公开(公告)号：US07038660B2

公开(公告)日：2006-05-02

申请号：US10443506

申请日：2003-05-22

申请人： Andrew Eric Titcomb ,  Peter M. Nofz ,  Bruce Eugene Dobrin ,  Ronald Albert Fischer ,  Jerome Chen

发明人： Andrew Eric Titcomb ,  Peter M. Nofz ,  Bruce Eugene Dobrin ,  Ronald Albert Fischer ,  Jerome Chen

IPC分类号： G09G5/08

CPC分类号： H04N5/222 ,  G06F3/0362 ,  H04N5/2224

摘要： An input device for a computer graphics system provides a plurality of wheels that control movement of a virtual camera. The input device can be readily used by professional camerman without knowledge or training on CG animation software tools. The input device comprises a housing having at least one wheel operatively coupled to at least one outer surface of the housing. The at least one wheel has an axially coupled shaft that is driven rotationally by manipulation of the wheel. Circuitry contained within the housing and operatively coupled to the shaft generates a control signal corresponding to rotational motion of the at least one wheel. The control signal is thereby provided to the animation processor to control the virtual camera. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the at least one wheel further comprises a plurality of wheels with each such wheel corresponding to a different range of motion of the virtual camera, including a first wheel corresponding to panning motion of the virtual camera, a second wheel corresponding to tilting motion of the virtual camera, and a third wheel corresponding to rolling motion of the virtual camera. The circuitry further includes an angle encoder operatively coupled to the shaft and a control circuit adapted to convert the control signal into a data stream having a format readable by the animation processor. The input device may also include at least one speed control adapted to change effective resolution of the at least one wheel, and at least one direction control adapted to change effective direction of the at least one wheel.

摘要翻译： 用于计算机图形系统的输入装置提供多个控制虚拟相机运动的轮子。 输入设备可以由专业人士轻松使用，无需对CG动画软件工具的知识或培训。 所述输入装置包括壳体，所述壳体具有可操作地联接到所述壳体的至少一个外表面的至少一个轮。 所述至少一个轮具有轴向联接的轴，所述轴通过所述车轮的操纵被旋转地驱动。 包含在壳体内并且可操作地联接到轴的电路产生对应于至少一个车轮的旋转运动的控制信号。 因此，控制信号被提供给动画处理器以控制虚拟相机。 在本发明的优选实施例中，所述至少一个轮还包括多个车轮，其中每个所述车轮对应于所述虚拟照相机的不同运动范围，所述不同运动范围包括与所述虚拟照相机的平移运动对应的第一车轮， 对应于虚拟相机的倾斜运动的轮，以及与虚拟相机的滚动运动相对应的第三轮。 电路还包括可操作地耦合到轴的角度编码器和适于将控制信号转换成具有可由动画处理器读取的格式的数据流的控制电路。 所述输入装置还可以包括适于改变所述至少一个车轮的有效分辨率的至少一个速度控制器，以及适于改变所述至少一个车轮的有效方向的至少一个方向控制器。