1 CS448B :: 26 Oct 2009 Animation Jeffrey Heer Stanford University Animation Why use motion? Visual variable to encode data Direct attention Understand system dynamics (?) Understand state transition Increase engagement Cone Trees [Robertson 91] Video
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CS448B :: 26 Oct 2009
Animation
Jeffrey Heer Stanford University
Animation
Why use motion?
Visual variable to encode dataDirect attentionUnderstand system dynamics (?)Understand state transitionIncrease engagement
Pre-attentive, stronger than color, shape, …More sensitive to motion at peripherySimilar motions perceived as a groupMotion parallax provide 3D cue (like stereopsis)
1. Squash and stretch2. Anticipation3. Staging4. Straight-ahead vs. Post-to-pose5. Follow through and overlapping action6. Slow-in and slow-out7. Arcs8 S d ti8. Secondary action9. Timing10.Exaggeration11. Solid drawing12.Appeal
Squash and stretch
Defines rigidity of lmaterial
Should maintainconstant volume
Smoothes fast motion,similar to motion blur
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Staging
Clear presentation of one idea at a time
Highlight important actionsLead viewers’ eyes to the actionMotion in still scene, stillness in busy sceneMotion clearest at silhouette
Anticipation
Show preparation for an action
Follow-through
Emphasize termination of action
Overlapping action
Start 2nd action before 1st has completed
Luxo Jr’s hop and cord moves at the same time
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Slow-in, slow-out
Space in-betweens tod l dprovide slow-in and out
Linear interpolation isless pleasing
Example: Andre and Wally B.
Example: Andre and Wally B. Example: Andre and Wally B.
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Example: Andre and Wally B. Principles for AnimationCharacter Animation(Johnston & Thomas ‘81 Lasseter ‘87)(Johnston & Thomas 81, Lasseter 87)
Squash and stretchExaggerationAnticipationStagingStagingSlow-in / Slow-out
Principles for Animation
Animated Presentations(Zongker & Salesin ‘03)
Make all movement meaningfulAvoid squash-and-stretch, exaggeration
Use anticipation and staging
Do one thing at a time
Principles for animated presentations [Zongker 03]
Make all movement meaningfulAvoid squash and stretch, exaggeration, etc.Highlight important things in simple ways
Avoid instantaneous changesReinforce hierarchical structure with transitionsSmoothly expand and compress detailSmoothly expand and compress detailReinforce animation with narrationDistinguish dynamics from transitionsDo one thing at a time
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Principles for conveying information
Congruence Expressiveness?The structure and content of the external representation should correspond to the desired structure and content of the internal representation.
Apprehension Effectiveness?ppThe structure and content of the external representation should be readily and accurately perceived and comprehended.
[from Tversky 02]
Convey Process and Dynamics
How does it work? Animation: Can It Facilitate?
Tversky et al reviewed studies in animation for dconveying dynamic processes.
Where benefits were found, the comparison was often unfair: the information was not equivalentIn other cases, no difference in learning
I li tiImplications:Comparisons of static and animated displays should use displays with equivalent informationStatic sequence may be as good or better
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Problems understanding animation [Tversky]
Difficult to estimate paths and trajectoriesfMotion is fleeting and transient
Cannot simultaneously attend to multiple motionsParse motion into events, actions and behaviors Misunderstanding and wrongly inferring causalityAnthropomorphizing physical motion may causeAnthropomorphizing physical motion may cause
Choosing the set of stepsHow to segment process into steps?Steps often shown sequentially for clarity, rather than showing everything simultaneously
Tversky suggestsC l l t b d bj tCoarse level – segment based on objectsFiner level – segment based on actions
Static depictions often omit finer level segmentation
Resource: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
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Administrivia
Assignment 2 Rubric
1. Clear questions and applicable data setf2. Data set, acquisition, and transformation described
3. Visual exploration process described4. Depth of analysis5. Design of final visualization
* Instructive image (does it answer the question?) Instructive image (does it answer the question?)* Appropriate caption and description* Effectiveness of visualization
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Assign 3: Interactive Visualization
Create an interactive visualization application. Choose a data domain and select an appropriate visualization techniquedomain and select an appropriate visualization technique.
1. Choose a data set and storyboard your interface2. Implement the interface using tools of your choice3. Submit your application and produce a final write-up
You may work individually or in groups of 2.y y g pDue by end of day on Wednesday, October 28
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Final ProjectDesign a new visualization technique or system
Implementation of new design or systemImplementation of new design or system8-10 page paper in conference paper format2 Project Presentations
ScheduleProject Proposal: Wednesday, November 4 (end of day)Initial Presentation: Monday, November 9 & Wednesday, November 11Poster Presentation Wednesday December 2 (tentative)Poster Presentation: Wednesday, December 2 (tentative)Final Papers: Monday, December 7 (by noon)
LogisticsGroups of up to 3 people, graded individuallyClearly report responsibilities of each member
Animated Transitions
Cone Trees [Robertson 91] Polyarchy Visualization [Robertson 02]
Animate pivots across i t ti hi hiintersecting hierarchies.
Tested a number of animation parameters.
Best duration: ~1 sec
Rotational movement degraded performance, translation preferred.
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Degree-of-Interest Trees [Heer 04]
Animation of expanding/collapsing branches
SpaceTree [Grosjean 04]
Break animated transitions into discrete stages
Radial Graph Layout
Optimize animation to aid comprehensionhttp://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~rachna/gtv/
Animation in Radial Graph Layout
Help maintain context of nodes and general f d forientation of user during refocus
Transition PathsLinear interpolation of polar coordinatesNode moves in an arc, not straight lines, gMoves along circle if not changing levels When changing levels, spirals to next ring
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Animation in Radial Graph Layout
Transition constraintsMinimize rotational travel (move former parent away from new focus in same orientation)Avoid cross-over of edges
Change Encodings + Axis Scaling Data Graphics and Transitions
Visual Encoding
Change selected data dimensions or encodings
Animation to communicate changes?
Transitions between Data Graphics
?
During analysis and presentation it is common t t iti b t l t d d t hi
?
to transition between related data graphics.
Can animation help?How does this impact perception?
Principles for conveying information
CongruenceThe structure and content of the external representation should correspond to the desired structure and content of the internal representation.
ApprehensionppThe structure and content of the external representation should be readily and accurately perceived and comprehended.
[from Tversky 02]
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Principles for AnimationCongruenceMaintain valid data graphics during transitionsg p gUse consistent syntactic/semantic mappingsRespect semantic correspondenceAvoid ambiguity
ApprehensionGroup similar transitionsMi i i l iMinimize occlusionMaximize predictabilityUse simple transitionsUse staging for complex transitionsMake transitions as long as needed, but no longer
Principles for AnimationCongruenceMaintain valid data graphics during transitionsg p gUse consistent syntactic/semantic mappingsRespect semantic correspondenceAvoid ambiguity
ApprehensionGroup similar transitionsMi i i l i
Visual marks should always represent the same data tupleMinimize occlusion
Maximize predictabilityUse simple transitionsUse staging for complex transitionsMake transitions as long as needed, but no longer
same data tuple.
Principles for AnimationCongruenceMaintain valid data graphics during transitionsg p gUse consistent syntactic/semantic mappingsRespect semantic correspondenceAvoid ambiguity
ApprehensionGroup similar transitionsMi i i l i
Different operators should have distinct animationsMinimize occlusion
Maximize predictabilityUse simple transitionsUse staging for complex transitionsMake transitions as long as needed, but no longer
animations.
Principles for AnimationCongruenceMaintain valid data graphics during transitionsg p gUse consistent syntactic/semantic mappingsRespect semantic correspondenceAvoid ambiguity
ApprehensionGroup similar transitionsMi i i l i
Objects are harder to track when occludedMinimize occlusion
Maximize predictabilityUse simple transitionsUse staging for complex transitionsMake transitions as long as needed, but no longer
occluded.
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Principles for AnimationCongruenceMaintain valid data graphics during transitionsg p gUse consistent syntactic/semantic mappingsRespect semantic correspondenceAvoid ambiguity
ApprehensionGroup similar transitionsMi i i l i
Keep animation as simple as possible. If complicated breakMinimize occlusion
Maximize predictabilityUse simple transitionsUse staging for complex transitionsMake transitions as long as needed, but no longer
Exp 2: Value Change Estimation (Semantic Analysis)
Measure graphical perception of changing values
Experiment 1: Object Tracking
Experimental TaskTrack 2 targets across a transition (then mask display)Click final positions of targets
Dependent VariableDistance between clicks and targets
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Experiment 1 Results: Animation
Animated conditions outperform staticLimited benefits for staging (except scatterplot)Duration constant; should stages be longer?
Experiment 2: Change Estimation
Experimental TaskFollow 1 target across a transition (then mask display)Estimate percentage change in value (or Unknown)
Dependent VariableEstimation error
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Experiment 2 Results: Animation
Animation more accurate (except Stacked Bars)Staged animation sig. worse in DonutAxis rescaling increases errors and “?” estimates
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Subjective Preferences
Significant preference for animationSignificant preference for animation.Staged animation was the most preferred, but not sig. for multi-stage timesteps in Stacked Bars and Donut Chart
Study ConclusionsAppropriate animation improves graphical perception
l b d hSimple transitions beat “do one thing at a time”
Simple staging was preferred and showed benefitsbut timing important and in need of study
Axis re-scaling hampers perceptionAvoid if possible (use common scale)p ( )Maintain landmarks better (delay fade out of lines)
Subjects preferred animated transitions
Animation in Trend Visualization
Heer & Robertson study found that animated b h ftransitions are better than static transitions for
estimating changing values.
How does animation fare vs. static time-series depictions (as opposed to static transitions)?
Experiments by Robertson et al, InfoVis 2008
Animated Scatterplot [Robertson 08]
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Traces [Robertson 08] Small Multiples [Robertson 08]
Study Analysis & Presentation
Subjects asked comprehension questions.d l d dPresentation condition included narration.
Multiples 10% more accurate than animation
Presentation: Anim. 60% faster than multiplesAnalysis: Animation 82% slower than multiplesAnalysis: Animation 82% slower than multiples
User preferences favor animation
Summary
Animation is a salient visual phenomenonAttention, object constancy, causality, timingDesign with care: congruence & apprehension
For processes, static images may be preferable
h d dFor transitions, animation has demonstrated benefits, but consider task and timing