Patent ID: 7420564

Claim:
A blending method comprising: providing a set of examples that pertain to a shape or motion that is to be animated, the examples being placed within a multi-dimensional abstract space, wherein each dimension of the abstract space is defined by at least one of an adjective and an adverb, each adjective and adverb representing a respective axis in the multi-dimensional abstract space; selecting a point within the multi-dimensional abstract space that does not coincide with a point that is associated with any of the examples, the selected point corresponding to a new shape or motion within the abstract space; linearly approximating a degree of freedom that is associated with the new shape or the motion based upon the set of examples; computing a scaled radial basis function for each of the examples by scaling a radial basis function for each example, the scaling comprising evaluating a matrix system to ascertain a plurality of scaling weights, individual weights of which are used to scale the radial basis functions; combining the linear approximation and the scaled radial basis functions to provide a cardinal basis function; and using the cardinal basis function to render the new shape or motion at the selected point within the multi-dimensional abstract space.