Particle Systems – An evolution

Literature Resources:

�	William. T. Reeves, (1983). ACM Transaction in Graphics. Particle Systems – a Technique for Modelling a class of Fuzzy objects.

This was used to research on the basic definition of particle systems and their uses in visual effects. This set out the basic foundational overview of the Reeves particle systems concept; procedural theory and particle hierarchy. 

�	William. T. Reeves, (1985). ACM Transaction in Graphics. Approximate and Probabillistic Algorithms for Shading and Rendering Structured Particle Systems.

This was researched to give insight into the concept of detail and how it is used for directing attention and visual richness. It also discusses the use of particle systems used for procedurally creating trees and grass in Pixar's The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. This puts an alternative spin on what other uses particle systems can be used for. 

�	Reynolds, W. Craig, (1987). ACM Transaction in Graphics. Flocks, Herds and Schools: A Distributed Behavioural Model.

This talks about the organic behaviour of flocks of birds and the visual translation of them via particle systems. It focuses around the Boid system, which essentially was an elaboration on particle instancing. This has been implemented to discuss the behaviour of flocks and how these systems can be utilised to emulate them. 

�	 Walker, K., (2001). Available at . 

This paper touches on the topic of where particle systems have branched out to: visually displaying ambient information. This ambient information is data streams derived from every day processes and activities, from the volume of emails received and sent , the amount of people trading in industries to quantities of goods being sold, bought or rejected. This helps to understand the reasoning behind fuzzy image synthesis and its appeal.

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This will be used for segments of information outlining the level of detail required in crowd simulations and how important it is.

Web based resources:

�	NCCA. (2010). Massive Tutorials. Available: http://nccastaff.bournemouth.ac.uk/jmacey/Massive/Docs/learning/tutorials/index.html. Last accessed 04.05.10

This was used for tutorial reference to get familiar with the Massive interface and foundational concepts on how to use it for simple simulations.

Media 

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This will be shown to demonstrate the use of crowd simulating with emphasis on detail for directing the narrative and this will then pipe through to the use of Massive on this project. 

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This footage shows an alternative to crowd simulations, level of detail required for certain shots and how these can be compensated for using alternate methods of using basic forms of particle simulations to pull of similar effects. Comparisons will be made between this method and Massive methods.

�	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007. Film. Directed by Chris Yates. England, UK. Warner Bros. Pictures.

This source is used for the images in Fig 1. This outlines the use of particles in the effects created for this feature film.

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�	Mark. Unknown. Unknown [painting]. Unknown. Available from: http://www.pointillism.co.uk/marc4a.jpg [last accessed 29 April 2010]
�	Unknown. Unknown. Unknown [painting] Unknown: Available from: www.google.co.uk/images [last accessed 29 April 2010]
�	Daniel, R.,  2006. Carnivore.Webcam.Sniffing [digital art]. Online. Available from: http://www.ubiquit.us/blog/archives/shiny/ [last accessed 29 April 2010]

These images are used in Fig 2 and have been used to highlight the pointillism theory. 

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These DVD tutorials have been used to get familiar with Massive software and a clear incentive on how the interface works, the concepts behind fuzzy logic and boolean logic. Parts that have been referenced from here are the Agent Brain, Motion Tree and the Body interfaces, how Agent senses are utilised.