Use Of Maya Dynamics In Animation Cultural Studies Essay

Use Of Maya Dynamics In Animation Cultural Studies Essay This dissertation focuses on Maya Dynamics Technology. How far this technology be used in animation.How does the production house carry out complex dynamic simulations.The author will breifly describe how the simulations was acheived in his project.How other beginers can acheive a better output.Basic production skills to simulate dynamic simulations.At the end the author breifly describe about the upcoming cg softwares based on his research works.This dissertation is primarly based on my: My personal experience. My study on Maya Dynamics. Researches carried out. This dissertation will breifly describe all about maya dynamics technology and an indepth description of technologies used in this project. Maya fluids. Blast code Natfx Introduction This dissertaion asks and begins to answer the following questions. The use of Maya Dynamics in animation.How to carry out complex dynamic simulations.  · To define Maya dynamics  · To explain various methodolagies and techniques in maya dynamics.  · How to reduce render time in Maya dynamics simulation.  · The best possible way to render Maya dynamics.  · An overview of how maya dynamics are simulated in the studios.  · Analyze the best CG simulations achieved in movies.  · Recomendations based on my study. Research Methodology  · Analyzing the real time simulations.  · Describtion of how it was carried out in movies.  · Describtion about the best possible way to achieve it. Gathering other peoples experiences. SUMMARY Chapter 4  · What is Maya dynamics?  · An in depth view on Maya dynamics.  · Techniques used in my project. Chapter 5 Study of explosions. Methods to create an explosion for a short film. Chapter 6  · How does the studios carry out simulations.  · The best possible way a freelancer or a student can achieve thier desired simulation in the best possible time Chapter 7 In depth knoweldge about project Superfortress. Chapter 8  · Future developments. Chapter 9  · Reports and conclusions. Chapter 10  · Bibilography Review of Literature Chapter 4 Introduction This chapter shortly describes about Dynamics. A study of techniques in dynamics, and breif describtion about the techniques used in the project. Introduction so what is Maya Dynamics? Dynamics is an Autodesk Maya software that depends on laws and theories of physics to let us simulate natural forces in the animation. such as rain, smoke, fire, explosions,colliding objects etc. The animation is achevied by creating required elements in a scene and connecting them to inbuild forces in Maya to achieve required simulations. such as creating expressions,fields,collisions,goals etc.. Maya dynamics can also be defined as the animation of soft bodies,particles and rigid bodies. Study of Maya Dynamics technology Rigid bodies Rigid body are defined as those surfaces that doesnt deform its shape when it collide with another object.A few examples in real world would be billard balls and carroms . Rigid body technique in maya provides the simulation of geometric elements in a dynamically controlled enviornment using collision based system in Maya. There are two types of rigid bodies Active and Passive rigid bodies. Active rigid body are created for colliding with another surface and for simulating in a realistic manner.They have the ability to move, spin, rotate and collide with passive objects. Difference between active rigid body and passive rigid body. Active Passive can be keyframed Yes No respond to collisions No Yes affectd by fields No Yes Particles Maya particles are those objects that have no volume or size.They are basically reference points simulated, animated, and renderd seperatly.Like any other nodes in maya , particles also contain nodes that contain attributes which can be used for controlling individual particles.Nodes contain array, ramps , scripts and expressions. How does Maya particles differ from Maya geometry? Particles are points in space which require special care while rendering. Particles can only be renderd out using software or hardware rendering methods Fields Fields are the natural forces in nature that are manupilated in Autodesk maya.Such as gravity,wind,turbulance,air etc..that increases particle simulation and visual of the scene in a better way. Particle expressions One of the most powerful and infinite method of controlling particle parameters.Particles expressions depends on Mel syntax.Few examples of Particle expressions are: The first expressions determines the life time and the second expression determines the color of simulated particles in a maya scene. particleShape1.lifespanPP=time*1; particleShape1.rgbPP=rand(0,1); Goals Goals are a very strong method of animating the particles.Goals work more like a huge magnet that attract particles towards it or goals are considerd as the destination point for the particles.Goals have thier own attributes specifically designed for goal based simulation. Particle instancing Particle instancing control the motion and simulation of the instanced object created in Maya.Particle instancing are uesd for creating multiple objects that folllow their parents simulation.One example is : Thousands of arrows shot up in the sky. How to render out particles in Maya? Now here is a frequent question asked by freshers.What good is it to simulate the particles in maya and doesnt have the knowledge to render it out . Maya provides two option to render particle simulation. Software rendering Hardware rendering software rendering This technique allows for scene integration of particles and other renderd objects.Software renderd particles have glows, shadows, and lighting effects. Hardware rendering Hardware rendering is one of the quickest method of image creation in maya.But these images are taken to compositing softwares for compositing with the rest of the scene. In depth study of Maya Dynamics techniques used in the project Techniques used in the project Fluids Particle Instancing Maya Fluids Maya fluids are widely used for creating fluid simulations.Maya fluid box contains emiiter and container which supports the creation and simulations of smoke,fire,clouds,explosions etc.. this chapter brefily describes about the use of containers , how to create a reaction and how to render it out. Fluid containers Fluid containers visually represents a small scene inside a maya scene.They are best used for creation of fire ,clouds and explosions.Fluids are generated inside the container by an emitter or by painting the fluid inside the container.The simulation happens only inside the container.Dynamic forces are then connected to the container for better simulations. There are two types of container in maya 2d container 3d container 3d conatiner 2d container Both work in the same way but the only difference between them is 2d containers are flat and they simulate much faster where as 3d containers are cubical volumes and will take time for them to simulate. 3d containers 3d containers have depth ,height and width.Which obviously increases the render time.The best possible way to start working in a 3d conatiner is by setting its resolution at 20,20,20 intially and grdually increasing accordigly.One important thing in 3d container is that the size and resolution are proportional to each other. If the container size is 10,20,10 then resolution should be set to 20,40,20, or 5,10,5.Other wise the fluids will get strecthed and simulation appears strecthed.But ofcourse there are some instances when they can be alterd. (Above) size and resolution Chapter 5 This chapter decribes the study of explosions i have conducted for my project. Object of Research The series of research reported in this document is the study of physical phenomenon, the visual of an explosion and the after effect of the situvation that happens when an explosion occours.This includes study of the destructions of different shaped explosions , and the turbulence that occours during the time of ignition, as well as a study of damage occured and its after effects such as fire and smoke. What is an explosion? An explosion can be defined as a sudden bursting or blowing apart caused by energy released from a very fast escape of gases under pressure, or from a very fast chemical reaction or a nuclear reaction. Which in result produces a shock wave, loud noise, heat and light. What are the different types of Explosions? Explosions are classified into three categories. Mechanical Explosions Chemical Explosions Nuclear Explosions Mechanical Explosions The gradual build up of gases and pressure inside a pressure cooker. When the safety pressure valve is destroyed, blocked or eliminated intense amount of heat is generated. Mechanical explosion results from spontaneous combustion created by dust in a grain storage bin. Chemical Explosions Chemical explosions are caused by extremely rapid conversion of solid or liquid explosive compound into gases which has highly increased volume compared to the original compound. All manufactured explosives are chemical explosions. The explosion rate is too fast that it takes only a micro second to create intense heat and pressure. Nuclear Explosions May only be induced by either fission (splitting of nuclei of atom) or fusion (joining nuclei of atoms under great force). When the action occurs tremendous energy, heat, gas and shock takes place creating a blast equivalent to 40 million pounds of high explosive. A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high speed nuclear reaction. The explosion of an atomic bomb. Visual of an Explosion The effects are Heat, Light and Gases. Changes that occour results in combustion or burning. The initial color of an explosion is bright yellow, bright orange which gradually develops into bright thick red and die into a grayish and black color. Velocity of an Explosion Black powder detonates 3000-5000 feet per second. High explosives detonate from a range of 3300-29,000 fps. Primary effects from an Explosion Blast pressure effect.(positive and negative effect) Fragmentation effect. Incendiary or thermal effect. Ionization radiation. Residual radiation. Blast pressure Blast pressure are clasified into two categories Positive blast Negative blast Positive blast effect The explosion creates a blast of pressure going outward in a 360 degree from the centre of blast. At a rate of 4000-27,000 fps. Negative blast effect The explosion creates a vacuum of negative pressure that is diminished in strength in comparison of positive blast effect but still destructive enough to create an injury or death. The negative blast rushes gases and debris back towards the centre of blast. Fragmentation effect The act or the process of scattering of fragments of an exploding bomb. The fragmentation can be defined as the process of dividing. As an explosion occurs the gas pressure released pick up all the debris and any obstacles that may be picked up, bent, fractured otherwise destroyed by the pressure from the blast. Incendiary or Thermal effect Thermal radiation can be defined as an electromagnetic radiation emitted from the surface of a material due to the particular temperature of the material. The intense amount of heat and light produced by a nuclear explosion. Example of Thermal effect would be heat so intense that the sand in the area is near the blast centre is turned into glass. Example of Incendiary effect would be the ignition of wooden framework of a building causing the entire structure to burn to the ground in addition to blast damage. Ionization radiation Ionizing radiation can be defined as the radiation that is capable of producing ions either directly or indirectly. Radiation of sufficient energy to displace electrons from the atoms of cells and produce ions. Forms of ionization radiation Heat waves Radio waves X rays Ultra violet light Infra red light Residual radiation Residual radiation can be defined as the radio active materials emitted by a Nuclear explosion when an atomic blast occours. Which includes, Fission products, unfissioned nuclear material Research on the technical part of the Explosions What is the possible way to create an explosion for a short film? The best possible way to create an explosion for a short films are: Miniature + real explosion Miniature + cg Complete Cg Miniature + real explosion I build a miniature and fill it up with explosives. Rent a camera for the shoot and blow up the miniature in front of a black backround.Capture the video and then take it to compositing software. Miniature + Cg I build a miniature and blow it up without any pyrotechnique.Rent a camera and capture the footage. Create a Cg explosion. Use a compositing software and composite the two videos. Complete Cg I build a Cg miniature and create a Cg explosion. Then composite the two clips. Chapter 6 Breif introduction about studios. How does the studios carry out dynamic simulations? Study of dynamic simulations achieved in movie 2012. Movie : 2012 Director : Roland Emmerich Production studio : Scanline vfx(1990) Digital domain(1993) Double negative(1998) Sony pictures image works(1993) Pixomondo(2001) Hydrulx(2002) Crazy horse effects(2001) Evil eye pictures(1997) Gradient eye effects Uncharted territory(1999) Uncharted territory About Uncharted territory(llc) is one of the succesfull independent film production company established in 1999 by Visual Effects Supervisor Volker Engel and Visual Effects Producer and Supervisor Marc Weigert. The studio focus on developing , producing and co-producing feature films, TV movies and mini-series in the action/adventure and sci-fi genres.The studio hires 30-40 artist for each project and dissolve them when the project is completed. Production focus 2012 The studio was handed over 433 shots.They hired over 100 artists for the job to get done. Shot: First half of los angeles earthquake. (above)Earthquake preview done at llc Uncharted territory started working with the preview of earthquakes.when the visual feel of the earthquake was satisfied in the preview,they moved on to create in 3d.The unique thing about this shot is that it was 100% realistic digital enviornment and it has to break 100% realisticly.That was a huge challenge as they have to make sure the shading,texturing and lighting is correct and it looks realistic.But again as they have to visually show an eartquake of magnitude of 10+, it makes the job even more difficult. Many of the shots in los angeles airplane escape sequence the background showed huge amount of destructions of office buildings and many other which collapses and falls into the massive crack opened up on the earth surface.All these incidents have to be massive and huge. To make a collapsing building you need to have more than a building if it doesnt it looks unrealistic.fire,smoke,people,traffic,plants and many more to give a realistic look to that particular shot.It dosent end there as these objects crack,collapse and collide with other objects it creates dust and secondary debris. (Above)Los angeles plane escape sequnce.bg was composited later. (above)final compited shot. To visually display all these destructions one thing was quite clear from the rest of all that these destructions have to simulated using computer graphics.No cg software in the market was capabale of achieving it.so they have to build a tottaly new software which supports the rigid body simulations,shattering objects,material properties and capable of running these simulations.They named the newely build softawre as DROP. Drop The software gives the artist an extra advantage to break a building at a particular point and how large or small the destruction should be and to which direction it should fall. Accurate calculation of the magnitude and the precision, accuracy of the collapse. The speed of the destruction and the stability. Ability to run the simulation thousand times faster with multiple geometry,which widley provides time for the artist to test multiple simulations in a day. ar-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Volker Engel and Emmy-award winning Visual Effects Producer and Supervisor Marc Weigert.scar-winning Visual Effects Supervward winning Visual Effects Producer and Supervisor Marc W Double Negative About Double Negative was set up in 1998 with 30 staff.At present the studio has developed upto 700+staff making it one of the largest visual effects providers for films in Europe.They currently opened up a studio in Singapore with 50+ staff which works closely to the the main company in London. Production focus 2012 Double Negatives most challenging part in 2012 was to create lava bombs and pyroclatic ashes at yellowstone.The solution to this issue was to use pre simulated ashes and then importing it to the shot.The individual simulations were build in fluid dynamics.After much testing and running simulations they were able to simulate pyroclatic ashes in different sizes and shapes.The size were varying from a football to the size of a four story building. (Above)pyroclatic ashes varying from different sizes. Later stages they build lightweight rig in maya for the timing and placement of lava bombs.Once things was finalised the scene files exported to houdini were all the softbody,rigidbody simulations of lava bombs was solved.which included the impacting,soil and bedrock layers. (Above)lava bombscollision on the ground In Houdini the artists will analyze the trajectory and direction of each lava bombs and then calculate the point of impact.Later they run a lot of test simulations till they acheive what they wanted.And then as the lava bombs collides with the ground surface the ground breaks apart and throws up a lot of smoke dust and fire etc.When everything was finalised in Houdini they exported it back to maya for rendering. Pixomondo About Pixomondo was established in 2001 by CEO and executive producer Thilo kuther. Pixomondo is an international visual effects studio which has branches all over Europe.They have a global network of studio in :Berlin,Stuggart,Frankfurt,Munich,Shangahi,London and they recently opened up a studio in Los angeles.Pixomondo have positioned themselves on the frontier of the changing visual effects world.They have efficent and collaborative workflow across different time zones which established 247 production cycle.The studio offers supervision and production of : Cg character creation 3d animation and previsualisation of feature film Television and commercial industry. They worked recently on films like 2012 and Ninja assasin. Production focus 2012 The intense amount of destruction filmed in 2012 is the reflection of intense amount of previews the studio has worked.These preview was not just a helping hand in the production and post-production phase it was equally important for the story telling phase.The previews also served the assistant directors for setting up lighting , camera positioning and many other technical issues.It widley helped the director to revision his ideas. Vfx supervisor Rainer Gombus worked closely with director from october 2008 with the previews.This team consist of a group of highly talent lead animation artist,lead visual effects artist ,producer and executive producer Thilo kuther.Work was seperated among the global studios under Pixomondo. They had to provide previews that satisfied sony pictures and which helps the film makers to enhance their production pipeline.Almost all the previews had water,fire,smoke etc..In some cases they were creating detailed number of differnt shots from different angles when storyboards didnt exsist. Digital Domain About Digital Domain was established in 1993 by film industry.The studio has done a lot of contribution to the film industry over the past decade and are still on the process of acheiving it in th future.They have worked on many award winning films like : Titanic Curious case of Benjamin Button 2012 The studio received three Academy awards for visual effects and four other awards for scientific and technical achievement. Production focus 2012 (Above)plane escape shot Digital Domain was paired with Pixomondo to create the previews of plane escape shot from Los Angeles.Working on the camera moves,massive destruction and blocking out the rest. While Pixomondo was working on the previews the vfx supervisor of DD started working on the preproduction , focusing on blue screen shots.The DD office in california started working with rd.They consisted of 150 artists and programers who started working from August 2008 and it lasted till July 2009. Shot describtion The hero comes to resuce his children ,his ex wife and her newly met boyfriend.As the plane try to take off an earthquake occours creating a huge crack in the ground and try to suck the plane into it.But the hero manges to pull up from the pressure and manges to move around the collapsing city and finally escapes through the sea. (Above) ground crack Production One of the shots at which the DD had to work was the plane lift up shot.Majority of the footage was live action excluding the cg buildings and the road.The trees was done later procedurally.The footage was compiled with large number of photographs and merging them together,they had to model each single houses, buildings and other geometry.They hired a helicopter and continuelsy shot the footage,which was later merged in the actual shots. The runway set was made out of plywood framed platform with cylinders toped under it.A tarmic type texture was applied to it ,to give a more realistic look.The construction helped the technichians to squash, stretch and flex the runway. Ground cracking and debris was acheived through 2d tracking which required a lot of detailed paint works. Simulating these sequnces from scratch would be impossible.so they developed a library system and started modelling chunks of ravine   each about 100 yards long, then layers and layers of rocks,debris and small simulated particles and volumentics on top of that.Each section of the collapse scene ran around 400 frames and each of them can be repeated as they wanted.This process allowed enough control for the artist to control where the wall would collapse and the number of frames it will take.When they finalised the shots its time to render it out. All the shots was renderd out in Renderman.Since the sequnce was during day it required straight forward HDRI lighting.Each shot had around 30-40 render passes.All these was composited in Nuke. Chapter 7 Emerging technology Next limit Realflow 5 Realflow 4 is a stand alone 3d simulation software which supports fluid simulation, such as water,rigid body,meshes and gaseous substances.The software is developed by Nextlimit technologies.The creator recieved an award from motion pictures of arts and science for the creation of Realflow in 2007. Realflow is based on particle simulation.It completly depends upon the physical properties to interact with each other and creates realistic aceleration,forces and impulses.These particles can be influenced by point based nodes known as daemons,which is a powerfull tool that can simulate the motion of gravity,twister and tsunami. Running platforms Works both in 32 and 64 bits. Works on various operating systems Compaitable with 3d studio max,Autodesk maya,Cinema 4d,Xsi and lightwave. Whats new in Realflow 5 At Siggraph 2009 Nextlimit played a demo version of Realflow 5.Here are some cool new features that will be available in version 5. Particle based fluid simulation When comparing version 4 with version 5 , the version 5 can simulate much faster when using particle based solver. Hybrid based fluid solver This new feature lets you simulate medium to large scale fluids.The solver has the ability to detect those areas that need more resolution and it will automatically generate particles in those areas. New and updated plugins Nextlimit added up a new plugin for Houdini,Lightwave and Xsi.The plugins for Maya and 3dMax is also updated. Script udated Realflow works on Pyhton scripting.The new C++ sdk script opens up different variations in simulating and helps in pipeline integration. New dynamic engine for softbody and rigidbody This new engine is developed from scratch and it is completly multithreaded.It has a new level of physical accuracy. Licence scheme updated Like the previos versions of real flow version 5 dosent depend on cpu,it will be licensed by machine.

Pestel Analysis for the Irish Rail

The Makro environment is the context in which a business operates. This takes in various factors including those outside its control, for example, laws or standards. Each factor can have an effect on the business positive or negative and so companies make plans and strategies to try to anticipate these effects. If a company does not plan for Makro environment changes or ignores them, then it may miss opportunities to grow or losing business to a competitor. Successful managers need an all-round view of their environment for decision-making.The Irish Rail uses PESTEL analysis to draw attention to each of the key external environmental factors. Political * Investing more in the railways by the Government would give environmental benefit but at the cost of the taxpayers money; * An introducing lower road tax for the newer cars make number of new cars owners increase; * Open access to rail infrastructure is available to other operator; * New Government may implement new international pol icies that may not necessary be advantageous for the Irish Rail;Economica * More jobs means more commuting; * Business expansion means more business travel; * Investing in major project to reduce delays; * The absence of large, heavy industry, such as coal, iron, est. . for which it is ideally suited; Socio-Cultural * People are aware that there are more accidents on the Road * The Rail covers most parts of the country, it means that Irish Rail has an important relationship with the public. Rail has a major role to play in educating the public especially children about the dangers of the rail environment. * Persuading the public that rail travel is a real alternative to car use is vital Technological * Some railways need to be transform and adopted to rail freight * Rail is environmentally friendly and safely * Irish Rail has use advanced technology to reduces costs, running to time. Legal The Irish Rail as a large national employer needing skilled and committed staff * The Rail has to comply with a very wide range of legislation * Compliance with employment laws is particularly important. * Safety and health legislation affects almost all of Irish Rail's activities. Environmental * Using the Railways is much more energy-efficient than travel by Road or Air. * Irish Rail takes its environmental responsibilities seriously e. g. buying the wood for the rail track which are properly managed and renewable.

Tracing Changes Through a Thousand Years

In thirteenth century, the word Hindustan, used by Mining-I Syria, meant the areas of Punjab, Harlan and lands between the Gang and Yamaha. In modern times, the same word denotes the modern nation-state of India in its entirety. CLC The context changed from geographical and cultural to political. D In modern context, foreigner means a person who is not Indian. During the medieval period, a foreigner was any stranger who appeared in a village or city. It referred to a person who was not a part of that society or culture.CLC Historians and their sources Different types of sources are used by historians to learn about the past, depending on the period being studied and the nature of the investigation. CLC The major sources of historical information are coins, architecture, inscriptions and textual records. C] The period from 700 AD to 1 750 AD saw an increase in the number of textual records. The reason was easy availability of paper and its low cost. It enabled people to write holy tex ts, chronicles, letters and teachings of saints, petitions, judicial records, and registers of accounts and taxes.These slowly replaced the older sources of information. L Wealthy people, rulers, monasteries and temples collected manuscripts which were placed in libraries and archives. 0 Manuscripts still had to be copied manually. Variations in handwritten copies of the same manuscript developed due to lack of adequate technologies like printing. This made it difficult for historians to interpret textual records. CLC Social and political groups The scale, variety of events and developments that occurred over the period from 700 AD and 1 750 AD is enormous, making it challenging for the historians.L] New technologies in irrigation, agriculture, crafts and warfare were ushered n the subcontinent during this period. New crops like potato and tea, which later became very important, were also introduced with the arrival of new people. As such, it was a period of economic, political, soc ial and cultural changes. C] Traveling for trade and exploration also increased during this period. C] Ragouts, a group of warriors who claimed Ashtray status, gained in importance during this period. The Martha, Sikhs, Jets, Moms and Ashtrays also became important. Clearing of forests in order to expand agriculture, forced many forest Weller to migrate or become peasants. C] Societies became complex and acquired hierarchies. Peasants were required to pay taxes and offer goods and services to local lords. C] Economic and social differences, based upon amount of land, cattle and craftsmanship, emerged amongst peasants. CLC Sub-castes or stats became the primary factor of social differentiation. They had their own rules and regulations, enforced by a sati penchant or an assembly of elders.Ranks varied according to power, influence and resources controlled by the members of the caste. C] Region and empire C] Various dynasties gained ascendancy over different regions, leading to the ris e of kingdoms and empires. CLC The notable dynasties of the period were the Scholars, Challis, Thoughts and Mussels. The Mussels were the most successful in building a vast empire. After their decline in the eighteenth century, regional states re-emerged, but McHugh influence on administration, governance, and economy was still visible.CLC The creation of large empires, encompassing various regions, led to a fusion of traits. At the same time, each region was successful in preserving its individual culture. C] Religions C] Religion was the main force behind social and economic organization of local communities. Religious beliefs were shaped by social conditions. Important changes occurred in Hinduism during this period. They included the worship of new deities, royal patronage of temples and growing importance of Brahmas, the priests, as dominant groups in the society. C Knowledge of Sanskrit texts earned the Brahmas a lot of respect in society.C] The idea of backbit – of a l oving, personal deity that devotees could reach without the support of priests or rituals, evolved during this time. D The teachings Of Islam were also introduced through migrants and merchants. They were widely interpreted by their followers, leading to the emergence of various sects and schools of law. C] Time and historical periods L] In the context of history, time reflects changes in ideas, beliefs and socioeconomic conditions of people. For making historical assessments convenient, time is divided into periods on the basis of similarities in characteristics of events or phenomena.British historians divided Indian's history into three periods: â€Å"Hindu†, Muslim† and â€Å"British†, giving precedence to the religion of rulers rather than changes in the economy, society and culture. Modern historians focus on economic and social factors, dividing history into ancient, medieval and modern periods. CLC The medieval period of Indian history saw the rise of reg ional states, formation of peasant societies and the influence of Hinduism and Islam. O The arrival of European trading companies, who were attracted by the economic prosperity of the region, was amongst the most important events of this period.

Honesty And Knowledge The Philosophy Of Saint Augustine,...

Honesty and Knowledge: The Solutions to an Ethical Dilemma through the Philosophy of Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant â€Å"Simon,† Larry says, â€Å"we are good friends; I consider it to be my duty to tell you that I have found a letter in your late father’s poetry book, indicating that he has had an affair.† Some of us will try to avoid coming face-to-face with our friend about such a gut-wrenching reality by keeping this distressing information a secret. Some of us will tell the truth for the moral sake of doing so, or because it can serve a purpose and actually prove to be mutually beneficial. Revealing sensitive or private information to someone is risky, but the philosophers Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant can agree that Larry would be doing a moral thing by informing Simon of his father’s infidelity. Essentially, for Saint Augustine, God is truth, and we should always work towards this truth. It is wisdom that provides the knowledge of truth, so the quest for truth is a quest for wisdom. Simon may be absolutely enraged and mortified after L arry decides to disclose the truth, but more importantly, he can use his awareness and allow it to guide him in finding the â€Å"essence of all truth:† (St. Augustine 61) God. According to St. Augustine, in the City of Man (the terrestrial world), our desires tend to become the center of our existence. This self-centeredness, absent with the grace of God, blinds us to the truth and weakens our