I am trying to create a real-time animation of a bird that has wings with two joints whose angles change dynamicly (in other words, the flapping motion is not pre-calculated). Does anyone know of any simple physics model that can be used to create believable movement for the bird based on the way the wings flap?
This is for a nine-week project that I am doing with Java3D, JMF and some other technologies that I am sure are of interest to the people here. Any simplified bird flight physics models are welcome, even if they do not deal with jointed wings.