Physics and Computing
in science and animation

We shall take a look at physics, and how it is relevant in computer science.

What is Physics

Physics is the study of nature.

It is about curiosity and logic: how nature works. The logic leads to the math behind physics, and the curious physicists find out the laws of nature.

The scope of physics is astounding:

All these are parts of nature, and all of them are described by math equations【1】.

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Feynman: A Graphic Novel (Jim Ottaviani, 2011. ISBN: 1596438274)
Richard Feynman won a Nobel prize in physics. When he was young, he taught his little sister math and physics. One evening he encountered the northern lights over a nearby golf course. He woke up his sister and took her to view the amazing sight. She was captivated. Later, when she was doing research in aurora, she requested her brother, whom she knew can solve any physics problem, to stay away from her topic. He kept his promise. Eventually his sister, Joan Feynman, became an astrophysicist. Her story is featured in【2】【3】, and the graphic novel【4】page 26.

Physics and Art

There are two ways to appreciate the beauty of nature: science and art.

Do you know how to make a rainbow【5】? Art forms can be produced by sound waves, as well as ferrofluids【6】. There is even geometry from soap bubbles【7】.

The smile of Mona Lisa【8】is a combination of art, science, optics, and illusion. It was the work of Leonardo da Vinci, an artist and an engineer who also studied human anatomy.

The art of paper folding is called origami. Robert Lang, a NASA physicist, turned into an origami artist making real-world applications of origami to engineering problems【9】【10】. His complex and elegant designs make use of math and physics.

Physics and Animation

There is another way to put art and science together: computer animation.

Animation movies have their own worlds. For these worlds to be realistic, they mimic our natural world, follow the same laws. Having a good understanding of physics can help to place the characters and special effects in a consistent and believable world.

These animation techniques are highly developed in studios like Pixar【11】and Dreamworks【14】, with programmers and animators working together to refine their software systems. Think about how to draw and paint the following:

All these frame sequences are computed, using knowledge in physics!

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Kubo and The Two Strings (2016), directed by Travis Knight and produced by Laika.

Epilog

You probably have seen "Kubo and The Two Strings"【17】, a stop-motion animation movie. Its setting is traditional Japan, with origami, floating lanterns, legends and music.

Each frame of the movie is painstakingly photographed through puppets and models, statically. The motion is an illusion in our brains produced by the fast-changing frames. The scale models for the various scenes and techniques of photography take a lot of skills in physics and engineering.

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