EP0449478A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
3D video special effects system
Assignee: DIGITAL F/X Inc
•
Filing: 1991-03-18
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-03-18
Abstract
Abstract Real-time video information is digitized and stored as a plurality of digital pixels in a memory. A 3D surface is then constructed from a flat source surface by breaking the surface into a plurality of flat polygonal patches and folding, rotating and manipulating the patches in three dimensions. The constructed object can then be manipulated as an object in three dimensions. During patch and object manipulation, the special effects system keeps track of the patch vertex locations. After the object has been created and located, real-time video is painted on the object surface by using the patch vertex locations to retrieve selected source pixels from the memory and to construct a value for each pixel on the object surface from the selected source pixels.
Inventors
- 👤 Uri Thier
- 👤 Gene Sarra
- 👤 William Woodbury
- 👤 James Norman
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 22:22
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T3/00; G06T3/40; G06T3/4038; G06T19/00; G06T3/08; H; H04; H04N; H04N5/00; H04N5/222; H04N5/262; H04N5/2628
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
173 words
A video 3D special effects system for manipulating a stream of source pixels representing digitized video picture information to create an output display of a desired three-dimensional shape with said video picture information displayed on a surface of said shape, said system comprising: means controlled by a user of said system for calculating a plurality of transformation coefficients which generate an output display in which said desired three-dimensional shape is approximated by a plurality of flat polygons; means for selecting a location of a target pixel in said output display; means responsive to said target pixel location and to said plurality of transformation coefficients for identifying one of said plurality of polygons in which said target pixel is located; means responsive to the identity of said one polygon and to said plurality of transformation coefficients for identifying at least one source pixel in said source pixel stream which will contribute to the value of said target pixel; and means responsive to said identified source pixel for generating a value for said target pixel.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
66 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 1 wherein said calculating means calculates boundary coefficients indicating the boundaries of each of said plurality of flat polygons in said output display and wherein said identifying means is responsive to said boundary coefficients for identifying at least one of said plurality of polygons in which each of said target pixels is located in said output display.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
54 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 2 further comprising means for assigning a priority code to each of said plurality of polygons and means responsive to said priority code and operative when said identifying means identifies more than one of said plurality of polygons for selecting one of said identified polygons.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
76 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 1 wherein said means for identifying said at least one source pixel comprises means responsive to said transformation coefficients for calculating inverse coefficients which identify points on a flat source surface which correspond to one of said plurality of polygons on said desired three-dimensional shape, means responsive to said inverse coefficients and to the identity of said one polygon for identifying said at least one source pixel.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
28 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 1 wherein said means for generating a value for said target pixel comprises a digital filter and interpolator circuit.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
80 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 1 wherein said means for calculating a plurality of transformation coefficients comprises means for dividing a flat source surface into a plurality of flat polygons and means for calculating polygon transformation coefficients separately for each of said plurality of polygons, which polygon transformation coefficients define three-dimensional manipulations of said each of said plurality of polygons from a position in said flat source surface to a position is said desired three-dimensional shape.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
220 words
A video 3D special effects system for manipulating first analog video picture information to create an output display of a desired three-dimensional shape with said video picture information displayed on a surface of said shape, said system comprising: means responsive to said analog picture information for generating a stream of digital source pixel values; memory means responsive to said stream of digital source pixel values for temporarily storing said digital source pixel values; means controlled by a user of said system for calculating a plurality of transformation coefficients which divide a flat source surface into a plurality of flat polygons and approximate said desired three-dimensional shape by manipulating said plurality of polygons in three dimensions; means for sequentially generating scan line and pixel position coordinates for each target pixel in said output display; means responsive to said scan line and pixel position coordinates and to said plurality of transformation coefficients for identifying one of said plurality of polygons in which each of said target pixels is located in said output display; means responsive to the identity of said one polygon and to said plurality of transformation coefficients for retrieving a plurality of source pixel values from said memory means; and means responsive to said retrieved plurality of source pixel values for generating a value for each of said target pixels.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 wherein said calculating means calculates boundary coefficients indicating the boundaries of each of said plurality of flat polygons and wherein said identifying means is responsive to said boundary coefficients for identifying at least one of said plurality of polygons in which each of said target pixels is located in said output display.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
54 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 8 further comprising means for assigning a priority code to each of said plurality of polygons and means responsive to said priority code and operative when said identifying means identifies more than one of said plurality of polygons for selecting one of said identified polygons.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
83 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 wherein said retrieving means comprises means responsive to said transformation coefficients for calculating inverse coefficients which identify points on said source surface which correspond to one of said plurality of polygons on said desired three-dimensional shape, means responsive to said inverse coefficients and to the identity of said one polygon for generating memory addresses and means for applying said memory addresses to said memory means to retrieve said plurality of source pixel values.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
30 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 wherein said means for generating a value for each of said target pixels comprises a digital filter and interpolator circuit.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
47 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 11 wherein said digital filter and interpolator circuit is responsive to target pixel values at predetermined points in said output display and to said retrieved source pixel values for generating a value for each of said target pixels.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 wherein said means for sequentially generating scan line and pixel position coordinates for each target pixel in said output display comprises a scan line counter and a pixel position counter.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
80 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 wherein said means for calculating a plurality of transformation coefficients comprises means for dividing a flat source surface into a plurality of flat polygons and means for calculating polygon transformation coefficients separately for each of said plurality of polygons, which polygon transformation coefficients define three-dimensional manipulations of said each of said plurality of polygons from a position in said flat source surface to a position is said desired three-dimensional shape.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 further comprising means responsive to each of said target pixel values for generating an analog output video display representing said surface of said desired three-dimensional shape.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
55 words
A video 3D special effects system according to Claim 7 further comprising means responsive to said first analog video picture information and to second analog video picture information for selectively applying said first analog video picture information and second analog video picture information to said means for generating a stream of digital source pixel values.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
194 words
A method for manipulating a stream of source video pixels representing digitized video picture information to create an output display of a desired three-dimensional shape with said video picture information displayed on a surface of said shape, said method comprising the steps of: A. calculating a plurality of transformation coefficients which specify where each source pixel moves to generate an output display of target pixels in which said desired three-dimensional shape is approximated by a plurality of flat polygons; B. computing the inverse of the transformation coefficients calculated in step A for each flat polygon, which inverse transformation coefficients specify the source pixels which generate each target pixel in said each polygon; C. selecting a location of a target pixel in said output display; D. identifying one of said plurality of polygons in which said target pixel is located; E. using the polygon identified in step C and the inverse transformation coefficients calculated in step B to identify at least one source pixel in said source pixel stream which will contribute to the value of said target pixel; and F. generating a value for said target pixel from said at least one source pixel.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
73 words
A method for manipulating a stream of source video pixels according to Claim 17 wherein step D comrpises the steps of: D1. calculating boundary coefficients indicating the boundaries of each of said plurality of flat polygons in said output display; and D2. using the boundary coefficients calculated in step D1 to identify at least one of said plurality of polygons in which each of said target pixels is located in said output display.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
60 words
A method for manipulating a stream of source video pixels according to Claim 18 wherein step D further comprises the steps of: D3. assigning a priority code to each of said plurality of polygons; and D4. using an assigned priority code to select a single polygon when more than one of said plurality of polygons is identified in step D2.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
78 words
A method for manipulating a stream of source video pixels according to Claim 17 wherein step A comprises the steps of: A1. dividing a flat source surface into a plurality of flat polygons; and A2. calculating polygon transformation coefficients separately for each of said plurality of polygons, which polygon transformation coefficients define three-dimensional manipulations of said each of said plurality of polygons from a position in said flat source surface to a position is said desired three-dimensional shape.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
78 words
A method for manipulating a stream of source video pixels according to Claim 17 wherein step C comprises the steps of: C1. sequentially selecting each pixel from left to right on a particular video scan line; C2. sequentially selecting each pixel from left to right on a subsequent video scan line after all pixels on a scan line have been selected in step C1; and C3. repeating steps C1 and C2 until all target pixels have been selected.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.