Modeling object interactions and facial expressions
First Claim
1. A method of context based skeletal tree generation for use in animation and simulation of object interactions, said method comprising the steps of preprocessing graphic objects, segmenting processed graphic objects into a plurality of contexts at surface slope and curvature discontinuities, generating control points to represent said contexts, building a volumetric skeletal representation from said control points, and wherein said volumetric skeletal representation is manipulated to facilitate animation and simulation of object interactions.
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Abstract
A method of using parametrical representations in modeling and animation is disclosed. This method is built directly on the inherent properties of parametric curves. Parametric curves are constructed and associated with geometric models, while at the same time the properties are used to represent the underlying mechanism of deformation. This method includes the steps of building parametrical representations on a geometric model, associating vertices of the model with different ones of the parametrical representations to effect movement thereof, and animating movement of the vertices to simulate relative motion therebetween.
The invention discloses a method in which simulation of object interaction and object deformation can be integrated into a unified framework through skeletal trees. The method preprocesses a graphic object and segments the object into a number of contexts at surface slope and curvature discontinuities. Then, control points are generated to represent these contexts. Based on these control points, a skeletal tree of the object can be built. Assisted by spatial decomposition, the skeletal trees can be directly used in the simulation of object interaction.
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Citations
38 Claims
- 1. A method of context based skeletal tree generation for use in animation and simulation of object interactions, said method comprising the steps of preprocessing graphic objects, segmenting processed graphic objects into a plurality of contexts at surface slope and curvature discontinuities, generating control points to represent said contexts, building a volumetric skeletal representation from said control points, and wherein said volumetric skeletal representation is manipulated to facilitate animation and simulation of object interactions.
- 13. The method according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein there are two types of threads, one type runs at a general level, which roughly tests if objects will collide, the other type runs at a detailed level, which accurately and in time checks the interactions of objects and a general level thread can spawn a detailed level thread whenever necessary.
- 22. A method to use a volumetric skeletal representation representing an object for interaction detection and response, wherein nodes are searched for detection and position of nodes are updated for response, said representations being generated either bottom-up or top-down or both.
- 28. A method of using parametrical representation to control and represent surface deformation to simulate movement in animation, said method including the steps of building parametrical representations to represent vertices in the topography of the surface, associating said vertices with different ones of the parametrical representations to effect movement thereof, and animating movement of the vertices to simulate relative motion therebetween.
- 37. A method of using parametrical representation to control and represent surface deformation to simulate movement in animation, said method including the steps of building parametrical representations to represent vertices in the topography of the surface, associating said vertices with different ones of the parametrical representations to effect movement thereof, and animating movement of the vertices to simulate relative motion therebetween whereby quantitative simulation is achieved.
Specification