Computer controlled animation system based on definitional animated objects and methods of manipulating same
First Claim
1. A computer implemented process for generating and manipulating animated objects in a computer system, said computer system including a processor, a memory means coupled to said processor, a display means coupled to said processor, and a master clock coupled to said processor for maintaining a global time, said process comprising the computer implemented steps of:
- generating a plurality of animated objects represented by an object database residing in said memory means, each of said animated objects comprising state data representing a state of said object and each of said animated objects comprising methods representing a behavior of said object, said state data and said methods located within said object database;
animating said animated objects by executing said methods thereby causing said animated objects to transition from a first state to a second state, said first state and said second state represented by said state data;
manipulating a descriptive representation of said object, said descriptive representation comprising a plurality of image frames representing said object at different instants of time, said descriptive representation manipulated when said method associated with said animated objects is activated by said computer system that manipulates said descriptive representation; and
manipulating a mathematical representation of said objects, said mathematical representation comprising a plurality of functions for operating upon a plurality of parameters associated with said objects, said mathematical representation manipulated when said method associated with said animated objects is activated by said computer system that manipulates said mathematical representation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system and method for the generation and manipulation of animated objects in a computer-controlled environment. The animated objects include state data and methods defining the behavior of the object. The animated objects also have an associated affect volume and affect agents. An interaction manager controls the interaction between objects as the animation sequence progresses. An animation sequence is controlled by a set of rules, state graphs, or scripts. The behavior of objects is modeled using a descriptive and a mathematical representation. Objects containing visual characteristics are rendered to a display screen.
279 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A computer implemented process for generating and manipulating animated objects in a computer system, said computer system including a processor, a memory means coupled to said processor, a display means coupled to said processor, and a master clock coupled to said processor for maintaining a global time, said process comprising the computer implemented steps of:
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generating a plurality of animated objects represented by an object database residing in said memory means, each of said animated objects comprising state data representing a state of said object and each of said animated objects comprising methods representing a behavior of said object, said state data and said methods located within said object database; animating said animated objects by executing said methods thereby causing said animated objects to transition from a first state to a second state, said first state and said second state represented by said state data; manipulating a descriptive representation of said object, said descriptive representation comprising a plurality of image frames representing said object at different instants of time, said descriptive representation manipulated when said method associated with said animated objects is activated by said computer system that manipulates said descriptive representation; and manipulating a mathematical representation of said objects, said mathematical representation comprising a plurality of functions for operating upon a plurality of parameters associated with said objects, said mathematical representation manipulated when said method associated with said animated objects is activated by said computer system that manipulates said mathematical representation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer implemented process for generating and manipulating animated objects in a computer system, said computer system including a processor, a memory means coupled to said processor, a display means coupled to said processor, and a master clock coupled to said processor for maintaining a global time reference, said process comprising the computer implemented steps of:
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generating a plurality of animated object each represented by state data representing a state of each animated object, said state data comprising object position, object size, or object orientation, and further represented by and method data representing methods of behavior of said each animated object which indicate actions that said each animated object may perform, said state data and said method data stored in and retrieved from an object database residing in said memory means and having a configuration based on said plurality of animated objects; animating said animated objects by executing methods represented by said method data associated with said each of said animated objects thereby causing said animated objects to transition from a first state to a second state, said first state and said second state represented by said state data of said object database; manipulating pixmap representations of each of said animated objects, said pixmap representations comprising a plurality of image frames representing said each animated object at different instants of time, said pixmap representations manipulated when said methods represented by method data associated with said each animated object are executed by said computer system; and manipulating a mathematical representation of said objects, said mathematical representation comprising a plurality of functions for operating upon a plurality of data points of said each animated object, said mathematical representation manipulated when said methods represented by method data associated with said each animated object are executed by said computer system. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification