Abstract: A real-time algorithm for rendering of an inhomogeneous scattering media such as smoke under dynamic low-frequency environment lighting is described. An input media animation is represented as a sequence of density fields, each of which is decomposed into a weighted sum of a set of radial basis functions (RBFs) and an optional residual field. Source radiances from single and optionally multiple scattering are directly computed at only the RBF centers and then approximated at other points in the volume using an RBF-based interpolation. Unique approximation techniques are introduced in the computational algorithms to simplify and speed up the computation of source radiance contributed by single and multiple scattering. Using the computed source radiances, a ray marching technique using slice-based integration of radiance along each viewing ray may be performed to render the final image.

Abstract: A real-time algorithm for rendering an inhomogeneous scattering medium such as fog is described. An input media animation is represented as a sequence of density fields, each of which is decomposed into a weighted sum of a set of radial basis functions (RBFs) such as Gaussians. The algorithm computes airlight and surface reflectance of the inhomogeneous scattering medium. Several approximations are taken which lead to analytical solutions of quantities such as an optical depth integrations and single scattering integrations, and a reduced number of integrations that need to be calculated. The resultant algorithm is able to render inhomogeneous media including their shadowing and scattering effects in real time. The algorithm may be adopted for a variety of light sources including point lights and environmental lights.

Abstract: A graphics system allows for manipulation of a detail mesh for a subdivision surface. To deform the subdivision surface, the graphics system generates a corresponding deformed control mesh by attempting to satisfy both position constraints of the manipulation and Laplacian constraints for the detail mesh. After the deformed control mesh is generated, the deformed detail mesh can be generated by applying a subdivision function to the deformed control mesh to generate a deformed smooth mesh and then applying detail information to the deformed smooth mesh.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a variational framework for detail-preserving skinned mesh manipulation or deformation. The skinned mesh deformation occurs by optimizing skeleton position and vertex weights of a skeletal skinned mesh in an integrated manner. The process allows creating new poses and animations by specifying a few desired constraints for the skeletal skinned mesh in an interactive deformation platform. This process adjusts the skeletal position and solves for a deformed skinned mesh simultaneously with an algorithm in conjunction with the constraints. The algorithm includes a cascading optimization procedure. The mesh puppetry displays skinned mesh manipulation in real-time. The user interface will enable interactive design in creating new poses and animations for a skeletal skinned mesh, enabling direct manipulation of the skeletal skinned mesh to create natural, life-like poses, and providing automatic balancing and most-rigid constraints to create a puppet-like animation.

Abstract: Interactive relighting with dynamic reflectance involves relighting a graphical scene with dynamic changes to the reflectance(s) in the graphical scene. A graphical scene may include source radiance, regions having reflectances, a surface spot, incident radiation from the source radiance at the surface sport, an incident direction, a viewing direction, exit radiance, and so forth. In an example embodiment, a graphical scene is relighted based on at least one adjusted reflectance of the graphical scene using an incident radiance at a surface spot that is separated into respective incident radiance components corresponding to different respective numbers of interreflections in the graphical scene. In another example embodiment, a graphical scene is relighted based on at least one adjusted reflectance of the graphical scene using a tensor representation for a reflectance of a surface spot with the tensor representation being segmented into three adjustable factors for lighting, viewing, and reflectance.

Abstract: Mesh quilting for geometric texture synthesis involves synthesizing a geometric texture by quilting a mesh texture swatch. In an example embodiment, geometry is matched between a mesh texture swatch and a portion of a synthesized geometric texture. Correspondences are ascertained between elements of the mesh texture swatch and the portion of the synthesized geometric texture. The ascertained corresponding elements of the mesh texture swatch and the portion of the synthesized geometric texture are aligned via local deformation to create a new patch. The new patch is merged into an output texture space to grow the synthesized geometric texture.

Abstract: Removal of the effects of dust or other impurities on image data is described. In one example, a model of artifact formation from sensor dust is determined. From the model of artifact formation, contextual information in the image and a color consistency constraint may be applied on the dust to remove the dust artifacts. Artifacts may also be removed from multiple images from the same or different cameras or camera settings.

Abstract: Radiometric calibration of an image capture device (e.g., a digital camera) using a single image is described. The single image may be a color image or a grayscale image. The calibration identifies and analyzes edge pixels of the image that correspond to an edge between two colors or grayscale levels of a scene. Intensity distributions of intensities measured from the single image are then analyzed. An inverse response function for the image capture device is determined based on the intensity distributions. For a color image, the radiometric calibration involves calculating an inverse response function that maps measured blended colors of edge pixels and the associated measured component colors into linear distributions. For a grayscale image, the radiometric calibration involves deriving an inverse response function that maps non-uniform histograms of measured intensities into uniform distributions of calibrated intensities.

Abstract: A novel method for synchronizing the lips of a sketched face to an input voice. The lip synchronization system and method approach is to use training video as much as possible when the input voice is similar to the training voice sequences. Initially, face sequences are clustered from video segments, then by making use of sub-sequence Hidden Markov Models, a correlation between speech signals and face shape sequences is built. From this re-use of video, the discontinuity between two consecutive output faces is decreased and accurate and realistic synthesized animations are obtained. The lip synchronization system and method can synthesize faces from input audio in real-time without noticeable delay. Since acoustic feature data calculated from audio is directly used to drive the system without considering its phonemic representation, the method can adapt to any kind of voice, language or sound.

Abstract: A method for modeling a time-variant appearance of a material is described. A sample analysis of a material sample is performed, wherein the sample analysis orders surface points of the material sample with respect to weathering from data captured at a single instant in time. An appearance synthesis using the sample analysis is performed, wherein the appearance synthesis generates a time-variant sequence of frames for weathering an object.

Abstract: A method and system for implementing capturing and rendering geometric details for mesostructure surfaces is described herein. A mesostructure distance function is defined as a function of a given reference point and a given viewing direction. A distance from a reference point to a mesostructure surface point along a viewing direction is measured using the mesostructure distance function. This distance is used to determine the visibility of mesostructure surface for rendering silhouettes. The lighting visibility of the mesostructure surface point may also be determined and used for determining whether the mesostructure surface point is in shadow. This determination may then be used for rendering shadow silhouettes.

Abstract: Systems and methods are presented for real-time realistic river modeling. In one implementation, when provided with the physical features of a modeled terrain, the systems and methods described herein automatically determine a watercourse route in relation to the terrain and calculate river borders. The systems and methods then calculate a surface structure for the river between the borders and map texture coordinates to the surface structure. The systems and methods apply textures at the texture coordinates to provide an animated, view-dependent representation of wave geometries for the modeled water surface including reflection, refraction, and Fresnel effects.

Abstract: An operating system shell provides on a display screen a graphical user interface through which a user interacts with the operating system. The operating system shell provides a background noisy display rendered on the display screen in accordance with a background physical lighting model, and an ambient notification rendered over at least a portion of the background noisy display to provide a user notification. The ambient notification is rendered in accordance with an ambient notification physical lighting model that is different from the background physical lighting model.

Abstract: A video rewrite technique for rendering a talking head or agent completely simulates a conversation by including a waiting or listening state. Smooth transitions are provided to and from a talking state.

Abstract: A method, device and system is provided for providing global illumination of a scene. For example, global illumination may be provided in a rendered 3-dimensional image that may contain objects and/or light sources. Radiance functions or visibility functions may further be represented by scaling of spherical harmonics functions in the spherical harmonics domain. For example, scaling of spherical harmonics coefficients corresponding to a spherical function may be performed based on a spherical harmonics scaling transformation matrix based on an angular scaling function.

Abstract: A method and system is provided for deforming a shape of an image. In one example, an input is received for deforming a displayed shape, the shape including a boundary polygon or outline contour and a local area within the outline contour. The local area may further include vertices and edges. During deformation, an energy function corresponding to the outline contour and the local area may be determined and reduced or minimized. Positioning of the vertices and lengths of the edges may be determined based on the energy function or preservation of coordinates associated with the outline contour and the local area.

Abstract: A method and system uses geometry-driven feature point analysis to synthesize images including for example facial expressions. Given the feature point positions (geometry) of an expression, the method automatically synthesizes the corresponding expression image, which has photorealistic and natural looking expression details.

Abstract: An approach for morphing between planar shapes is disclosed. Correspondences are established between perceptual feature points that are extracted from both source and target shapes. A similarity metric between two feature points is defined using the intrinsic properties of their local neighborhoods. The optimal correspondence is found by an efficient dynamic programming technique. This approach treats shape noise by allowing the discarding of small feature points, which introduces skips in the traversal of the dynamic programming graph. Intermediate shapes are obtained by interpolating the overall shapes constructed by feature points and the detailed information of the shapes respectively.

Abstract: A computer implemented method for deforming a 3D polygon mesh using non-linear and linear constraints. The method includes creating a coarse control 3D polygon mesh that completely encapsulates the 3D polygon mesh to be deformed, projecting the deformation energy of the 3D polygon mesh and the constraints of the 3D polygon mesh to the vertices, or subspace, of the coarse control 3D polygon mesh, and determining the resulting deformed 3D polygon mesh by iteratively determining the deformation energy of the subspace. The constraints may be either linear or non-linear constraints, for example, a Laplacian constraint, a position constraint, a projection constraint, a skeleton constraint, or a volume constraint.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for at least modeling any one of mesostructure shadowing, masking, interreflection and silhouettes on a surface, as well as subsurface scattering within a non-homogeneous volume. Such techniques include, at least, acquiring material parameters for a material sample, determining irradiance distribution values for the material sample, synthesizing the material sample onto a mesh of an object. The synthesized object may then be rendered by one of plural rendering techniques.