Mixing of computer graphics and animation sequences
First Claim
1. An apparatus for presenting animation information comprising pixels at a first selected frequency, lines at a second selected frequency, and frames at a third selected frequency from sequence images in synchronization with pixels, lines, and frames from a computer graphics generator, said apparatus comprising:
- first storage means for storing the animation information as compressed animation information;
means for retrieving and for temporarily storing said compressed animation in blocks comprising a selected number of frames of said compressed animation information;
means for decompressing and for temporarily storing amounts of the animation information comprising a selected number of pixels from a selected number of lines from a selected frame in a selected one of said blocks containing said compressed information, said selected frame being selected a number of consecutive times so as to synchronize with frames from the computer graphics generator at the selected third frequency; and
means for storing and presenting pixels from a selected number of lines of said amounts of said animation information to said computer graphics generator, said means for storing and presenting pixels operating to supply said pixels at said first selected frequency, and said lines at said second selected frequency in synchronization with pixels and lines from the computer graphics generator, said means for storing and presenting pixels comprising less storage than for an entire frame of pixels.
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Abstract
Apparatus and a method is disclosed for mixing animation sequences with computer graphics information for presentation on a computer display screen. The animation sequences may be stored in compressed format in a standard storage medium. An animation sequence generator retrieves these compressed animation sequences, decompresses them into pixel information, and sends them to a single line store for synchronization with the computer graphics pixel information. Pixels from the animation sequences and from the computer graphics generator are mixed, windowed and overlaid in a digital mixer. The output of the digital mixer is sent to a visual display system such as a video digital-to-analog converter driving a computer display monitor.
90 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An apparatus for presenting animation information comprising pixels at a first selected frequency, lines at a second selected frequency, and frames at a third selected frequency from sequence images in synchronization with pixels, lines, and frames from a computer graphics generator, said apparatus comprising:
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first storage means for storing the animation information as compressed animation information; means for retrieving and for temporarily storing said compressed animation in blocks comprising a selected number of frames of said compressed animation information; means for decompressing and for temporarily storing amounts of the animation information comprising a selected number of pixels from a selected number of lines from a selected frame in a selected one of said blocks containing said compressed information, said selected frame being selected a number of consecutive times so as to synchronize with frames from the computer graphics generator at the selected third frequency; and means for storing and presenting pixels from a selected number of lines of said amounts of said animation information to said computer graphics generator, said means for storing and presenting pixels operating to supply said pixels at said first selected frequency, and said lines at said second selected frequency in synchronization with pixels and lines from the computer graphics generator, said means for storing and presenting pixels comprising less storage than for an entire frame of pixels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification