Abstract: A first color component of a pixel or scene entity is modified using a color correction curve defined at least partly by a second color component of this pixel or entity. Each pixel or entity has its own separate color correction curve, independent of the color correction curves of other pixels or entities. The saturation value of a pixel or scene entity may be modified based on its luminance value. The luminance value determines a saturation gamma function curve, mapping the original saturation value of a pixel or entity to a new saturation value. The unilluminated color of a pixel or of an illuminated entity in a scene being rendered may also be taken into account. This output color may be stored in the appropriate pixel of an image or combined with colors from other portions of the scene being rendered.

Abstract: The disclosure provides an approach for stylizing animations to synthesize example textures. In one embodiment, a synthesis application down-samples input and style buffers. To obtain a sequence of offset fields, each of which takes pixels in the output stylized frame to corresponding pixels in the stylized example image, the synthesis application may optimize each frame of the animation at level l?1, then advect the results of a previous frame to a next frame using velocity fields. After having processed the entire animation sequence forward through time, a similar sweep may be performed backwards. Then, the resulting offset fields may be up-sampled to level l and used as the starting point for optimization at that finer level of detail. This process may be repeated until returning to the original sampling, which yields the final output.

Abstract: A method for a computer system includes determining a plurality of positions of portions of a hand of a user simultaneously placed upon a user interface device of the computer system, retrieving a set of display icons in response to the plurality of positions of the portions of the user hand, displaying the display icons from the set of display icons on a display relative to the plurality of positions of the portions of the user hand; while displaying the display icons on the display, determining a user selection of a display icon from the display icons, and performing a function in response to the user selection of the display icon.

Abstract: Data values are cached by dynamically determining the dependencies of computation nodes on input parameters and on other results of computation nodes. Cache data structures are maintained for computation nodes. When a node accesses a parameter, the parameter and its current value are added to the node's cache data structure. The cache data structure stores the result value of the computation node. When one computation node calls another node, the parameters and parameter values accessed by the second computation node may be added to the first and second computation nodes' cache data structures. When a computation node is called with parameter values, the cache data structure of the computation node is searched for a cached result value corresponding to at least a portion of the parameter values. If a cached result value is not found, the computation node is executed to determine and optionally cache the result value.

Abstract: A method for initiating a user-selected operation on a computer system includes sensing a user contacting the user interface device at a first position with one finger of a user, determining whether the one finger is a first finger of the user or is a second finger of the user, wherein when the one finger is the first finger, the method includes determining a first operation to be performed in response to the first finger, and performing the first operation on the computer system, and wherein when the one finger is the second finger, the method includes determining a second operation to be performed in response to the second finger, and performing the second operation on the computer system.

Abstract: This disclosure relates to methods and systems for generating deformers that allow nondynamic objects, such as representations of skin, to appear to slide on a target surface. Computer simulations can be inflexible when it comes to creative input and also introduces extra time into the production process. One or more controls (e.g., a slider or a dial) can be generated based on a weight map and a direction field of an irregular surface that allow the user to slide nondynamic objects, such as representations of skin, on the surface facilitating computer-generated animation.

Abstract: A method for conforming an animated camera to an editorial cut within a software application executing on a computer system. The method includes providing a shot that includes three-dimensional animation captured by a virtual camera associated with a pre-defined camera style; receiving an editorial action that has been performed to the shot; and updating a camera move associated with the virtual camera based on the camera style and the editorial action.

Abstract: Component-based rendering and lightning models process scene data to generate rendered images. Components include input and output parameters, data, and/or instructions for evaluation. The component parameters are dynamically typed, so that each component can output data of any arbitrary type and/or quantity to receiving components. The components can also receive data of any type and/or quantity without any advance knowledge of the existence or functionality of the sending component or its output's data type. The components are dynamically bound, so that the dataflow between components is expressed without recompiling components or scene data. Components can be classified into categories, typically representing a discrete functions, operations, or related properties.

Abstract: An animation processor comprises a processor, an instruction memory, a working memory, inputs and outputs, and an input for receiving an input animation sequence comprising a plurality of time-sequenced frames, storage for a style image pair, comprising an input style image and an output style image, wherein differences between the input style image and an output style image convey a style for drawings and other visual elements, logic for generating set of time-varying orientation fields, logic for rendering velocity fields for the sequences, and an output for outputting an output animation sequence that takes on the style specified by the style image pair, with the output animation sequence having temporal coherence.

Abstract: A method for generating two-dimensional image space noise. The method includes receiving a first frame of a rendered animation sequence; receiving a second frame of the rendered animation sequence; and generating a frame of noise that is associated with at least one object moving between the first frame and the second frame and is to be applied to the second frame, where generating the frame of noise comprises applying, for each pixel in the second frame, a causal filter based on a depth associated with the pixel and a velocity associated with the pixel.

Abstract: Light field imaging systems, and in particular light field lenses that can be mated with a variety of conventional cameras (e.g., digital or photographic/film, image and video/movie cameras) to create light field imaging systems. Light field data collected by these light field imaging systems can then be used to produce 2D images, right eye/left eye 3D images, to refocus foreground images and/or background images together or separately (depth of field adjustments), and to move the camera angle, as well as to render and manipulate images using a computer graphics rendering engine and compositing tools.

Abstract: An interactive multi-mesh modeling system allows users to employ a variety of modeling techniques to interactively create objects for a variety of different tasks or tools. Some of these different tasks or tools can have requirements for computer-generated representations of objects on which they operate. These requirements may differ from how some computer-generated representations were originally created (e.g., 3D solid objects output using solid modeling techniques vs. 2D flat “panel constructed” objects required for some computer simulations). Thus, the interactive multi-mesh modeling system may further employ a variety of techniques for taking a source computer-generated representation of an object and providing the automatic creation, management, and maintenance of instances or versions of the source. The interactive multi-mesh modeling system may further employ a variety of techniques for the automatic management and transfer of information defined thereon or associated with these meshes.

Abstract: A model is associated with a deep pose. When the model is changed from an attractor pose to a current pose, the current pose and the attractor pose are compared with the deep pose. If any portion of the current pose is more similar to the deep pose than the attractor pose, then the attractor pose is updated. A portion of the attractor pose may be set to the corresponding portion of the current pose. The attractor pose may be modified by a function. Pose attributes of each pose degrees of freedom for the attractor pose, the current pose, and the deep pose may be evaluated to potentially modify all or a portion of the attractor pose. The attractor pose and pose constraints are used to determine a pose of the model, for example by an optimization process based on the attractor pose while satisfying pose constraints.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for orienting (or reorienting) properties of computer-generated models, such as those associated with dynamic models or simulation models. Properties (e.g., material or physical properties) that influence the behavior of a dynamic or simulation model (e.g., a complex curve model representing a curly hair) may be oriented or re-oriented as desired using readily available reference frames. These references frame may be obtained using a proxy model that corresponds to the dynamic or simulation model in a less computationally expensive manner in some embodiments than some techniques for determining reference frames directly using the dynamic or simulation model. In some embodiments, the proxy model may include a smoothed version of the dynamic or simulation model. In other embodiments, the proxy model may include a filtered or simplified version of the dynamic or simulation model.

Abstract: In various embodiments, an interactive multi-mesh garment modeling system may allow a user to employ solid modeling techniques to create one or more representations of garment objects whose motions are typically determined by computer simulations. Accordingly, in one aspect, the interactive multi-mesh garment modeling system may automatically generate one or more meshes that satisfy the requirements for computer simulations from a source mesh modeled by a user using solid modeling techniques. For each polygon associated with a UV mapping of one of these meshes, gradients of U and V for the polygon can be determined with respect to a 3D representation of an object that are substantially orthogonal and of uniform magnitude and that approximate the original gradients of U and V for the polygon. In another aspect, each polygon in a plurality of polygons of a 2D parameterization of an object can be reshaped based on individually corresponding polygons in a 3D representation of the object.

Abstract: Methods and techniques are provided for procedurally editing hierarchical subdivision surfaces. A procedure set and a parameter set may be received. The procedure set may include one or more produces for generating detail coefficients. The parameter set may include one or more parameters, such as granularity and sharpness, while further specifying deltas or other jitter in parameter values or locations. A hierarchical subdivision surface description can be generated based on a mesh, the procedure set, and the parameter set.

Abstract: An interactive multi-mesh modeling system may allow users to employ a variety of modeling techniques to interactively create one or more objects for a variety of different tasks or tools. The interactive multi-mesh modeling system may employ a variety of techniques for taking a source computer-generated representation of an object and providing the automatic creation, management, and maintenance of instances or versions of the source, and any information defined thereon or associated therewith, that are suitable for several different tasks. The interactive multi-mesh modeling system may further employ a variety of techniques for resolving ambiguities between various meshes based on establishing a correspondence between a first manifold and a second manifold based on a first metric of the first manifold, a second metric of the second manifold, and a third distinct metric of an embedding space.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for generating vector displacement maps, often in an interactive manner. Given a set of objects to be animated or imaged, they can be each represented by one or more faces. In a subdivision process, faces might be represented by polygons through a method of repeated subdividing. In the subdivision process, relative location of polygons relative to the original face (and possibly relative orientations) are maintained, for later use by other processes. This can be done by maintaining source data for each face of a subdivided surface, where source data indicates an original location on the original object that corresponds to that face and the polygons resulting from the subdividing. The source data can be a link, path, index or label for each face of the subdivision surface, where the source data indicates an original location on the original object that corresponds to that face.

Abstract: An interactive multi-mesh modeling system may allow users to employ a variety of modeling techniques to interactively create one or more objects for a variety of different tasks or tools. The interactive multi-mesh modeling system may employ a variety of techniques for taking a source computer-generated representation of an object and providing the automatic creation, management, and maintenance of instances or versions of the source, and any information defined thereon or associated therewith, that are suitable for several different tasks. The interactive multi-mesh modeling system may further employ a variety of techniques for retesselating meshes based on determining new vertices and edges immediately in response to traversing an input mesh space.

Abstract: A method for a computer system for inspecting an animation sequence having a series of specified poses of an animated character includes receiving a mathematical performance style model associated with the animated character, receiving the series of specified poses of the animated character, each specified pose comprising respective values for the plurality of animation variables, determining an associated quality factor for each specified pose in response to the respective values for the plurality of animation variables and in response to the mathematical performance style model associated with the animated character, and providing feedback to a user in response to an associated quality factor for at least one specified pose.