Mechanical weight index maps for mesh rigging

A method comprising:

• receiving raw data that includes a representation of a person;
• generating a segmentation map that outlines the person and that is representative of a mask of the person;
• identifying, in the segmentation map, a position for each key-point of a plurality of key-points based on an analysis of the raw data, so as to identify a plurality of positions;
• and
• applying a neural network to generate a mechanical heatmap based on the segmentation map to represent a mechanical weight index of a predefined key-point connector for each pixel,
• wherein the predefined key-point connector is representative of a linkage between a first one of the plurality of key-points and a second one of the plurality of key-points.

A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with codes, wherein the codes are to direct a processor to:

• receive raw data that includes a representation of a person;
• generate, from the raw data, a segmentation map that outlines the person and that is representative of a mask of the person;
• identify, in the segmentation map, a position for each key-point of a plurality of key-points by generating a two-dimensional heatmap for each key-point based on the raw data and then identifying a hot spot in the two-dimensional heatmap that is representative of the position;
• and
• apply, to the segmentation map, a neural network that produces, as output, a mechanical heatmap that represents a mechanical weight index of a predefined key-point connector for each pixel,
• wherein the predefined key-point connector is representative of a linkage between a first one of the plurality of key-points and a second one of the plurality of key-points.