Patent Document ID: 9786085
Application ID: 13844005
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-enabled method for indicating ranges of possible movement of a computer-generated character in a computer animation system, the method comprising: obtaining a model of the computer-generated character, wherein the model includes a skeleton having a plurality of bones connected at one or more joints; receiving a user's selection of a first portion of the model, wherein the first portion is in an initial position, wherein the selected first portion corresponds to at least a part of a first bone of the plurality of bones, wherein the first bone is in an initial position; identifying a second bone connected to the first bone; determining the ranges of possible movement of the selected first portion based on the initial position of the first bone and a position of the second bone, wherein the ranges of possible movement represent the limits of possible movement in three dimensions in which the selected first portion is freely movable from its initial position based on one or more constraints of the model, and wherein the ranges of possible movement of the selected first portion is limited by the position of the second bone; and displaying, on a display screen, a graphical outline of the ranges of possible movement, of the selected first portion, in the three dimensions, wherein the displayed graphical outline indicates the positions that the selected first portion can be freely moved to from its initial position based on the determined ranges of possible movement.