Graphical image processing with enhanced editing facility
First Claim
1. An animation editing system for generating graphic data and metadata for an animation, including processing means, display means and data storage means, in which graphic data and metadata are generated in response to user interactions with said editing system, under control of processing instructions for said processing means to facilitate user input of first characteristics of an animation via a graphical user interface displayed on said display means;
- wherein said graphic data includes first parameters defining said first characteristics, and references to editable parameters in said metadata;
said metadata includes said editable parameters which define second characteristics of said animation; and
for each said editable parameter, said metadata includes a value field, and an identifying means for identifying the corresponding parameter to a user, thereby defining an interface to facilitate subsequent editing of said second characteristics of said animation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for modifying characteristics of an animation. An animation is created for a live broadcast and comprises graphic data including first parameters and references to editable parameters. The editable parameters have their characteristics, including a value and a description for each editable parameter, stored as metadata. The graphic data is instantiated by a metafile containing the metadata to determine the overall characteristics of an animation used during the live broadcast. The metadata may be independently modified on remote processing systems without having access to said graphic data. Finally, the animation is rendered during a broadcast, during which both the first and editable parameters are used to determine characteristics of the rendered animation.
82 Citations
30 Claims
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1. An animation editing system for generating graphic data and metadata for an animation, including processing means, display means and data storage means, in which graphic data and metadata are generated in response to user interactions with said editing system, under control of processing instructions for said processing means to facilitate user input of first characteristics of an animation via a graphical user interface displayed on said display means;
- wherein
said graphic data includes first parameters defining said first characteristics, and references to editable parameters in said metadata;
said metadata includes said editable parameters which define second characteristics of said animation; and
for each said editable parameter, said metadata includes a value field, and an identifying means for identifying the corresponding parameter to a user, thereby defining an interface to facilitate subsequent editing of said second characteristics of said animation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- wherein
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8. In an animation editing system generating graphic data and metadata for an animation, a method in which graphic data and metadata are generated in response to a user'"'"'s interactions with a graphical user interface comprising the steps of:
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(a) processing instructions to facilitate user input of graphic data including first parameters defining first characteristics of an animation;
(b) generating metadata including editable parameters defining second characteristics of said animation;
(c) generating references within said graphic data to said editable parameters in said metadata; and
(d) generating within said metadata a value field for each said editable parameter and an identifying means for identifying each parameter to another user, thereby defining an interface to facilitate subsequent editing of said second characteristics of said animation. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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14. An animation rendering system, including processing means, display means and data storage means containing graphic data and metadata, in which said graphic data and said metadata are processed by said processing means in accordance with processing instructions to render said graphical data as a sequence of image frames, by a process of combining said graphical data with said metadata, in which:
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said graphical data defines an animation in which first characteristics of said animation are controlled by first parameters within said graphical data, and second characteristics of said animation are controlled by editable parameters within said metadata which are referenced by said graphic data; and
said metadata defines a specific value and an identifying means for each of a plurality of said editable parameters such that an interface for editable parameters may be constructed for user modification of animation characteristics.
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20. A data structure on a machine-readable medium, containing instructions for processing means in an animation editing system, in which said instructions instruct said processing means to perform processing operations for generating graphic data and metadata for an animation, said editing system comprising said processing means, a display means and storage means, in which said graphic data and metadata are generated in response to user interactions with said editing system, under control of said processing instructions, to enable user input of characteristics of an animation via a graphical user interface displayed on said display means, said processing means being configured to perform steps of:
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(a) defining first characteristics by storing values of first parameters in said graphic data;
(b) defining second characteristics by storing values of editable parameters in said metadata;
(c) defining access to second characteristics of said animation by storing references in said graphic data to said editable parameters; and
(d) for each said editable parameter, storing in said metadata;
(1) a value field; and
(2) an identifying means for identifying a corresponding editable parameter;
thereby defining an interface for second characteristics of said animation. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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24. A data structure on a machine-readable medium, containing instructions for processing means in an animation system, in which said instructions instruct said processing means to perform processing operations for processing graphic data and metadata for an animation, said graphical data and metadata are stored upon a data storage medium and these are processed by said processing means in accordance with the instructions, to render said graphical data as a sequence of image frames, by a process of combining said graphical data with said metadata, in which:
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said graphical data defines an animation, in which characteristics of said animation are controlled by first parameters within said graphical data and editable parameters within said metadata; and
said metadata defines a specific value and an identifying means for each of a plurality of said editable parameters such that an interface for said editable parameters may be constructed for user modification of animation characteristics.
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30. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions executable by a computer such that, when executing said instructions, a computer will perform the steps of:
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(a) processing instructions to facilitate user input of graphic data including first parameters defining first characteristics of an animation;
(b) generating metadata including editable parameters defining second characteristics of said animation;
(c) generating references within said graphic data to said editable parameters in said metadata; and
(d) generating within said method data a value field for each of said editable parameters and an identifying means for identifying each parameter to another user, thereby defining an interface to facilitate subsequent editing of said second characteristics of said animation.
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Specification