METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DIRECTLY MANIPULATING THE CONSTRAINED MODEL OF A COMPUTER-GENERATED CHARACTER

摘要

A rail manipulator indicates the possible range(s) of movement of a part of a computer-generated character in a computer animation system. The rail manipulator obtains a model of the computer-generated character. The model may be a skeleton structure of bones connected at joints. The interconnected bones may constrain the movements of one another. When an artist selects one of the bones for movement, the rail manipulator determines the range of movement of the selected bone. The determination may be based on the position and/or the ranges of movements of other bones in the skeleton structure. The range of movement is displayed on-screen to the artist, together with the computer-generated character. In this way, the rail manipulator directly communicates to the artist the degree to which a portion of the computer-generated character can be moved, in response to the artist's selection of the portion of the computer-generated character.

主权项

1. A computer-enabled method for indicating a range of movement of a computer-generated character in a computer animation system, the method comprising:
obtaining a model of the computer-generated character, wherein the model includes a skeleton having a plurality of bones connected at one or more joints; receiving a user's selection of a first portion of the model, wherein the selected first portion corresponds to at least a part of a first bone of the plurality of bones, wherein the first bone is in an initial position; identifying a second bone connected to the first bone; determining the range of movement of the selected first portion based on the initial position of the first bone and a position of the second bone, wherein the range of movement of the selected first portion is limited by the position of the second bone; and displaying, on a display screen, the range of movement of the selected first portion.