Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a renderer-agnostic method for representing materials independently from an underlying rendering engine. Advantageously, materials libraries may be extended with new materials for rendering with an existing rendering engine and implementation. Also, new rendering engines and implementations may be added for existing materials. Thus, at run-time, rather than limiting the rendering to being performed on a pre-determined rendering engine, the rendering application may efficiently and conveniently manage rendering a graphics scene on a plurality of rendering engines or implementations.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a renderer-agnostic method for representing materials independently from an underlying rendering engine. Advantageously, materials libraries may be extended with new materials for rendering with an existing rendering engine and implementation. Also, new rendering engines and implementations may be added for existing materials. Thus, at run-time, rather than limiting the rendering to being performed on a pre-determined rendering engine, the rendering application may efficiently and conveniently manage rendering a graphics scene on a plurality of rendering engines or implementations.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention include techniques for reducing artifacts in rendered images. In one embodiment, a dual UV engine generates a dual of the graph defined by an initial UV set associated with a 3D model. The dual UV engine then uses existing flattening and layout engines to generate a dual UV set from this dual graph. Using the dual graph to define the dual UV set ensures that the seams corresponding to the initial UV set and the dual UV set minimally intersect.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for interactively moving a hit point within a current triangle of the model, where the hit point defines a location of a brush stamp relative to the model, where a circle with a radius either defines the brush stamp or minimally contains the brush stamp. For each vertex of the current triangle containing the hit point, a sub-neighborhood of vertices of the model is defined by including in the sub-neighborhood vertices of the model that are within a distance of the hit point, the distance being a sum of the radius of the circle added to a length of a longest edge that is attached to the vertex. A sub-parameterization for each sub-neighborhood is then computed. The system then finds a barycentric coordinate of the hit point in the current triangle, where the barycentric coordinate has three barycentric values, each corresponding to a vertex of the current triangle.

Abstract: An original mesh is provided with a bounding surface and a convex hull surface. A first tessellation links the convex hull to the original mesh, and a second tessellation links the bounding surface to the convex hull. Using the tessellations to find a first intersection between a ray and the original mesh by finding a first intersected polygon of the bounding surface, and then traversing adjacent intersected polygons starting from the first intersection until the intersection is found. When the ray is moved, a second ray-surface intersection can be found by finding a polygon locally near the first intersection and containing a first intersection with the moved ray, traversing out from the local polygon through adjacent polygons intersected by the moved ray, and determining whether traversed polygons are unoccluded based on whether they are part of the convex hull surface.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide sampling methods suited for graphics hardware acceleration. A graphics application may specify a grid of pixels to be rendered. The graphics application may supply a graphics rendering engine with one or more sets of camera parameters. Each set of camera parameters is used to alter the position of the pixel grid relative its original position so that a grid of samples can be generated at the new grid position. The graphics rendering engine then renders a grid of samples at the new grid position. Each sample grid may be used sampled to determine a set of intermediate color values that may be blended together to generate a final color value for each pixel in the pixel grid.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: A method, computer readable storage, and apparatus for improving subdivision schemes for subdivision surfaces. The present method can correct distortion from the base mesh caused by prior art subdivision and smoothing schemes. In one embodiment, the method includes: (a) subdividing a curve having original vertices producing additional vertices; (b) smoothing the curve into smoothed vertices comprising smoothed original vertices and smoothed additional vertices; and (c) adjusting positions of the smoothed vertices.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: A method of displacing a tessellated surface, based on features of a displacement map, by analyzing a model to determine the level of detail in the model. Where the level of detail is high the number of polygons, typically triangles, used to represent the high detail area is increased through the use of “sub-triangles”. The positions of the sub-triangles are also strategically located and constrained to better represent the high detail area, particularly any edges in the area. The level of detail can be determined using a displacement map for the surface. The positions of the triangles can be located by determining feature points (or sub-triangle vertices) in the areas of detail where the feature points can be moved toward the areas of high rate of change and additional feature points can be added. The feature points can be connected to form the sub-triangles with an emphasis or constraint on connecting points along an edge or border.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for interactively moving a hit point within a current triangle of the model, where the hit point defines a location of a brush stamp relative to the model, where a circle with a radius either defines the brush stamp or minimally contains the brush stamp. For each vertex of the current triangle containing the hit point, a sub-neighborhood of vertices of the model is defined by including in the sub-neighborhood vertices of the model that are within a distance of the hit point, the distance being a sum of the radius of the circle added to a length of a longest edge that is attached to the vertex. A sub-parameterization for each sub-neighborhood is then computed. The system then finds a barycentric coordinate of the hit point in the current triangle, where the barycentric coordinate has three barycentric values, each corresponding to a vertex of the current triangle.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for interactively moving a hit point within a current triangle of the model, where the hit point defines a location of a brush stamp relative to the model, where a circle with a radius either defines the brush stamp or minimally contains the brush stamp. For each vertex of the current triangle containing the hit point, a sub-neighborhood of vertices of the model is defined by including in the sub-neighborhood vertices of the model that are within a distance of the hit point, the distance being a sum of the radius of the circle added to a length of a longest edge that is attached to the vertex. A sub-parameterization for each sub-neighborhood is then computed. The system then finds a barycentric coordinate of the hit point in the current triangle, where the barycentric coordinate has three barycentric values, each corresponding to a vertex of the current triangle.

Abstract: An original mesh is provided with a bounding surface and a convex hull surface. A first tessellation links the convex hull to the original mesh, and a second tessellation links the bounding surface to the convex hull. Using the tessellations to find a first intersection between a ray and the original mesh by finding a first intersected polygon of the bounding surface, and then traversing adjacent intersected polygons starting from the first intersection until the intersection is found. When the ray is moved, a second ray-surface intersection can be found by finding a polygon locally near the first intersection and containing a first intersection with the moved ray, traversing out from the local polygon through adjacent polygons intersected by the moved ray, and determining whether traversed polygons are unoccluded based on whether they are part of the convex hull surface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system for interactively moving a hit point within a current triangle of the model, where the hit point defines a location of a brush stamp relative to the model, where a circle with a radius either defines the brush stamp or minimally contains the brush stamp. For each vertex of the current triangle containing the hit point, a sub-neighborhood of vertices of the model is defined by including in the sub-neighborhood vertices of the model that are within a distance of the hit point, the distance being a sum of the radius of the circle added to a length of a longest edge that is attached to the vertex. A sub-parameterization for each sub-neighborhood is then computed. The system then finds a barycentric coordinate of the hit point in the current triangle, where the barycentric coordinate has three barycentric values, each corresponding to a vertex of the current triangle.

Abstract: A method, computer readable storage, and apparatus for improving subdivision schemes for subdivision surfaces. The present method can correct distortion from the base mesh caused by prior art subdivision and smoothing schemes. In one embodiment, the method includes: (a) subdividing a curve having original vertices producing additional vertices; (b) smoothing the curve into smoothed vertices comprising smoothed original vertices and smoothed additional vertices; and (c) adjusting positions of the smoothed vertices.

Abstract: A system that implements a “tangent space brush,” allowing a user to paint directly onto a parameterized object, for example a three dimensional object. A tangent space brush projects coordinates from an input device to the world-space point on the surface of the 3D object. A normal is determined at that point and a brush image is projected from that point, along the normal, to the underlying surfaces. The system is implemented by providing a system that implements selecting a selected area of a displayed object, and projecting a brush directly onto a surface of the selected area.

Abstract: A method of displacing a tessellated surface, based on features of a displacement map, by analyzing a model to determine the level of detail in the model. Where the level of detail is high the number of polygons, typically triangles, used to represent the high detail area is increased through the use of “sub-triangles”. The positions of the sub-triangles are also strategically located and constrained to better represent the high detail area, particularly any edges in the area. The level of detail can be determined using a displacement map for the surface. The positions of the triangles can be located by determining feature points (or sub-triangle vertices) in the areas of detail where the feature points can be moved toward the areas of high rate of change and additional feature points can be added. The feature points can be connected to form the sub-triangles with an emphasis or constraint on connecting points along an edge or border.