Rendering animated image data

Apparatus for rendering animated image data in real time, comprising:

• central processing means,
• data storage means,
• graphical processing means, and
• texture storage means, wherein
• said data storage means stores data including scene data, that defines a plurality of sequentially displayable scenes, each of which will be rendered as an image sequence in real time;
• data for each of said scenes includes a texture for the respective scene and said texture is transferable to said texture storage means in advance of its rendering;
• and
• said central processing means and said graphical processing means are configured to perform operations to render said scenes, without a pause between scenes, and it is necessary to remove textures from said texture storage means in order facilitate texture storage for next scenes;
• wherein
• said operations are under the control of said central processing means, that is configured to execute instructions for performing the steps of:
• (a) rendering the next frame of the current scene;
• (b) identifying a time before the rendering for the next frame begins;
• (c) comparing said time identified at step (b) with the time required to delete a texture from said texture storage means;
• and
• (d) if it can be completed before the next frame rendering is due to begin, deleting a texture from said texture storage means.

A method of rendering animated image data in real time, in a system comprising a central processing means, data storage means, graphical processing means, and texture storage means;

• wherein
• said data storage means stores data including scene data defining a plurality of sequentially displayable scenes;
• data for each of said scenes includes a texture for the respective scene, requiring transfer to said texture storage means in advance of the rendering of its respective scene;
• and
• said central processing means and said graphical processing means perform operations to render said scenes, without a pause between scenes, by performing the steps of:
• (a) rendering the next frame of the current scene;
• (b) estimating a bandwidth availability for texture transfer that is unlikely to interfere with real-time rendering of the current scene;
• (c) identifying the amount of data in a texture required for rendering a next scene;
• (d) splitting said required texture into texture portions that satisfy said bandwidth availability;
• and
• (e) transferring one of said texture portions from said data storage means to said texture storage means.

A method of rendering animated image data in real time, in an image processing system comprising a central processing means, data storage means, graphical processing means, and texture storage means;

• wherein
• said data storage means stores data including scene data, that defines a plurality of sequentially displayable scenes, each of which will be rendered as an image sequence in real time;
• data for each of said scenes includes a texture for the respective scene, that is transferable to said texture storage means in advance of its rendering;
• said central processing means and said graphical processing means perform operations to render said scenes, without a pause between scenes, during which it is occasionally necessary to remove textures from said texture storage means in order facilitate sufficient texture storage for a next scene;
• and
• said operations are under the control of said central processing means that executes instructions to perform the steps of:
• (a) rendering the next frame of the current scene;
• (b) identifying a time before the rendering for the next frame begins;
• (c) comparing said time identified at said identifying step (b) with the time required to delete a texture from said texture storage means;
• and
• (d) if it can be completed before the next frame rendering is due to begin, deleting a texture from said texture storage means.

A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions executable by a computer such that, when executing said instructions, a computer will perform the steps of:

• storing data including scene data that defines a plurality of sequentially displayable scenes to be rendered as an image sequence in real time;
• data for each said scene includes a texture for the respective scene, that requires transfer to said texture to storage in advance of its rendering;
• said rendering process comprising the steps of:
• (a) rendering the next frame of the current scene;
• (b) estimating a bandwidth availability for texture transfer that is unlikely to interfere with the real time rendering of the current scene;
• (c) identifying the amount of data in a texture required for rendering a next scene;
• (d) splitting said required texture into texture portions that satisfy said bandwidth availability;
• and
• (e) transferring one of said texture portions to storage.