US 5,731,819 A · Deformation of a graphic object to emphasize effects of motion

Abstract

A three-dimensional graphic object appearing in an animation is deformed to simulate the effects of motion on the object. A user can selectively apply a stretch, yield, or flex deformation effect to the control vertices of the object, to change the shape of the object as a function of any of a linear velocity, angular velocity, linear acceleration, or angular acceleration of the object. Various other parameters for each of these deformation effects can also be selected and set by the user, including a sensitivity to the motion in generating the deformation and a maximum deformation. The flex deformation can selectively be set to either a linear or curved profile, simulating the effect of friction applied by the environment on one or more surfaces of the object. The stretch deformation can selectively be set to either a constant or a free volume to simulate the effect of inertia, causing a body to elongate or shrink in the direction of the movement. The yield deformation can be set either a linear or curved profile, simulating the displacement of an object's internal matter toward one end that occurs, relative to the direction of the object's motion, i.e., causing one end to bulge. For each control vertex on the object, an effect offset is determined for each motion component and for each selected deformation effect. The sum of the effect offsets for the control vertex represents a total offset that is added to the original control vertex to determine a deformed control vertex. This step is repeated for all control vertices to produce the deformed object.

Claims33

Dependent claims

A method for deforming a graphic object, to simulate effects of motion, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a motion vector for the graphic object that indicates its motion;
(b) providing a plurality of control vertices for the graphic object, said control vertices defining a shape of the graphic object;
(c) determining a plurality of offsets for the plurality of control vertices, as a function of the motion vector;
and
(d) deforming the graphic object by applying the plurality of offsets to the plurality of control vertices, thereby changing a shape of the graphic object accordingly.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Deformation of a graphic object to emphasize effects of motion

Life of this patent

Deformation of a graphic object to emphasize effects of motion

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims33