by Rachael Schwartz, Mark Mullery, John Dingliana and Rachel McDonnell
Abstract:
This survey reviews the use of computational topology in hand-drawn animation technology over the past 15 years. We discuss three main subfields of hand-drawn animation technology research: frame deformation, frame feature correspondence, and volumetric modeling of hand-drawn characters. We explore the various topological spaces and operators applied to each subfield, detailing the artistic and computational advantages and limitations of each topological approach. Throughout our discussion, we provide industry knowledge derived from interviews with leading hand-drawn animation professionals to enrich our assessments of topological approaches’ suitability in industry settings.
Reference:
Computational topology for hand-drawn animation technology: A survey Rachael Schwartz, Mark Mullery, John Dingliana and Rachel McDonnell, In Computers & Graphics, 2025.
Bibtex Entry:
@article{SCHWARTZ2025104225,
title = {Computational topology for hand-drawn animation technology: A survey},
journal = {Computers & Graphics},
pages = {104225},
year = {2025},
issn = {0097-8493},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cag.2025.104225},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0097849325000664},
author = {Rachael Schwartz and Mark Mullery and John Dingliana and Rachel McDonnell},
keywords = {Hand-drawn animation technology, Computational topology, Inbetweening},
abstract = {This survey reviews the use of computational topology in hand-drawn animation technology over the past 15 years. We discuss three main subfields of hand-drawn animation technology research: frame deformation, frame feature correspondence, and volumetric modeling of hand-drawn characters. We explore the various topological spaces and operators applied to each subfield, detailing the artistic and computational advantages and limitations of each topological approach. Throughout our discussion, we provide industry knowledge derived from interviews with leading hand-drawn animation professionals to enrich our assessments of topological approaches’ suitability in industry settings.}
}