"Sreeeee-rike! An Investigation of Rigid Body Dynamics using the Maya Modeler"
Kurtis Dilyard 2004
Abstract
Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) are the key to realistic simulation of hard body dynamics. A body's position, velocity and acceleration can be determined through derivatives of an ODE. Additionally, forces such as gravity or wind that affect a body's motion can also be modeled with ODE's. This thesis investigates Euler's approximation methods, namely Euler Mid-Point and Runge-Kutta Adaptive, to animate the dynamics of a bat hitting a baseball and a bowling bowl striking pins. The Maya PLE modeling software is discussed and used to construct the two animations.