Animation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9280844-B2
Application number	US-201313796013-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 12, 2013
Priority date	Mar 12, 2013
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

An animation system may allow users to create animations by accessing a matrix of possible animation images, in which images may be arranged to be adjacent to one another based on similarity, and allowing a user to select one or more images. The system may then determine an animation path through the matrix or group of images. A display system can retrieve and display images along the path to generate an animation.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by a computing device, a two-dimensional image matrix, the two-dimensional image matrix comprising adjacent images based on a similarity between images;
determining, by the computing device, a starting image and a first ending image within the two-dimensional image matrix;
defining, by the computing device, an image path within the two-dimensional image matrix, from the starting image to the first ending image, wherein the image path comprises at least one intermediate image; and
using, by the computing device, the image path to generate an animation sequence from the starting image towards the first ending image, wherein the animation sequence comprises the at least one intermediate image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein defining the image path further comprises limiting the image path to sequential selections of images that are adjacent to one another in the two-dimensional image matrix.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the two-dimensional image matrix comprises:
receiving a video encoded file;
decoding the video encoded file to retrieve a plurality of still images from the video encoded file;
performing image comparisons between the plurality of still images in the video encoded file to identify pairs of images whose similarity with one another exceeds a predetermined similarity threshold; and
identifying pairs of images as adjacent if their similarity with one another exceeds the predetermined similarity threshold.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined similarity threshold is a percentage of pixels that are the same.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image path identifies a listing of a plurality of images in a sequence based on a connected path through the two-dimensional image matrix between the starting image and the first ending image.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the two-dimensional image matrix to a user, and receiving user selections of a start point and end point from the displayed two-dimensional image matrix.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user input indicating a desired animation time duration criterion for an animation between the starting image and the first ending image.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining a display time of the animation comprising a sequential display of images in the image path through the two-dimensional image matrix from the starting image to the first ending image.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining to skip images or duplicate images to adjust an animation time based on the desired animation time duration criterion.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a selection of a new ending image after displaying the animation sequence, and altering the image path to proceed from a displayed image to the new ending image.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining one or more key images in the two-dimensional image matrix, and emphasizing the one or more key images when displaying the two-dimensional image matrix to a user.

12. A method, comprising:
retrieving, by a computing device, a two-dimensional image matrix comprising a plurality of adjacent images wherein adjacent images in the two-dimensional image matrix are closer in similarity than non-adjacent images in the two-dimensional image matrix;
receiving, by the computing device, a selection of a starting image and a first ending image in the two dimensional image matrix;
selecting, by the computing device, an intermediate image in the two-dimensional image matrix based on an adjacency between the intermediate image and one of the starting image and the first ending image;
defining by the computing device and within the two-dimensional image matrix, an image path from the starting image to the first ending image, the image path comprising at least the intermediate image; and
using, by the computing device, the image path to generate an animation sequence from the starting image towards the first ending image, the animation sequence comprising at least the intermediate image.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein defining the image path further comprises limiting the image path to sequential selections of images that are adjacent to one another in the two-dimensional image matrix.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving a video encoded file;
decoding the video encoded file to retrieve a plurality of still images from the video encoded file;
performing image comparisons between the still images in the video encoded file to identify pairs of images whose similarity with one another exceeds a predetermined similarity threshold; and
identifying pairs of images as adjacent if their similarity with one another exceeds the predetermined similarity threshold.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
storing an animation path file indicating a listing of images in a sequence based on the image path through the two-dimensional image matrix between the starting image and the first ending image.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving a user input indicating an animation time duration criterion for an animation between the starting image and the first ending image.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
determining to skip images or duplicate images to adjust an animation time based on the animation time duration criterion.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving a selection of a new ending image after displaying the animation sequence, and altering the image path to proceed from a displayed image to the new ending image.

19. A computing device, comprising:
a processor; and
a computer-readable medium, storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to perform the following:
generate a two-dimensional image group indicating adjacent images based on similarity between images;
receive a user selection of a starting image and a first ending image in the two-dimensional image group;
define, in the two-dimensional image group, an image path from the starting image to the first ending image, the image path comprising at least one intermediate image; and
use the image path to generate an animation sequence from the starting image towards the first ending image, wherein the animation sequence comprises the at least one intermediate image.

20. The computing device of claim 19 , wherein the computer-readable medium further stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, further cause the computing device to:
receive a video encoded file;
decode the video encoded file to retrieve a plurality of still images from the video encoded file;
perform image comparisons between the still images in the video encoded file to identify pairs of images whose similarity with one another exceeds a predetermined similarity threshold; and
identify pairs of images as adjacent if their similarity with one another exceeds the predetermined similarity threshold.

Assignees

• Larkin Andrew
• Gaston Maurice
• Comcast Cable Comm Llc

Inventors

• Larkin Andrew
• Gaston Maurice

Classifications

• G06T13/80 Primary

  Two-dimensional [2D] animation, e.g. using sprites · CPC title

• G06T15/00

  Three-dimensional [3D] image rendering · CPC title