#Accident Reconstruction
14 messages in this thread
Hi there,
I have a client interested in doing Accident reconstruction and what
he's calling "forensic animation". Since these are being used in court they
need to be accurate to a certain degree. What I'm wondering is can a high
enough degree of accuracy be applied to a 3d animation in 3D studio to hold up
in court.
Are motion modules like Digimation's Dynamic motion IPAS good enough to
hold up in court. If anyone else is doing these types of animations with 3D
studio are there and tips you can pass on?
Any help would be great.
Thanks,
James J. LaPlante
AEON Interactive
Each case I have come across varies in the degree of accuracy required. Mostly
what is required is a depiction which can pass a "reasonableness test" , that
is, it is frequently understood that you were not there and you are presenting
one side of the story as told to you. The reconstruction cannot exceed the
accuracy of the available data as documented by the court evidence. Another
very important factor is the opinions of the expert witness(es). You may want
to VERY carefully document everything you create so as to have a logical trail
for how you came to include each pertinent detail. You want a tie to
documented fact or someone else's expert opinion in writing. It would be best
to leave out anything that does not directly apply to the case. The opposing
lawyers will pick apart any little thing they can find. Also, try to stay
detached from the case. Ask for data, and expert opinion, stay away from
hearsay. On the bright side you may get called as an expert witness and get to
charge $$$. <g>
Sounds like you need to attend the 1995 Forensic Animation Seminar Atking Place
August 14th right here in Wisconsin.
E-Mail me your Snail Mail and Phone information or better yet if you have a
Fax.
Please Make sure it's E-Mail.
Murph'
Murph –
As the Forensic Animation seminar gets closer we can put a line or two in the
NewsFlash so more members and visitors will be aware of it.
Remind me.
Anne
>> As the Forensic Animation seminar gets closer we can put a line or two in
the NewsFlash so more members and visitors will be aware of it. Remind me.
Anne <<
Thank's Anne!
I'll Take you up on it, there's a great need for this type of information and
I've put together what I beleive to be a very worthwhile 3D Artists Seminar and
Conference Program this year.
Murph'
James,
I am interested in the seminar. Is it for the state of WI only? I'd like to
consider attending. Where in Wisconsin is the seminar?
Jeff
N-Image/ JRR Associates – Alabama
Jeff,
Thank you for your interest.
If possible could you Private E-Mail me your Address/Phone/Fax…in particular
I could fax you conference information and registration forms. I'm still
working on the Hotels, Motels list in the area.
Thank You.
Murph'
Hi Jeff. Not to steal any of Murph's thunder, but Autodesk University will also
be offering a class on Forensic Animation if, for some unknown reason,
Wisconsin is not a convenient venue for you. The instructor at AU will be Alec
Jason, the forensic animator for the Mitchell Brothers trial–the one that
really helped open the doors for forensic animation in the courtoom. It will be
on the other side of the states in San Francisco in October. This year Autodesk
has put a special emphasis on the multimedia side of the business and is
offering over 100 classes/conferences/labs for 3D Studio, Animator Pro,
Animator Studio, and all its other multimedia offerings. You can download the
file from the NAAUG/Autodesk University library if you're interested.
–Kelly
James;
I just received your FAX on the seminar. I noticed that the Courtroom
Animation seminar is to be video taped. Is there any chance of purchasing the
video tape?
I had already made plans to be at another week long seminar (for the family)
the same week in August. I would most likely purchase the video if it isn't
too expensive.
Dennis
Dennis,
>> I noticed that the Courtroom Animation seminar is to be video taped. Is
there any chance of purchasing the video tape? <<
Thank you for asking, yes there is a chance…<BG>
>> I would most likely purchase the video if it isn't too expensive.<<
Since we haven't taped it yet and Paul is still writing up his presentation
Material(s) were not sure what the Price of the tape will be. We want to make
it a good value so everyone can afford it. I certainly will keep and all those
interested posted.
Thank you for your interest.
Murph'
Murph';
>> I certainly will keep and all those interested posted.
Thanks,
Dennis
We use 3D Studio to do our animation but, to do our modeling we use SDRC, which
is a solid modeling package which is exact in when modeling any type on
structure. This is a little extreme but, we do animation for medical cases.
Good Luck
>> We use 3D Studio to do our animation but, to do our modeling we use SDRC,
which is a solid modeling package which is exact in when modeling any type on
structure. This is a little extreme but, we do animation for medical cases.
Good Luck <<
I'm slightly familiar with the SDRC Package, As an Autodesk Dealer Several
Year's ago I was looking at becoming authorized for SDRC so the AutoCad Product
in tandem with SDRC could more effectively compete with other Much More
Expensive Workstation software.
Murph'
James,
>>What I'm wondering is can a high enough degree of accuracy be applied to a 3d
animation in 3D studio to hold up in court.<<
I can't speak for anyone else, but in 3.5 years 3DS has had the accuracy needed
to do the job. In the same amount of time, only once have I had to give my
depostion. One week from trial the case settled or I would have had to testify.
Maybe I'm just lucky.
How about the rest of you forensic animatiors, whats your experience been?
>>Are motion modules like Digimation's Dynamic motion IPAS good enough to hold
up in court.<<
I can't answer that question, but the expert should supply the numbers you will
need, thats his/her job. Unless of course you are an expert yourself.
>>If anyone else is doing these types of animations with 3D studio are there
and tips you can pass on?<<
You will need x,y and z(if there is elevation change) every 1/30 of a second.
If you can, get the numbers in an ASCII file and then use the script file
"Nodeftch.k3d" supplied with 3DSr4 and apply them to the appropiate objects.
Its much easier than manual input and does not introduce typing errors. When
you get done, the animation should represent the experts opinion of what
happened. It should be just another aid to help the expert, just like a drawing
or photgraphy would be.
BTW, there is a list of 20 forensic animators in the index & info library, the
file is called "Forlst.txt". All forensic animators are welcome to send me
their info and I will include them in the list.
Maybe if you told us alittle more about your case, then we could be more
helpful.
Regards……………Rick – Technical Animations