Thesis. 1978. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 156-159. / M.S.

L’objet d’étude de cette thèse de doctorat est la traduction audiovisuelle et concerne plus particulièrement la réception du doublage par le destinataire « spécial » du corpus analysé, l’enfant. Le sous-titre du travail –une étude sur la réception– révèle son caractère empirique et expérimental, dont l’objectif principal est d’analyser empiriquement la réaction du jeune public face à des solutions de traduction qui viennent régulièrement adoptées dans les doublages du cinéma d’animation. L’utilisation de certaines stratégies et techniques de traduction peuvent se rapprocher ou s’éloigner du récepteur : on cherchera à évaluer dans quelle mesure celles-ci facilitent leur compréhension, lui font rire ou pleurer et, finalement, lui amusent. Le succès d’un long-métrage pour enfants n’est aperçu aujourd’hui qu’à travers les entrées au box-office et les ventes des films sur le marché vidéo des DVD, Blu-Ray et VOD. Afin de combler ce manque, nous avons décidé de mener à bien une expérience auprès d’enfants auxquels nous avons projeté quelques extraits de long-métrages doublés en espagnol. Ils ont ensuite rempli un questionnaire apte à leur stade de développement cognitif, nous aidant à déterminer quelles informations les participants ont-ils acquises en regardant les films. On cherchera ainsi à mieux connaître la répercussion des choix de traduction les plus habituels chez les traducteurs audiovisuels de films d’animation pour enfants. / Audiovisual Translation is the main subject of study of this research, evaluating more particularly the reception of dubbing by a “special” audience of the analyzed corpus, the child. The subtitle of the work –end user perception– reveals its empirical and experimental nature, our main goal being to empirically analyze the reaction of young people to some of the translation’s choices regularly adopted in dubbing animated films. Certain translation strategies and techniques may be used to reach or repel the audience: we will try to examine how they help understanding, make laugh or cry, and ultimately entertain the child.Nowadays, the only way to know if a children film is successful is by checking theaters’ box office and DVD, Blu-ray and VOD sales. In order to fill this gap, we have decided to perform an experiment with children which include the screening of some film clips dubbed in Spanish. Then, they have completed a specific questionnaire adapted to their cognitive development, which helped us to determine the information learned by the experience’s through the film. We thus seek to better understand the impact of the translation’s choices frequently made by audiovisual translators of animated films for children. / La presente tesis doctoral centra su atención en el estudio de la traducción audiovisual, concretamente en el ámbito de la recepción del doblaje por parte de un destinatario final especial, el niño. El subtítulo del trabajo –un estudio de recepción– revela el carácter empírico y experimental del mismo, pues se pretende analizar empíricamente la reacción del público infantil ante algunas soluciones de traducción que se adoptan habitualmente en el cine de animación. El empleo de ciertas estrategias y técnicas de traducción pueden conllevar un acercamiento o alejamiento del producto al receptor, y no sabemos en qué medida éstas facilitan la comprensión, hacen reír o llorar y, en última instancia, entretienen.Hoy en día sólo podemos inferir el éxito de un largometraje para niños, y de su doblaje, a través de su recaudación en taquilla y de las posteriores ventas en el mercado doméstico de DVD, Blu-Ray y plataformas de vídeo por Internet. Con objeto de arrojar luz sobre este ámbito, se ha diseñado un experimento que muestra la reacción de los espectadores infantiles ante un estímulo audiovisual traducido, utilizando como sistema de evaluación un cuestionario adaptado a su desarrollo cognitivo. De este modo, se pretende obtener información acerca de la repercusión de las opciones traductológicas por las que suelen decantarse los traductores audiovisuales de películas de animación para niños.

Cette recherche impliquée et impliquante nous a permis d’aborder « Les conceptions de l’animation socioculturelle dans les formations à l’animation de niveau III, Bac +2, à travers des formations proposées par des universités et des organismes de formation ». C’est à travers les différents contextes de formation, les valeurs défendues dans le métier d’animateur et de coordinateur, ainsi que les rapports théories et pratiques, que nous avons pu analyser le point de vue des étudiants et stagiaires avant la formation, et après la formation suivie.Nous avons pu comparer les décalages existants entre les curriculums formels, réels et cachés de ces formations, mais aussi établir des nuances dans les conceptions de l’animation socioculturelle à travers le macrosociologique et le microsociologique. / This implied research and impliquante allowed us to approach «The conceptions of the sociocultural animation in the trainings in the level animation III, Bac + 2, through trainings proposed by universities and bodies of training”.It is through the various contexts of training, the values defended in the profession by presenter and by coordinator, as well as reports theories and practices, that we were able to analyze the point of view of the students and the trainees before the training, and after the followed training.We were able to compare the existing gaps between curricula formal, real and hidden from these trainings, but also to establish nuances in the conceptions of the sociocultural animation through the macrosociological and the microsociological..

Esta pesquisa se propõe a analisar os intercruzamentos entre o teatro de formas animadas e o cinema de animação por meio de suas conjecturas históricas, estéticas e operacionais, partindo do pressuposto de que as duas linguagens têm nas suas gêneses a anima. Para tal, foi realizado um mapeamento histórico e conceitual das duas linguagens, investigando os fatores que as bifurcam, as afastam e as imbricam, especialmente, por meio de uma amostragem de práticas artísticas do teatro de formas animadas, do cinema de animação e de modalidades identificadas como convergentes para o objeto, tais como os autômatos, tecnologias e virtualidade. Por uma questão metodológica da característica interdisciplinar do objeto e de sua extensão, fez-se necessário um recorte que parte do macro para o micro, elegendo uma amostragem que contempla o tripé conceitual, histórico e estético. Devido à área de cobertura do campo do objeto, a pesquisa aborda várias vertentes de conhecimentos vernaculares e atuais, teóricos e práticos, num movimento recorrentemente pendular. Assim, apresenta uma amostragem que teve como critério artistas de excelência que convergem para o objeto, entre eles: Lotte Reiniger, Ji?í Trnka, Norman McLaren, Jim Henson, Michel Ocelot, Tim Burton, Cia Lumbra e Cia Pequod, bem como outros exemplos esparsos. / This research aims to analyze the intercrosses between animation theater and animation cinema through its historical, aesthetic and operational assumptions, assuming that both languages have their genesis in the anima. For that, a historical and conceptual mapping of these languages was conducted, investigating the factors that bifurcate, and interweave them away, especially by means of a sampling of artistic practices of animation theater, animation cinema and modalities identified as converging to the object, such as automata, technology and virtuality. Because of a methodological question of the interdisciplinary characteristic of the object and its length, it was necessary that a cut of the macro to the micro were done, choosing a sample that includes the conceptual, historical and aesthetic tripod. Due to the coverage area of the object\'s field, this research addresses various aspects of vernacular and current knowledge, theoric and practical, in a recurrent pendulum motion. So, it presents a sampling that had as a criterion artists of excellence that converge to the object, including: Lotte Reiniger, Ji?í Trnka, Norman McLaren, Jim Henson, Michel Ocelot, Tim Burton, Cia Lumbra and Cia Pequod, as well as other scattered examples.

Computer animation has been limited almost exclusively to 2D and 3D. The tools for 3D computer animation have been largely in place for decades and are well-understood. Existing tools for visualizing 4D geometry include minimal animation features. Few tools have been designed specifically for animation of higher-dimensional objects, phenomena, or spaces. None have been designed to be familiar to 3D animators. A general-purpose 4D animation system can be expected to facilitate more widespread understanding of 4D geometry and space, can become the basis for creating unique 3D visual effects, and may offer new insight into 3D animation concepts. We have developed a software package that facilitates general-purpose animation in four spatial dimensions. Standard features from popular 3D animation software have been included and adapted, where appropriate. Many adaptations are trivial; some have required novel solutions. Several features that are possible only in four or more dimensions have been included. The graphical user interface has been designed to be familiar to experienced 3D animators. Keyframe animation is provided by using a set of curves that defines movement in each dimension or rotation plane. An interactive viewport offers multiple visualization methods including slicing and projection. The viewport allows for both manipulation of 4D objects and navigation through virtual 4D space.

In the transition between 2D and 3D animation animators tried to be able to replicate all of the styles and techniques in 3D that they utilized in 2D. Motion blur eventually came to replace a popular 2D technique known as a smear frame. A smear frame is much more than a path of motion or a blur though, it has a style that cannot be replicated with such methods. I present a creative project with the intent on creating 3D smear frames in a self-made character rig. In order to achieve this I will be designing, modeling, texturing, rigging, animating, and rendering the character of Champ Champions.

This thesis presents the work of incorporating facial animation with emotions into a neural text-to-speech pipeline. The project aims to allow for a digital human to utter sentences given only text, removing the need for video input. Our solution consists of a neural network able to generate blend shape weights from speech which is placed in a neural text-to-speech pipeline. We build on ideas from previous work and implement a recurrent neural network using four LSTM layers and later extend this implementation by incorporating emotions. The emotions are learned by the network itself via the emotion layer and used at inference to produce the desired emotion. While using LSTMs for speech-driven facial animation is not a new idea, it has not yet been combined with the idea of using emotional states that are learned by the network itself. Previous approaches are either only two-dimensional, of complicated design or require manual laboring of the emotional states. Thus, we implement a network of simple design, taking advantage of the sequence processing ability of LSTMs and combines it with the idea of emotional states. We trained several variations of the network on data captured using a head mounted camera, and the results of the best performing model were used in a subjective evaluation. During the evaluation the participants were presented several videos and asked to rate the naturalness of the face uttering the sentence. The results showed that the naturalness of the face greatly depends on which emotion vector was used, as some vectors limited the mobility of the face. However, our best achieving emotion vector was rated at the same level of naturalness as the ground truth, proving our method successful. The purpose of the thesis was fulfilled as our implementation demonstrates one possibility of incorporating facial animation into a text-to-speech pipeline.

This project is a creative production that combines image, sound, and narrative. It uses these elements to employ a twist as a device for a paradigm and genre shift in a short film text. My short film introduces a plot that is seemingly linear. Yet, the twist presents a piece of information that reveals the actual non-linear nature of the story, which in turn necessitates the re-interpretation of the plot. The aim of this project is to explore how a twist in a narrative-based short film can alter the cues and perceptions the audience receive from the plot. The project is predominantly practice-based (80%).

<p>Computer animated faces have found their way into a wide variety of areas. Starting from entertainment like computer games, through television and films to user interfaces using “talking heads”. Animated faces are also becoming popular in web applications in form of human-like assistants or newsreaders. </p><p>This thesis presents a few aspects of dealing with human face animations, namely: editing, playing and transmitting such animations. It describes a standard for handling human face animations, the MPEG-4 Face Animation, and shows the process of designing, implementing and evaluating applications compliant to this standard. </p><p>First, it presents changes introduced to the existing components of the Visage|toolkit package for dealing with facial animations, offered by the company Visage Technologies AB. It also presents the process of designing and implementing of an application for editing facial animations compliant to the MPEG-4 Face Animation standard. Finally, it discusses several approaches to the problem of streaming facial animations over the Internet or the Local Area Network (LAN).</p>

abstract With many visual speech animation techniques now available, there is a clear need for systematic perceptual evaluation schemes. We describe here our scheme and its application to a new video-realistic (potentially indistinguishable from real recorded video) visual-speech animation system, called Mary 101. Two types of experiments were performed: a) distinguishing visually between real and synthetic image- sequences of the same utterances, ("Turing tests") and b) gauging visual speech recognition by comparing lip-reading performance of the real and synthetic image-sequences of the same utterances ("Intelligibility tests"). Subjects that were presented randomly with either real or synthetic image-sequences could not tell the synthetic from the real sequences above chance level. The same subjects when asked to lip-read the utterances from the same image-sequences recognized speech from real image-sequences significantly better than from synthetic ones. However, performance for both, real and synthetic, were at levels suggested in the literature on lip-reading. We conclude from the two experiments that the animation of Mary 101 is adequate for providing a percept of a talking head. However, additional effort is required to improve the animation for lip-reading purposes like rehabilitation and language learning. In addition, these two tasks could be considered as explicit and implicit perceptual discrimination tasks. In the explicit task (a), each stimulus is classified directly as a synthetic or real image-sequence by detecting a possible difference between the synthetic and the real image-sequences. The implicit perceptual discrimination task (b) consists of a comparison between visual recognition of speech of real and synthetic image-sequences. Our results suggest that implicit perceptual discrimination is a more sensitive method for discrimination between synthetic and real image-sequences than explicit perceptual discrimination.