#Forensic Animation
13 messages in this thread
Well, kiss a fair trial for OJ Goodbye.
I saw the animation Failure Analysis did for C/Net last night. It was really a
nice piece of work. Well crafted & slick. It does however show the danger of
what is possible with this new media.
Animation has the facility to put a moving image in the mind of the viewer
which will stick like a magnet. It may help them to remember key facts or
understand complex ideas. In building a "Forensic Animation" from the
available evidence, you guys need to be careful about what you add or even fail
to show.
There is one fact which I must question – a key fact – that the assailant was
black. I don't remember hearing of an eyewitness to that factoid. But there
it was on the screen, a single black man killed two white people. One of them
a beautiful white woman. That's a tough picture to get out of your mind.
It's lucky for OJ that this animation wasn't out before jury selection.
Rick Lapidus
rick,
>>There is one fact which I must question – a key fact – that the assailant was
black. I don't remember hearing of an eyewitness to that factoid. But there
it was on the screen, a single black man killed two white people.<<
Thats would be a tough position to be in as an animator, but I would have to
assume its the attorneys that wanted it that way. No matter how it comes about
though, it will tend to leave a bad image of our industry if its not truely a
fact. It seems that the whole case has been filled with game playing on both
sides.
Regards………Rick – Technical Animations
PMJI but since I work 3 blocks away from the Bundy site….
I think both sides have agreed that the stocking cap was
droped by the murderer.
The stocking cap is documented as have 'x' number of
afro-american hairs.
Hence a afro-american animation.
Todd
TBruno,
Sounds circumstantial to me. But then again, I'm not an attorney.
Rick
TBruno,
Maybe you meant the message you sent to me for the other Rick(rick lapidus). I
was not trying to say what was fact, only that the animator probably didn't
make the decision to show the person as black.
Regards………….Rick – Technical Animations
Sorry if I got the 'Ricks' mixed up.
your probably right the animator didn't make any decisions.
I lucked out on my first forensic. The attorney called and
expected a finished product in one week. Knowing he put
me in a bind, he described the basic facts, what he wanted
to convey, but left it up to me completly to come up with
the scenerio to demostrate what he wanted to say.
Well, I guess he liked what he got. They presented it to
opposing council……..and settled out of court.
ahhhh, the power of the medium.
Todd
Todd,
Those attorneys always like to see how close they can cut it. I never went to
sleep for 2 out of 3 days to finish one case. Are we having fun yet? <BG>.
Did you have to generate your own numbers for the vehicles or did the expert do
that, I assume it was a vehicular accident?
I don't think you are on the list of forensic animators that I compiled. Would
you like be added to the list? If so, please fill in the following info. If you
want to dl the file its called "forlst.txt" and its in the "Index & Info"
library.
Name:
Company Name:
Address:
Phone #:
Fax #:
Compuserve:
Internet:
Areas Worked In:
Additional Qual.:
Business Opened:
Regards…………..Rick – Technical Animations
<Did you have to generate your own numbers for the vehicles or did the expert
do that, I assume it was a vehicular accident?>
Actually, no.
If will allow me, I'd love to tell the story. It's kind of an interesting.
Besides we made money on it.
In simplest terms, the case involved a multimillion dollar mansion, on a
'compacted' view lot.
The compaction is the point of contention.
6 months after constuction was complete the mansion was 'sinking'.
One side argued that the contractor failed to compact the soil sufficently, and
was the sole reason for the situation.
The other side argued that a water leak had caused the problem.
The data I had to work from:
1. Water bills during the leak period….you will love this….6
MONTHS….1,000 GALLONS A DAY!
(the house was unoccupied at the time, and landscaping was taken into
account in this number)
2. A geologist had taken detailed measurements of the floor inside the
building. This documented
a 10" drop in one corner.
3. Boring data showing where the water was pooling.
4. Data that the footings were modified on site to deal with site conditions.
what showed on the plans as a 3' footing was extended to 7'……with NO
weep holes (the wolves are howling)
What was requested to be demostrated:
1. Show a couple of cross-sections to document where certain items were
located.
2. Nail in coffin #1…show the floor warping
3. Nail in coffin #2…show what 1,000 gallons a day looks like, in everyday
values.
4. Nail in coffin #3…show how this water would stand behind the footing.
What was produced:
1. easy
2. I digitized in the contours the geologist had and created a contoured
surface of the warpage.
in 3DS I duplicated this mesh, flatten the surface and mapped the geologist
drawing onto the surface.
Then I place this surface on the property, pointed out the leak area, then
morphed to the warped surface.
Made it real easy to figure out that the floor moved in the same area as the
leak.
3. We calced the quanity of water involved and discovered that it was equal to
about 3 ABOVE GROUND
POOLS PER MONTH. for 6 months….
So for impact, I have about 3 minutes of pool after pool after pool flying
in, dumping at one spot
and lining up on the horizon, like so many 'dead soldiers'.
4. Just to add insult, I had a profile of the footing, pointed out the leak
location, and then morphed
a 'bag o water' that was constrained to stay behind footing, saturating the
whole area.
As I mentioned before…they settled out of court after seeing this.
Sorry if I ran on here, it's just that this is fun stuff, and I work in a
vacuum.
Todd
Name: Todd Bruno or Paul Cook P.L.S.
Company Name: C.W. Cook Co.
Address: 11835 Olympic Blvd #375
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone #: 310.312.8222
Fax #: 310.312.8049
Compuserve: 76635,1274
Internet: TODDBRUNO@delphi.com
Areas Worked In: Land Surveying, Civil Engineering, anything that lands in
our laps
Business Opened: 1911. Yes 1911. We are coming up on 85 years. 3rd generation
owned.
We have been doing expert witness work for years in the above fields, most of
the time creating our own exhibits. Explaining the collection methods and
interpeting the results of ours and others work.
For years we have worked with just 'plan and profile' displays of
existing/proposed conditions, but found that perspective displays were easier
for juries. The next step was to convey the dynamics of the events, hence
animation.
Todd,
Wow, thats great stuff!!! Sound like you are having fun. You didn't run on at
all, it was all very interesting and motivating to here your success story. Be
sure to tell me/forum when you have something interesting, good or bad.
I will upload the new forensic list with your name when the forensic threads
settle down or by the end of April. Hopefully I will get some more names to
include with all the activity on forensics.
Regards………..Rick – Technical Animations
Rick,
>>>>
but I would have to assume its the attorneys
that wanted it that way
>>>>>
As I understand it, the animation was commissioned by a tv program not the
attorneys. Btw, what attorneys would allow evidence to be seen on tv before
admitted as expert testimony?
I guess you have to do what you can for publicity. That's assuming that was
the point of the animation.
Rick Lapidus
rick,
>>As I understand it, the animation was commissioned by a tv program not the
attorneys. Btw, what attorneys would allow evidence to be seen on tv before
admitted as expert testimony?<<
I have not watched it close enough to know for sure what testimony had been
given, I just made an assumption it was for the attorneys. You are right
though, you should not see it on TV first.
Regards……..Rick – Technical Animations
PMJI-
Rick, and others-
Regarding the Afro-American/Black character in C/Net's animation, they went
into detail on how it was done last sat. Pretty interesting. They justified
the color of skin because of the hair type found in the abandoned cap. (as
mentioned before) Just thought I'd affirm that that's their official
reasoning, not just a pondering.
I think they wanted (besides getting attention) to do a really high quality,
high realism forensic animation. They touted it as the best, and a (hopefully)
model for others to come. Motion capture by BioVision, rendered on SGI's, etc.
A metric camera was even used to get accurate dimensions of the building. All
pretty interesting. Too bad it's just another going on about a guy who killed
2 people. I think it's pathetic, and a sad reflection of our culture's
interests. OJ shouldn't get any more attention than anybody else. Is it me,
or is America really bored?
JNJ
Thanks for giving us the facts for why they did the animation the way
they did.
I agree with you, if those people that have so much time to watch
someone elses troubles could just read a book, spend time with their
family or help someone… what a better place this world would be.