Animation system which employs scattered data interpolation and discontinuities for limiting interpolation ranges
First Claim
1. A method for producing an animation by generating a sequence of deformed images, comprising the steps of:
- displaying an image on a display device;
defining discontinuities on said image;
displacing one or more features on the displayed image in correspondence with desired deformation of the image that is to occur from one image to a subsequent image in the sequence;
interpolating new positions for portions of the displayed image other than the displaced features to produce a deformed image;
limiting the portions of the displayed image that undergo interpolation in correspondence with said discontinuities; and
displaying the deformed image as a subsequent image in the sequence on said display device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An animation system employs scattered data interpolation to provide fluent animation of still images. Discontinuities, such as cuts and holes, can be established within an image, to limit the range over which interpolation is carried out for a given deformation of a feature in the image, and thereby refine the control exerted by animated features. The amount of computational time and effort required to interpolate the change from one frame of an animation to the next is reduced by concentrating computation of the deformed image on areas of change. Computational requirements are further reduced by taking advantage of frame-to-frame coherence.
75 Citations
25 Claims
-
1. A method for producing an animation by generating a sequence of deformed images, comprising the steps of:
-
displaying an image on a display device; defining discontinuities on said image; displacing one or more features on the displayed image in correspondence with desired deformation of the image that is to occur from one image to a subsequent image in the sequence; interpolating new positions for portions of the displayed image other than the displaced features to produce a deformed image; limiting the portions of the displayed image that undergo interpolation in correspondence with said discontinuities; and displaying the deformed image as a subsequent image in the sequence on said display device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method for animating an image, comprising the steps of:
-
displaying one frame of an image on a display device; defining control features on said image; correlating said control features to positions on a grid; defining discontinuities in said image; determining displaced locations for at least some of said control features in a subsequent frame of animation; interpolating said image on said grid by means of a thin-plate spline interpolation method, to produce a deformed image; limiting the positions on said grid over which said interpolation is carried out in accordance with said discontinuities; and displaying the deformed image on said display device as a subsequent frame of the animation.
-
-
13. A method for animating an image, comprising the steps of:
-
displaying an image on a display device; defining control features on said image; correlating said control features to positions on a grid; determining displaced locations for at least some of said control features, corresponding to desired deformation of the image; interpolating said image, to produce a deformed image, by; (i) assigning values to the grid positions, with the values for grid positions which correspond to said control features being respectively related to the displacements of the control features; (ii) determining residual values for the grid positions which do not correspond to said control features; (iii) identifying the residual value of greatest magnitude; (iv) relaxing the value for the grid position having the greatest magnitude, by adding its residual value to its assigned value; (v) updating the residual values for a predetermined number of grid positions near the grid position where said relaxation takes place; (vi) identifying the updated residual value having the greatest magnitude; and (vii) iteratively repeating steps (iv)-(vi); and displaying the deformed image on said display device as a subsequent frame of the animation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A system for animating an image, comprising:
-
means for displaying successive instances of an image to to thereby provide an animation sequence; means for identifying displacements of features of said image that are to occur during the animation sequence; means for defining discontinuities in said image; means for interpolating said image over a limited region of the image defined by said discontinuities to conform the image to the displaced features; and means for causing the conformed image to be displayed on said display means as a successive instance of the image in said animation sequence. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
-
-
20. A computer-readable storage medium containing a program which executes the following steps:
-
displaying an image on a display device; recording displacement of features of said image that are to occur during animation; establishing discontinuities in said image; interpolating said image over a limited region of the image defined by said discontinuities to conform the image to displaced features; and displaying the interpolated image on the display device. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
-
-
25. A computer readable storage medium containing a program which executes the following steps:
-
displaying a frame of an image on a display device; recording control features on said image; correlating said control features to positions on a grid; defining discontinuities in said image; recording displaced locations for at least some of said control features in a subsequent frame of animation; interpolating said image on said grid by means of a thin-plate spline interpolation method, to produce a deformed image; limiting the positions on said grid over which said interpolation is carried out in accordance with said discontinuities; and displaying the deformed image on the display device as a subsequent frame of the animation.
-
Specification