Patent ID: 7649535

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of animating feather elements, comprising: specifying initial positions for a skin surface; specifying an initial placement for each of a plurality of feather elements, each feather element including a shaft having a root at a proximal end for attaching the feather element to the skin surface at a root-attachment point and a tip at a distal end away from the skin surface, and the feather element further including vane structures extending laterally from the shaft; specifying a subsequent position for the skin surface at an animated time; determining, using a processor, a feather-ordering sequence for placing the feather elements on the skin surface; determining, using the processor, a placement for each of a plurality of feather-proxy elements according to the feather ordering sequence and the initial placement of the plurality of feather elements; deforming the plurality of feather-proxy elements, which provide spatial extensions for the feather elements at the animated time, wherein the feather-proxy elements are deformed so as to not interfere with the subsequent positions of the skin surface, and wherein the feather-proxy elements satisfy a separation criterion for avoiding intersections between the feather-proxy elements; and determining, using the processor, a subsequent placement for each of the feather elements at the animated time by extracting the feather elements from the feather-proxy elements.