Three dimensional animation system and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
- a first computer for storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character, the pieces of data including a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
a second computer connected to the first computer by a communications network, the second computer further comprising means for initially downloading the persistent data file from the server computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character and means for asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the first computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for three dimensional character animation provides a rapid download of the animated character since the persistent data of the animated character may be downloaded initially to begin the animation. One or more behavior files may then be downloaded as needed which reduces the initial download time of a character. The system may store the persistent data in a character cache. To reduce the size of the behavior files, the persistent data may include morphlinks, for each polygon on the character, that determine the contributions that the movement of each joint in the character make on each polygon of the character.
78 Citations
98 Claims
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1. A system for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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a first computer for storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character, the pieces of data including a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
a second computer connected to the first computer by a communications network, the second computer further comprising means for initially downloading the persistent data file from the server computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character and means for asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the first computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 65, 74, 78, 90, 91, 92, 95)
a data storage for storing the downloaded data; and
an instruction for deleting data that are less likely to be reused than a newly downloaded data if the deleting is necessary to make room to store the newly downloaded data.
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74. The system of claim 1, wherein the geometric model farther comprises one or more joints linked together by one or more bones and a plurality of polygons forming a skin over the joints and bones and wherein the persistent data further comprises a morphlink for each polygon on the animated character such that each morphlink is associated with at least one polygon, each morphlink comprising a coordinate system and weighted contributions defining the movement of the polygons in the coordinate system.
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78. The system of claim 1, wherein the pieces of data further comprise update scripts including commands about a behavior.
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90. The system of claim 4, wherein the behavior file contains joint movement data about the movement of each joint in the model so that the second computer combines the morphlink in the persistent data with the joint movement data to execute a behavior.
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91. The system of claim 1, wherein the persistent file further contains program commands in the form of scripts.
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92. The system of claim 15, wherein the persistent data file further contains program commands in the form of scripts.
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95. The system of claim 3, wherein some of the pieces of data are manually identified as persistent data.
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16. A method for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character on a first computer, the pieces of data including a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model;
initially downloading the persistent data file from the first computer to a second computer over a communications network so that the animation of the animated character begins on the second computer; and
asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the first computer to the second computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 66, 75, 79, 96)
storing the new behavior file in a data storage; and
deleting at least one behavior file that is less likely to be reused than the new behavior file if the deleting is necessary to store the new behavior file.
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75. The method of claim 16, wherein the geometric model further comprises one or more joints linked together by one or more bones and a plurality of polygons forming a skin over the joints and bones and wherein the persistent data further comprises a morphlink for each polygon on the animated character such that each morphlink is associated with at least one polygon, each morphlink comprising a coordinate system and weighted contributions defining the movement of the polygons in the coordinate system.
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79. The method of claim 16, wherein the pieces of data further comprise update scripts including commands about a behavior.
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96. The method of claim 18, wherein some of the pieces of data are manually identified as persistent data.
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31. An apparatus for animating a character on a computer based on animation data contained on another remote computer, the apparatus comprising:
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means for communicating with the remote computer in order to download the animation data from the remote computer, the animation data comprising a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the animation data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model;
means for initially downloading the persistent data file from the remote computer in order to begin the animation for the animated character on the computer; and
means for asynchronously downloading a behavior file for the remote computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the computer. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 67, 76, 80, 93, 97)
a data storage for storing the downloaded behavior files; and
an instruction for deleting files that are less likely to be reused than a newly downloaded file if the deleting is necessary to make room to store the newly downloaded file.
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76. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the geometric model further comprises one or more joints linked together by one or more bones and a plurality of polygons forming a skin over the joints and bones and wherein the persistent data further comprises a morphlink for each polygon on the animated character such that each morphlink is associated with at least one polygon, each morphlink comprising a coordinate system and weighted contributions defining the movement of the polygons in the coordinate system.
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80. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the animation data comprises update scripts including commands about a behavior.
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93. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the persistent data file further contains program commands in the form of scripts.
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97. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein some of the animation data are manually identified as persistent data.
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46. A server computer for downloading animation files to a remote computer connected to the server computer to animate a character on the remote computer, the server comprising:
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means for storing one or more pieces of animation data associated with a particular animated character, the animation data comprising a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
means, in response to a request by the remote computer, for initially downloading the persistent data file to the remote computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character on the remote computer; and
means, in response to a request by the remote computer, for asynchronously downloading a behavior file to the remote computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the remote computer. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 77, 81, 94, 98)
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58. A computer implemented system for generating a animated character using animation data, the animation data comprising:
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a persistent data file containing a geometric model of the animated character comprising one or more joints linked together by one or more bones, a plurality of polygons forming a skin over the joints and bones of the animated character, and a morphlink for each polygon on the animated character, each morphlink comprising an association of the movement of the polygon to the movement of one or more joints in the geometric model so that the movement of the polygon is determined based on the movement of the one or more joints; and
one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character and specifying the movement of one or more joints in the animated character during the behavior wherein the movement of the polygons on the animated character during a behavior are determined by the behavior file and the morphlinks. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61)
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62. A computer implemented system for generating a animated character using animation data, the animation data comprising:
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a persistent data file containing a geometric model of the animated character comprising one or more joints linked together by one or more bones, a plurality of polygons forming a skin over the joints and bones of the animated character, and a morphlink for each polygon on the animated character, each morphlink comprising an association of the movement of the polygon to the movement of one or more joints in the geometric model so that the movement of the polygon is determined based on the movement of the one or more joints; and
one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character and specifying the movement of one or more joints in the animated character during the behavior wherein the movement of the polygons on the animated character during a behavior are determined by the behavior file and the morphlinks.
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63. A computer implemented system for generating a animated character using animation data, the animation data comprising:
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a persistent data file containing information about the animated character including the joints in the animated character; and
one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character and specifying the movement of the animated character during the behavior, each behavior file comprising behavior objects containing data about the movement of the animated character and one or more chunks of data associated with predetermined portions of the behavior, each chunk comprising one or more tracks containing behavior data associated with each of joints of the animated character.
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64. A system for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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a first computer for storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character, the pieces of data including a persistent data file and one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character comprising behavior objects and one or more chunks of data associated with predetermined portions of the behavior; and
a second computer connected to the first computer by a communications network, the second computer further comprising means for initially downloading the persistent data file from the server computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character and means for downloading a behavior file from the first computer just prior to the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer, the behavior downloading further comprising means for initially downloading the behavior objects and a first chunk of the behavior data in order to execute the behavior, and means, while the behavior is executing, for asynchronously downloading the other chunks of the behavior data.
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68. A system for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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a first computer for storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character, the pieces of data including a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
a second computer connected to the first computer by a communications network, the second computer further comprising an instruction for asynchronously downloading one or more pieces of data from the first computer. - View Dependent Claims (69)
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70. A method for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character on a first computer, the pieces of data including a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the pieces of data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
asynchronously downloading pieces of data from the first computer to a second computer over a communications network. - View Dependent Claims (71)
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72. A software product for animating a character on a computer based on animation data contained on another remote computer, the apparatus comprising:
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an instruction for communicating with the remote computer in order to download the animation data from the remote computer, the animation data comprising a persistent data file containing one or more of a geometric model of the animated character, a texture associated with the animated character and a sound associated with the animated character, the animation data further comprising one or more behavior files, each behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character, each behavior specifying the movement of the model; and
an instruction for asynchronously downloading the animation data from the remote computer onto a storage device. - View Dependent Claims (73)
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82. A system for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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a first computer for storing at least one persistent data file associated with an animated character and at least one behavior file associated with the animated character, at least one of the persistent data file and the behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character; and
a second computer connected to the first computer by a communications network, the second computer comprising an instruction for initially downloading the persistent data file from the server computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character and an instruction for asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the first computer in anticipation of the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer. - View Dependent Claims (83)
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84. A method for animating a character on a computer, comprising:
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storing one or more pieces of data associated with a particular animated character on a first computer, the pieces of data including a persistent data file and behavior files, at least one of the persistent data file and the behavior files containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character;
initially downloading the persistent data file from the first computer to a second computer over a communications network so that the animation of the animated character begins on the second computer; and
asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the first computer to the second computer in anticipation of the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the second computer. - View Dependent Claims (85)
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86. A software product for animating a character on a computer based on animation data contained on another remote computer, the apparatus comprising:
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an instruction for communicating with the remote computer in order to download the animation data from the remote computer, the animation data comprising a persistent data file and at least one behavior file, at least one of the persistent data file and the behavior files containing data about a particular behavior of an animated character;
an instruction for initially downloading the persistent data file from the remote computer in order to begin the animation of the animated character on the computer; and
an instruction for asynchronously downloading a behavior file from the remote computer in anticipation of the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the computer. - View Dependent Claims (87)
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88. A server computer for downloading animation files to a remote computer connected to the server computer to animate a character on the remote computer, the server comprising:
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an instruction for storing one or more pieces of animation data associated with a particular animated character, the animation data comprising a persistent data file and at least one behavior file, at least one of the persistent data file and the behavior file containing data about a particular behavior of the animated character; and
an instruction for initially downloading the persistent data file to the remote computer in response to a request by the remote computer, in order to begin the animation of the animated character on the remote computer; and
an instruction for asynchronously downloading a behavior file to the remote computer in anticipation of the execution of the behavior of the animated character by the remote computer, in response to a request by the remote computer. - View Dependent Claims (89)
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Specification