CG - How to make it?

People like to watch movie. And for some people like animate, they also want to watch their favorite characters on the scene.  The first animate movie that I watched was Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and I was deeply shocked by the movie because all the scenes and characters are so real. It feels like is I am watching a real life movie.

To accomplish that, a key technique, CG--Computer generated, is needed for those special effects in films. And it is a complex process that takes several steps in order to complete an animation.

The most important part of CG animation is to create the CG model and lay out. The characters and backgrounds for the scene will “get rendered” in 3D. Animators use computers to build a basic model of each 3D character in the scene. They will usually use a reference source, such as a 2D drawing or clay sculpture, while creating the 3D model. Sometimes, they also use modeling done in a green room to study the actions and movement patterns, which makes it easier for the animations to look realistic.

Once the characters and backgrounds are made, it begins to layout. Characters are placed in the correct spots, and the camera angles for every frame are decided. Then, a rough cut of the scene is played out in 3D. There is no lighting, details, or motions on the characters yet. 

It’s kind of like playing house with a Barbie doll. The model can be picked up and moved to different spots, but there is no actual animation aside from pushing a character from one place to another. This gives animators a basic idea of how the scene will look in 3D. After a screening of the scene, some things may be altered and tweaked to fit in the next scene. 

So one scene for a animate movie is made. The concept behind it seems easy but to actually generate a character model or background through computer takes tremendous hard work. And thanks to the modern computer technology, we are able to enjoy animates that look just like realistic. 

Reference:

1.http://sim4130.cgsociety.org/art/blade-master-realtime-character--modeling-3d-935405

2.http://felixhonda.com/cg-model-ac-game-charater/

3.http://multimediamcc.com/old-students/ashaver/3d_process.html

4.https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/CG

About our computer: What is a mouse?

Once up a time, when you see a mouse, the first thing you would do is definitely scream or jump on the desk or run away. Today, the mouse actually jump on your desk: it also has a long tail and a round body, but it is one of the most useful items on your desk now.

To better understand the device that we use to write program, it is useful to learn how every part of the computer works and what they can do that will help us have a better use of it.

A mouse is something you push along your desktop to make a cursor move on your screen. So its job is to figure out how much you're moving your hand and in which direction. There are two main kinds of mice and they do this job in two different ways, either using a rolling rubber ball (in a ball-type mouse) or by bouncing a light off your desk (in an optical mouse). Nowadays, most of the computer are equipped with an optical mouse because it is more precise and more durable.

An optimal mouse has a LED light that bounces light off that surface onto a sensor called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS). The sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis. It is able to detect patterns in the images and see how those patterns change compared to the previous ones. Based on the change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer.

As for how a mouse can be useful in computer science during programming, it allows us to gain more information and command from the users. All what we have covered in class is to make programs that relate to "command line" or "scanner" that input numbers or strings. Mouse can be another great source of command that allows us to realize more different ways of getting information.

Java has a lot of different operations related to mouse movement. There is a class "MouseEvent" that traces a mouse action occurred in a component. And there are a lot of different types that we can use to improve our program. As we learn more and more into computer science and java, mouse is going to be a useful tool for us to program. 

Reference:

1.http://www.explainthatstuff.com/computermouse.html

2.http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question631.htm

        

Every day, you type in dozens of messages on your mobile phone, and most of the time, you do it wrong—you mistype, misspell, or make some other kind of error that will make you embarrass. Most of the time, your phone steps in to save the day. Thanks to the genius of autocorrect, you can feel free to type "thw" or "unviersity" without embarrassment.

So how does autocorrect works? The basic algorithm behind autocorrect is pretty simple. The system is essentially the same as a word processor's spell checker—as you type, the system checks each word against a built-in dictionary, and it suggests alternatives when it doesn't find a match. Many phones will also try to predict what you're going for and suggest a word before you've finished typing it.

A correct dictionary and an accurate "language model" that determines which words to suggest are the essential part of autocorrect. To build a dictionary suitable for users would be to collect and analyze a large sample of words that people actually type in to their devices. The dictionary will pay attention to when you recorrect a corrected word, and learn never to offer that faulty choice again. For example, it will also note the proper nouns in your address book and avoid suggesting alternatives for those.

         Here is a quote from the internet about how to transform a word that you put in.

         So we can tell that there are so many possibilities of transformation for a word. It is easy for autocorrect to make the wrong suggestion. And actually during my research I have found a lot of funny autocorrect fails in the internet. But we shouldn't expect too much from the autocorrect because we are actually the source of its dictionary. The computer just did the memorizing and parsing to find out the most often used suggestion for us. The system isn't going to be perfect but it is really useful. 

(A Funny autocorrect fail)

Photo Reference:

1.http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/31961/tip-day-how-teach-ios-autocorrect-new-words

2.www.damnyouautocorrect.com/

Writing Reference:

1.https://www.quora.com/How-are-typing-auto-correct-or-suggest-algorithms-implemented

2.http://smallbusiness.chron.com/googles-autocorrect-work-59730.html

What is Wireless?

On September 7th, Apple held its 2016 announcement and released the newest Apple product including iPhone 7 and Apple Watch 2. These are all we have expected because it is the time for Apple to introduce its new product. However one expected change is that, the new iPhone 7 will not have a traditional headphone and promote the use of wireless earphone called Airpods. The firm said it had taken "courage" to make this move because people have been used to use their headphone. This is definitely one big change in the cell phone industry.

However what is "wireless" and how can we listen to music or make phone call without having a wire connecting the cell phone and earphone? Lets take a look of what "wireless" is.

Wireless networks are computer networks that are not connected to each others by cables or wires. The use of wireless enables companies to avoid introducing cables into their rooms as connection for the equipment. The basis of computer wireless system is radio wave, an implementation that takes place at the physical level of network structure.It take a wireless transmitter to generate radio waves that contain information or data and a receiver to capture those radio waves, extract the desired signals and then play them.

Wireless technology is rapidly evolving and is playing an increasingly important role in the lives of people around the world. Wireless network enables us to use internet anywhere rather than relying on the cables that restrict us. And it is a a huge leap for the computer science technology. It widens the range of what computer can do. With the benefit of wireless network, scientists are able to develop more advanced technologies that relate to the physical world.



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Photo Reference
1.http://www.businessinsider.com/airpods-apple-unveils-new-wireless-earbuds-2016-9
2.https://millgate.co.uk/network-wireless-networking

Writing Reference
1.How does a transmitter and receiver work? https://www.quora.com/How-does-a-transmitter-and-receiver-work
2.Wireless network https://www.techopedia.com/definition/26186/wireless-network