5.2.1. Choreography Software: LifeForms
Description
This article is from the Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ, by Tom Parsons twp@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.
5.2.1. Choreography Software: LifeForms
The only software for doing choreography known to this group is a
program called LifeForms. There are versions for the Macintosh and Silicon
Graphics (SGI) systems and also for Windows. Contact
Credo Multimedia Software Inc.
Suite 270 - 8900 Nelson Way
Burnaby, BC Canada V5A 1S6
tel: (604) 291-6717
fax: (604) 291-7484
email: lifeforms@cs.sfu.ca
or link to their Web site,
http://fas.sfu.ca/lifeforms.html
The following information and opinions are extracted from postings
to alt.arts.ballet. These postings date from October, 1994 and may well be
out of date by now; more up-to-date information is probably be available
from Multimedia.
LifeForms was developed at Simon Fraser University by a team
including dancers and computer programmers. Its original name was
COMPOSE and it's over 10 years in development. There are currently 2
versions available. The high end version runs on a Silicon Graphic
workstation and creates amazing lifelike animation. The less powerful
version runs on a Macintosh and is not quite so thrilling, especially
in its emulation of walking and running. --Sandi Kurtz
< sandik@u.washington.edu>
In a feature article on Merce Cunningham in The Village Voice
several years ago, Deborah Jowitt observed that [he] was using the
computer in place of getting up and noodling around, which he can no
longer do easily. I would add in addition that MC has long been
interested in whatever technology was emerging, and that the computer,
in particular, mirrors some of his own concerns. --Nancy Dalva
I have done some basic experimenting with LifeForms on the
Macintosh. The premise is as follows: You have a stage on which you
can place a one or more "dancers." You can then manipulate the bodies
of the figures, and program movements that occur over time.
You manipulate the figure by clicking on a body part with the
mouse, and dragging it to the desired position. The program is smart
in that, unlike an animation, you don't have to draw every frame. An
example would be starting with the left arm down, and five seconds
later having it raised to 90 degrees. You just program the starting
and ending poses, and the computer figures out the movement in between.
The arm follows the most obvious, straight line path between point a
and point b, which often looks a bit stilted. Giving more life to a
movement like this means breaking it down into shorter bits.
The program also offers a library, where you can store movement
sequences that you can call back later. Helpful if you are creating
thematic material that returns later in the piece.
On the Macintosh version, the bodies are drawn as "wire frames"
so really only suggest a real body. I think the version that runs on
Unix workstations might do high quality rendering of the bodies, so
that one probably looks a lot better.
Though I am a composer not a choreographer, I must say that the
process gets very tedious over a period of time, especially when com-
pared to choreographing on one's own body, which is instantly respon-
sive to your ideas. One thing that would help this program a lot would
be some kind of alternative input device, perhaps reminiscent of the
little wood artists models that you can get at an art supply store. To
be able to physically move body parts on a model to create the poses
would speed the process up immensely. It seems certain that someone
will do this, as it is so obvious.
Of course, the criticism in the previous paragraph assumes that
you have a body that still moves well. When I think that this tool has
helped Merce Cunningham continue to choreograph new works (a person
whose body moves not less beautifully but perhaps a little less well
these days) it would seem something to seem grateful for. -- Mark
Coniglio
There is also a program called Poser, from Fractal Design, which might be
thought of as a choreography program. Jim Williams writes,
If you don't need to do animation, just show body positions (useful for
teaching, illustrations etc.) another piece of software to consider is
a new application called Poser, from Fractal Design. I've got it and
have been working with it. This is in effect a software "mannequin"
that you can pose in various positions, then render into detailed
images. It isn't designed to produce animated sequences the way Life
Forms is; instead, it's useful for producing "still photos" of body
positions. The rendering quality isn't photo-realistic, but is much
more detailed than the wireframe images produced by Life Forms.
Poser's price is quite reasonable ($99 US until Aug. 31, 1995) and it's
relatively easy to learn and use....
Poser allows you to create your own "libraries" of frequently-used
positions, body types, camera positions, and lighting setups (you're
limited to three lights, but they're fully adjustable in direction,
intensity and color.) These libraries can be re-used as needed, so
you can work fairly quickly once you've invested the time to create
libraries of poses you use most. --Jim Williams
As of June, 1996, Poser is available for the Macintosh and for the PC.
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