Patent Document ID: 20140125665
Application ID: 14155832
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for representing characteristics of an animated object as it traverses a path in a three-dimensional coordinate system, wherein the object is represented as a set of object points moving through the coordinate system, wherein the path comprises an ordered sequence of contiguous courses, wherein a first course of the ordered sequence is bounded by an origin point of the coordinate system and by a first trajectory point of the coordinate system, wherein a second course of the ordered sequence is bounded by the first trajectory point and by a second trajectory point of the coordinate system, and wherein the first and second trajectory points are respectively associated with a first time value and a second time value, the method comprising: a processor of a computer system positioning the object at the first location and associating the object with the first time value; the processor drawing a first set of pairs of vectors, wherein a first pair of vectors of the first set of pairs of vectors is associated with a first object point of the set of object points, wherein the first pair of vectors both originate at the origin point, wherein the coordinates of the tips of the first pair of vectors respectively identify a first vertex point of a first three-dimensional wireframe mesh and a second vertex point of the first mesh, wherein the first trajectory point identifies a third vertex point of the first mesh, and wherein an orientation of the object as it traverses the first course is a function of the first three-dimensional wireframe mesh; the processor further positioning the object at the second location and associating the object with the second time value; the processor further drawing a second set of pairs of vectors, wherein a second pair of vectors of the second set of pairs of vectors comprises a first vector and a second vector, wherein the first vector originates at the first vertex point of the first mesh and the second vector originates at the second vertex point of the first mesh, wherein the coordinates of the tips of the second pair of vectors respectively identify a fourth vertex point of a second three-dimensional wireframe mesh and a fifth vertex point of the second mesh, and wherein the second trajectory point identifies a sixth point of the second mesh; and the processor animating the object in real time along the path such that the object traverses the first course over a duration of time that extends from the starting time of the animation through the first time value and traverses the second course over a duration of time that extends from the first time value through the second time value, wherein a first display characteristic of the animation of the object along the first course is a function of the first mesh, and wherein a second characteristic of the animation of the object along the second course is a function of the both the first mesh and the second mesh.