Abstract: A method, apparatus, and system provides an integrated viewer with one user interface and one API provides the ability to view, program, redline, and measure DWF and DWG files. In accordance with one or more such embodiments, the present invention provides an intelligent drawing redlining tool for easily and quickly drawing or annotating a drawing. For example, using the tool, a user can click the mouse over the first point of an arc segment. A bulge spacing function may then be utilized to define the length of an arc (also referred to as bulge spacing). In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the bulge spacing function comprises holding down an arc defining key such as the <SHIFT>key while the second point of the arc segment is selected. Thereafter, the bulge spacing of the first arc segment (the distance of the arc between the first and second points) is utilized for the remaining arc segments of the enclosed polyline/path.

Abstract: This patent describes a multi effect system to provide enhanced image effects. The effects are provided by interconnecting a series of camera manipulation units, each of the camera manipulation units applying an image manipulation to an inputted image so as to produce a manipulated output image. The manipulation instructions can be provided by inputting instructions to each manipulation unit by means of detachable cards. The interconnections can include branches and loops wherein required.

Abstract: A floating point to fixed point converter suitable for determining values for an n-bit frame buffer of a graphics adapter is disclosed. The converter includes a floating point unit that receives a floating point input value and calculates a floating point adjusted input value from the received value. Comparator circuitry is configured to compare a fixed point portion of the adjusted input value to a fixed point comparison value and to generate a fixed point output value responsive to the result of the comparison. The floating point unit may add a floating point constant to the received input to calculate the adjusted input value. The floating point constant may include a rounding component and a range component. The range component adjusts received values into a range defined by a single floating point exponent value such as the range from 1.0 to 2.0.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for horizontally expanding a video graphics adapter (VGA) text character display image to fully fill the screen of a flat panel display. Cell lines for each character are remapped to provide expanded cell lines. The flat panel apparatus includes a video memory for storing the character code, attribute data and font data, a character generator for generating character font data based on the character code, a lookup table for providing expanded cell lines, and an attribute controller for combining the font data and the attribute data for output to a flat panel display.

Abstract: The present invention provides a program code implemented computer screen security system. A virtual, real-time generated, screen mask leaves only a localized cursor area visible while hiding the remainder of the screen from public view. The cursor area automatically tracks cursor movement. In the preferred embodiment, the security program is user selectable and adjustable.

Abstract: A three-dimension image processing apparatus includes a CPU. When the CPU detects by collision determination that another object, e.g., a wall, is existent between an operable object and a camera, it calculates such a moving angle of the camera that an eye of the camera to the operable object is not obstructed by the other object. The camera is moved in accordance with the moving angle to a position where the operable object and the other object existing in a photographed three-dimensional space are displayed on a display.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for generating a digital image having spatially varying effects. A preexisting source image is selected and used to generate a three-dimensional texture volume by convolving the pixels of the selected source image with a predetermined convolution kernel. A display image having spatially varying effects is then generated using the pixels of the three-dimensional texture volume and the pixels of a reference image, where each pixel of the reference image acts as an index to the pixels of the three-dimensional texture volume. The display image may be generated by either copying pixels from the three-dimensional texture volume to a frame buffer or by blending pixels from the three-dimensional texture volume with the pixels of an image already stored in the frame buffer.

Abstract: A rendering system pipeline includes a memory storing shape and shade attributes of a surface of the object. The attributes are arranged as an octree in the memory. The octree includes a plurality of nodes arranged at a plurality of levels, each node storing a plurality of zero-dimensional n-tuples, each n-tuple locally approximating the shape and shade attributes of a portion of the surface of the graphic object, and the n-tuples having a sampling resolution of an image space. A plurality of parallel processing pipelines are connected the memory. The pipelines project the shape and shade attributes of the octree to an image plane having a selected orientation by traversing the n-tuples of the nodes of the octree from a lowest resolution level to a highest resolution level.

Abstract: An environment map creation system creates an environment map from one or more images representing an environment. The environment map creation system includes a texture projection generation unit, which produces a texture projection having polygonal curved surfaces as facets. An environment map rendering unit uses the texture projection to create the environment map from the one or more images. Specifically, the environment map creation system determines an image area in the one or more images corresponding to each polygonal curved surface. The polygonal curved surface is colored based on the corresponding image area. The environment map is formed from the polygonal curved surfaces which become texels in the environment map.

Abstract: A novel telephone call center split monitoring and display system, uses an integrated three-dimensional bar chart to display multiple split activity information in a single view, enabling easy comparison and multiple split monitoring by split managers without crowded views or frequent toggling between several views.

Abstract: A character processing apparatus has a font storage area with at least fonts for representative characters stored therein, and a character information table with storage address for the fonts, no-font information or the like stored therein. A retrieving section is provided for receiving arbitrary inputted character code, referring to storage address information or no-font information in the character information table, and outputting the storage address information corresponding to character code for a representative character having the same group number and the same type information as that of the retrieved character code according to type information as well as to group information when there is no-font information. A display control section and a display section are included for receiving a corresponding font from the font storage area and displaying a character for the arbitrary character code on a screen according to the storage address information inputted from the retrieving section.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for enabling the creation of authorable, dynamic software objects. An apparatus made in accordance with the present invention comprises a computer and an attached monitor, stream means, display property means, display representation means, and display configuration means. The stream means is performed by the computer and accepts at least one graphic primitive into the software object. The display property means is performed by the computer and stores at least one quality associated with each graphic primitive in the software object. The display representation means is performed by the computer and graphically represents a selected set of display properties of the software object. The display configuration means is performed by the computer and selectively displays one of the sets of graphical representations of the software object on the monitor of the computer.

Abstract: A character font generation apparatus generates a font of a character for the output of the character to an output unit. First, whether the character specified through the operation of an input unit can be output in a desired font based on a predetermined resolution of the output unit or not is determined. If the result of the determination is no, a stroke of the character is omitted to reduce the size of the character, to allow the correct output according to the predetermined resolution. The stroke omission is performed with reference to contents of a memory storing various information necessary for the character font generation and a priority determination rule indicating various information for determining the priority of stroke omission, so as to maintain the balance and to preserve the shape (contour) of the character.

Abstract: A method generates a histogram of a volume data set in a rendering pipeline. The volume data set includes a plurality of samples stored in a memory. Each sample is partitioned in parallel into a plurality of field according to a plurality of format registers, there is one format register for each field. Entries of a plurality of tables are indexed in parallel with the plurality of fields, there is one entry indexed in each table by each field. The indexed entries are incremented to accumulate a histogram of the fields of the samples of the volume data set.

Abstract: A method and system for efficiently rendering and displaying the color intensity information of a pixel in a computer system is disclosed. The pixel includes a plurality of fragments. The method and system comprises providing a weighted average of a preselected number of the plurality of fragments for a pixel for a plurality of the color intensity information to a first portion of a register. The register is within a data structure in the computer system. The method and system also includes providing the color intensity information of a preselected number of fragments, except the one with the largest coverage to at least one additional portion of the register. The method and system further includes sending the information in the first portion and at least one additional portion to a memory in the computer system and sending the information in the first portion and at least one additional portion of the memory to a display.

Abstract: It is an object to speedily generate a hidden surface removed image, by dividing one picture frame into a plurality of rectangular blocks and by repeating generation of a hidden surface removed block image. A block segmenting section 22 seeks, on the basis of primitive information from a primitive information setting section 21, in-block span information obtained when a primitive is segmented into a collection of in-block spans so that a projected image of the primitive completely falls in one block. The block segmenting section also seeks block information indicating a block including a projected image of the primitive projected onto a picture plane.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus and an information processing method adapted for representing objects of various shapes as two-dimensional graphic or three-dimensional graphic to change corresponding object so as to take various states within three-dimensional virtual space. Among prepared plural three-dimensional attitudes of object, attitude A0 is selected as reference attitude. Vectors serving as rotation axes when rotation is made from the reference attitude to attitudes A1, A2 are multiplied by their rotational angles as length, and are multiplied by weighting coefficients corresponding to an input signal inputted by allowing user to operate an input unit. Further, those vectors are synthesized to thereby synthesize (generate) vector serving as new axis of rotation. By rotating the object in the state where that vector is caused to be axis of rotation and its length is caused to be rotation angle, target attitude An is obtained.

Abstract: A method and circuit for determining the address of texture maps in memory, when only the base address of the primary texture map is known. The various maps associated with a given texture are sized and stored in a manner that allows any texel in any of the maps to be located based on the map number and the base address of the primary map. A circuit is provided that determines the necessary addresses with minimal calculations.

Abstract: A graphic workstation receives digitized medical images and the user creates textual information that is to be displayed on the images. The text along with associated properties are packaged as a data structure along with a set of properties, and the data structure is passed through a pipeline having a series of formatters. The formatters are easily configured by the user to modify the properties of the text data structures as they flow through the pipeline prior to being rendered on a display.

Abstract: A server stores a first multi-resolution texture pyramid and a 3-D geometry object. A client downloads the geometry object and a low resolution texture tile of the first multi-resolution texture pyramid, synthesizes a second multi-resolution texture pyramid from the low resolution tile, and begins rendering images while using the second pyramid as texture. The client downloads additional, higher resolution tiles and replaces synthesized tiles in the second pyramid with the downloaded tiles. The higher resolution tiles are downloaded according to visibility in the images being rendered. Higher visibility tiles are downloaded before lower visibility tiles. The downloading of the tiles from the server is performed in parallel with the rendering of the images. Thus, real texture in the image sequence is progressively increased as synthesized tiles in the local pyramid are selectively replaced with corresponding tiles that have been fetched from the server.