Method for Inter-Scene Transitions

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer code thereon for creating a transition between a first scene and a second scene simulating motion, the first scene observed from a first viewpoint including a first digital image having color data and the second scene observed from a second viewpoint including a second digital image having color data, the computer code comprising:

• computer code for determining, for each digital image, a directional vector corresponding to a pan and tilt of a camera that captured the digital image and indicating an orientation of the scene corresponding to the digital image with respect to a coordinate system local to the digital image;
• computer code for transforming, for each digital image, corresponding digital image data to rotate the digital image so that the directional vector of the transformed digital image is parallel to a particular axis of a global coordinate system;
• computer code for further transforming digital image data of at least one of the transformed digital images by (i) rotating the at least one transformed digital image so that the directional vector is parallel with the directional vector of another transformed digital image and (ii) translating the at least one transformed digital image to align the directional vectors, thereby achieving alignment of corresponding features in each of the transformed digital images;
• computer code for defining a common ground plane shared by the first transformed digital image and the second transformed digital image;
• computer code for defining a footprint of structures within the first transformed digital image and the second transformed digital image on the ground plane;
• computer code for extruding from the footprint geometries, wherein the footprint and the extruded geometries define a three-dimensional geometry representative of the structures;
• computer code for determining a view position along a path and a corresponding orientation for a transitional image in relation to the three dimensional geometry;
• and
• computer code for projectively mapping color data from the first digital image and the second digital image based on the three-dimensional geometry and the view position to create a transitional image.