http://dspace.cityu.edu.hk:80/handle/2031/782 2013-05-05T18:40:48Z http://dspace.cityu.edu.hk:80/handle/2031/6656 Title: Analysis of Feng Zikai's Chinese cartoons and their computer reproduction Authors: Zhang, Jing ( 張晶) Abstract: Feng Zikai, is an outstanding modern Chinese cartoonist, as well as an accomplished essayist, scholar, educator, translator, calligrapher, and musician. He is chiefly known for developing a unique style of Chinese cartoons incorporating a combination of traditional Chinese fine arts features and references to Western painting styles. The trajectory of Feng's career reflects a characteristic of modern Chinese intellectuals, that of, placing value on developing deep knowledge in multiple disciplines simultaneously. Mostly due to the difficulties with gaining access to primary resources, publications to date, especially journal articles, draw on a narrow range of works and somewhat haphazardly extend the discussion of Feng's creations and ideas. Based on a more extensive access to Feng's Chinese cartoons and essays, as well as Sino-Western publications about his life and work, this research provides a graphics-oriented analysis of Feng's art works, focusing on the foundations, grammatical theories, and themes of his Chinese cartoons. Moreover, programs and techniques for simulating the styles of Chinese brush work in contemporary computer graphics and animation are quite successful in a generic sense, but they are not very successful in reproducing a specific artist's painting style in an interactive digital painting process. This research therefore also aims at developing a preliminary computer framework capable of reproducing the specific artistic styles of selected Chinese paintings, focusing on a case study of a subset of the works of Feng Zikai, with specific reference to his signature painting of human facial features. Aside from the potential technical benefits of such a study, a comprehensive understanding of Feng's graphic style will also be relevant to discussions of the relationship between tradition and novelty in the world of Asian art and aesthetics. Notes: CityU Call Number: NC1699.F4 Z45 2011; xi, 431 leaves : ill. (some col.), facsims. 30 cm.; Thesis (Ph.D.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 384-397) 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.cityu.edu.hk:80/handle/2031/6655 Title: New strategies for designing live computer music Authors: Leung, Kei Cheuk Kechard ( 梁基爵) Abstract: This thesis explores the methodology for designing computer-based digital musical instruments (DMIs) to create a new direction for live computer music performance. Three forerunners of DMIs, Extended Tablet, Reactable and Silent Drum, are reviewed to give background information of DMIs, of which the individual components, performance contexts and artistic factors are investigated. The present study presents four case studies, each discussing a new DMI or installation, namely the Pod Drum, Control Table, 3D Fabric, and 'Transparent Caprice'. They were inspired by different motivations, artistic considerations, and technology involvement. Performances of original compositions for each of the creations are also presented. This thesis highlights three key implementations for the design of DMIs: (1) exploring gestural control in live computer music; (2) enhancing transparency of the control process and sound production of DMI designs; and (3) increasing the importance of repertoire and actual performances in the development of DMIs. Notes: CityU Call Number: ML1380 .L48 2011; 107 leaves : ill. (some col.) 30 cm.; Thesis (M.Phil.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-107) 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.cityu.edu.hk:80/handle/2031/6283 Title: Digital puppertry : real-time performance in a mediatized age Authors: Wang, Zhe (王喆) Abstract: In this work, digital puppetry is discussed as a hybrid art form in which the performing objects are partially manipulated or wholly generated by algorithmic programs. The significant parameter here is the use of real-time technological interfaces, suggesting a synchronicity between the manipulator’s control and the performing object's resultant movement. While there is not a single ideal example of what digital puppetry, a wide range of digital forms or works (e.g., motion capture, machinima, Digital Marionette, The Sims, etc.) are analyzed in the context of improvisation and interaction through the employment of real-time technologies. In order to further examine the role it plays in this mediatized age, digital puppetry is proposed here both as a phenomenon that self-evidently is performance in the usual, aaesthetic sense of that term, and is also studied as performance in a broader sense suggested by the performance theory of Richard Schechner. Moreover, this study values Jean-François Lyotard’s performativity as a comparatively new theoretical framework in performance studies, useful to rethink the ongoing radical changes in the nature of performance in relation to technological developments. At this point, it is not my primary goal to develop a formal definition of digital puppetry, but to establish it as a significant contemporary phenomenon through a culturally and theoretically contextualized survey. Consequently, relevant cultural issues related to digital puppetry are addressed, such as play/perform, role/rule, agency/identity, and body/self complexes. By continuously expanding a database of human/computer interactive behavior, digital puppetry may create new forms of ritual for the global community. Keyword: digital puppetry, performance, real-time, body, agency Notes: CityU Call Number: PN1972 .W36 2010; 137 leaves 30 cm.; Thesis (M.Phil.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2010.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-137) 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.cityu.edu.hk:80/handle/2031/6282 Title: Markov random field-based hierarchical handwritten Chinese character modeling Authors: Tian, Desai (田德赛) Abstract: This dissertation proposes a statistical-structural character modeling method based on the Markov Random Fields(MRFs) in the Handwritten Chinese Character Recognition(HCCR) problem. In the MRF framework, we view the character recognition as a labeling problem, as how well a given observation matches a character model. The MRF framework can represent both statistical and structural information of the Chinese character by the neighborhood systems and clique potentials. The neighborhood system denotes the most important stroke relationships. The clique potential is composed by prior clique potential based on our prior knowledge and likelihood clique potential represents both statistical and structural information, which is derived from Gaussian Mixture Models(GMMs). We add the radical information into our prior knowledge, thus form a hierarchical character structure in which radicals constitute characters, and strokes constitute radicals. With the help of radical structure, we can easily grasp the most important stroke relationships. We implemented a real-world application of character recognition. In the proposed HCCR system, we extract candidate strokes from character image by minimizing the single-site likelihood clique potentials, and find the best structural match between candidate strokes and stroke models by the relaxation labeling algorithm. The experiments done on the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) character database demonstrate the practicability of proposed approaches. Notes: CityU Call Number: PL1074.5 .T53 2010; xi, 56 leaves : ill. 30 cm.; Thesis (M.Phil.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2010.; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-56) 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z