Automatic generation of transitions between motion cycles in an animation

A memory device storing computer-readable instructions for use in an animation system to create animation transitions from a first sequence of frames to a second sequence of frames, the instructions comprising:

• instructions for selecting as a source frame any frame from the first sequence of frames;
• instructions for selecting as a destination frame any frame from the second sequence of frames;
• and
• instructions for automatically generating a transition sequence from the selected source frame to the selected destination frame.

An animation system comprising:

• a monitor, for displaying graphical representations of at least two sequences of frames for a character in an animation;
• at least one user input device, for allowing a user to input commands based on the monitor display for creating a transition from a first sequence of frames to a second sequence of frames;
• and
• a processor, for generating an animation transition sequence from a source frame from the first sequence to a destination frame from the second sequence, wherein the source frame is selected from any frame of the first sequence of frames and the destination frame is selected from any frame of the second sequence of frames.

A computer-implemented method for creating an animation transition sequence from a first cycle to at least one other cycle, each cycle comprising a plurality of frames, the method comprising:

• permitting selection as a source frame an arbitrary one of the frames in the first cycle;
• permitting selection as a destination frame an arbitrary one of the frames in another cycle;
• and
• automatically generating a transition sequence from the arbitrarily selected source frame to the arbitrarily selected destination frame.