3D stroke-based character modeling suitable for efficiently rendering large crowds
US6326972A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 21, 1998 |
| Grant date | Dec 4, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 21, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06T2200/24
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system, method, and software product provide an efficient mechanism for rendering characters for computer based animation. The operation of the system is particularly well suited to the rendering of scenes of large numbers of characters, such as scenes of large crowds. The system uses a stroke based character model for a character, which is a collection of strokes, defined in a three dimensional coordinate system of a character, and associated with a geometric model of the character. This stroke model of the character and its association to the geometric model enables the strokes to move or change position over time as the character moves. The stroke model reduces the amount of data needed to accurately represent the character, particularly its shadows and silhouettes. Using the stroke models for many instances of characters within a frame or sequence of frames of animation, the system determines the positions of the characters in a global coordinate system in the frame, and then determines the respective positions of the stroke models of the characters, also in the global coordinate system. This collection of strokes is then input into a renderer, along with a camera model and a…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.