Effect with sincerity.

"Well! The buzz from the bees is that the leopards are in a bit of a spot... And the baboons are going ape over this. Of course, the giraffes are acting like they're above it all..."

The Lion King is probably the most popular animated movies of all time. A movie that follows the life of a carefree cub who "can't just wait to be a king" and treads the path of "Hakuna Matata" that teaches him the "Circle of life". Animating quadrapeds was a challenge and Disney pulled it off so well!

More realistic animation techniques have replaced the traditional methods of hand-drawing animated figures. The physics of reality enslaves art and technology to simulate and visualize better, animate better. Computational methods and equations pull off a trade-off that makes a visual look as real to life as possible.

There are primarily three methods to animate a bundle of pixels. One- Breaking the image into discrete elements, Two- Use sample points selected from the sample picture and Three- Beget cells in the sample space. Motion capture is one of the coolest techniques widely used, in which markers are placed on an actor's face. For every expression, the positions of markers are noted and subsequently mapped onto the animated character.

I have been particularly impressed by VFX (Visual Effects- effects that are used to manipulate images to make them look realistic and integrate live-action footage) . I was mindblown by the VFX generated by the team that worked with visuals in X-MEN First Class. A great story line coupled with amazing effects that looked real but quite apparent.

Here's a youtube video of how they created the Beast transformation, the Magneto Yacht destruction scene, Riptide hurricanes and Cerebro destruction.




ICY system helped in rendering light and added a bit of composition. There is a lot more physics and equations involved than I thought there was. Properties of light play an important role. The right amount of illumination and spark can transform a dull scene and make it interesting and gripping.

Tapping reflection and refraction (properties of light) was a way to make Frost's diamond form much more appealing. Also the skin textures could change by changing the illumination and using animation softwares like Voodoo, to make skin look smooth or scaley, depending on the effect desired (in case of Mystique [the one who has shape shifting powers, turns blue on whim and claims she is 'Mutant and proud'] ).

They also used Zbrush for Angel's dragon wings and made the transition of her transformation look super-smooth. The final fight scenes that included a fire fight were rendered by PRman that rendered the fire in three heat ranges, namely blue, green and red. The particles had different shades of opacity and with this, the subsequent effects could be varied and applied.

Another mutant, Havok has special powers of throwing rings of fire. These discs were Computer generated and they appear to be forms of energy that contract and expand and vary in intensity as they are hurled towards the intended offender.

Magneto's attempts to destroy Sebastian Shaw's Yacht were created by using the visual destruction tool called Kali. Kali analyses and creates break points that follows the rules of geometry (particularly center of gravity) and gives a realistic view of how the ship will break and capsize , if it were to, in live footage.

Effects are undoubtedly different for solids and fluids. Much like dynamics for solids and fluids, each of these use different computational algorithms to add credible visual effects and incorporate it with live footage. Various fast fourier transforms can be used to create and obtain various effects on fluids.

Facial animation is a different aspect and quite complex; Usually rendered using motion graphics, innumerable computations and markers. Adding expressions to characters was an important task and a task beautifully done. I believe I enjoyed watching X-Men First Class not just for it being a beautiful prologue to the X-men series but for also having beautiful effects that makes the film viewing experience so much more interesting.

Watching action movies without visual effects is like connoisseuring a tasteless meal. Movies can  ofcourse, be beautifully made sans visual effects. However, visual effects and editing intrigue me and I pay attention to these aspects as well. I love movies and particularly love learning about various techniques that are incorporated while making films. I love the zest and dedication that is put in while making films and most importantly, I love how the effects make things look so illusional yet so real.

If I have 54990 INR to spare, I will buy an iPhone 5...Not !

I am not an 'Apple hater'. I admire the way Apple pays attention to the tiniest aspects. To move forward, it has taken certain risks. No other company has such a loyal fan base as Apple does. Apple comes out with products analysed and predicted by business heads to be a hit with its fan base.

I feel Apple is not targetting the masses but its just focusing on its fan base and loves making the margins they earn with every product (that's a good thing). The user experience is pretty much the same roll out they introduced in 2007. Not much has been done to improve the looks and feel than adding a new row of Apps.

Reasons you might want to exclaim a "iPaid!" :

1) Unreliable Maps.

Apple Maps are not at all reliable.

If travelling and reaching a destination is of utmost importance but getting lost in a city you don't know is an issue then Apple Maps as an App is not something made for you.

2)'Cause You want a bite of the half baked Siri.

3) You want a sleek phone that doesn't look robust, you want a phone that claims the screen is primarily built of aluminium than glass. You want a phone that is light and might not survive a fall from the looks of it.

4) You want the Lightening Connector. For reasons unfathomable to me, you are willing to pay no heed to the fact that this device,iPhone5, is not compatible with industry standard cables. Nor does it have microUSB ports- ports that are a standard way to transfer files.

5)You are ready to compromise on the battery life just so that you will get to use 4G.
Which might not be a concern if you're based in India.

Yes, it does appear that I'm an Apple sympathiser and a Fandroid girl.
I plead guilty on both counts.

To be fair, a few aspects which I really liked about the iPhone 5 , I must enlist below.

High Five, iPhone 5 'cause :

1) You present us handsets with better video compression algorithms. This means we get to compress files yet not degrade quality drastically and have smaller file sizes at the same time.

2)You, Apple, provide us with fantastic resolution and a big screen. You,sir,present me a chance to view pictures and videos better. Yes, it just works!

3)An amazing, fantastic 8 megapixel,front facing camera and video recording capability that extends to 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second.

4)IOS 6: It's a dual core Cortex processor and has fantastic features like Passbook, DND,Facetime over Cellular, a Priority Inbox etc.

5)An improved App Store that satiates your craving for robust Apps. iPhone 5 is a treat if you're an iOS6 developer. It thrills you with Audio and video sampling during playback and you might not escape the flux of Action Sheer.

You can't really ignore the pricetag. You cannot forget that iPhone 5 is nothing but a fantastic update to iPhone 4.

I will not go for an iPhone 5 not just because I am a Fandroid. I also believe I'll get better worth for my money if I invest in an Android phone.

Google has created its own niche in this sector and Android phones are getting increasingly popular than iPhones for a reason. iPhones might target a base audience-its fan base but Android has succeeded appealing to the masses by bringing out better quality phones at affordable,reasonable prices. It also provides better services ( Google Maps! Gtalk ! ).

The reason Google Maps is accurate and reliable is because it initiated the mapping business a decade ago, leased data from other companies, employed 7000 employees at the peak of developing and enhancing Maps and also employed Google StreetView vans that help provide accurate data, which is regularly updated. Apple, in the quest of creating Apple Maps, has acquired data from other sources too but it's lacking in the reliablity and accuracy of maps, disappointing many.

Believing in Apple's "It just works!" might not be enough to shell out on an imported iPhone at this time. If you still want to buy it, wait till November when iPhone 5 comes officially to India, the price then is estimated to be INR 45000.

My choice will be Samsung Galaxy S3 (INR 29000).
SGS3, the Tom Hanks of the current batch of phones, is a phone I will save to splurge on.
(#YesIamaFandroidgirlforlife)

Of IceCream Sandwich and Jelly beans

Fandroids know of Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybeans and they usually prefer the heady binary kind.
For the non-familiar,the non-edible Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybeans are versions of the Android Operating System namely Android 4.0 and Android 4.1

Android phones are popular and are most sought after. These phones run on the Android Stack which comprises key applications. What attracts one to Android phones? Most are sleek,yes. Android also happens to be hot! (and cool too!). Android users swear by their phones and can be usually seen hooked to applications or as they are popularly called, Apps.Apps can be downloaded from 3rd party sites (such as www.appup.com  and www.androidzoom.com)or one can buy them from online stores such as Google Play [erstwhile Android Market].

Versions of Android
-Astro
-Cupcake
-Donut
-Eclair
-Froyo
-Gingerbread
-Honeycomb
-Ice Cream Sandwich
-Jellybean

Android 4.0  

The Android 4.0 is named Ice Cream Sandwich and has 14 to 15 APIs including but not limited to android.media (this API provides classes that allows several levels of audio and video interactions),android.gesture(this API provides classes that allows us to create,load and save various gestures). This means you get more features and added functionality.

Whenever Google releases a new OS,it releases what they call the Stock Android experience. This lets the manufacturers of handsets take the OS,run it and fiddle with the Stock.

For Android 4.0,the Stock User Interface was a big change from the previous versions of Android..!

1] One could control what icons can be placed on either side of the launcher.
2]Folders could be created by dropping one icon on top of the other  In a drag and drop style.
3] Colour schemes across the UI were changed. The colours scheme was changed to simple colours.
4] The camera could be accessed from the lock screen



The SDK(which basically provides tools and APIs for application development using java) for Android 4.0 is based on Linux kernel 3.0.1,an excellent upgrade from the previous version,Honeycomb (that has a Linux kernel 2.6.x).

Android 4.0 handsets have virtual buttons rather than capacitive buttons.It also has great functions like integrated screenshot capture capability. Screenshots can be taken by pressing the power and volume down button together.Handsets have good real time speech to text transmutation.Android 4.0 has a built in Android Beam. Android Beam enables data communication and sharing between handsets in proximity.Ice Cream Sandwich has a new typeface,a clean and modern font,Roboto and has a smoother screen rotation as compared to previous version of Android and gives better Camera performance

In some Android 4.0 handsets,few functions differ such as screenshot capture in Samsung Touch Wiz is not the usual press down of power and volume down buttons. Folder creation also differs. In Touch Wiz,folders had to be first created after which icons could be dragged and dropped in.

Android 4.1

Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at the Google I/O conference on June 27,2012. It released Jelly Bean to AOSP on July 9,2012.

Android 4.1 is based on Linux kernel 3.1.10 and has 16 APIs! It is an incremental update with the objective to enhance the user interface in performance and behaviour.
The progression to boost the performance informally termed as "Project Butter" brought about touch anticipation,triple buffering,extended vsync timing and a fixed frame rate of 60fps to create a "buttery" smooth User Interface.

Comparing the Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean,

• Flipping through applications appears smoother in Android 4.1...Much like turning pages in a book.
• Galleries loaded with Picasa and Google+ content load faster in Android 4.1
• The homescreen is more flexible
• Jelly Bean provides higher functional and expandable notifications
• Gives an option to open links the same way every time or just once.
• Project Majel : Much like Apple's Siri-an evolution of existing voice services. The actions include question and answer communication with your Android along with graphics such as the answers you seek are presented to you on a business card on your phone along with Google search results that match your answer.
• Face unlock is here. You can unlock your phone with the facial recognition software pre-installed. Eye blinking maybe required to tell the software that you're the live person registered and not a photo.
• Android 4.1 also brings Gapless playback for you.This ends your annoyance with the usual playback latency

Yeah,Android 4.1 also has improved security and browsers with better HTML5 and fantastic user experiences.

You know you're hooked and falling in love with Android when you know you can rely on the apps for your day-to-day activities. There are a million apps that range from cosmetic guides (the kind that suggest which eye shadow will look great on you,matching with your clothes) to the Runkeeper app (that tells you how much distance have you jogged/walked/trolled in your current session).
It only gets better! With incremental upgrades,you are bound to get more out of it.
You never know which app will be flung your way.

I'm looking forward to one that will tell me precisely how sleepy or how hungry I am and suggest the accurate and required dietery intake or number of minutes of slumber that needs to be undertaken just to restore myself to my non-hungry,non-sleepy state.

Do you want Jelly? 

Project Website

I have always wanted to build a website and I learnt and built it with a little bit of experimentation,struggle,lots of patience and support of my project mates.

Visit our project website : www.hmads.in

HMAD-ITS? That's the project we have been working on! It's our final year project and I have learnt a lot from the project and from my project mates. Its been a great time for all of us filled with highs and lows,fights and struggles but all the while involved dedication, hardwork and lots of patience. Our learning curve went soaring upwards and we hope to take this project ahead after our final year is done.

Internet- Telemedicine System entails uploading Php forms and databases onto the website. These forms might be to Add Patients or Add Doctors or Add a study.
This can be uploaded by a Technician who has the permission to add content by filling these forms.

The screenshot above shows the PHP form we have developed to Add a Study (can upload an ECG file or ElectroStethoscope file or Pulse Oxymeter file in the form) to the HMAD-ITS database.

Consider the technician wants to add an ECG study,he or she will login into www.hmads.in and  click on Add Study and fill out the PHP form we built and uploaded on our website.

Patients and Doctors registered with HMAD-ITS have unique IDs and can login into our website and view their details as per permissions allocated to their IDs.

The Doctor can view the patient's(only of the patients assigned to them) form and related ECG,ElectroScope readings and Pulse Oximeter Readings attached to their form and give their opinions and diagnose the patient as per the readings.

The Technician and Doctor can access the Patient details as per the permissions assigned to them. Patients have the permission to view only their listings and doctor's comments (if any)

An effective Internet Tele-medicine can improve the access to Doctors and improve healthcare and add transparency to the whole process,making it organised and efficient and above all cost-effective.

Gimp

My friends know how I love taking pictures and editing them. I have been using Picasa to edit my pics until recently. We have a subject called "Image processing" in our syllabus this semester. To understand and enjoy tinkering with it,my friend suggested I start using Gimp.

Now,Gimp is an image processing tool. Gimp actually stands for GNU Image Processing program.
It is freely available and runs on all platforms(windows,linux,mac os).

1. I downloaded Gimp from PortableApps.com
http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable

2. After I installed it, I opened it in a new folder and i saw the following folders along with the Gimp app.

3. After double-clicking on the Gimp app,I went into the options file and clicked on open and opened a new image.

The image i used was taken at versova and shows three kids playing on the beach.

3.Gimp has various options. Its got options like filters. We can use various filters to edit an image.

4. Its also got a channel mixer. Basically an image has 3 modes: RGB,Greyscale and indexed.
Assuming you want to work on the RGB mode ie with colours Red,Green,Blue and want to adjust the presence of each colour in an image. You can vary that using the in-built channel mixer.

5. A particular filter that caught my fancy was the edge detection filter. Under edge detection,we can use filters like laplace,robert,sobel etc. Sobel filter was one of the filters i wanted to use on this particular image. So i used it in the vertical direction (yes you can filter it in horizontal as well as vertical)

6. Although,we did get the desired filtered output image,i wasn't happy with it. Another edge detection filter i wanted to try out was Difference of Gaussian.

7. Another filter i wanted to try out (not under edge detection) was the one that said animation. So i tried using the spinning globe effect under the animation filter

Yeah,Gimp is easy to use and fun too!