My First Incarnation

This is a video of the first incarnation of my Masters project, which at the time was just my final project for my animation course. At this stage I had the camera follow a buggy which was moving on an obstacle course. I had both the X and Z direction tracking of the subject as this point using the PD servo:

F = K(P_d-P_a) + B(0-V_a)

P_d is desired position, the subject's current position with an offset
P_a is the camera carts current position
V_a is the camera carts current velocity

Here are the some videos of my animation project:

Naive camera with simple position copying with an offset:

Physics based (PD Servo) Camera with no user input:

Physics based Camera with camera rotation only:

Physics based Camera with user input for camera boom pivoting:

Master Project in Animation: Cinimatic Camera

My master project in animation will be a physics based camera system. I will try to simulate a camera cart using Open Dynamics System. ODE will provide physics simulation for both the subject and the camera. The camera cart will follow a target using a PD servo. The cart will be based on a real life camera cart that is used in feature films. The goal of simulating real world camera carts is to capture the flavor of the Hollywood Cinematography.