Optimizing water simulation for visual effects through perception studies
Translated title
optimering af vand simulationer gennem perceptions studier
Author
Heilemann, Anders
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2011
Submitted on
2011-10-03
Pages
46
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, om tilstedeværelsen af objekter, der er vigtige for historiens handling i en video (f.eks. en båd), påvirker, hvordan seere vurderer kvaliteten af baggrundselementer som en vand-simulation. Målet var at give retningslinjer til små og mellemstore visuelle effekter-studier, så de kan optimere ydeevnen af deres vand-simulationer. Teorien bygger på uopmærksomhedsblindhed (man overser detaljer, når opmærksomheden er bundet til noget andet) og guided search (opmærksomhed styres af opgave-relevante og iøjnefaldende ting): Jo vigtigere et objekt er for historien, jo mere opmærksomhed får det, og jo mindre opmærksomhed får miljøet omkring det. Der blev lavet fire videoer med samme scene: en flod, der løber mod et vandfald; to med lav simulationskvalitet og to med høj. I én video i hver kvalitet flød en båd ned ad floden. Hypotesen var, at når båden var med, ville seerne lægge mindre mærke til vandets kvalitet. Resultaterne bekræftede teorien delvist: Deltagerne vurderede vandets kvalitet ens i lavkvalitetsversionerne, både med og uden båd. Flertallet kommenterede også, at bådens tilstedeværelse påvirkede deres evne til at huske kvaliteten af båden. Specialet konkluderer, at uopmærksomhedsblindhed er relevant for produktion af computergrafik, men at der kræves yderligere undersøgelser for præcist at forstå effekten.
This thesis examines whether story-relevant objects in a video (such as a boat) influence how viewers judge the quality of background elements like a water simulation. The goal was to provide guidelines for small- to mid-sized visual effects studios to optimize the performance of their water simulations. The theory draws on inattentional blindness (people miss details when attention is focused elsewhere) and guided search (attention is steered by task-relevant and salient items): the more important an object is to the story, the more attention it attracts, and the less attention the surrounding environment receives. Four videos were created with the same scene—a river flowing toward a waterfall—two with low simulation quality and two with high. One video in each quality level included a boat floating down the river. The hypothesis was that when the boat was present, viewers would notice the water’s quality less. The results partially confirmed this: participants rated the water quality the same in the low-quality versions, with and without the boat. Most participants also commented that the boat’s presence affected their ability to remember the quality of the boat. The thesis concludes that inattentional blindness is relevant to computer graphics production, but further research is needed to determine its exact impact.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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