Visual effects | EPFL Graph Search

Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action footage or CGI elements to create realistic imagery is called VFX. VFX involves the integration of live-action footage (which may include in-camera special effects) and generated-imagery (digital or optics, animals or creatures) which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, time-consuming or impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using (CGI) have more recently become accessible to the independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable and relatively easy-to-use animation and compositing software. History Special effects Early developments In 1857, Oscar Rejlander created the world's first "special effects" image by combining different sections of 32 negatives into a single image, making a

Precipitation, Characterization, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Modelling of Synthetic C-S-H Systems (C-S-H, CASH, CSH+$)

Maya Nicole Harris

This thesis investigates the effects of aluminates, sulfates, and heterogeneous substrates on the nucleation and growth of synthetic calcium-silicate-hydrates (C-S-H) produced by dropwise precipitation. The use of synthetic C-S-H, separate from other cementitious phases, allows formation mechanisms and kinetics effects to be investigated in a simplified system. The addition of other ions and substrates then allows an approach to the more complicated, multi-phase system of cement and concrete. The first goal of this thesis was to reproducibly synthesize single-phase C-S-H with Ca:Si from 1 to 2. Guidelines were described for collection, drying, and handling of the precipitates to prevent the formation of Ca(OH)2 during synthesis and minimize carbonation. Interlayer spacing in precipitates was studied by transmission XRD to compare the effects of Ca:Si, relative humidity, and time, using the 14Å tobermorite structure as a baseline for synthetic C-S-H. The growth and nucleation kinetics of C-S-H were then investigated with the combined thermodynamic and population balance equation model (PBEM). The surface characteristics of C-S-H, C-A-S-H, and C-S-H +

were investigated by acoustophoresis to compare the effects of Ca:Si, washing, and dispersion media on zeta potential measurements. Results showed the necessity of full characterization of both solutions and precipitates in order to understand and compare acoustophoresis results. In the final section of the thesis C-S-H, C-A-S-H, and C-S-H +

were grown on the surface of heterogeneous substrates, quartz and calcite, to approach C-S-H growth in real systems. Overall, the results from this thesis provided helpful information on synthetic C-S-H, C-A-S-H, and C-S-H + $ at the full range of Ca:Si molar ratios, particularly ratios above 1.5, as observed in Portland cement. As we get closer to understanding and controlling C-S-H in real systems, this work will help provide insight as to how heterogenous substrates and aluminates introduced by SCMs, in addition to sulfates, commonly added to cement via gypsum, affect the early age strength and kinetics of C-S-H formation.

EPFL2022

Tuning of temporo-occipital activity by frontal oscillations during virtual mirror exposure causes erroneous self-recognition

Olaf Blanke, Bruno Herbelin, Mariia Kaliuzhna, Noriaki Kanayama, Andrea Serino, Anna Sforza, Michiel van Elk

Self-face recognition, a hallmark of self-awareness, depends on 'off-line' stored information about one's face and 'on-line' multisensory-motor face-related cues. The brain mechanisms of how on-line sensory-motor processes affect off-line neural self-face representations are unknown. This study used 3D virtual reality to create a 'virtual mirror' in which participants saw an avatar's face moving synchronously with their own face movements. Electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis during virtual mirror exposure revealed mu oscillations in sensory-motor cortex signalling on-line congruency between the avatar's and participants' movements. After such exposure and compatible with a change in their off-line self-face representation, participants were more prone to recognize the avatar's face as their own, and this was also reflected in the activation of face-specific regions in the inferotemporal cortex. Further EEG analysis showed that the on-line sensory-motor effects during virtual mirror exposure caused these off-line visual effects, revealing the brain mechanisms that maintain a coherent self-representation, despite our continuously changing appearance.

Wiley-Blackwell2015

Specular Manifold Sampling for Rendering High-Frequency Caustics and Glints

Wenzel Alban Jakob, Tizian Lucien Zeltner

Scattering from specular surfaces produces complex optical effects that are frequently encountered in realistic scenes: intricate caustics due to focused reflection, multiple refraction, and high-frequency glints from specular microstructure. Yet, despite their importance and considerable research to this end, sampling of light paths that cause these effects remains a formidable challenge. In this article, we propose a surprisingly simple and general sampling strategy for specular light paths including the above examples, unifying the previously disjoint areas of caustic and glint rendering into a single framework. Given two path vertices, our algorithm stochastically finds a specular subpath connecting the endpoints. In contrast to prior work, our method supports high-frequency normal- or displacement-mapped geometry, samples specular-diffuse-specular ("SDS") paths, and is compatible with standard Monte Carlo methods including unidirectional path tracing. Both unbiased and biased variants of our approach can be constructed, the latter often significantly reducing variance, which may be appealing in applied settings (e.g. visual effects). We demonstrate our method on a range of challenging scenes and evaluate it against state-of-the-art methods for rendering caustics and glints.

ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY2020

Precipitation, Characterization, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Modelling of Synthetic C-S-H Systems (C-S-H, CASH, CSH+$)

Maya Nicole Harris

were investigated by acoustophoresis to compare the effects of Ca:Si, washing, and dispersion media on zeta potential measurements. Results showed the necessity of full characterization of both solutions and precipitates in order to understand and compare acoustophoresis results. In the final section of the thesis C-S-H, C-A-S-H, and C-S-H +

EPFL2022