I was wondering why I haven’t heard much updated info about lattice deformers in messiah. I came across the info I posted below. Lyle or Fred (or whomever may know the answer to this), is this the reason why we have yet to see lattice deformers in messiah?
606.7 Viewpoint Announces Free-Form Deformation Patent Licensing by Rob Glidden
If Viewpoint Datalabs has its way, patent issues may soon effect many corners of the 3D field, from the next generation of 3D clip art and 3D standards to avatars, character animation and hardware acceleration.
In case you didn’t know, free form deformation (FFD), used by virtually every sophisticated modeling and animation package on the market, is a patented technology. Viewpoint Datalabs owns the patent (No. 4,821,214, filed April 17, 1986, issued 4/11/89, to expire April 2006) which it acquired in 1994 from Dr. Thomas W. Sederberg and Brigham Young University. FFD and GE’s Marching Cubes patent are potentially significant patents that have been lurking in the 3D software background for some time.
At SIGGRAPH, Viewpoint announced the first FFD licensee (Kinetix, see below), a licensing structure ($.25 to $40 per unit), and hints at Viewpoint’s ultimate vision for FFD (“a critical link in creating “smart models” and 3D geometry standards”).
Free-form deformation, in Viewpoint’s patent terms, is a lattice (think 3D jungle-gym) of points around an object. The lattice points influence the points of the object–move the lattice points and the object changes shape.
You may think of FFD as the “car-through-a-keyhole” or “dancing-credit- cards” technique, but its potential could go deeper.
Viewpoint notes that FFD can be used to enhance “the realism of computer generated character animations such as the folding and bulging of skin”.
And even more, according to Martin Plaehn, Viewpoint press: “Free-Form Deformation technology is a critically important method for bringing realism to computer modeling and animation–such as lifelike moving characters and avatars in new design, interactive education and entertainment applications. . . . Additionally, this patented method can be meaningful when incorporated into underlying hardware chip sets needed to accelerate computer graphics performance.”
What are the limits on the FFD patent? It may depend on how astutely Viewpoint manages its patent base.
So far, it has been cautious, waiting over two years to announce a licensing strategy, and then only when it already had a credible licensee (Kinetix) in tow. And word is that Viewpoint does not intend to be heavy-handed, sticking to bargaining chip negotiations and claiming only “outside-in” lattices (bulging muscles with internal lattices may not be covered).
But Viewpoint may hit resistance on the viewer and standards fronts. Patented technologies sometimes hit resistance in standards processes, and there are alternative contenders for a potential next-gen smart model standard (function curves, IK, solid model/surface engines).
Also, in a realtime environment the value of FFD would be as much on the playback side as the editing side. Also, note that in the Internet-era viewers tend to be free (from browsers to data-playback engines) and increasingly do both editing and playback (nobody just wants to view data, they want to interact with it, ala VRML 2.0). So to launch a FFD- based standard, Viewpoint may have to bow to the winds of free viewers.
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