“A Sequence From the Evolution of Form” by William Latham

Title:

A Sequence From the Evolution of Form

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Creation Year:

1989

Artist Statement:

The film shows the continual metamorphosis of a complex 3D form. A 3D form metamorphoses from a swirling random cloud of eggs and into starfish structure and then changes shape into a webbed plant form.

The film was produced using the WINSOM Solid Modeling Program and “Form Growing” programs written in the ESME language. The film is of particular interest in that the key frames for the animation were created using a new “Evolutionary” Interface, which uses a combination of random mutation and artistic selection. The moving forms are made to appear realistic by using 3D texturing, Ray Casting and multiple light sources.

The work is a result of creative collaboration between the artist William Latham and Scientists Stephen Todd and Peter Quarendon. Animation software by Mark Owen.

This film won first prize in the Research Category at ‘The Imagina Computer Graphics Conference 1990″ in Monte Carlo.The film opened the Film Theatre Show at `SIGGRAPH 1990″ in Dallas U.S.A.