Anatomy flexes its muscle

Ok this is it. I've been working on this 3D character system called "Anatomy" for an extraordinarily long time now, and I've finally got some actual graphics in it!!! This is all so very exciting.

Basically, this program is just a test, it will not be used in the final Anatomy at all, but its confirmation that I'm doing the right thing here. Its been developed over the past 2 weeks amidst a whole lot of blood, sweat, tears, and mathematical transformation algorithms. (Actually the first three were just a metaphor, but I was close to tears!). In the image above, you see it in action, a skinning/skeletal animation system featuring two bones deforming vertices in space. If you can tell what its supposed to look like its doing its job, for now.

Note the way the bones bulge nicely and smoothly in the centre instead of (as in the original design) looking like 2 cylinders with latex over them. So this is very exciting. The test itself is written in C#, uses Managed Direct3D 9.0c and contains over 1800 lines of code! I'm planning to release a "cleaned up" version of the source code along with a tutorial if I get time, because I've been through an awful lot of mathematical analysis and backtracking that I wouldn't wish upon anyone!

(Psst. here are the 2 secrets:
1. V' = sum(V * Mx * Wx)
2. Pushout distance from joint = rest distance from joint

Professor Frink: "Well, it should be obvious to even the most dim-witted individual who holds an advanced degree in hyperbolic topology, that Homer Simpson has stumbled into... the third dimension!"
Lisa: "Sorry?"
Frink: "Here we see an ordinary square..."
Chief Wiggum: "Whoa, whoa, slow down, egghead."
Frink: "...but suppose we extend the square beyond the two dimensions of our universe, along the hypothetical Z axis, there."
(everyone gasps)
Frink: "This forms a three-dimensional object known as a 'cube', or a 'Frinkahedron' in honor of its discoverer."