Animation Keyframing Using Physics
First Claim
1. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions executable by a computer processor to implement an animation-authoring environment comprising:
- a graphical user interface usable to define an initial key frame, including a scene entity having;
an initial location and one or more physics properties; and
a motion path extrapolation engine configured to calculate a motion path for the scene entity, wherein the motion path extrapolation engine utilizes a physics simulation to determine the motion path given at least an initial location of the scene entity and one or more physics properties of the scene entity; and
a frame generator configured to generate a sequence of frames, wherein each successive frame in the sequence depicts the scene entity at a successive location along the extrapolated motion path.
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Abstract
An animation-authoring environment includes a graphical user interface usable by a user to define an initial key frame, including one or more scene entities with one or more respective physics properties. The authoring environment generates a sequence of extrapolated frames from the initial key frame by using a physics simulation to extrapolate respective motion paths for scene entities in the key frame and configuring each frame in the generated sequence to depict each such scene entity at a successive location along its respective extrapolated motion path. The authoring environment may then produce a movie comprising the sequence of frames.
16 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions executable by a computer processor to implement an animation-authoring environment comprising:
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a graphical user interface usable to define an initial key frame, including a scene entity having;
an initial location and one or more physics properties; anda motion path extrapolation engine configured to calculate a motion path for the scene entity, wherein the motion path extrapolation engine utilizes a physics simulation to determine the motion path given at least an initial location of the scene entity and one or more physics properties of the scene entity; and a frame generator configured to generate a sequence of frames, wherein each successive frame in the sequence depicts the scene entity at a successive location along the extrapolated motion path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer-implemented method for creating a frame-based animation, comprising:
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displaying a graphical user interface of an animation-authoring environment; receiving one or more inputs from the graphical user interface, the one or more inputs defining an initial frame, wherein the initial frame includes a scene entity, the scene entity having;
an initial location and one or more physics properties; andgenerating a sequence of extrapolated frames, said generating comprising; using a physics simulation to extrapolate a motion path for the scene entity, the simulation being dependent at least on the initial location of the scene entity and on the one or more physics properties of the scene entity; and configuring each successive frame in the sequence to depict the scene entity at a successive location along the extrapolated motion path. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor and storing program instructions executable by the processor to implement an animation-authoring environment comprising; a graphical user interface usable to define an initial key frame, including a scene entity having;
an initial location and one or more physics properties; anda motion path extrapolation engine configured to calculate a motion path for the scene entity, wherein the motion path extrapolation engine utilizes a physics simulation to determine the motion path given at least an initial location of the scene entity and one or more physics properties of the scene entity; and a frame generator configured to generate a sequence of frames, wherein each successive frame in the sequence depicts the scene entity at a successive location along the extrapolated motion path. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification