Interactive animation of parametric models

This paper describes a program which allows parametric models of three-dimensional characters and scenes to be interactively controlled for computer animation. The system attempts to span the two most common approaches to animation: language-driven or programmed and visually-driven or interactive. Models are designed in a geometry language which supports vector and matrix arithmetic, transformations and instancing of primitive parts. As a result, constraints and functional dependencies between different parts can be programmed. Control is achieved by parameterizing the model. Subsets of parameters can be connected to different logical input devices, establishing an input mode to control the model's shape. Parameter sets can be stored to form a database of positions. Positions then can be mapped to frames and interpolated to animate the model.