Method and apparatus for geometric model deformation using wires

A process of deformation, comprising:

• determining whether a point of an object lies within a region of influence of at least two wire curves;
• and
• changing a position of the point responsive to parameters of the wire curves with the parameters comprising:
• a scaling parameter controlling radial scaling around said curves;
• and
• a blending function controlling a transition from a region of deformation to a region without deformation.

A process of deformation, comprising:

• determining whether a point of an object lies within a region of influence of at least two wire curves;
• changing a position of the point responsive to parameters of the wire curves;
• and
• controlling position changes responsive to a holder curve.

A process of deformation, comprising:

• determining whether a point of an object lies within a region of influence of a first wire curve;
• changing a position of the point responsive to parameters of the first wire curve, the parameters comprising a parametric curve, a region of influence, a scaling parameter controlling radial scaling around said curve, and a blending function controlling a transition from a region of deformation to a region without deformation, the changing comprising determining an influence function for the point, scaling the position of the point responsive to the scale factor, rotating the point about a tangential axis responsive to rotational manipulation of the wire curve, and translating the point responsive to curve translation manipulation;
• controlling position changes responsive to a holder curve;
• performing the determining, changing and controlling with respect to a second wire curve;
• and
• algebraically combining changes in position caused by the first and second wire curves.

A system, comprising:

• a model of an object;
• means for deforming the model responsive to at least two wire curves, each of said wire curves comprising:
• a free form curve independent of the model and associated with the model;
• and
• a region of influence associated with said wire curve.

A computer memory product, comprising:

• a computer readable memory;
• an object model stored in said memory;
• and
• at least two wire curves stored in said memory and each of said at least two wire curves defining a directly manipulable deformation primitive for the model and representing a surface of the model.

A computer memory product, comprising:

• a computer readable memory;
• an object model stored in said memory;
• and
• at least two wire curves stored in said memory and each of said at least two wire curves defining a deformation of said model and comprising:
• a free-form curve associated with said model and controlling deformation of said model;
• and
• a region of deformation influence surrounding the parametric curve.