Patents by Inventor Alexis Angelidis

Alexis Angelidis has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10282885
    Abstract: A multi-scale method is provided for computer graphic simulation of incompressible gases in three-dimensions with resolution variation suitable for perspective cameras and regions of importance. The dynamics is derived from the vorticity equation. Lagrangian particles are created, modified and deleted in a manner that handles advection with buoyancy and viscosity. Boundaries and deformable object collisions are modeled with the source and doublet panel method. The acceleration structure is based on the fast multipole method (FMM), but with a varying size to account for non-uniform sampling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventor: Alexis Angelidis
  • Patent number: 10169909
    Abstract: Particular embodiments comprise providing a surface mesh for an object, generating a voxel grid comprising volumetric masks for the mesh, and generating a lit mesh, wherein the lit mesh comprises a shaded version of the mesh as positioned in a scene. The voxel grid may be positioned over the lit mesh in the scene, and a first ray may be traced to a position of the voxel grid. If the traced ray passed through the voxel grid and hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced to the hit location on the lit mesh. If the traced ray hit a location in the voxel grid but did not hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced from the hit location in the voxel grid to the closest locations on the lit mesh. Finally, color sampled at one or more locations proximate to the position of the voxel grid may be blurred outward through the voxel grid to create a volumetric projection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Jacob Porter Merrell, Robert Moyer, Philip Child
  • Publication number: 20180189999
    Abstract: A multi-scale method is provided for computer graphic simulation of incompressible gases in three-dimensions with resolution variation suitable for perspective cameras and regions of importance. The dynamics is derived from the vorticity equation. Lagrangian particles are created, modified and deleted in a manner that handles advection with buoyancy and viscosity. Boundaries and deformable object collisions are modeled with the source and doublet panel method. The acceleration structure is based on the fast multipole method (FMM), but with a varying size to account for non-uniform sampling.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Publication date: July 5, 2018
    Applicant: PIXAR
    Inventor: Alexis Angelidis
  • Patent number: 9842421
    Abstract: The disclosure provides an approach for animating gases. A dynamic model is employed that accounts for stretching of gas vorticles in a stable manner, handles isolated particles and buoyancy, permits deformable boundaries of objects the gas flows past, and accounts for vortex shedding. The model models stretching of vorticity by applying a vector at the center of a stretched vorticle. High frequency eddies resulting from stretching may be filtered by unstretching the vorticle while preserving mean energy and enstrophy. To model boundary pressure, a boundary may be imposed by embedding into the gas the surface boundary and setting boundary conditions based on velocity of the boundary and the Green's function of the Laplacian. For computational efficiency, a vorticle cutoff proportional to a vorticle's size may be imposed. Vorticles determined to be similar based on a predefined criteria and distance threshold may be fused.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2017
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventor: Alexis Angelidis
  • Patent number: 9684997
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a shading rate of a volumetric element in a rendered scene when the rendered scene is viewed from a first point of view are provided. Embodiments determine a viewable area of the volumetric element, as viewed from the first point of view. A shading rate to use in processing the volumetric element is then determined, based on the determined viewable area. Embodiments processing the volumetric element at the determined shading rate using one or more shaders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2017
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Bill Watral, Danny Nahimias
  • Publication number: 20170024922
    Abstract: The disclosure provides an approach for animating gases. A dynamic model is employed that accounts for stretching of gas vorticles in a stable manner, handles isolated particles and buoyancy, permits deformable boundaries of objects the gas flows past, and accounts for vortex shedding. The model models stretching of vorticity by applying a vector at the center of a stretched vorticle. High frequency eddies resulting from stretching may be filtered by unstretching the vorticle while preserving mean energy and enstrophy. To model boundary pressure, a boundary may be imposed by embedding into the gas the surface boundary and setting boundary conditions based on velocity of the boundary and the Green's function of the Laplacian. For computational efficiency, a vorticle cutoff proportional to a vorticle's size may be imposed. Vorticles determined to be similar based on a predefined criteria and distance threshold may be fused.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventor: Alexis ANGELIDIS
  • Publication number: 20160042553
    Abstract: Particular embodiments comprise providing a surface mesh for an object, generating a voxel grid comprising volumetric masks for the mesh, and generating a lit mesh, wherein the lit mesh comprises a shaded version of the mesh as positioned in a scene. The voxel grid may be positioned over the lit mesh in the scene, and a first ray may be traced to a position of the voxel grid. If the traced ray passed through the voxel grid and hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced to the hit location on the lit mesh. If the traced ray hit a location in the voxel grid but did not hit a location on the lit mesh, then one or more second rays may be traced from the hit location in the voxel grid to the closest locations on the lit mesh. Finally, color sampled at one or more locations proximate to the position of the voxel grid may be blurred outward through the voxel grid to create a volumetric projection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Publication date: February 11, 2016
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Jacob Porter Merrell, Robert Moyer, Philip Child
  • Patent number: 8952968
    Abstract: A wave modeler usable with a rendering engine and for generating surface models usable for rendering images of scenes having surfaces therein reads user inputs including a desired displacement value, determines a vertical displacement wave representing displacements along a wave, determines a plurality of sample points each having an ordinal position on the vertical displacement wave, determines a horizontal displacement wave, maps the horizontal displacement wave to the plurality of sample points, adjusts horizontal displacement of one or more of the plurality of sample points to prevent, avoid or reduce intersection of the wave with itself, and generates a representation of the wave that is storable as a geometric model usable by a rendering image to generate an image with corresponding displacements of the wave.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Pixar
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Gary Bruins
  • Publication number: 20140002458
    Abstract: Techniques for determining a shading rate of a volumetric element in a rendered scene when the rendered scene is viewed from a first point of view are provided. Embodiments determine a viewable area of the volumetric element, as viewed from the first point of view. A shading rate to use in processing the volumetric element is then determined, based on the determined viewable area. Embodiments processing the volumetric element at the determined shading rate using one or more shaders.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2013
    Publication date: January 2, 2014
    Applicant: PIXAR
    Inventors: Alexis Angelidis, Bill Watral, Danny Nahimias