Perception of simplification artifacts for animated characters

For real-time animation of characters, Level of Detail (LOD) techniques are usually deployed to achieve optimal efficiency and realism. Tools that can aid an application designer or developer to deploy simplification methods and LOD representations under different circumstances are therefore needed. In this paper we explore the perception of texture, silhouette and lighting artifacts on simplified character models, including the effect animation intensity has on the perceptibility of these artifacts. We propose novel methods to simulate each artifact separately, and test their effects in isolation and cumulatively. Our results provide useful insights and guidelines, including the importance of silhouette preservation. An adaptation of PerceptualDiff for predicting simplification detection has been developed, which can be used to guide automatic model placement and LOD selection in realtime character applications.