Image Studio Blog

Lighting

2012-03-05T15:06:00.152-05:00

Animations are typically created to demonstrate an expert's opinion and are usually admitted as DEMONSTRATIVE EVIDENCE (see my 06/2011 post). They must be a fair and accurate representation of the facts and assist the juror in understanding pertinent information. In some instances, lighting will need to be addressed.

Digital photographs, videos and animations have very simliar visual qualities. I obtain photographs or video of the scene taken under "equivalent lighting" by a competent techician. These images will take into account the time of day or night, phase of the moon, weather, etc. If time constraints, safety or a scene that has changed make this impossible, I just have to rely on the best information available (see the next step).

Next, I gather the available lighting information. Sources might include Police scene photograhs, aerial photographs, NEWS footage, DOT design plans or a site visit.

Finally, I include this information in my scene. My animation software can accurately light a scene based on the sun's location, time of day and date. Artificial lighting, such as street lights, can be portrayed accurately as well.

The process is the same as for any demonstrative exhibit:

Work closely with the expert

Incorporate the available information

Document what is done

Disclose the work to the other side early

Big Brother and Car Accidents

2011-10-27T10:53:00.000-04:00

Cameras are EVERYWHERE. In the past year I’ve received video footage from surveillance cameras at banks, golf courses, convenience stores, service stations, department store parking lots and residences, and in police cars and city buses. I’ve also gotten images and video from a witness’s cell phone, news footage and newspapers – even a YouTube video.

Surveillance Footage - It's Not Just for Slip & Fallls
We expect to see surveillance video on slip and fall cases, but these involved motor vehicle accidents. These have been fantastic sources of information. The speeds of vehicles, sequence of events, braking, length of skid marks, vehicle final rest positions, locations of witness vehicles are often documented in real time by these devices.

Get It NOW!!!
Visit the scene and LOOK around for surveillance cameras. If you see one, get the footage NOW. Don’t wait until you’re going to trial. The systems may only preserve the footage for a short time.

Remember VHS?
It is still alive and well at a convenience store near you! Some of these systems are 20 years old so don’t be disheartened by what you receive. The images are often poor quality. The Windows 95 program that recorded the video probably won’t work on your new computer. They may play back at warp speed. Don’t fret, get help.

What do you do with it?
Get it to your expert. I’ve been able to improve contrast, remove unwanted noise, scale the footage so it plays back in real time, output a series of still images for photogrammetric analysis, etc. The experts I've worked with use it to assist in their reconstructions.

Remember, you’re not trying to get HDTV quality video as a final product – you want the information.

Driving While Texting

2011-10-05T10:59:00.001-04:00

Here's an equation for disaster:
Pedestrian + Marked Crosswalk + Warning Signs + Low Speed + Texting While Driving

An attorney recently contacted Image Studio to animate this exact scenario. A pedestrian in a quiet neighborhood was crossing the roadway in a designated crosswalk. The driver of the vehicle had just passed through several stop signs and marked crosswalks. Proper warning signs were in place. The driver was traveling within the designated speed, but was sending a text message. VIEW THE ANIMATION.

The animated reconstruction demonstrated the driver's visibility and three avoidance scenarios. Our client said that the animations were used extensively during mediation. The case settled for an undisclosed sum.

Courtroom Presentations

2011-09-12T16:27:00.000-04:00

Simple sytem: HDTV, laptop and HDMI cable

As an attorney or expert you've spent hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars preparing your case for trial. You've waited several years to get it in front of a mediator or judge. You only have a short time to present your evidence to opposing counsel, a mediator, a judge or a jury. DON'T BLOW IT with an inferior presentation!

INVEST IN GOOD VISUALS

Don't just tell them - SHOW THEM. Almost every case can benefit from some sort of visuals. An experienced legal graphics professional is an indispensable asset. I tell my clients that there's always SOMETHING we can do within ANY budget that will communicate their case issues. An experienced consultant will ask you to explain your case issues and objectives. Only after he has this understanding can he give wise counsel as to the medium and visual methods for presenting the facts. Depending on the venue, audience, case objectives and budget, I've recommended a wide variety: foam boards, magnetic scene boards, video, 3d scale models, PowerPoint, and computer animations.

INVEST IN GOOD TECHNOLOGY
For traditional foam boards and photographs make sure they are big enough to see and look professional. If your presentation is electronic don't assume the courtroom has what you need. Call the clerk a month or so before trial. Meet with their IT person and test everything WITH YOUR LAPTOP.

If they don't have what you need, bring it in. The equipment you choose should help, not hinder. Don't get something too complicated. I recently helped a client choose a simple system for her upcoming case - a big LCDTV, a new laptop and an HDMI cable - total price was $1500- $2000. She'll be able to show documents, photographs, videos, animations, etc. PRACTICE setting up and using the equipment or make sure you have the office techie with you at trial.

There are all sorts of experts. Make sure you have an expert in Visual Communication on your team!

No Conspicuity Tape

2011-08-24T09:01:00.002-04:00

2.1 seconds to impact

1/4 second later

This accident occurred in a rural area on a rainy night. The truck's running lights and the trailer's missing reflective tape combine to deceive the driver. Click here to VIEW THE ANIMATION.

Truck Accident - Snowy Night

2011-07-28T11:20:00.005-04:00

A truck driver on a snowy interstate highway approaches an offramp. A car suddenly veers from the ramp into his trailer. Speeds of vehicles and views for each driver are shown. The case settled before trial. View the entire animation AT THIS LINK. The file is 17 mb.

Simulation or Animation - Which should I use?

2011-07-19T11:14:00.005-04:00

Simulation, left. Animation, right

Accident simulation software is used by law enforcement and engineers involved in crash reconstruction. This software allows them to quickly confirm their reconstructions or to demonstrate errors made by others. The results of various impact angles, speeds, and driver actions can be quickly analyzed.

These programs require the user to define the condition of the roadway and vehicles at the time of the impact including roadway surface friction, braking, steering angles, vehicle weights and speeds and a host of other factors. Based on these assumptions, the program calculates the positions of the vehicles throughout the incident. The final reconstruction is often output in a video format.

Some have assumed that simulations are automatically accurate simply because a computer calculated the motion based on mathematic formulas. However, if the input data was incorrect, the final product is inaccurate (garbage in/garbage out). The varying fields can be “skewed” to reach a desired result. This is why a simulation must meet the standard of admissibility for SUBSTANTIVE EVIDENCE. The science must be used properly in order to be admissible. If the other side has a simulation, get the raw data file and have your expert analyze it.

The strength of animation software is its ability to accurately portray lighting and to generate realistic materials – two areas of weakness for simulation software. Three dimensional motion is easily demonstrated. Animations are normally admitted as DEMONSTRATIVE EVIDENCE which is a less difficult standard of admissibility to meet.

Opposing counsel will often refer to a forensic animation as a cartoon. However, if the intent is to present a fair and accurate representation of the expert’s reconstruction, the animation should be admitted. (See my blog “Getting Animations Admitted”).

Which should you use? It depends on your case objectives and your expert. They are not mutually exclusive. I have often used the data from a completed simulation to generate a forensic animation.

Getting Animations Admitted

2011-06-30T08:40:00.001-04:00

How do I get an animation admitted?

Computer animations are created for many personal injury cases. Yet a common question I hear is, “How do I get one admitted in court?”

Typically, an animation is created for an expert and then submitted into evidence in much the same way as a reconstruction diagram. Let’s assume that you’ve retained a reconstruction expert and an animator. There should be a distinct division of labor.

The expert analyzes the testimony and physical evidence, reconstructs the crash and expresses all the opinions. The expert directs the animator’s efforts, provides times and positions of vehicles, reviews the animator’s work and testifies that it is a fair and accurate representation of his reconstruction.

The animator simply creates a visualization of the expert’s reconstruction; he does not conduct an independent analysis or express any opinions. Often an animator testifies at deposition as to his experience and the work he accomplished. Occasionally, he appears in court.

An animation created as described above should be submitted as DEMONSTRATIVE evidence. The standard for this type of evidence is less stringent. The judge will determine its admissibility by your answer to these questions:

1) Is it relevant?

2) Will it assist the jury in understanding pertinent information?

3) Does it accurately reflect the elements it is portraying?

If you’re able to answer, “Yes” to all three questions, your animation should be admitted.

If the animation is submitted as SUBSTANTIVE evidence, it must meet a higher standard of admissibility. The judge will evaluate the animation with these questions:

1) Is the science valid?

2) Was the science applied using a valid technique?

3) Was the technique applied properly?

There may be occasions where the animation should be admitted as substantive evidence. However, if the animation is illustrating the expert’s reconstruction, the rules for demonstrative evidence should be applied.

Nicholas J. Deleault has written an article that appears on many blogs. In it he discusses the Federal Rules and the arguments that opposing counsel will make against the introduction of animations into evidence. http://legalblog.resourcesforattorneys.com/index.php?m=11&y=06&entry=entry061106-153107

Trucking Accident - Jogger vs Semi

2011-06-14T15:20:00.003-04:00

A semi was traveling along a divided highway in a rural area. A jogger came from the opposite side of the road and literally ran into the side of the trailer's wheels. Image Studio created animations to illustrate the driver's and jogger's views. These were combined into a split screen video yielding a second-by-second comparison of their perspectives.

At mediation, plaintiff's counsel insisted that the driver should have seen and avoided the pedestrian. Our client stated, "We used the split screen with the mediator and the other side stopped arguing the facts of the actual impact. Very effective."

The case settled for an undisclosed amount. View the animation AT THIS LINK

Photogrammetry

2011-06-10T14:02:00.007-04:00

Photogrammetry is the process of obtaining reliable information about physical objects through the process of recording, measuring and interpreting photographs. It is commonly used in personal injury cases to determine the location of tire marks, the final rest position of vehicles and vehicle crush.

We often use a process called Computer Reverse Projection. This requires accurate measurements or a survey of the scene. The scene is modeled in the software and a computer "camera" is positioned to match the original camera. Objects are positioned in the 3d scene to replicate the world of the original photograph. Once the objects are constructed and positioned, an animation is easily created.

Sample case: No measurements of the final rest of the truck and SUV involved in the accident existed. However, the law enforcement vehicle had a dash cam video. We captured a still frame from the video.

Click image to enlarge

We surveyed the accident scene with the expert, making sure to document the roadway and the tops/bottoms of the utility poles visible in the video footage. We constructed the scene, and vehicles to match the real-world dimensions. Then we positioned the camera to line up with the scene. Finally, we placed the vehicles at the point of final rest. This image shows the video in the background with the 3d animation shown in wireframe.

Click image to enlarge

The final objects looked like this:

Click image to enlarge

Note the alignment of the truck/SUV with the surveyed gouge marks:

Click image to enlarge

You may view the animation that was created AT THIS LINK. Just click the Trucks tab in the center of the page. The animation is at the bottom of the page.

Great sources of information include

Law Enforcement accident scene photos
Expert witness photos
Police dash cameras,
Surveillance cameras at banks, convenience stores
Still photos and videos by newspapers and local TV stations
Intersection cameras

We have used this information successfully to assist in reconstructing and in animating motor vehicle accidents and Slip/Fall cases.

Other methods of Photogrammetry that we employ are Scaling Photos and Reverse Camera Projection.

The most common method is often referred to as Scaling Photos. If we know the width of the lanes for a roadway and have a photograph where tire marks are visibile, it is pretty simple to determine the location of the skid. If dashed lines are visible or we can see the tires of a vehicle, we can determine the skid's length.

Another method is referred to as Reverse Camera Projection. This takes place at the location of the accident. A transparency of the photographic evidence is placed in the view finder of a camera. That camera is moved until the trees, mailboxes, etc. match up exactly. One can now see the existing scene with the roadway evidence line up to match. An assistant is then directed to the location of the evidence, it is marked and measured or surveyed, yielding an accurate scale drawing.

Call us if you need assistance in obtaining accurate measurements from photos.