Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios

Thomas Douglas Selkirk Duff

Robert L Cook

David DiFrancesco

Mark T Vande Wettering

Mark VandeWettering

Peter Flowers

Brian Smits

Tolis Deslis

Systems, method, and computer program products for compressing a deep image comprising a plurality of voxels by, for each of the plurality of voxels, converting a voxel value to a corresponding value in a Lie algebra based on a logarithmic mapping function, interpolating a first subset of the plurality of values in the Lie algebra using a linear interpolation function applied to a first endpoint and a second endpoint of a first voxel column of the deep image, and upon determining that a deviation of the interpolation of each value in the first subset of the plurality of values does not exceed a threshold, storing an indication of the first endpoint, the second endpoint, and the respective values in the Lie algebra corresponding to the first and second endpoints.

Deep image compression using lie algebras

Light field imaging systems, and in particular light field lenses that can be mated with a variety of conventional cameras (e.g., digital or photographic/film, image and video/movie cameras) to create light field imaging systems. Light field data collected by these light field imaging systems can then be used to produce 2D images, right eye/left eye 3D images, to refocus foreground images and/or background images together or separately (depth of field adjustments), and to move the camera angle, as well as to render and manipulate images using a computer graphics rendering engine and compositing tools.

Super light field lens with focus control and non spherical lenslet arrays

Super light-field lens and image processing methods

Light field imaging systems, and in particular light field lenses that can be mated with a variety of conventional cameras (e.g., digital or photographic/film, image and video/movie cameras) to create light field imaging systems. Light field data collected by these light field imaging systems can then be used to produce 2D images, right eye/left eye 3D images, to refocus foreground images and/or background images together or separately (depth of field adjustments), and to move the camera angle, as well as to render and manipulate images using a computer graphics rendering engine and compositing tools. A doublet lenslet array element for use in light field imaging systems includes a first lenslet array element having a first plurality of lenslet array elements, and a second lenslet array element having a first plurality of lenslet array elements, wherein the first lenslet array element is coupled in close proximity to the second lenslet array element. The first and second lenslet array elements are glued together or otherwise bonded together and the first lenslet array element is made from a first optical material different than a second material forming the second lenslet array element.

Super light-field lens with doublet lenslet array element

The efficiency of shading and rendering processes can be improved through implementing object oriented programming for shading program languages. Computer graphics data representing a geometric model in a scene are determined and assigned to object oriented classes and subclasses and are subsequently sorted and grouped into several (e.g., two or more) groups based on the classification information. Once the computer graphics data are assigned in a class and/or subclasses and grouped, a shader interpreter implements SIMD operators on each group of data values.

System and methods for implementing object oriented structures in a shading language

Super light-field lens

An image may be represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG) including a number of nodes on paths between input parameters and output values. Intermediate operations are performed at the nodes to produce intermediate output values. One or more of the input parameters may be modified (e.g., by an animator). A determination is then made as to which intermediate output values are affected by the modified input parameters. A simplified DAG is constructed from the nodes corresponding to the intermediate output values affected by the modified input parameters. The intermediate output values that are not affected by the modified input parameters and are maintained at a constant value corresponding to a previously determined value for the intermediate output value. The simplified DAG is evaluated to determine the output resulting from the modified input parameter such that the image may be re-rendered without re-evaluating the full DAG.

Re-rendering a portion of an image

A degree of detail calculation required for calculations to process computer graphics data is determined based on input parameters that are varying in certain dimensions. During a detail analysis of a shader, a directed graph is built in such a way that each connection between nodes indicates a dependency among inputs and outputs of calculations and/or input parameters. For each input parameter, variability information about the input parameter is obtained. A lattice or a table representing dimensional variability is used to determine a variability value for each calculation for given input parameters and dependency relationships among other calculations. After a variability value has been determined for each calculation, calculations are grouped into several groups and executed once per the variability value.

System and method for generating computer graphic images by identifying variant and invariant shader arguments

A shader can include a series of instructions, among which are horizontal instructions and vertical instructions. Executing such shader for rendering animation information may mean many redundant computations on millions of graphic data points. Thus, vertical instructions are separated out from horizontal instructions and executed in a vertical manner, thereby reducing rendering time and cache space used during the process. That is, a block of instructions is recursively subdivided until a number of instructions that are to be executed in a horizontal manner are approximately minimized in each sub-block. All of the identified vertical sub-blocks can process each data point individually and independently from other data points, thereby achieving various advantages, including, but not limited to, temporary processing, index processing, efficient caching and the like.

Systems and methods for mixing the execution order of shading language code

An ordered object list is compared with an ordered ray list and if the coordinate value of an entry in the ray list is less than the coordinate value of an entry in the object list, then the ray is added to an active ray list, and a trace of that ray is made against all objects in an active object list. If the coordinate value of the entry in the ray list is greater than the coordinate value of the entry in the object list, then the coordinate value corresponding to the entry in the object list is added to an active object list, and a trace of all rays in the active ray list is made against that coordinate value. Rays and objects are removed from the active lists based on determinations as to whether a trace hit occurred and/or which object point is encountered.

Streamed ray tracing system and method

Users define the aperture shape and brightness characteristics of a virtual lens system to generate optical system effects in computer graphics images. An image sample point is associated with a aperture point within the aperture. The location of the aperture point may be based on the shape of the aperture. The image sample point value may be scaled based on a brightness value of an associated aperture point. Alternatively, the aperture point location may be based on brightness characteristics of the aperture. An optical system transmission function based on the brightness characteristics of the aperture specifies the density distribution of aperture positions within the aperture. The aperture points locations are distributed according to this optical system transmission function so that the out of focus regions or bokeh of images mimic the shape and brightness characteristics of the aperture. The aperture points, image sample points, and three-dimensional scene data are provided to a renderer to create images including optical system effects.

Optical system effects for computer graphics

A method for a computer system includes determining first shading results associated with a geometric object in response to first shading computations and first shading data associated with the geometric object and associated with both a first scene and a second scene, determining second shading results associated with the geometric object in response to second shading computations and second shading data associated with the geometric object, and determining first combined shading results associated with the geometric object in response to the first shading results and to the second shading results, wherein the first combined shading results is associated with the second scene, wherein a second combined shading results is associated with the geometric object, wherein the second combined shading results is associated with the first scene, and wherein the second combined shading results is not determined in response to the second shading results.

Shot shading method and apparatus

A method for a computer system includes receiving a geometric description of an object to be rendered in a first image and a second image, and performing a plurality of rendering operations for the object for the first image and for the second image, wherein the plurality of rendering operations includes a first plurality of rendering operations and at least a second rendering operation, wherein the second rendering operation for the object for the first image and the second rendering operation for the object for the second image are substantially similar, wherein the first plurality of rendering operations is performed for the first image, wherein the first plurality of rendering operations is performed for the second image, and wherein the second rendering operation is performed once for both the first image and for the second image.

Shot rendering method and apparatus

A method for shading objects in a first image and a second image includes receiving a geometric description of a first object, performing once for both the first image and the second image, a first set of shading operations for the first object, performing a second set of shading operations for the first object in the first image, performing a third set of shading operations for the first object in the second image, combining results of the first set of shading operations for the first object and results of the second set of shading operations for the first object to determine shading values of the first object in the first image, and combining results of the first set of shading operations for the first object and results of the third set of shading operations for the first object to determine shading values of the first object in the second image.

The present invention allows for rendering, with a micropolygon renderer, motion blurred images of objects modeled and animated with the most commonly used class of implicit surfaces. The invention introduces the technique of automatic implicit differentiation to automatically compute the time derivatives of points on the combined surface from the time derivatives of the constituent surface elements while evaluating the combined field function that defines the composite surface.

Growing community of inventors

Berkeley, CA, United States of America

Thomas Douglas Selkirk Duff