Realistic Modeling of
Bird Flight Animations

Abstract

In this paper we describe a physics-based method for synthesis of bird flight animations. Our method computes a realistic set of wingbeats that enables a bird to follow the specified trajectory. We model the bird as an articulated skeleton with elastically deformable feathers. The bird motion is created by applying joint torques and aerodynamic forces over time in a forward dynamics simulation. We solve for each wingbeat motion separately by optimizing for wingbeat parameters that create the most natural motion. The final animation is constructed by concatenating a series of optimal wingbeats. This detailed bird flight model enables us to produce flight motions of different birds performing a variety of maneuvers including taking off, cruising, rapidly descending, turning, and landing.

Full text

• SIGGRAPH 2003 paper (PDF 3.6 MB)

Results

	Video shown at SIGGRAPH 2003 presentation (QuickTime 39.2 MB) (DivX 33.1 MB)
	Raven landing (QuickTime 138 KB)
	Eagle turning (QuickTime 173 KB)

Links

• Project web page
• Graphics and Imaging Laboratory (GRAIL)
• Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• University of Washington