IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,354,220
Granted Patent B2
US 12,354,220 · App. 17/849,295 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Volumetric data processing using a flat file format

Inventors: Shrey Malhotra (Foster City, CA); Andriy Andy Chmilenko (Mississauga, CA); Adam Myhill (Mayne Island, CA)
Assignee: Unity Technologies ApS
G06T17/10G06T15/005G06T15/08
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,354,220
App. No.
17/849,295
Granted
Jul 8, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system and a method of volumetric data processing include receiving volumetric data corresponding to a digital asset, the digital asset including a plurality of frames; creating a file to represent the volumetric data in a flat file format, the flat file format representing the plurality of frames arranged in a plurality of buffers in the file, each of the plurality of buffers being assigned with a fixed number of frames; and providing the file to a client device for a rendering of the digital asset.

Claims (50)

1. A system comprising:

one or more computer processors;

one or more computer memories; and

a set of instructions incorporated into the one or more computer memories, the set of instructions configuring the one or more computer processors to perform operations, the operations comprising:

accessing volumetric data corresponding to a digital asset, the digital asset including a plurality of frames represented in a flat format, the flat format representing the plurality of frames arranged in a plurality of buffers, each of the plurality of buffers being assigned a predetermined number of frames;

receiving camera frustum data for a frame of the plurality of frames;

determining normal data of the frame is absent from the volumetric data;

incorporating the normal data into the frame based on the camera frustum data, the normal data usable for providing real-time lighting to illuminate movable geometry in a scene in real time;

streaming the volumetric data in the flat format directly to a graphical processing unit of a client device without requiring additional operations to be performed by a central processing unit, the graphical processing unit configured to decode and render in parallel each of the plurality of frames arranged in the plurality of buffers; and

supporting seeking and scrubbing the frame of the plurality of frames substantially immediately by accessing the frame based on a sequence offset and a frame offset associated with the frame.

2. The system of claim 1 , the operations further comprise:

receiving the volumetric data corresponding to the digital asset;

creating a file to represent the volumetric data in the flat format; and

providing the file to a client device for a rendering of the digital asset.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the volumetric data comprises a volumetric sequence of point clouds, a point cloud including a set of disassociated spatial points representing a 3D object, and wherein the volumetric sequence represents the plurality of frames.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the rendering in parallel further comprises:

generating, by the graphical processing unit, a procedural instancing for each disassociated spatial point representing a 3D object in the frame; and

performing culling on the plurality of frames in the plurality of buffers.

5. The system of claim 4 , the operations further comprise:

rendering, by the graphical processing unit, the decoded plurality of frames at the client device based on the camera frustum data.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the flat format allows the client device to directly process the file on a graphics processing unit without performing a pre-processing step with respect to the file in real-time during the rendering.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations of receiving, creating, and providing are repeatedly performed such that multiple files are provided to the client device in real time, and wherein the client device is configured to process the multiple files in parallel for rendering.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client device is configured to process the plurality of frames in parallel for rendering.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of frames arranged in each of the plurality of buffers corresponds to a constant number, wherein the constant number is used to identify a file in the flat format.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the constant number is determined based on a frame rate of the volumetric data.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions that, when executed by one or more computer processors, perform operations, the operations comprising:

accessing volumetric data corresponding to a digital asset, the digital asset including a plurality of frames represented in a flat format, the flat format representing the plurality of frames arranged in a plurality of buffers, each of the plurality of buffers being assigned a predetermined number of frames;

receiving camera frustum data for a frame of the plurality of frames;

determining normal data of the frame is absent from the volumetric data;

incorporating the normal data into the frame based on the camera frustum data, the normal data providing real-time lighting to illuminate movable geometry in a scene in real time;

streaming the volumetric data in the flat format directly to a graphical processing unit of a client device without requiring additional operations to be performed by a central processing unit, the graphical processing unit configured to decode and render in parallel each of the plurality of frames arranged in the plurality of buffers; and

supporting seeking and scrubbing the frame of the plurality of frames substantially immediately by accessing the frame based on a sequence offset and a frame offset associated with the frame.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , the operations further comprise:

receiving the volumetric data corresponding to the digital asset;

creating a file to represent the volumetric data in the flat format; and

providing the file to a client device for a rendering of the digital asset.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the volumetric data comprises a volumetric sequence of point clouds, a point cloud including a set of disassociated spatial points representing a 3D object, and wherein the volumetric sequence represents the plurality of frames.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the rendering in parallel further comprises:

generating, by the graphical processing unit, a procedural instancing for each disassociated spatial point representing a 3D object in the frame; and

performing culling on the plurality of frames in the plurality of buffers.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , the operations further comprise:

rendering, by the graphical processing unit, the decoded plurality of frames at the client device based on the camera frustum data.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined number of frames is determined based on a frame rate of the volumetric data.

17. A method comprising:

accessing volumetric data corresponding to a digital asset, the digital asset including a plurality of frames represented in a flat format, the flat format representing the plurality of frames arranged in a plurality of buffers, each of the plurality of buffers being assigned a predetermined number of frames;

receiving camera frustum data for a frame of the plurality of frames;

determining normal data of the frame is absent from the volumetric data;

incorporating the normal data into the frame based on the camera frustum data, the normal data providing real-time lighting to illuminate movable geometry in a scene in real time;

streaming the volumetric data in the flat format directly to a graphical processing unit of a client device without requiring additional operations to be performed by a central processing unit, the graphical processing unit configured to decode and render in parallel each of the plurality of frames arranged in the plurality of buffers; and

supporting seeking and scrubbing the frame of the plurality of frames substantially immediately by accessing the frame based on a sequence offset and a frame offset associated with the frame.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 12, 2025
From: MALHOTRA, SHREY
To: UNITY TECHNOLOGIES APS
Reel/Frame 071393/0500 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 12, 2025
From: CHMILENKO, ANDRIY ANDY; MYHILL, ADAM
To: UNITY TECHNOLOGIES APS
Reel/Frame 071393/0535 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63214691 · Jun 24, 2021
Related Publication 20220414984A1 · Dec 29, 2022
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