IP Library Granted Patent US 12,664,713
Granted Patent B2
US 12,664,713 · App. 18/433,000 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Generating text-to-motion animations from partially annotated datasets

Inventors: Karl Bayer (Brooklyn, NY); Gurunandan Krishnan Gorumkonda (Kirkland, WA); Mingdian Liu (Ames, IA); Bing Zhou (Rye, NY)
Assignee: Snap Inc.
G06T13/40G06N3/0455
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,664,713
App. No.
18/433,000
Filed
Feb 5, 2024
Granted
Jun 23, 2026
Kind
B2
Art Unit
2615
USPC
345/473
Abstract

A two-stage approach for learning and generating an expressive text-to-motion animation from partially annotated datasets (T2M-X). In an example implementation, T2M-X builds a unified motion dataset based on partially annotated datasets. In the first stage, T2M-X uses the unified motion dataset to train three vector-quantized variational autoencoders (VQ-VAE) for body, hand, and face, respectively, and generate high-quality motion outputs. In the second stage, T2M-X uses the high-quality motion outputs to train a multi-indexing generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) model that includes motion consistency loss and sequence length consistency for learning and then generating coordinated and expressive animations.

Claims (71)

1 . A method of generating an animation, comprising:

training a body variational autoencoder (VAE) using a unified motion dataset that is based on a plurality of partially annotated datasets, wherein the body VAE comprises a body encoder, a body codebook, and a body decoder, and wherein the body VAE generates a body motion vector;

training a hand VAE using the unified motion dataset, wherein the hand VAE comprises a hand encoder, a hand codebook, and a hand decoder, and wherein the hand VAE generates a hand gesture vector;

training a face VAE using the unified motion dataset, wherein the face VAE comprises a face encoder, a face codebook, and a face decoder, and wherein the face VAE generates a face expression vector;

training a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) model using the vectors generated by each VAE and a plurality of text conditions;

generating a GPT body codebook comprising a next body motion token, a GPT hand codebook comprising a next hand gesture token, and a GPT face codebook comprising a next face expression token; and

generating an animation based on the GPT codebooks, the next tokens, and a text input.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

selecting a plurality of partially annotated datasets, each comprising at least one of a text prompt, a body motion dataset, a hand gesture dataset, or a face expression dataset; and

building the unified motion dataset in a standard format based on the selected datasets.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

generating, for each of the plurality of text conditions, a concatenated text comprising a previous body motion token, a previous hand gesture token, a previous face expression token, wherein the next tokens are conditioned upon the previous tokens.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the GPT codebooks comprises:

generating the GPT body codebook using a body GPT branch;

generating the GPT hand codebook using a hand GPT branch;

generating the GPT face codebook using a face GPT branch; and

providing a single joint space for processing data associated with the body GPT branch, the hand GPT branch, and the face GPT branch.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

estimating in the single joint space a body part motion consistency loss, wherein the body part motion consistency loss is based on a contrastive loss, and a relative loss value associated with each of the GPT branches; and

imposing a sequence length consistency sampler across the GPT codebooks.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein training the body VAE, training the hand VAE, and training the face VAE comprises:

optimizing each VAE based on a final loss, wherein the final loss comprises a reconstruction loss, a codebook alignment loss, and a commitment loss.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

calculating a GPT loss comprising three cross-entropy loss values, a weighted hand loss value, and a weighted face loss value.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

generating a pose representation comprising a set of joint position vectors and a set of joint rotation vectors for each record in the unified motion dataset;

measuring a jitter associated with at least one of the next body motion token, the next hand gesture token, or the next face expression token;

applying a low-pass filter to mitigate the jitter;

selectively animating an upper body portion using a predicted set of upper-body joint rotations expressed in terms relative to the pose representation; and

selectively animating a lower body portion using a reversed set of lower-body joint rotations expressed in terms relative to the pose representation.

9 . A system for generating an animation, comprising:

a body variational autoencoder (VAE) trained using a unified motion dataset that is based on a plurality of partially annotated datasets, wherein the body VAE comprises a body encoder, a body codebook, and a body decoder, and wherein the body VAE generates a body motion vector;

a hand VAE trained using the unified motion dataset, wherein the hand VAE comprises a hand encoder, a hand codebook, and a hand decoder, and wherein the hand VAE generates a hand gesture vector; and

a face VAE trained using the unified motion dataset, wherein the face VAE comprises a face encoder, a face codebook, and a face decoder, and wherein the face VAE generates a face expression vector;

a multi-indexing generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) model trained using the vectors generated by each VAE and a plurality of text conditions;

a GPT body codebook comprising a next body motion token, a GPT hand codebook comprising a next hand gesture token, and a GPT face codebook comprising a next face expression token; and

an animation based on the GPT codebooks, the next tokens, and a text input.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of partially annotated datasets comprises at least one of a text prompt, a body motion dataset, a hand gesture dataset, or a face expression dataset.

11 . The system of claim 9 , comprising:

a text encoder for generating, for each of the plurality of text conditions, a concatenated text comprising a previous body motion token, a previous hand gesture token, a previous face expression token, wherein the next tokens are conditioned upon the previous tokens.

12 . The system of claim 9 , comprising:

a body GPT branch for generating the GPT body codebook;

a hand GPT branch for generating the GPT hand codebook;

a face GPT branch for generating the GPT face codebook;

a single joint space for processing data associated with the body GPT branch, the hand GPT branch, and the face GPT branch.

13 . The system of claim 12 , comprising:

a body part motion consistency loss based on a contrastive loss and a relative loss value associated with each of the GPT branches; and

a sequence length consistency sampler imposed across the GPT codebooks.

14 . The system of claim 9 , comprising:

a final loss for optimizing each VAE, wherein the final loss comprises a reconstruction loss, a codebook alignment loss, and a commitment loss.

15 . The system of claim 9 , comprising:

a GPT loss associated with the GPT model, wherein the GPT loss comprises three cross-entropy loss values, a weighted hand loss value, and a weighted face loss value.

16 . The system of claim 9 , comprising:

a jitter detector for identifying a jitter associated with at least one of the next body motion token, the next hand gesture token, or the next face expression token;

a low-pass filter for mitigating the jitter;

an animation modification comprising selectively animating an upper body portion using a predicted set of upper-body joint rotations and selectively animating a lower body portion using a reversed set of lower-body joint rotations.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions for generating an animation, the instructions, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to perform functions including:

selecting a plurality of partially annotated datasets, each comprising at least one of a text prompt, a body motion dataset, a hand gesture dataset, or a face expression dataset;

building a unified motion dataset in a standard format based on the selected datasets;

training a body variational autoencoder (VAE) using the unified motion dataset, wherein the body VAE comprises a body encoder, a body codebook, and a body decoder, and wherein the body VAE generates a body motion vector;

training a hand VAE using the unified motion dataset, wherein the hand VAE comprises a hand encoder, a hand codebook, and a hand decoder, and wherein the hand VAE generates a hand gesture vector;

training a face VAE using the unified motion dataset, wherein the face VAE comprises a face encoder, a face codebook, and a face decoder, and wherein the face VAE generates a face expression vector;

training a generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) model using the vectors generated by each VAE and a plurality of text conditions;

generating a GPT body codebook comprising a next body motion token, a GPT hand codebook comprising a next hand gesture token, and a GPT face codebook comprising a next face expression token; and

generating an animation based on the GPT codebooks, the next tokens, and a text input.

18 . The medium of claim 17 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

generating, for each of the plurality of text conditions, a concatenated text comprising a previous body motion token, a previous hand gesture token, a previous face expression token, wherein the next tokens are conditioned upon the previous tokens.

19 . The medium of claim 17 , wherein training the GPT model comprises:

estimating in a single joint space a body part motion consistency loss, wherein the body part motion consistency loss is based on a contrastive loss, and a relative loss value associated with each of a body GPT branch, a hand GPT branch, and a face GPT branch.

20 . The medium of claim 17 , wherein training the body VAE, training the hand VAE, and training the face VAE comprises optimizing each VAE based on a final loss, wherein the final loss comprises a reconstruction loss, a codebook alignment loss, and a commitment loss, and

wherein training the GPT model comprises calculating a GPT loss comprising three cross-entropy loss values, a weighted hand loss value, and a weighted face loss value.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 21, 2024
From: BAYER, KARL; GORUMKONDA, GURUNANDAN KRISHNAN; ZHOU, BING; LIU, MINGDIAN
To: SNAP INC.
Reel/Frame 066854/0239 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20250252637A1 · Aug 7, 2025
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