Character Motion Graphs for Responsive Stylized Game Animation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for animating characters in video games, such as animation state machines (ASM) and motion graphs, struggle with realism, scalability, responsiveness, and data efficiency, failing to produce lifelike character movements, especially in complex interactions and tight spaces.
Innovation Solution
A graph structure is generated from motion capture data by identifying dominant poses, grouping them into master pose nodes, and adding transitions based on similarity, allowing for stylized and responsive character motion synthesis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If animation state machines (ASM) are used to animate characters, then character motion can be controlled through predefined animations, but the realism of motion suffers because animators can only conceive of a limited number of clips while achieving realism requires a far greater number of clips
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments motion capture data into dominant poses and groups them into master pose nodes, creating a hierarchical structure that breaks down complex animations into manageable components while maintaining realism through selective combination of these segments
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically selects and blends animation segments based on runtime conditions and transitions, allowing the character animation to adapt and respond to changing game states rather than relying on static predefined sequences
2Stability of the object's composition
If animation state machines (ASM) are used to define transitions between animations, then character motion can be structured, but the system does not scale well since any new interaction requires a number of entry and exit points to connect with the data, the creation of which scales geometrically
Solution Approach 1:
Master pose nodes serve as universal connection points that can transition to multiple different animation segments, reducing the need for dedicated entry and exit points for each interaction while maintaining structured transitions through the graph architecture
3Manufacturing precision
If animation clips are used in motion graphs, then high quality motion can be produced, but the system becomes less responsive to changing animation goals which is often the case for interactively controlled player characters
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses dynamic pose matching and blending based on runtime conditions rather than static clip selection, allowing the character to respond to changing animation goals by selecting from available motion segments based on current state and transitions
4Speed
If motion matching continuously searches the entire animation dataset for the next frame, then responsiveness to animation goals is improved, but it becomes hard to predict and control which animation data will be selected at any given time
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the animation dataset into master pose nodes with defined transitions, the system maintains responsiveness through dynamic selection while improving predictability by constraining choices to pre-validated transition paths between segmented poses
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for constructing an offline graph structure configured to enable controlled character motion synthesis in a multi-player online gaming include a graph structure that has a plurality of master nodes and edges such that each master node is representative of a set of similar dominant poses and edges are representative of plausible transitions between these dominant poses. Motion is generated at runtime by navigating through the graph structure and applying dominant poses from the plurality of master nodes. Since an online game describes a desired motion of a character using a plurality of control parameters therefore, transitions that match the plurality of control parameters most closely are selected from the graph structure.