DRAG AND DROP OF OBJECTS BETWEEN APPLICATIONS

• US 20130042259A1
• Filed: 08/09/2012
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: OTOY, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Otoy LLC
• Inventors: Urbach, Julian Michael
• Granted Patent: US 10,162,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/329
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to capturing an object rendered on the first window of a display by a first program, extracting the object, permitting a user to drag the object across the display into a second window of the display containing a second program, and importing the object into the second program in substantially real-time. The drag and drop process occurs seamlessly to the user and permits a user to select one or more of a plurality of objects in one application, drag the object into a second application for modification, and drag the modified object back into the first application for real-time preview.

Claims

1. A method comprising;

receiving, by a processor, a first user input;

responsive to the first user input, selecting, by the processor, an object rendered in a first window of a display by a first application and a rendering API (Application Programming Interface);

extracting, by the processor, the object from the first application via an engine that monitors received user inputs;

receiving, by the processor, a second user input;

responsive to second user input, dragging, by the processor, the object on the display from the first window to a second application rendered in a second window; and

responsive to the object crossing a focus border of the second window, importing, by the processor, the object into the second application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting an object comprises:

detouring, by the processor, the first user input to the engine;

intercepting, by the processor, draw commands from the first application to the rendering API;

determining, by the processor, the object from the draw commands; and

selecting, by the processor, the object and other objects in accordance with a selection algorithm.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining, by the processor, the object comprises:

assigning, by the processor, a camera on the near plane of a scene at the coordinates of the first user input; and

ray casting, by the processor, from the camera to a far plane; and

selecting, by the processor, the first object the ray hits.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, further user input to expand or filter the selection.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein expanding or filtering the selection comprises:

selecting or deselecting, by the processor, other objects in a scene connected to the selected object or objects.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein expanding or filtering the selection comprises:

selecting or deselecting, by the processor, other objects in a scene designated by the further user input, wherein the designation process comprises;

receiving, by the processor, a user input;

assigning, by the processor, a camera on the near plane of the scene at the coordinates of the user input; and

ray casting, by the processor, from the camera to the far plane and designating the first object the ray hits.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein dragging the object comprises:

rendering, by the processor, a borderless window;

rendering, by the processor, a selection in the borderless window, wherein the selection comprises the object or objects selected by the user;

in response to receiving user input to drag the borderless window from the first window to the second window, moving, by the processor, the borderless window across the display pursuant to the user input.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein rendering, by the processor, the selection in the borderless window comprises:

copying, by the processor, the draw commands associated with the selection from the first application;

inserting, by the processor, the draw commands from the first application in a pipeline of the rendering API;

rendering, by the processor, the draw commands via the rendering API.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein rendering the selection in the borderless window comprises:

obtaining, by the processor, first conditions, comprising lighting and environmental effects from the first application;

obtaining, by the processor, second conditions, comprising lighting and environmental effects from the second application;

gradually applying, by the processor, the first and second conditions depending on a distance of the borderless window from the first and second windows.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein importing the selection to a second application comprises:

converting, by the processor, the selection for implementation into the second application;

rendering, by the processor, the selection via the engine in the second window during the conversion;

upon completion of the conversion, importing, by the processor, the selection into the second application; and

upon importing the object into the second application, halting, by the processor, the engine rendering process and rendering, by the processor, the object from within the second application.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein converting the selection comprises:

modifying, by the processor, the draw commands into a file format utilized by the second application.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein rendering the selection via the engine comprises:

inserting, by the processor, draw commands into a rendering API pipeline operable to instruct the rendering API to render the selection into the second window.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the second application has its own rendering API, and rendering the selection from within the second application comprises rendering, by the processor, the selection in the second window using the second application'"'"'s rendering API.

14. A system, comprising:

a graphics processing unit;

a processor; and

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

first user input receiving logic, executed by the processor, to receive a first user input;

selecting logic, executed by the processor to select an object rendered in a first window of a display by a first application and a rendering API in response to receiving the first user input;

extracting logic, executed by the processor, to extract the object from the first application via an engine that monitors received user inputs;

second user input receiving logic, executed by the processor, to receive a second user input;

dragging logic, executed by the processor, to drag the object on the display from the first window to a second application rendered in a second window in response to receiving the second user input; and

in response to the object crossing the focus border of the second window, importing logic, executed by the processor, to import the object into the second application.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the selecting logic executed by the processor, to select an object comprises:

detouring logic, executed by the processor, to detour the first user inputs from the first application;

intercepting logic, executed by the processor, to intercept the draw commands from the first application to the rendering API;

determining logic, executed by the processor, to determine the object from the draw commands associated with the first user input; and

selecting logic, executed by the processor, to select the three dimensional object and other objects in accordance with a selection algorithm.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein determining, by the processor, the object comprises:

assigning logic, executed by the processor, to assign a camera on the near plane of the scene at the coordinates of the first user input; and

ray casting logic, executed by the processor, for ray casting from the camera to the far plane and selecting the first object the ray hits.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the dragging logic comprises:

window rendering logic, executed by a processor to render a borderless window;

selection rendering logic, executed by a processor to render a selection in the borderless window, wherein the selection comprises the object or objects selected by the user;

moving logic, executed by the processor, to move the borderless window across the display pursuant to the user inputs in response to receiving user inputs to drag the borderless window from the first window to the second window.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the importing logic further comprises:

converting logic, executed by the processor, for converting the selection for implementation into the second application such that the selection is imported into the second application upon completion of the conversion;

rendering logic, executed by the processor, for rendering the selection in the second window during the conversion process; and

,

halting logic, executed by the processor, for halting the engine rendering process and rendering the object from within the second application upon importing the object into the second application.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the selection rendering logic further comprises:

first condition obtaining logic, executed by the processor, to obtain first conditions, comprising the lighting and environmental effects from the first application;

second condition obtaining logic, executed by the processor, to obtain second conditions, comprising the lighting and environmental effects from the second application;

conditions applying logic, executed by the processor, to gradually apply the first and second conditions depending on the distance of the windowless border from the first and second windows.

20. A computer readable storage medium, having stored thereon, instructions which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a first user input;

responsive to the first user input, select an object rendered in a first window of a display by a first application and a rendering API;

extract the object from the first application via an engine;

receive a second user input;

responsive to the second user input, drag, the object on the display from the first window to a second application rendered in a second window;

responsive to the object crossing a focus border of the second window, import the object into the second application.