Rendering Flying Object Traces On Computing Devices

A system for rendering a three-dimensional scene on a computing device, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor, wherein the memory contains instructions that, when executed by the processor perform operations comprising:
• receiving a color buffer, a depth buffer, and one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters, the color buffer providing a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional space;
• receiving trace data representing a trajectory of a flying physical object in the three-dimensional space;
• rendering a trace from the trace data representing the trajectory on top of the received color buffer, and using depth buffer data to determine whether the trace of the flying physical object should be occluded by any objects that the trace traverses in the received color buffer;
• and
• drawing the color buffer with the rendered trace on a display device.

A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium containing instructions that when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a color buffer, a depth buffer, and one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters, the color buffer providing a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional space;
• receiving trace data representing a trajectory of a flying physical object in the three-dimensional space;
• rendering a trace from the trace data representing the trajectory on top of the received color buffer, and using depth buffer data to determine whether the trace of the flying physical object should be occluded by any objects that the trace traverses in the received color buffer;
• and
• drawing the color buffer with the rendered trace on a display device.

A method for preparing data representing a three-dimensional scene to be rendered on a computing device, comprising:

• obtaining a color buffer, a depth buffer, and one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters, the color buffer providing a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional space;
• obtaining trace data representing a trajectory of a flying physical object in the three-dimensional space;
• storing the obtained color buffer, the depth buffer, and the one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters separately from the obtained trace data;
• and
• sending the color buffer, the depth buffer, the one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters, and the trace data, to the computing device for rendering the three-dimensional scene on the computing device, wherein the trace data is sent separately from the color buffer, the depth buffer and the one or more three-dimensional viewing parameters.