Patent ID: 8754885

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for navigating a virtual camera in a three dimensional environment, comprising: receiving, by one or more computing devices, data describing a user input, the user input requesting to zoom around a point of a viewport of the virtual camera, wherein the point has an off-center location with respect to the viewport; and in response to the user input requesting to zoom around the point at the off-center location, performing, by the one or more computing devices, operations within a single frame interval, the operations comprising: (a) determining, by the one or more computing devices, the point at the off-center location of the viewport of the virtual camera, wherein the virtual camera defines a field of view to view content of the three dimensional environment; (b) rotating, by the one or more computing devices, the virtual camera toward the off-center location such that the point is located at a center location of the viewport; (c) zooming, by the one or more computing devices, the virtual camera toward the point located at the center location of the viewport; (d) after zooming the virtual camera, re-rotating, by the one or more computing devices, the virtual camera such that the point is located at the off-center location of the viewport; and (e) after the re-rotating, rendering, by the one or more computing devices, the content from a projection of the viewport.