Transfer of motion between animated characters

Abstract

Motion may be transferred between portions of two characters if those portions have a minimum topological similarity. The elements of the topology that are similar are referred to as basic elements. To transfer motion between the source and target characters, the motion associated with the basic elements of the source character is determined. This motion is retargetted to the basic elements of the target character. The retargetted motion is then attached to the basic elements of the target character. As a result, the animation of the basic elements in the topology of the target character effectively animates the target character with motion that is similar to that of the source character.

1 . A method for transferring motion for a source character having a source topology to a target character having a target topology, wherein the source topology is different from the target topology, comprising: 
 identifying corresponding basic elements between the source topology and the target topology;    retargetting motion from the basic elements of the source topology to corresponding basic element in the target topology; and    attaching the retargetted motion to the basic elements of the target topology.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein retargetting comprises: 
 retargetting the motion for the basic elements of the source topology to a canonical topology to provide normalized motion data.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein retargetting further comprises: 
 retargetting the normalized motion data from the canonical topology to the basic elements of the target topology.    
     
     
         4 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer readable medium;    computer program instructions stored on the computer readable medium that, when processed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform a method for transferring motion for a source character having a source topology to a target character having a target topology, wherein the source topology is different from the target topology, the method comprising:    receiving inputs identifying corresponding basic elements between the source topology and the target topology;    retargetting motion from the basic elements of the source topology to corresponding basic element in the target topology; and    attaching the retargetted motion to the basic elements of the target topology.    
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 4 , wherein retargetting comprises: 
 retargetting the motion for the basic elements of the source topology to a canonical topology to provide normalized motion data.    
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 5 , wherein retargetting further comprises: 
 retargetting the normalized motion data from the canonical topology to the basic elements of the target topology.    
     
     
         7 . A method for generating normalized motion data for a class of characters, wherein each character has a topology, wherein the topology of each character includes a set of basic elements common among the characters, the method comprising: 
 receiving inputs identifying basic elements in a topology of a source character in the class of characters;    defining a canonical topology and associated reference pose of a combination of the basic elements for the class of characters;    retargetting motion from the basic elements of the topology of the source character to the canonical topology using the reference pose; and    storing the retargetted motion in a database.    
     
     
         8 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer readable medium;    computer program instructions stored on the computer readable medium that, when processed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform a method for generating normalized motion data for a class of characters, wherein each character has a topology, wherein the topology of each character includes a set of basic elements common among the characters, the method comprising:    receiving inputs identifying basic elements in a topology of a source character in the class of characters;    defining a canonical topology and associated reference pose of a combination of the basic elements for the class of characters;    retargetting motion from the basic elements of the topology of the source character to the canonical topology using the reference pose; and    storing the retargetted motion in a database.    
     
     
         9 . A method for transferring normalized motion data, stored in a database and associated with basic elements of a canonical topology representing a class of characters, to a topology of a target character, comprising: 
 identifying, in the database, normalized motion data associated with the canonical topology wherein the basic elements of the canonical topology match basic elements of the topology of the target character; and    retargetting the identified normalized motion data to the basic elements of the topology of the target character; and    attaching the retargetted motion data to the basic elements of the topology of the target character.    
     
     
         10 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer readable medium;    computer program instructions stored on the computer readable medium that, when processed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform a method for transferring normalized motion data, stored in a database and associated with basic elements of a canonical topology representing a class of characters, to a topology of a target character, comprising:    identifying, in the database, normalized motion data associated with a canonical topology wherein the basic elements of the canonical topology match basic elements of the topology of the target character; and    retargetting the identified normalized motion data to the basic elements of the topology of the target character; and    attaching the retargetted motion data to the basic elements of the topology of the target character.