Securely sharing design renderings over a network

• US 9,245,064 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2010
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Armstrong Word Industries Incorporated, Armstrong World Industries Incorporated, Dirtt Environmental Solutions
• Original Assignee: ICE Edge Business Solutions Ltd.
• Inventors: Loberg, Barrie A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoang, Phi
• Assistant Examiner(s): BEARD, CHARLES LLOYD
• Application Number:
  US13/510,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20120268463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,889 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads

Abstract

Systems, methods, and design software allow for easy and efficient rendering, displaying, navigation, and/or sharing of computer generated designs and models. One or more implementations allow a user to share the geometry and the graphical attributes of a three-dimensional model without sharing the source file or the proprietary details of the source file. In particular, the one or more implementations provide the ability to capture the geometry and the graphical attributes of a three-dimensional model, and share then captured geometry with others. Furthermore, one or more implementations can allow for sharing of the geometry and graphical attributes of a three-dimensional model without requiring the viewer to have the software used to create the three-dimensional model.

Claims

1. In a computerized environment including a computer system and a design software application, a computer program storage device having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, that, when executed, cause one or more processors in the computer system to perform a method for separately capturing and rendering a design to thereby provide secure, remote three-dimensional viewing access of a design while prohibiting end-user editing thereof, the method comprising:

identifying one or more geometric computer model files corresponding to a three-dimensional computer model created by a design software application and stored within a database associated with the design software application;

receiving one or more user requests through a user interface to capture and distribute the three-dimensional computer model over a network;

identifying minimum geometry data and graphical aspect data of the three-dimensional computer model in the one or more geometric computer model files;

extracting those portions of geometry data and graphical aspect data relevant to outer or otherwise viewable surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model from the one or more files corresponding to the three-dimensional computer model to create one or more separate files that represent less than all of the content of the identified one or more files, wherein extracting the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data comprises;

identifying components and surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model that are not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model including recognizing geometry data associated with at least one interior component, and

excluding data associated with the at least one interior component and other identified components and surfaces from the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data, such that data for components and surfaces that would not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model is not stored in the one or more separate files;

storing the created one or more separate files in a read-only format separately from the design software application;

receiving one or more request for the one or more geometric computer model files from a second remote client computer system;

sending the one or more geometric computer model files and one or more temporary viewer application files from the wed server to a second remote client computer system, based on the created read-only one or more separated files of excluded data;

wherein;

the one or more temporary viewer application files are configured to launch a temporary viewer application on the second remote client computer system; and

the temporary viewer application is configured to display the geometry data and graphical aspect data of the one or more geometric computer model files,

without receiving or incorporating at the web server or the first remote client computer system any changes to the sent one or more geometric computer model files or the three-dimensional computer model from a user of the temporary viewer application; and

providing a three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model at the second remote client computer'"'"'s display device through a capture and render software application unassociated with the design software application,

such that the user is able to navigate each provided view at the second remote client computer system location without applying any changes to the provided view or the three-dimensional computer model, and wherein the capture and render software application is configured to delete the created one or more separate files from the second remote client display device upon the closing of the capture and render software application, and

such that the software application unassociated with the design software application automatically installs and removes the one or more temporary viewer application within the second remote client computer system.

2. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising providing an accurate three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model at a display device through communication with a graphical processing unit.

3. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one or more geometries that surround one or more vertices associated with the three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model; and

providing a lighting value to one or more vertices based on the one or more surrounding geometries.

4. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 3, further comprising storing one or more context tags associated with the three-dimensional computer model in a storage module unassociated with the design software application.

5. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

identifying navigational input that changes the three-dimensional view; and

providing real-time shading of the three-dimensional view as three-dimensional view changes.

6. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining the lighting value based at least in part upon the one or more context tags wherein identifying components and surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model that would not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model includes recognizing those geometric and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model that are unnecessary or irrelevant with respect to reproducing the outer or viewable geometry of the three-dimensional computer model.

7. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the one or more files corresponding to a three-dimensional computer model stored in the database associated with the design software application;

wherein the identified geometry data excludes component data associated with at least one interior or otherwise non-viewable surface of the three-dimensional computer model.

8. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, wherein extracting the geometry data and graphical aspect data comprises extracting only the geometry data and graphical aspect data relevant to outer or otherwise viewable surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model.

9. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

recognizing geometry data associated with at least one interior component; and

excluding the geometry data associated with the at least one interior component from the extracted geometry data.

10. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an electronic request through a user interface to share the three-dimensional model using a quick share link, wherein the quick share link comprises a general access URL for the three-dimensional model hosted at a web server; and

sending the quick share link to a user that made the electronic request, wherein the quick share link is accessible to the requesting user, or any other user to whom the requesting user sends the quick share link.

11. The computer program storage device as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an electronic request through a user interface to share the three-dimensional model using a secure share link, wherein the secure share link comprises a user-specific URL for the three-dimensional model hosted at a web server; and

sending the secure share link to one or more email addresses entered into the design software application.

12. At a web server in a computerized environment including a first remote client computer system that creates a three-dimensional computer model with a design software application, and a second remote client computer system, a method for securing sharing geometric and graphical aspects of a three-dimensional computer model at the second remote client computer system without requiring the second remote client computer system to have the design software application installed thereon, comprising:

receiving at the web server, from a first remote client computer system, portions of geometry data and graphical aspect data relevant to outer or otherwise viewable surfaces extracted from a three-dimensional computer model, created using the design software application, which identifies minimum geometry data and graphical aspect data of the three-dimensional computer model;

wherein the three-dimensional computer model is located within the first remote client computer system and the graphical aspect data is extracted from the three-dimensional computer model by the first remote client computer system;

wherein extracting those portions of geometry data and graphical aspect data associated with outer or otherwise viewable surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model from one or more geometric computer model files corresponding to the three-dimensional computer model to create one or more separate files that represent less than all of the content of the identified one or more files, such that extracting the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data comprises;

identifying components and surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model that are not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model including recognizing geometry data associated with at least one interior component, and

excluding data associated with the at least one interior component and other identified components and surfaces from the identified components and surfaces from the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data, such that data for components and surfaces that would not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model is not stored in the one or more separate computer model files;

storing the geometry data and graphical aspect data in one or more geometric computer model files at the web server;

receiving one or more requests for the one or more geometric computer model files from the second remote client computer system; and

sending the one or more geometric computer model files and one or more temporary viewer application files from the web server to the second remote client computer system, based on the created read-only one or more separated files of excluded data;

wherein;

the one or more temporary viewer application files are configured to launch a temporary viewer application on the second remote client computer system; and

the temporary viewer application is configured to display the geometry data and graphical aspect data of the one or more geometric computer model files,

without receiving or incorporating at the web server or the first remote client computer system any changes to the sent one or more geometric computer model files or the three-dimensional computer model from a user of the temporary viewer application; and

providing a three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model at the second remote client computer'"'"'s display device through a capture and render software application unassociated with the design software application,

such that the a user is able to navigate each provided view at the second remote client computer system location without applying any changes to the provided view or the three-dimensional computer model, and wherein the capture and render software application is configured to delete the created one or more separate files from the second remote client display device upon the closing of the capture and render software application, and

such that the software application unassociated with the design software application automatically installs and removes the one or more temporary viewer application within the second remote client computer system.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

sending one or more executable instructions from the web server to the second remote client computer system,

wherein the one or more executable instructions are configured to cause one or more processors to automatically launch the temporary viewer application on the second remote client computer system.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more executable instructions are configured to cause the second remote client computer system to store the one or more geometric computer model files in volatile memory at the second remote client computer system.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the one or more executable instructions are configured to cause the second remote client computer system to store the one or more temporary viewer application files in volatile memory at the second remote client computer system.

16. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the one or more geometric computer model files comprise a limited extraction of all of the data originally created for the three-dimensional model at the first remote client computer system, and consist essentially of the geometry data, the graphical aspect data, and one or more context tags.

17. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising sending a hyperlink containing a location of the one or more geometric computer model files from the web server to an email address associated with an intended viewer.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein the hyperlink is accessible only through the associated email address.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

identifying that the intended viewer has confirmed the associated email address; and

upon identifying the confirmation, establishing a connection with the second remote client computer system; and

sending the one or more temporary viewer application files over the established connection to the second computer system.

20. At a client computer system in a computerized environment including a web server that hosts a three-dimensional computer model created by a design software application, a method for viewing geometric and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model without requiring local installation of the design software application, comprising:

sending one or more requests to a web server for one or more geometric computer model files comprising portions of geometry data and graphical aspect data relevant to outer or otherwise viewable surfaces extracted from the three-dimensional computer model, created using the design software application, which identifies minimum geometry data and graphical aspect data of the three-dimensional computer model;

wherein extracting those portions of geometry data and graphical aspect data associated with outer or otherwise viewable surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model from one or more geometric computer model files corresponding to the three-dimensional computer model to create one or more separate files that represent less than all of the content of the identified one or more files, such that extracting the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data comprises;

identifying components and surfaces of the three-dimensional computer model that are not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model including recognizing geometry data associated with at least one interior component, and

excluding data associated with the at least one interior component and other identified components and surfaces from the identified components and surfaces from the identified geometry data and graphical aspect data, such that data for components and surfaces that would not be viewable when rendered in the three-dimensional model is not stored in the one or more separate computer model files;

storing the geometry data and graphical aspect data in one or more geometric computer model files at a web server;

opening a temporary viewer application hosted by the web server, based on the created read-only one or more separated files of excluded data;

wherein;

the one or more temporary viewer application files are configured to launch a temporary viewer application; and

the temporary viewer application is configured to display the geometry data and graphical aspect data of the one or more geometric computer model files,

without receiving or incorporating at the web server any changes to the sent one or more geometric computer model files or the three-dimensional computer model from a user of the temporary viewer application; and

providing, from the web server, a three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model to a remote client computer'"'"'s display device through a capture and render software application unassociated with the design software application,

such that the a user is able to navigate each provided view at the remote client computer system location without applying any changes to the provided view or the three-dimensional computer model, and wherein the capture and render software application is configured to delete the created one or more separate files from the remote client display device upon the closing of the capture and render software application, and

such that the software application unassociated with the design software application automatically installs and removes the one or more temporary viewer application within the remote client computer system.

21. The method as recited in claim 20, further comprising receiving one or more executable instructions and one or more temporary viewer application files from the web server.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, further comprising automatically deleting the one or more executable instructions and the one or more temporary viewer application files upon closing of the temporary viewer application.

23. The method as recited in claim 20, further comprising storing the one or more geometric computer model files in volatile memory.

24. The method as recited in claim 23, further comprising automatically deleting the one or more geometric computer models upon closing of the temporary viewer application.

25. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein the extracted geometry data and graphical aspect data consists essentially of geometry data and graphical aspect data associated with outer or other otherwise viewable surface of the three-dimensional computer model.

26. The method as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

identifying one or more geometries that surround one or more vertices associated with the three-dimensional view of the geometry and graphical aspects of the three-dimensional computer model; and

providing a lighting value to one or more vertices based on the one or more surrounding geometries.