SELF-DISCLOSING CONTROL POINTS

• US 20140146039A1
• Filed: 11/29/2012
• Published: 05/29/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Athans, Emmanuel, DUPLESSIS, JEAN PIERRE, Hammontree, Monty, Chen, Xiaoji
• Granted Patent: US 9,311,755 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2021 Shape modification

Abstract

A smart object represents a 3D graphics object whose control points are disclosed to a user. The control points are displayed for a user to use in performing simple and complex transformations on the 3D graphics object. The control points are positioned in areas where transformations are more likely to be made by a user. A transformation may be an action along one or more axes of the object, such as, rotation, scaling, and translation. The user may utilize the control points to perform a series of transformations that create a particular 3D graphics object without requiring expertise in the 3D graphics modeling application.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

automatically rendering control points onto a 3D graphics object, each control point used to apply one or more transformations to the 3D graphics object, each control point associated with at least one behavior and at least one constraint, the behavior indicating a type of transformation, the constraint indicating a limitation of the transformation;

detecting a user action applied to a first control point associated with the 3D graphics object;

transforming the 3D graphics object in accordance with the behavior and constraint associated with the user action; and

displaying the transformed 3D graphics object onto a display.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to transforming the smart object, validating that the user action complies with the constraint associated with the first control point.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

when the user action exceeds the constraint, resetting the user action to be at a maximum value supported by the constraint.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising:

invoking executable instructions to react to the user action exceeding the constraint.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the transformation is a select one of scaling, rotation, and translation.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

visually displaying a label with each control point associated with the 3D graphics object; and

activating through a voice command a transformation with a select control point by referencing a label associated with the select control point.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing one or more transformation templates, each transformation template having one or more additional control points;

detecting a user action to activate a select transformation template for use with the 3D graphics object; and

adding the additional control points to the 3D graphics object.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

transforming the 3D graphics object in accordance with the select transformation template.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a control point is associated with a transformation applied along one or more of x, y, or z axes.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing thereon processor-executable instructions, comprising:

a smart object and a user interface,

the smart object including data that describes a 3D graphics object and one or more control points associated with the 3D graphics object, each control point associated with at least one behavior, the behavior indicating a transformation that a control point performs, and

the user interface, having processor-executable instructions, that when executed on a processor, automatically displays one or more control points onto a smart object, each control point identifying a position on the smart object to which a transformation may be made to the smart object.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the smart object includes a constraint for each control point, the constraint imposing a limit of the transformation associated with the control point.

12. A computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising:

one or more transformation templates, each transformation template associated with a specific transformation, the transformation template inserting one or more additional control points into the select smart object to perform the specific transformation.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the user interface further comprising:

a voice recognition module, having processor-executable instructions that when executed on a processor, recognizes voice commands that initiate a transformation by referencing a label associated with a control point.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the user interface comprises processor-executable instructions that generate labels for each smart object displayed, the labels used to select a smart object hidden behind one or more overlapping smart objects.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the user interface provides an axis lock menu that enables a user to lock a transformation to a select axis.

16. A computer-implemented system, comprising:

a processor; and

an application, having processor-executable instructions that when executed on the processor, displays a smart object including at least one control point, detects a user action applied to the control point, and transforms the smart object in accordance with the user action applied to the control point, wherein each control point is associated with a transformation operable along one or more axes and the smart object represents a 3D graphics object.

17. The computer-implemented system of claim 16, wherein the application includes one or more transformation templates, each transformation template, having processor-executable instructions that when executed on a processor, inserts one or more control points onto a graphics image.

18. The computer-implemented system of claim 17, wherein the graphics image is a mesh.

19. The computer-implemented system of claim 16, wherein the application includes a voice recognition module for processing voice commands that initiate a transformation by referencing a label associated with a control point.

20. The computer-implemented system of claim 16, wherein the application is selected from an integrated development environment, a 3D printer application, a graphics application controlling a 3D printer, or a gaming application.