A graphic character object temporary storage stores parameters of a character and associated default values in a hierarchical data structure and one or more animation object data represented in a hierarchical data structure, the one or more animation object data having an associated animation, the graphic character object temporary storage and the animation object data being part of a local memory of a computer system. A method includes receiving a vector graphic object having character part objects which are represented as geometric shapes, displaying a two dimensional character, changing the scale of a part of the displayed two dimensional character, and storing an adjusted parameter in the graphic character object temporary storage as a percentage change from the default value, displaying a customized two dimensional character, applying keyframe data in an associated animation object data to the character parts objects, and displaying an animation according to the keyframe data.

Techniques for generating CG actor performances for use in an animated medium are provided. In one embodiment, a computer system can receive (1) a textual script of a scene in which a CG actor appears, and (2) a style guide for the CG actor that includes information regarding personality traits and physical mannerisms of the CG actor. The computer system can then automatically generate a performance for the CG actor based on the textual script and the style guide.

A two-dimensional image is transformed into at least one portion of a human or animal body into a three-dimensional model. An image is acquired that includes the at least one portion of the human or animal body. An identification is made of the at least one portion within the image. Searches are made for features indicative of the at least one portion of the human or animal body within the at least one portion. One or more identifications are made of a set of landmarks corresponding to the features. An alignment is a deformable mask including the set of landmarks. The deformable mask includes a number of meshes corresponding to the at least one portion of the human or animal body. The 3D model is animated by dividing it into concentric rings, quasi rings and applying different degrees of rotation to each ring.

A graphic character object temporary storage stores parameters of a character and associated default values in a hierarchical data structure and one or more animation object data represented in a hierarchical data structure, the one or more animation object data having an associated animation, the graphic character object temporary storage and the animation object data being part of a local memory of a computer system. A method includes receiving a vector graphic object having character part objects which are represented as geometric shapes, displaying a two dimensional character, changing the scale of a part of the displayed two dimensional character, and storing an adjusted parameter in the graphic character object temporary storage as a percentage change from the default value, displaying a customized two dimensional character, applying keyframe data in an associated animation object data to the character parts objects, and displaying an animation according to the keyframe data.

A sprite sheet generation mechanism includes providing a sprite sheet generation engine host, which may be an authoring application. The host loads code that describes sprite sheet format information and a set of ordered images into the sprite sheet generation engine. The code is from code resources may be plug-ins created by a user and managed by a plug-in type manager. The sprite sheet generation engine is operated using the sprite sheet format information and the set of ordered images to generate a sprite sheet.

A computing system is presented including a processor and non-transient memory which includes instructions to execute a method including receiving a motion instruction message which includes graphical objects to be modified and instructions to be assigned to each of the graphical objects to be modified, where an instruction includes a property to be applied to a graphical object. The method also includes identifying actors to be assigned to each of the graphical objects based on the instructions assigned to each of the graphical objects, where an actor is a non-graphical object capable of executing one or more instructions. The method also includes generating the actors for each of the graphical objects, executing the instructions assigned to each of the graphical objects via the actors, and outputting the modified graphical objects for display.

The invention relates to an electronic device (1) offering a plurality of menu items to a user. In order to enable a user friendly selection of the menu items, the electronic device (1) comprises a screen (60), user input means (70), storing means (50) adapted to store parameters for a virtual model of a user and processing means (31). The processing means (31) are adapted to generate a visual representation of a virtual user model (61) on the screen (60) based on the stored parameters for the virtual model of a user, to cause a movement of a visually represented virtual user model (61) depending on a user input, to detect a movement of a visually represented virtual user model (61) that is associated to a particular menu item, which menu item is offered for any of a plurality of applications, and to call a function that is assigned to the particular menu item.

A novel and useful mechanism for the skinning of 3D meshes with reference to a skeleton utilizing statistical weight optimization techniques. The mechanism of the present invention comprises (1) an efficient high quality linear blend skinning (LBS) technique based on a set of skeleton deformations sampled from the manipulation space; (2) a joint placement algorithm to optimize the input skeleton; and (3) a set of tools for a user to interactively control the skinning process. Statistical skinning weight maps are computed using an as-rigid-as-possible (ARAP) optimization. The method operates with a coarsely placed initial skeleton and optimizes joint placements to improve the skeleton's alignment. Bones may also be parameterized incorporating twists, bends, stretches and spines. Several easy to use tools add additional constraints to resolve ambiguous situations when needed and interactive feedback is provided to aid users. Quality weight maps are generated for challenging deformations and various data types (e.g., triangle, tetrahedral meshes), including noisy, complex and topologically challenging examples (e.g., missing triangles, open boundaries, self-intersections, or wire edges).

A graphic character object temporary storage stores parameters of a character and associated default values in a hierarchical data structure and one or more animation object data represented in a hierarchical data structure, the one or more animation object data having an associated animation, the graphic character object temporary storage and the animation object data being part of a local memory of a computer system. A method includes receiving a vector graphic object having character part objects which are represented as geometric shapes, displaying a two dimensional character, changing the scale of a part of the displayed two dimensional character, and storing an adjusted parameter in the graphic character object temporary storage as a percentage change from the default value, displaying a customized two dimensional character, applying keyframe data in an associated animation object data to the character parts objects, and displaying an animation according to the keyframe data.

The invention relates to an electronic device offering a plurality of menu items to a user. In order to enable a user friendly selection of the menu items, the electronic device comprises a screen, user input means, storing means adapted to store parameters for a virtual model of a user and processing means. The processing means are adapted to generate a visual representation of a virtual user model on the screen based on the stored parameters for the virtual model of a user, to cause a movement of a visually represented virtual user model depending on a user input, to detect a movement of a visually represented virtual user model that is associated to a particular menu item, and to call a function that is assigned to the particular menu item.