Patent ID: 7936353
Filing Date: 2011-05-03
Classification: G06T

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for restricting a smoothing operation on a three-dimensional geometric primitive defined by a plurality of control points for modeling a character in a three-dimensional animation application executed by a processor, comprising: computing, by the processor, a set of vectors describing how each control point moves as a result of applying a smoothing operation; filtering the set of vectors to apply a user-selected restriction to the set of vectors, wherein the user-selected restriction limits each vector in the set of vectors to move only in a direction parallel to a normal of a surface corresponding to the three-dimensional geometric primitive; applying the filtered set of vectors to the control points to generate smoothed control points defining a modified three-dimensional geometric primitive; and storing the smoothed control points in a storage memory or displaying the smoothed control points on a display device.