Courtroom Animation vs Simulation

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a courtroom animation is worth a million words. In a courtroom, technology is used to show the jury and judge how a patented device works, how an accident happened or biochemistry in action to help see that side of the case to provide a persuasive argument. Animations to recreate cases inside courtrooms (e.g. PowerPoint animation, 2-D animation and 3-D animation) have become an important part of litigations, particularly in the U.S. The big problem (or perhaps advantage) of these visual graphics is that they do not have to obey the laws of physics; they are cartoons. As opposed to these visual representations, a simulation is an analytical solution of equations that are based in physics. Some of these visual models look so good that it is difficult to see that they actually are violating the laws of physics. In this presentation, several examples of good and bad animations as well as animated simulations will be discussed and explained.