This book offers a full history of a homeless movement in Tokyo that lasted nearly a decade. It shows how homeless people and their external supporters in the city combined their scarce resources to generate and sustain the movement. The study advocates a more nuanced analysis of movement gains to appreciate how poor people can benefit by acting collectively. It also draws attention to potential difficulties faced by lower-stratum movements aided by external allies. In particular, the study highlights how actions of the state can undermine the relations between aggrieved allies in such a way as to limit gains. The book is the first in English to detail homeless mobilization in Japan. It also addresses the origins of increased homelessness and development of homelessness policy in the country. Besides homelessness, it covers a number of current social issues, including economic globalization, social exclusion, and politics over space.

This book provides a deep understanding of state-of-art methods for simulation of heterogeneous crowds in computer graphics. It will cover different aspects that are necessary to achieve plausible crowd behaviors. The book will be a review of the most recent literature in this field that can help professionals and graduate students interested in this field to get up to date with the latest contributions, and open problems for their possible future research. The chapter contributors are well known researchers and practitioners in the field and they include their latest contributions in the different topics required to achieve believable heterogeneous crowd simulation. Provides crowd simulation methodology to populate virtual environments, for video games or any kind of applications that requires believable multi-agent behavior Presents the latest contributions on crowd simulation, animation, planning, rendering and evaluation with detailed algorithms for implementation purposes Includes perspectives of both academic researchers and industrial practitioners with reference to open source solutions and commercial applications, where appropriate

Andrew Rapo and Alex Michael explain all the important programming concepts from a designer's point of view, making them completely accessible to non-programmers. Completely revised and rewritten this second edition will help you develop professional ActionScript 2 applications, and communicate knowledgably about current, Object Oriented ActionScript 2 techniques.
Divided into four sections to take you from novice to professional results:
* Flash Fundamentals: Introduces the Flash authoring environment and basic core Flash concepts.
* ActionScript 2 Fundamentals: Explains basic programming concepts and terminology, and shows how ActionScript 2 classes are constructed and used.
* Built-in Classes: Describes the built-in ActionScript classes that are available for use in applications, including the MovieClip class, Key class, Sound class, etc.
* Using ActionScript to Build a Game: Describes the development process for creating a complex Flash application and presents commercial-quality game coding examples.
- Benefit from explanations and examples of why and how ActionScript can simplify Flash production and expand your design potential
- Learn all the basics of strong scripting skills to produce professional results
- Example code is available and ready to use with either Flash MX 2004 or Flash 8 - at www.rapo.org/as2book

Software programs are complex, the books that explain them shouldn t be. This thoroughly illustrated, full-color guide explains everything you need to know to get up and running quickly with Combustion. Get a jump-start learning the major features or the software without bogging you down with unnecessary detail.
The author shares his professional insight and extensive training experience to ensure you'll get the most out of all the professional paint, animation, editing and 3D compositing tools Combustion offers. Also featured are many workflow tips which show how to tap into the full power of Combustion 4 in your effects and motion graphics work.
For useful tips and tutorials, visit the book's companion site at www.elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780240520100
* Unique, fast introduction to Combustion 4, but relevant to all versions
* Concise color coverage, written by an experienced professional and trainer
* Ideal for professionals, new users and those migrating to Combustion from other compositing or effects packages
* Companion site with useful tips and tutorials can be found at http: //www.elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780240520100

This volume aims to stimulate discussions on research involving the use of data and digital images as an understanding approach for analysis and visualization of phenomena and experiments. The emphasis is put not only on graphically representing data as a way of increasing its visual analysis, but also on the imaging systems which contribute greatly to the comprehension of real cases.

Scientific Visualization and Imaging Systems encompass multidisciplinary areas, with applications in many knowledge fields such as Engineering, Medicine, Material Science, Physics, Geology, Geographic Information Systems, among others.

This book is a selection of 13 revised and extended research papers presented in the International Conference on Advanced Computational Engineering and Experimenting -ACE-X conferences 2010 (Paris), 2011 (Algarve), 2012 (Istanbul) and 2013 (Madrid). The examples were particularly chosen from materials research, medical applications, general concepts applied in simulations and image analysis and other interesting related problems.

Digital editing gives editors far greater freedom than ever before to move scenes of information around and place them anywhere in a film's sequence. Apple's Final Cut Pro is the most widely used Mac-based digital editor, and is especially popular with independent filmmakers and graphic artists. Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials enables readers to master the craft of digital editing on Apple's Final Cut Pro. This full-color editing workshop features eight tutorials that provide firsthand experience with the art and technique of editing. Covering the essentials - capturing material, organizing it, editing, adding transitions, basic titling and sound techniques, and outputting from the application - the tutorials are explained in jargon-free language by a seasoned teacher and digital editor. This book includes downloadable resources filled with graphic files for the tutorial projects to help users hone their editing craft. Companion files are available at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com/cw/wolsky-9781578202867/.

Lighting for Animation is designed with one goal in mind - to make you a better artist. Over the course of the book, Jasmine Katatikarn and Michael Tanzillo (Senior Lighting TDs, Blue Sky Studios) will train your eye to analyze your work more critically, and teach you approaches and techniques to improve your craft. Focusing on the main philosophies and core concepts utilized by industry professionals, this book builds the foundation for a successful career as a lighting artist in visual effects and computer animation. Inside you'll find in-depth instruction on: * Creating mood and storytelling through lighting * Using light to create visual shaping * Directing the viewer's eye with light and color * Gathering and utilizing reference images * Successfully lighting and rendering workflows * Render layers and how they can be used most effectively * Specific lighting scenarios, including character lighting, environment lighting, and lighting an animated sequence * Material properties and their work with lighting * Compositing techniques essential for a lighter * A guide on how to start your career and achieve success as a lighting artist This book is not designed to teach software packages-there are websites, instructional manuals, online demos, and traditional courses available to teach you how to operate specific computer programs. That type of training will teach you how to create an image; this book will teach you the technical skills you need to make that image beautiful. Key Features Stunning examples from a variety of films serve to inspire and inform your creative choices. Unique approach focuses on using lighting as a storytelling tool, rather than just telling you which buttons to press. Comprehensive companion website contains lighting exercises, assets, challenges, and further resources to help you expand your skillset.

This state-of-the-art set of handbooks provides medical physicists with a comprehensive overview of the field of nuclear medicine. In addition to describing the underlying, fundamental theories of the field, it includes the latest research and explores the practical procedures, equipment, and regulations that are shaping the field and it's future. This set is split into three volumes, respectively titled: Instrumentation and Imaging Procedures; Modelling, Dosimetry and Radiation Protection; and Radiopharmaceuticals and Clinical Applications. Volume one, Instrumentation and Imaging Procedures, focuses primarily on providing a comprehensive review into the detection of radiation, beginning with an introduction to the history of nuclear medicine to the latest imaging technology. Volume two, Modelling, Dosimetry and Radiation Protection, explores the applications of mathematical modelling, dosimetry, and radiation protection in nuclear medicine. The third and final volume, Radiopharmaceuticals and Clinical Applications, highlights the production and application of radiopharmaceuticals and their role in clinical nuclear medicine practice. These books will be an invaluable resource for libraries, institutions, and clinical and academic medical physicists searching for a complete account of what defines nuclear medicine. The most comprehensive reference available providing a state-of-the-art overview of the field of nuclear medicine Edited by a leader in the field, with contributions from a team of experienced medical physicists, chemists, engineers, scientists, and clinical medical personnel Includes the latest practical research in the field, in addition to explaining fundamental theory and the field's history

The main subject of the monograph is the fractional calculus in the discrete version. The volume is divided into three main parts. Part one contains a theoretical introduction to the classical and fractional-order discrete calculus where the fundamental role is played by the backward difference and sum. In the second part, selected applications of the discrete fractional calculus in the discrete system control theory are presented. In the discrete system identification, analysis and synthesis, one can consider integer or fractional models based on the fractional-order difference equations. The third part of the book is devoted to digital image processing.

In the current age of information technology, the issues of distributing and utilizing images efficiently and effectively are of substantial concern. Solutions to many of the problems arising from these issues are provided by techniques of image processing, among which segmentation and compression are topics of this book. Image segmentation is a process for dividing an image into its constituent parts. For block-based segmentation using statistical classification, an image is divided into blocks and a feature vector is formed for each block by grouping statistics of its pixel intensities. Conventional block-based segmentation algorithms classify each block separately, assuming independence of feature vectors. Image Segmentation and Compression Using Hidden Markov Models presents a new algorithm that models the statistical dependence among image blocks by two dimensional hidden Markov models (HMMs). Formulas for estimating the model according to the maximum likelihood criterion are derived from the EM algorithm. To segment an image, optimal classes are searched jointly for all the blocks by the maximum a posteriori (MAP) rule. The 2-D HMM is extended to multiresolution so that more context information is exploited in classification and fast progressive segmentation schemes can be formed naturally. The second issue addressed in the book is the design of joint compression and classification systems using the 2-D HMM and vector quantization. A classifier designed with the side goal of good compression often outperforms one aimed solely at classification because overfitting to training data is suppressed by vector quantization. Image Segmentation and Compression Using Hidden Markov Models is an essential reference source for researchers and engineers working in statistical signal processing or image processing, especially those who are interested in hidden Markov models. It is also of value to those working on statistical modeling.

While formal training and communication are a foundational approach to developing employees in the workplace, alternate reality games (ARGs) provide a framework for increased and sustained engagement within business organizations. ARGs are transmedia experiences designed to generate engagement and immersive learning beyond what is achieved in formal and conventional training and communication approaches. Alternate Reality Games: Gamification for Performance leads you through the fundamentals of ARGs. It includes a discussion of what is and is not an ARG, citing examples and identifying business challenges that can be addressed through ARGs. It presents case studies that illustrate the variety of forms that ARGs take and the issues to which they can be applied, such as improving performance and critical communication situations. It also gives guidelines for creating your own ARGs, reviewing the process and technological tools and considerations relevant to their creation. Presenting a thorough examination of the beneficial roles ARGs can play in the business environment as well as methods for creating effective ARGs, Alternate Reality Games: Gamification for Performance is an ideal reference for those approaching or considering ARGs for the first time as well as the training professional or professional game designer. It presents a comprehensive overview of the advantages of applying ARGs to the workplace as well as methods for designing and using them.

A comprehensive survey of techniques and applications in image and video processing and analysis

A widely varied selection of experts provides extensive coverage of nonlinear model-based techniques in image and video processing and analysis. This volume not only details new techniques in still image and digital video but also discusses applications in computer vision, multimedia, and visual information retrieval systems. All nonlinear, model-based techniques are detailed, and a complete and up-to-date accounting of the most important and effective algorithms is included for every application and technique discussed.

The applications described also include such real-world uses as multimedia information retrieval, automatic surveillance, lip tracking, and much more. Analytical techniques such as Boolean and stack filters, rational functions, mathematical morphology techniques, and adaptive order statistic filtering receive detailed treatment as they apply to specific uses such as image compression, segmentation, old motion picture restoration, image/video interpolation, and noise smoothing.

Chapters include:

• Optimal Design of Boolean and Stack Filters and Their Application in Image Processing
• Image Processing Using Rational Functions
• Mathematical Morphology and Motion Picture Restoration
• Adaptive Order Statistic Filtering of Still Images and Image Sequences
• Video Segmentation Based on Multiple Features for Interactive and Automatic Multimedia Applications
• Invariant Features in Pattern Recognition–Fundamentals and Applications
• Image Models for Facial Feature Tracking

Students, engineers, and scientists will appreciate both the wide range of expert opinion in this comprehensive volume and the detailed coverage of the algorithms and mathematical models used in state-of-the-art image and video processing.

This work is dedicated to CMOS based imaging with the emphasis on the noise modeling, characterization and optimization in order to contribute to the design of high performance imagers in general and range imagers in particular. CMOS is known to be superior to CCD due to its flexibility in terms of integration capabilities, but typically has to be enhanced to compete at parameters as for instance noise, dynamic range or spectral response. Temporal noise is an important topic, since it is one of the most crucial parameters that ultimately limits the performance and cannot be corrected. This work gathers the widespread theory on noise and extends the theory by a non-rigorous but potentially computing efficient algorithm to estimate noise in time sampled systems. This work contributed to two generations of LDPD based ToF range image sensors and proposed a new approach to implement the MSI PM ToF principle. This was verified to yield a significantly faster charge transfer, better linearity, dark current and matching performance. A non-linear and time-variant model is provided that takes into account undesired phenomena such as finite charge transfer speed and a parasitic sensitivity to light when the shutters should remain OFF, to allow for investigations of largesignal characteristics, sensitivity and precision. It was demonstrated that the model converges to a standard photodetector model and properly resembles the measurements. Finally the impact of these undesired phenomena on the range measurement performance is demonstrated.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to seven commonly used image understanding techniques in modern information technology. Readers of various levels can find suitable techniques to solve their practical problems and discover the latest development in these specific domains. The techniques covered include camera model and calibration, stereo vision, generalized matching, scene analysis and semantic interpretation, multi-sensor image information fusion, content-based visual information retrieval, and understanding spatial-temporal behavior. The book provides aspects from the essential concepts overview and basic principles to detailed introduction, explanation of the current methods and their practical techniques. It also presents discussions on the research trends and latest results in conjunction with new development of technical methods. This is an excellent read for those who do not have a subject background in image technology but need to use these techniques to complete specific tasks. These essential information will also be useful for their further study in the relevant fields.

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve: What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of those who have used their bodies to make others laugh. Drawing from traditions such as commedia dell'arte, pantomime, Vaudeville, the circus, and silent and modern film, animators will learn not only to create funny characters, but also how to execute gags, create a comic climate, and use environment as a character. Whether you're creating a comic villain or a bumbling sidekick, this is the one and only guide you need to get your audience laughing! Explanation of comedic archetypes and devices will both inspire and inform your creative choices Exploration of various modes of storytelling allows you to give the right context for your story and characters Tips for creating worlds, scenarios, and casts for your characters to flourish in Companion website includes example videos and further resources to expand your skillset--check it out at www.comedyforanimators.com! Jonathan Lyons delivers simple, fun, illustrated lessons that teach readers to apply the principles of history's greatest physical comedians to their animated characters. This isn't stand-up comedy-it's the falling down and jumping around sort!

Achieving believable motion in animation requires an understanding of physics that most of us missed out on in art school. Although animators often break the laws of physics for comedic or dramatic effect, you need to know which laws you're breaking in order to make it work. And while large studios might be able to spend a lot of time and money testing different approaches or hiring a physics consultant, smaller studios and independent animators have no such luxury. This book takes the mystery out of physics tasks like character motion, light and shadow placement, explosions, ocean movement, and outer space scenes, making it easy to apply realistic physics to your work. Physics concepts are explained in animator's terms, relating concepts specifically to animation movement and appearance. Complex mathematical concepts are broken down into clear steps you can follow to solve animation problems quickly and effectively. Bonus companion website at www.physicsforanimators.com offers additional resources, including examples in movies and games, links to resources, and tips on using physics in your work. Uniting theory and practice, author Michele Bousquet teaches animators how to swiftly and efficiently create scientifically accurate scenes and fix problem spots, and how and when to break the laws of physics. Ideal for everything from classical 2D animation to advanced CG special effects, this book provides animators with solutions that are simple, quick, and powerful.

Principles of Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging: A System Simulation Approach demonstrates the use of image simulation for SAR. It covers the various applications of SAR (including feature extraction, target classification, and change detection), provides a complete understanding of SAR principles, and illustrates the complete chain of a SAR operation. The book places special emphasis on a ground-based SAR, but also explains space and air-borne systems. It contains chapters on signal speckle, radar-signal models, sensor-trajectory models, SAR-image focusing, platform-motion compensation, and microwave-scattering from random media. While discussing SAR image focusing and motion compensation, it presents processing algorithms and applications that feature extraction, target classification, and change detection. It also provides samples of simulation on various scenarios, and includes simulation flowcharts and results that are detailed throughout the book. Introducing SAR imaging from a systems point of view, the author: Considers the recent development of MIMO SAR technology Includes selected GPU implementation Provides a numerical analysis of system parameters (including platforms, sensor, and image focusing, and their influence) Explores wave-target interactions, signal transmission and reception, image formation, motion compensation Covers all platform motion compensation and error analysis, and their impact on final image radiometric and geometric quality Describes a ground-based SFMCW system Principles of Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging: A System Simulation Approach is dedicated to the use, study, and development of SAR systems. The book focuses on image formation or focusing, treats platform motion and image focusing, and is suitable for students, radar engineers, and microwave remote sensing researchers.

This book takes the practicality of other "Gems" series such as "Graphics Gems" and "Game Programming Gems" and provide a quick reference for novice and expert programmers alike to swiftly track down a solution to a task needed for their VR project. Reading the book from cover to cover is not the expected use case, but being familiar with the territory from the Introduction and then jumping to the needed explanations is how the book will mostly be used. Each chapter (other than Introduction) will contain between 5 to 10 "tips", each of which is a self-contained explanation with implementation detail generally demonstrated as pseudo code, or in cases where it makes sense, actual code. Key Features Sections written by veteran virtual reality researchers and developers Usable code snipits that readers can put to immediate use in their own projects. Tips of value both to readers entering the field as well as those looking for solutions that expand their repertoire.

The arrival of the digital age has created the need to be able to store, manage, and digitally use an ever-increasing amount of video and audio material. Thus, video cataloguing has emerged as a requirement of the times. Video Cataloguing: Structure Parsing and Content Extraction explains how to efficiently perform video structure analysis as well as extract the basic semantic contents for video summarization, which is essential for handling large-scale video data. This book addresses the issues of video cataloguing, including video structure parsing and basic semantic word extraction, particularly for movie and teleplay videos. It starts by providing readers with a fundamental understanding of video structure parsing. It examines video shot boundary detection, recent research on video scene detection, and basic ideas for semantic word extraction, including video text recognition, scene recognition, and character identification. The book lists and introduces some of the most commonly used features in video analysis. It introduces and analyzes the most popular shot boundary detection methods and also presents recent research on movie scene detection as another important and critical step for video cataloguing, video indexing, and retrieval. The authors propose a robust movie scene recognition approach based on a panoramic frame and representative feature patch. They describe how to recognize characters in movies and TV series accurately and efficiently as well as how to use these character names as cataloguing items for an intelligent catalogue. The book proposes an interesting application of highlight extraction in basketball videos and concludes by demonstrating how to design and implement a prototype system of automatic movie and teleplay cataloguing (AMTC) based on the approaches introduced in the book.

As science becomes increasingly computational, the limits of what is computationally tractable become a barrier to scientific progress. Many scientific problems, however, are amenable to human problem solving skills that complement computational power. By leveraging these skills on a larger scale - beyond the relatively few individuals currently engaged in scientific inquiry - there is the potential for new scientific discoveries. This book presents a framework for mapping open scientific problems into video games. The game framework combines computational power with human problem solving and creativity to work toward solving scientific problems that neither computers nor humans could previously solve alone. To maximize the potential contributors to scientific discovery, the framework designs a game to be played by people with no formal scientific background and incentivizes long- term engagement with a myriad of collaborative on competitive reward structures. The framework allows for the continual coevolution of the players and the game to each other: as players gain expertise through gameplay, the game changes to become a better tool. The framework is validated by being applied to proteomics problems with the video game Foldit. Foldit players have contributed to novel discoveries in protein structure prediction, protein design, and protein structure refinement algorithms. The coevolution of human problem solving and computer tools in an incentivized game framework is an exciting new scientific pathway that can lead to discoveries currently unreachable by other methods.

Learning has never been easier than with ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS6 ILLUSTRATED, International Edition. This reader-friendly book presents each skill on two facing pages, providing detailed instructions on the left-hand page and large, full-color screenshots on the right page. The visual format helps you intuitively grasp the concepts in the book and apply them to the classroom and workplace environment.

1) Engineering approach, applications oriented 2) Numerous examples and exercises to illustrate concepts and their implementation 3) Clearly written and concise 4) Learn concepts so that the reader can develop their own algorithms 5) Software tools provided for both C and Matlab

Provides tools from different disciplines and shows how they can be used in the game design world. Offers practical tools for all the main aspects of game design from conception through to testing. Gives concrete examples of how to use each tool with practical applications.

This book offers a thorough examination of digital work by women comedians in the US, exploring their use of digital media to perform jokes, engage with fans, remake their reputations, and become political activists This book argues that despite its many adverse effects, digital work is changing comedy, empowering women to create new comic forms and negotiate the contentious political climate incited by former President Donald. J. Trump Chapters are focused on video-podcasting, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and the streaming platform Netflix - each containing informative case studies on significant women comedians who use them, including Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, Leslie Jones, Mindy Kaling, Colleen Ballinger, Lilly Singh, Ms. Pat, Whitney Cummings, Issa Rae, and others To understand their strategies, this book examines the popularity of their digital content, their career-outcomes in television and film, as well as the ups and downs of their critical reputations in magazines, newspapers, the trade press, and with their participatory audiences online This insightful and timely work will appeal to scholars researching and teaching in the areas of media studies, digital communication, gender studies and performance

This book provides critical commentary on key issues around virtual reality, using media technology as a tool to challenge perspectives for learning and understanding cultural diversities. With a focus on empathy, embodiment and ethics, the book interrogates the use of immersive technologies for formal and informal educational contexts. Taking a critical approach to discourses around emerging technology and learning, the book presents the idea that a new literacy is emerging and an emphasis on media and technology is needed in the context of education to explore and experience cultural diversities. Employing a personal reflexive narrative, the chapters highlight key issues through research and interviews with leading practitioners in the field. Understanding Virtual Reality will be of great interest to academics and students interested in the effects of immersive realities on the education experience, and to anyone keen on exploring the paradigm shift from entertainment to education.