Draw distorted image on html5's canvas

Question

Is it possible, and if so how, to draw images with its four corners distorted to a non rectangular shape. For example if you were wanting to draw the image as if it had been rotated around in 3d space.

Answer 1

I created a simple 4 point transform based on Thatcher Ulrich's code (http://tulrich.com/geekstuff/canvas/perspective.html). This version just extracts the small bit of triangle code and handles the geometry subdivision for proper transformation. Enjoy!

http://jsfiddle.net/mrbendel/6rbtde5t/1/

var controls = [];
var canvas;
var context;
var image;
var triangles = [];
var dirtyTriangles = true;

var rand = function(s,e) {
    return Math.random() * (e-s) + s;
}

// dom ready
$(document).ready(function() {
    image = new Image();
    $(image).load(function() {
        setInterval(draw, 1000 / 60);
    });
    $(image).attr('src', 'http://media.giphy.com/media/NWb6sWXQQTqwg/giphy.gif');

    canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
    $(canvas).attr('width', 500);
    $(canvas).attr('height', 500);
    $('body').append(canvas);

    context = canvas.getContext('2d');

    //
    for (var i = 0; i < 4; ++i) {
        var control = document.createElement('div');
        $(control).addClass('node');
        $('body').append(control);
        controls.push(control);
    }

    $(controls[0]).css('left', rand(25, 225));
    $(controls[0]).css('top', rand(25, 225));

    $(controls[1]).css('left', rand(250, 475));
    $(controls[1]).css('top', rand(25, 225));

    $(controls[2]).css('left', rand(250, 475));
    $(controls[2]).css('top', rand(250, 475));

    $(controls[3]).css('left', rand(25, 225));
    $(controls[3]).css('top', rand(250, 475));

    $('body').mousedown(function(e) {
        if ($(e.target).hasClass('node')) {
            var node = e.target;

            $('body').mousemove(function(e) {
                var x = e.pageX;
                var y = e.pageY;
                $(node).css('left', x);
                $(node).css('top', y);
                dirtyTriangles = true;
            });

            $('body').mouseup(function(e) {
                $('body').off( "mousemove" );
                $('body').off( "mouseup" );
            });
        }
    });
});

var draw = function() {
    context.clearRect(0,0,500,500);

    var render = function(wireframe, image, tri) {

        if (wireframe) {
            context.strokeStyle = "black";
            context.beginPath();
            context.moveTo(tri.p0.x, tri.p0.y);
            context.lineTo(tri.p1.x, tri.p1.y);
            context.lineTo(tri.p2.x, tri.p2.y);
            context.lineTo(tri.p0.x, tri.p0.y);
            context.stroke();
            context.closePath();
        }

        if (image) {
            drawTriangle(context, image,
                         tri.p0.x, tri.p0.y,
                         tri.p1.x, tri.p1.y,
                         tri.p2.x, tri.p2.y,
                         tri.t0.u, tri.t0.v,
                         tri.t1.u, tri.t1.v,
                         tri.t2.u, tri.t2.v);
        }
    }

    if (dirtyTriangles) {
        dirtyTriangles = false;
        calculateGeometry();
    }

    for (triangle of triangles) {
        render(true, image, triangle);
    }
}

var calculateGeometry = function() {
    // clear triangles out
    triangles = [];

    // generate subdivision
    var subs = 7; // vertical subdivisions
    var divs = 7; // horizontal subdivisions

    var p1 = new Point(parseInt($(controls[0]).css('left')) + 6, parseInt($(controls[0]).css('top')) + 6);
    var p2 = new Point(parseInt($(controls[1]).css('left')) + 6, parseInt($(controls[1]).css('top')) + 6);
    var p3 = new Point(parseInt($(controls[2]).css('left')) + 6, parseInt($(controls[2]).css('top')) + 6);
    var p4 = new Point(parseInt($(controls[3]).css('left')) + 6, parseInt($(controls[3]).css('top')) + 6);

    var dx1 = p4.x - p1.x;
    var dy1 = p4.y - p1.y;
    var dx2 = p3.x - p2.x;
    var dy2 = p3.y - p2.y;

    var imgW = image.naturalWidth;
    var imgH = image.naturalHeight;

    for (var sub = 0; sub < subs; ++sub) {
        var curRow = sub / subs;
        var nextRow = (sub + 1) / subs;

        var curRowX1 = p1.x + dx1 * curRow;
        var curRowY1 = p1.y + dy1 * curRow;

        var curRowX2 = p2.x + dx2 * curRow;
        var curRowY2 = p2.y + dy2 * curRow;

        var nextRowX1 = p1.x + dx1 * nextRow;
        var nextRowY1 = p1.y + dy1 * nextRow;

        var nextRowX2 = p2.x + dx2 * nextRow;
        var nextRowY2 = p2.y + dy2 * nextRow;

        for (var div = 0; div < divs; ++div) {
            var curCol = div / divs;
            var nextCol = (div + 1) / divs;

            var dCurX = curRowX2 - curRowX1;
            var dCurY = curRowY2 - curRowY1;
            var dNextX = nextRowX2 - nextRowX1;
            var dNextY = nextRowY2 - nextRowY1;

            var p1x = curRowX1 + dCurX * curCol;
            var p1y = curRowY1 + dCurY * curCol;

            var p2x = curRowX1 + (curRowX2 - curRowX1) * nextCol;
            var p2y = curRowY1 + (curRowY2 - curRowY1) * nextCol;

            var p3x = nextRowX1 + dNextX * nextCol;
            var p3y = nextRowY1 + dNextY * nextCol;

            var p4x = nextRowX1 + dNextX * curCol;
            var p4y = nextRowY1 + dNextY * curCol;

            var u1 = curCol * imgW;
            var u2 = nextCol * imgW;
            var v1 = curRow * imgH;
            var v2 = nextRow * imgH;

            var triangle1 = new Triangle(
                new Point(p1x, p1y),
                new Point(p3x, p3y),
                new Point(p4x, p4y),
                new TextCoord(u1, v1),
                new TextCoord(u2, v2),
                new TextCoord(u1, v2)
            );

            var triangle2 = new Triangle(
                new Point(p1x, p1y),
                new Point(p2x, p2y),
                new Point(p3x, p3y),
                new TextCoord(u1, v1),
                new TextCoord(u2, v1),
                new TextCoord(u2, v2)
            );

            triangles.push(triangle1);
            triangles.push(triangle2);
        }
    }
}

// from http://tulrich.com/geekstuff/canvas/jsgl.js
var drawTriangle = function(ctx, im, x0, y0, x1, y1, x2, y2,
    sx0, sy0, sx1, sy1, sx2, sy2) {
    ctx.save();

    // Clip the output to the on-screen triangle boundaries.
    ctx.beginPath();
    ctx.moveTo(x0, y0);
    ctx.lineTo(x1, y1);
    ctx.lineTo(x2, y2);
    ctx.closePath();
    //ctx.stroke();//xxxxxxx for wireframe
    ctx.clip();

    /*
    ctx.transform(m11, m12, m21, m22, dx, dy) sets the context transform matrix.

    The context matrix is:

    [ m11 m21 dx ]
    [ m12 m22 dy ]
    [  0   0   1 ]

    Coords are column vectors with a 1 in the z coord, so the transform is:
    x_out = m11 * x + m21 * y + dx;
    y_out = m12 * x + m22 * y + dy;

    From Maxima, these are the transform values that map the source
    coords to the dest coords:

    sy0 (x2 - x1) - sy1 x2 + sy2 x1 + (sy1 - sy2) x0
    [m11 = - -----------------------------------------------------,
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0

    sy1 y2 + sy0 (y1 - y2) - sy2 y1 + (sy2 - sy1) y0
    m12 = -----------------------------------------------------,
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0

    sx0 (x2 - x1) - sx1 x2 + sx2 x1 + (sx1 - sx2) x0
    m21 = -----------------------------------------------------,
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0

    sx1 y2 + sx0 (y1 - y2) - sx2 y1 + (sx2 - sx1) y0
    m22 = - -----------------------------------------------------,
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0

    sx0 (sy2 x1 - sy1 x2) + sy0 (sx1 x2 - sx2 x1) + (sx2 sy1 - sx1 sy2) x0
    dx = ----------------------------------------------------------------------,
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0

    sx0 (sy2 y1 - sy1 y2) + sy0 (sx1 y2 - sx2 y1) + (sx2 sy1 - sx1 sy2) y0
    dy = ----------------------------------------------------------------------]
    sx0 (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 sy2 + sx2 sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) sy0
  */

    // TODO: eliminate common subexpressions.
    var denom = sx0 * (sy2 - sy1) - sx1 * sy2 + sx2 * sy1 + (sx1 - sx2) * sy0;
    if (denom == 0) {
        return;
    }
    var m11 = -(sy0 * (x2 - x1) - sy1 * x2 + sy2 * x1 + (sy1 - sy2) * x0) / denom;
    var m12 = (sy1 * y2 + sy0 * (y1 - y2) - sy2 * y1 + (sy2 - sy1) * y0) / denom;
    var m21 = (sx0 * (x2 - x1) - sx1 * x2 + sx2 * x1 + (sx1 - sx2) * x0) / denom;
    var m22 = -(sx1 * y2 + sx0 * (y1 - y2) - sx2 * y1 + (sx2 - sx1) * y0) / denom;
    var dx = (sx0 * (sy2 * x1 - sy1 * x2) + sy0 * (sx1 * x2 - sx2 * x1) + (sx2 * sy1 - sx1 * sy2) * x0) / denom;
    var dy = (sx0 * (sy2 * y1 - sy1 * y2) + sy0 * (sx1 * y2 - sx2 * y1) + (sx2 * sy1 - sx1 * sy2) * y0) / denom;

    ctx.transform(m11, m12, m21, m22, dx, dy);

    // Draw the whole image.  Transform and clip will map it onto the
    // correct output triangle.
    //
    // TODO: figure out if drawImage goes faster if we specify the rectangle that
    // bounds the source coords.
    ctx.drawImage(im, 0, 0);
    ctx.restore();
};

// point class

var Point = function(x,y) {
    this.x = x?x:0;
    this.y = y?y:0;
}

var p = Point.prototype;

p.length = function(point) {
    point = point?point:new Point();
    var xs =0, ys =0;
    xs = point.x - this.x;
    xs = xs * xs;

    ys = point.y - this.y;
    ys = ys * ys;
    return Math.sqrt( xs + ys );
}

var TextCoord = function(u,v) {
    this.u = u?u:0;
    this.v = v?v:0;
}

var Triangle = function(p0, p1, p2, t0, t1, t2) {
    this.p0 = p0;
    this.p1 = p1;
    this.p2 = p2;

    this.t0 = t0;
    this.t1 = t1;
    this.t2 = t2;
}

Answer 2

The easiest way is to apply a transformation to the canvas before drawing the image.

http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/the-canvas-element.html#transformations

With skewing transformations you can make it look like it was drawn in perspective

Here's a very simple example:

ctx.setTransform (1, -0.2, 0, 1, 0, 0);
ctx.drawImage(blah);