Automatic generation of animation of synthetic characters

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique for acquiring motion samples, labeling motion samples with labels based on a plurality of parameters, using the motion samples and the labels to learn a function that maps labels to motions generally, and using the function to synthesize arbitrary motions. The synthesized motions may be portrayed through computer graphic images to provide realistic animation. The present invention allows the modeling of labeled motion samples in a manner that can accommodate the synthesis of motion of arbitrary location, speed, and style. The modeling can provide subtle details of the motion through the use of probabilistic sub-modeling incorporated into the modeling process. Motion samples may be labeled according to any relevant parameters. Labels may be used to differentiate between different styles to yield different models, or different styles of a motion may be consolidated into a single baseline model with the labels used to embellish the baseline model. The invention allows automation of labeling to increase the efficiency of processing a large variety of motion samples. The invention also allows automation of the animation of synthetic characters by generating the animation based on a general description of the motion desired along with a specification of any embellishments desired.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.