introduction to bicubic spline patch surfaces.

I am including all of the code that we implemented for you to build on. Consider it a start kit for your next assignment.

Homework

Due next Wednesday before the start of class

Start with the included code in hw9.zip.

Use splines to create animations, and optionally to create geometry and do various kinds of user interaction.

I am giving you a lot of leeway in this assignment to be creative. Try to make something fun and different, and that ideally tells a story.

Some ideas:

  • Use multiple splines to animate the joint angles of a jointed figure over time.
  • Build various geometric objects that use splines in their construction.
  • Create objects from splines that change over time, so that your objects change shape over time.
  • Use the mouse to create and position key points, and then animate an object along a spline through those points.
  • Instead of Catmull-Rom splines, try implementing and using Bezier or Hermite splines.