An intuitive computer animation system for enhancing human creativity

Abstract

Computer animation can be used in a wide variety of applications, including storytelling. However, even producing low-quality computer animation requires a significant effort by professional users. Although it should be a tool capable of enhancing creativity in anyone, it is currently too difficult for some users. This paper presents a framework for a computer animation system that can reduce the difficulty of animation authoring, bringing such tasks within the reach of users at all levels. With this framework, users can focus on the story alone, rather than on details of the animation-creation method. The proposed system can therefore enhance users' creativity in story creation. The proposed framework comprises three modules, namely modeling, motion, and animation. Interaction with these modules is via simple actions, enabling computer animation to be created by anyone. A users' study is also presented in this paper to measure the performance of the proposed system in terms of ease of use and the capacity to enhance human creativity. © 2013 IEEE.