Creating Realistic Character Animations with AI Networks

This patent describes how to generate lifelike digital character animations using artificial intelligence networks, specifically by predicting joint movements and overall body motion from either random inputs or specific key poses.

What it covers

The patent details a system for generating digital character animations. It starts by identifying a "code vector" (Claim 1), which can be a random input for new animations or derived from "keyframes" (Claim 2) that define specific poses. A "generative adversarial network" (GAN) then uses this code vector to create a "sequence of local poses" (Claim 1), which are the positions of a character's joints relative to its main "root joint" (like the hip). Next, a "root joint motion prediction network" calculates "hip joint velocities" and "global poses" (Claim 1), which means it figures out how the character's entire body moves in the animation space. Finally, the system generates the full animation based on these global poses. For example, an animator could provide a few key poses for a character, and the system would automatically fill in the realistic movements between them.

What it doesn't cover

• —Does not cover animation generation without using a generative adversarial network (GAN) to produce local poses.
• —Does not cover systems that predict global body motion without specifically determining hip joint velocities from local poses.
• —Does not cover animation methods that rely solely on traditional manual keyframe interpolation without AI networks.
• —Does not cover generating animations where the root joint motion prediction network is not a convolutional neural network, as specified in Claim 3.
• —Does not cover systems that generate animations without first identifying a code vector or a set of keyframes as input.

The clever bit

The novelty lies in combining a generative adversarial network to create detailed local joint movements with a separate root joint motion prediction network that specifically uses hip velocities to generate realistic global body motion, ensuring the character moves naturally within the scene.

Why it matters

This technology is important for making digital characters move more naturally and efficiently, reducing the manual effort for animators. It allows for the creation of diverse and realistic movements, which is crucial in video games, film, and virtual reality. Adobe, as the assignee, is a major player in creative software, and this patent reflects their investment in AI-driven content creation tools.

Real-world examples

• 1.Adobe Character Animator
• 2.Video game character animation
• 3.Film and TV visual effects
• 4.Virtual reality avatars
• 5.Motion capture data cleanup and enhancement