US 6,714,201 B1 · Apparatuses, methods, computer programming, and propagated signals for modeling motion in computer applications

Abstract

A hierarchical 3D graphics model can be viewed as a hierarchical graph of its nodes and their associated motions, with the mathematical type of motions graphically indicated. A user can click on a displayed motion to edit it. A motion API provides one or more of the following features: (1) spatial predicate functions; (2) functions for scaling motion intensity; (3) classes for shake, spin, and swing motions; (4) motion classes with a GUI interfaced for defining their duty cycle; (5) functions for defining and computing 0th through 2nd order derivatives of 3D position and orientation as function of time; (6) behaviors that constrain motions by boundaries in which the constraint is a reflection, clamp, andor onto constraint, or in which the boundary is a composite boundary. Motions can be defined by successive calls to an API and then be saved in a file.

Claims32

Dependent claims

A computerized method of creating animation comprising:

storing a representation of a 3D graphic model containing a plurality of model nodes, in which nodes can be related to each other in a parent-child hierarchy in which each node can be a parent node and/or a child node and in which the spatial attributes of each child node is defined relative to the spatial attributes of a corresponding parent node;
storing a plurality of motions, each associated with a corresponding node in said graphic model, and each having associated with it a definition of at least a position and an orientation spatial attribute value each defined in terms of a mathematical functions of time;
generating an animated view of the given model in which the given model is rendered at each of a succession of time values with individual ones of the model's nodes being shown in each successive rendering as having a position and orientation determined as a function of the value for the rendering's corresponding time value of the position and orientation values defined by the node's associated motion;
and
providing a point-and-click graphical user interface which includes one or more model graph controls which displays a graphical representation of said graphic model, including:
one or more tree graphs showing a visual representation of each model node and of the parent-child relationships between any such nodes;
a visual representation of each motion associated with one of said of nodes at a spatial location corresponding to said associated node:
one or more motion selecting controls for enabling a user to select a given motion by clicking on the visual representation of the given motion in the model graph;
and
motion-editing controls for enabling a user to vary the selected motion;
wherein the visual representation of a motion in the model graph provides information about the one or more mathematical function of time which the motion uses to define one or more spatial attributes.

8 more elements

A computerized method of performing 3D animation using a motion API comprising:

storing, outside of the motion API, a representation of a graphics model including of one or more model nodes, each of which nodes includes its own 3D graphic model and each of which model nodes has a position and an orientation, at least one of which can change relative to others of said model nodes;
separately calling the motion API to define a 3D motion in association with each of said model nodes, each of which motions defines at least a position and orientation as mathematical functions of time;
performing the following for each of a succession of video display frame times:
calling the API to determine the position and orientation defined by each of said motions as of the frame time;
and
updating the position and/or orientation, respectively, of the each model node as a function of the position and/or orientation determined by the API for the frame time;
and
rendering the graphics model with the model's individual nodes having said updated position and/or orientation for the frame time.

5 more elements

An object-oriented API in the form of a computer program recorded in a machine-readable memory structure, said API comprising:

a plurality of pre-defined motion classes, each of which has associated functions for creating and defining an instance of its 3D motion class, each of which motion instances defines a trajectory of position and orientation in a 3D space as a mathematical function of time;
and
one or more functions for calculating and providing updated values for at least the position and orientation of any instances of any motion classes defined by said API;
wherein said pre-defined motion classes include at least the following three basic pre-defined motion classes:
an oscillating translation motion class, which defines a composite motion which repeatedly performs the following:
translating the motion's position a first distance in a first direction;
and
then translating the motion's position a second distance in a second direction;
a rotation motion class, which defines a motion which rotates the motion's associated orientation in a direction about a given axis over a given angular distance;
and
a oscillating rotation motion class, which defines a composite motion which repeatedly performs the following:
rotating the motion's orientation in a first direction about a first axis over a first angular distance;
and
then rotating the motion's orientation in a second direction about a second axis over a second angular distance.

11 more elements

An API in the form of computer programming recorded in a machine-readable memory structure, said API comprising:

one or more functions for creating and defining one or more 3D motions, each of which defines at least a position and an orientation in a 3D space as one or more functions of time;
and
one or more functions for calculating and providing updated values for a motion's position and orientation at successive values of time as defined by said motion's one or more functions of time;
wherein:
said functions for defining 3D motions include a set of one or more predefined functions which enable a selected one of the 0th, 1st, and 2nd derivatives of either position or orientation to be defined as a mathematical expression of time in one function call;
and
said functions for calculating and providing updated values for the position and orientation of a 3D motion at successive values of time include a set of one or more pre-defined functions which returns a selected one of the 0th, 1st, and 2nd derivatives of either position and orientation in one function call.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Apparatuses, methods, computer programming, and propagated signals for modeling motion in computer applications

Life of this patent

Apparatuses, methods, computer programming, and propagated signals for modeling motion in computer applications

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims32