Animation Asset Reprojection via Stored Metadata
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current techniques for composing computer-generated animation scenes are inflexible and cumbersome, requiring intensive manual effort for creating and editing objects and characters, and do not allow for efficient generation or flexible operation on generated assets.
Innovation Solution
A method that receives user input to perform operations on computer-generated assets in an animation scene, determining the type of operation and attributes, processing representations, and projecting them onto the scene to enable operations such as paint-stroke based, algorithm-based, direct manipulation, and partitioning, with generated metadata allowing re-projection of assets irrespective of their constraint status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If manual techniques are used to create and edit objects and characters in an animation scene, then the objects and characters can be created with detailed control, but the process requires intensive operator effort and is inflexible
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service by allowing operators to perform operations on baked-in-place assets through automatic re-projection. The metadata stored during asset creation enables the system to automatically recalculate and re-project asset positions when geometry changes occur, eliminating the need for manual re-positioning and making the system serve itself rather than requiring continuous operator intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by storing metadata about asset positions, orientations, and transformations at the time of asset creation. This pre-stored information enables future operations to be executed efficiently without requiring operators to manually recalculate positions, allowing the system to prepare for future edits in advance.
2Reliability
If objects and characters are baked in place with fixed positions, then the animation scene can be rendered efficiently, but editing operations become impossible without re-creating the assets
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies dynamics by enabling assets to transition between static (baked-in-place) and dynamic (editable) states. When geometry changes occur, the system automatically re-projects asset positions using stored metadata, allowing assets to adapt their positions dynamically while maintaining visual stability. This creates a flexible system where assets can be both stable during rendering and editable when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes parameters by storing transformation parameters (position, orientation, scale) as metadata during asset creation. When the underlying geometry changes, these parameters are automatically updated through re-projection, allowing the system to maintain both the stability of baked-in-place assets and the flexibility to adapt to geometry changes without re-creating assets.
3Stability of the object's composition
If assets are constrained in place after projection, then the animation scene maintains consistency, but the ability to re-position or re-edit assets is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses copying by creating and storing metadata copies of asset transformation information at the time of projection. Instead of constraining assets permanently, the system maintains copies of position, orientation, and transformation data that can be used to re-project assets when needed. This allows the original assets to remain constrained for consistency while preserving the ability to re-edit through the stored metadata copies.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method of composing an animation scene in a computer-generated animation is provided. The method includes receiving a user input requesting to perform an operation on at least one computer-generated asset in the animation scene. The method also includes determining, based on the user input, a type of operation and at least one attribute associated with the at least one computer-generated asset in the animation scene. The method further includes, in accordance with the determination of the type of operation and the at least one attribute, processing representations of one or more instances of the at least one computer-generated asset; and projecting the processed representations of the one or more instances of the at least one computer-generated asset onto the animation scene to perform the operation. The method further includes generating metadata associated with the manipulated representations of the one or more instances of the at least one computer-generated asset.