Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Narendra Varma

Michael David Anderson

Susan O'Donnell

A process for creating a 3D computer animated movie or animated sequence of images. A 3D scene and actor (a class of 3D objects) are initially selected by the user. The user moves the mouse to place and orient the actor within the 3D scene without requiring additional types of input beyond 2D mouse inputs. Positioning and orienting of the actor is accomplished based on the distance and angle of mouse movement. Once the actor has been placed in the desired location and with the desired orientation, the content of the movie can be recorded. While recording, the user moves the actor along a path and selects actions or events to be performed along the path. By using a location-based recording model, editing and synchronization of the movie are enhanced. One example of an action performed by the actor is to change costumes. The costume of the actor is changed by selecting part of the actor with a single user interface operation, such as a mouse click. Repeatedly clicking upon the selected part of the actor cycles through different costumes on that part of the actor.

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Paddington, Australia

Narendra Varma