Perception of lighting and shading for animated virtual characters

Abstract

The design of lighting in Computer Graphics is directly derived from cinematography, and many digital artists follow the conventional wisdom on how lighting is set up to convey drama, appeal, or emotion. In this paper, we are interested in investigating the most commonly used lighting techniques to more formally determine their effect on our perception of animated virtual characters. Firstly, we commissioned a professional animator to create a sequence of dramatic emotional sentences for a typical CG cartoon character. Then, we rendered that character using a range of lighting directions, intensities, and shading techniques. Participants of our experiment rated the emotion, the intensity of the performance, and the appeal of the character. Our results provide new insights into how animated virtual characters are perceived, when viewed under different lighting conditions.