- Number
- 10783689
- Published
- 2020-09-22
- Filed
- 2015-11-19
- Assignee
- Disney Enterprises, Inc.
- Inventors
- Shoulson; Alexander, Kapadia; Mubbasir, Sumner; Robert
- CPC
- G06F3/04842; G06F3/0486; G06F3/0482; G06T13/40
- Verdict
- Low Notable software
- Source
- Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline
The keeper's note
GUI-driven animation authoring tool for event-centric animation.
Abstract
A user interface may be presented to a user that may provide an intuitive interface configured for generating animations. The user interface may be users of varying levels of expertise, while retaining the freedom of authoring complex narratives in an animation. A given narrative may be constrained by user input related to one or more of events to occur in an animation, individual animation components that may be included in the events, and/or other input. The system may be configured to “fill in” missing gaps in a narrative to generate a consistent animation while still meeting one or more narrative constraints specified by user input. By way of non-limiting example, gaps may be “filled in” by effectuating non-user selections of one or more of events, animation components, and/or other information used to generate an animation.
Background
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE(1) This disclosure relates to generating event-centric animations using a graphical user interface.BACKGROUND(2) Character animation may often be a complex undertaking. Some techniques used by animators may require substantial manual input, be time-consuming, and may be confined to experts. Generating even a few seconds of animation for a single character may require significant effort, and the authoring complexity may scale dramatically with many interacting characters and longer narratives. Some animation authoring packages target high-fidelity character animation where precision may be crucial for generating high-quality content. However, these may not be suited for previsualization, e.g., low- to mid-end content, and the growing trend of rapid content creation by casual users (e.g., Youtube). A key challenge may be to provide an appropriate interface that may accessible to users of varying levels of expertise.(3) Storyboards may provide an effective spatiotemporal visualization technique for films, comics, graphic novels, computer animation, and game design.SUMMARY(4) One aspect of the disclosure relates to a system configured for generating event-centric animations. A user may provide input into a user interface to generate an animation to tell a story. One or more implementations of a user interface described herein may provide an intuitive interface configured for generating animations that may be easily accessible to users of varying levels of
Claims
1. A system configured to generate event-centric animations, the system comprising: one or more physical processors configured by machine-readable instructions to: store event information that defines events portrayed in animations, the events comprising plot points for stories conveyed in the animations, wherein individual events are associated with event criteria, and wherein the events comprise a first event associated with first event criteria; effectuate presentation of a user interface, the user interface being configured to receive user selection of individual ones of the events portrayed in the animations and animation components to be included in the events, the animation components including entities portrayed in the animations, wherein individual animation components are defined by values of animation parameters, wherein the animation parameters include one or more object parameters, and wherein individual object parameters are associated with the individual ones of the entities portrayed in the animations, and wherein the values of the individual object parameters define manners in which individual entities interact with other individual entities in the animation; determine whether the animation components selected by a user satisfy the event criteria for individual ones of selected ones of the events, the selected ones of the events including the first event; and generate an animation including instances of the selected ones of the events based on satisfaction of event criteria of the selected ones of the events, such that: responsive to determining that the first event criteria is satisfied based on a further selection by the user of a first animation component including a first entity, generate the animation including an instance of the first event that includes an instance of the first animation component; and responsive to determining that the first event criteria is not satisfied based on the further selection of the first animation component including the first entity, effectuate a non-user selection of a second animation component including a second entity that has a separate visual depiction from the first entity, wherein the second animation component is defined by the values of the animation parameters that satisfy the first event criteria, and generate the animation including an instance of the first event that includes an instance of the second animation component; wherein the second animation component replaces the first animation component in the animation; and wherein: the user interface comprises a grid of display elements; the user selection of the events comprises selection of individual events for individual ones of the display elements; and the display elements are organized in a temporal sequence to represent the temporal occurrence of the events selected for the display elements.
10. A method to generate event-centric animations, the method being implemented in a computer system comprising one or more physical processors and storage media storing machine-readable instructions, the method comprising: storing event information that defines events portrayed in animations, the events comprising plot points of stories conveyed in the animations, wherein individual events are associated with event criteria, and wherein the events comprise a first event associated with first event criteria; effectuating presentation of a user interface, the user interface being configured to receive user selection of individual ones of the events portrayed in the animations and animation components to be included in the events, the animation components including entities portrayed in the animations, wherein individual animation components are defined by values of animation parameters, wherein the animation parameters include one or more object parameters, and wherein individual object parameters are associated with the individual ones of the entities portrayed in the animations, and wherein the values of the individual object parameters define manners in which individual entities interact with other individual entities in the animation; determining whether the animation components selected by a user satisfy the event criteria for individual ones of selected ones of the events, the selected ones of the events including the first event; and generating an animation including instances of the selected ones of the events based on satisfaction of event criteria of the selected ones of the events, such that: responsive to determining that the first event criteria is satisfied based on a further selection by the user of a first animation component including a first entity, generating the animation including an instance of the first event that includes an instance of the first animation component; and responsive to determining that the first event criteria is not satisfied based on the further selection of the first animation component including the first entity, effectuating a non-user selection of a second animation component including a second entity that has a separate visual depiction from the first entity, wherein the second animation component is defined by the values of the animation parameters that satisfy the first event criteria, and generating the animation including an instance of the first event that includes an instance of the second animation component, wherein the second animation component replaces the first animation component in the animation; and wherein: the user interface comprises a grid of display elements; the user selection of the events comprises selection of individual events for individual ones of the display elements; and the display elements are organized in a temporal sequence to represent the temporal occurrence of the events selected for the display elements.