Onion Skin Animation System for VR Character Pose Creation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing 3D animation tools face challenges in rendering and presenting dynamic 3D objects in a 2D interface, particularly in VR environments where list views are problematic due to text readability and interaction difficulties within a natural user interface.
Innovation Solution
An onion skin animation system that utilizes VR to provide an immersive, timeline-based view for creating and modifying 3D animations, allowing users to interact with life-sized objects and manipulate animations in a virtual environment using hand-tracking devices and head-mounted displays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If list views are used to display character joints and animation parameters, then information density is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to text readability issues and interaction difficulties in VR environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional 2D list views to a 3D virtual reality environment where character joints and animation parameters are displayed as spatially distributed 3D objects. This dimensional change allows animators to interact with animation data in three-dimensional space, improving both information visualization and ease of manipulation through natural hand-tracking gestures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical interaction methods (mouse clicks, keyboard input, list view selection) with voice commands and hand-tracking gestures in VR. This substitution eliminates text readability issues and improves ease of operation by allowing animators to naturally point to and manipulate character joints in 3D space without dealing with crowded 2D interfaces.
2Loss of information
If multiple onion skin animations are displayed in a 2D interface, then animation progression visualization is improved, but device complexity increases due to crowding and difficulty in distinguishing individual animations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent displays multiple onion skin animations in a 3D virtual space rather than compressing them into a 2D interface. Each animation can be positioned at different locations and orientations in 3D space, allowing animators to view multiple animation frames simultaneously without crowding. This spatial distribution reduces device complexity while maintaining comprehensive animation progression visualization.
3Ease of operation
If character rigs are manipulated in list views, then ease of operation is improved for individual joint control, but information density deteriorates due to loss of spatial context
Solution Approach 1:
The patent restores spatial context by displaying character joints as 3D objects in their proper spatial relationships within the virtual environment. Animators can see the full character model with joints positioned accurately in 3D space, maintaining both ease of operation through direct manipulation and complete spatial context for understanding character pose and movement.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes hardware processor(s), an HMD, an input device, and an onion skin animation module. The animation modules is configured to receive a character rig of a 3D character, receive a first 3D animation of the 3D character, the first 3D animation defines a motion sequence of the 3D character based on the character rig, create a virtual time bar within the virtual environment, the virtual time bar displaying a timeline associated with the first 3D animation, identify a first animation time within the first 3D animation, the first animation time is a point in time during the motion sequence, create a first pose object of the 3D character in the virtual environment, pose the first pose object based on the first 3D animation at the animation time, and positioning the first pose object within the virtual environment proximate the first animation time on the virtual time bar.