D A N C E

Ari Shapiro (ashapiro@cs.ucla.edu)

Victor Ng-Thow-Hing

Petros Faloutsos

DANCE is a software package for physics-based character animation and simulation.

One of its goals is to provide researchers with a common platform where they can test their control methods and share their results. In addition, it provides the common, yet complex functionality that everyone needs in a physics-based animation system, allowing researchers to concentrate on their research work. DANCE has been used for a variety of physics-based applications that include biomechanics modelling and composeable controllers.

Updates
2/27/12	Updated binary version of DANCE dance_v4_binary_022712.exe available for Windows with installer. Uses ODE-0.11.1.
9/12/09	New binary version of DANCE dance_v4_binary_091209.exe available for Windows with installer.
1/22/09	New binary version of DANCE dance_v4_binary_012109.exe available for Windows with installer. This version includes the Dynamic Controller Toolkit as well as bug fixes and a non-linear controller editor.
1/21/09	New version of DANCE dance_v4_012109.zip available which builds on Windows, Linux and OsX. This version includes the Dynamic Controller Toolkit as well as bug fixes and a non-linear controller editor.
8/1/07	New version of DANCE will be available on 1/31/07. This version includes tools for controller development with scripting, modified physics, and attachments to rigid bodies. More details are available on the dynamic controller toolkit page.
7/25/06	New version of DANCE. ODE simulation with control is now very stable and can run in real time. Several other enhancements such as collisions through capsules, props, and user interface improvements. It is recommended to update your DANCE sofware to this version. Linux compilation is supported as well. New release dance_v3_072506_1625.zip. A binary version also available.
3/8/06	Documentation updated. DANCE Manual is now one PDF file that includes more information on the plugins. (download manual).
3/6/06	New version of DANCE released. Now runs on Linux and Windows! (dance_v3_030606_1419.zip).
3/1/06	Linux version of DANCE coming so on
1/30/06	New version of the DANCE software released ( dance_v3_013006_1153.zip)

Features

• Import/Export of motion capture
• Ragdoll simulation
• Physical simulation of characters with dynamic control
• Pose based dynamic control
• Controller development using Python scripts
• Non-linear editor
• Creation of videos from OpenGL or high quality output via POVRay http://www.povray.org
• Integrated with the Open Dynamics Engine (ODE) http://www.ode.org
• Easy plugin interface and example code
• All source code included

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dancedev/

dancedev-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

dancedev@yahoogroups.com

Papers

Controller Development
A. Shapiro, D. Chu, B. Allen, P. Faloutsos, The Dynamic Controller Toolkit, Sandbox Videogame Symposium, pp. 15-20, San Diego, California, August, 2007. (pdf)(videos)

DANCE description
A. Shapiro, P. Faloutsos, V. Ng-Thow-Hing, Dynamic Animation and Control Environment, Graphics Interface 2005, pp. 61-70, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, May, 2005. (pdf)

Mixing kinematic and dynamic control methods
A. Shapiro, F. Pighin, P. Faloutsos, Hybrid Control For Interactive Character Animation, The Eleventh Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications, pp. 455-460, Canmore, Alberta, Canada, October, 2003 (pdf) (videos)

Composable Controllers
P. Faloutsos, M. van de Panne, D. Terzopoulos, Composable Controllers for Physics-Based Character Animation, Proceedings of ACM SIGGRAPH 2001, pp. 251-260, Los Angeles, CA 2001 (pdf)

Musculoskeletal Modeling
V. Ng-Thow-Hing, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Toronto, 2001 (pdf)

Screen shot

Videos