Animation control apparatus, animation control method, and non-transitory computer readable recording medium

An animation control method for displaying on a display unit by animation a screen component configuring a display screen, the method comprising:

• a keyframe information preparation step of preparing, in a keyframe information storage unit, a plurality of keyframe information each of which includes start time information and component information, the start time information expressing a rendering start time at which a rendering process for displaying a screen component on the display unit should be started, the component information expressing a screen component that is displayed on the display unit by starting the rendering process at the rendering start time;
• a rendering start time acquisition step of acquiring a current rendering start time at which the rendering process should be started;
• a keyframe information acquisition step of acquiring, from the keyframe information storage unit, first keyframe information that includes a first rendering start time prior to the current rendering start time acquired in the rendering start time acquisition step and second keyframe information that includes a second rendering start time which follows the current rendering start time;
• an interpolation component information creation step of interpolating first component information, which is included in the first keyframe information, and second component information, which is included in the second keyframe information, to create interpolation component information expressing an interpolation screen component displayed on the display unit, the first keyframe information and the second keyframe information having been acquired in the keyframe information acquisition step;
• a rendering time period computation step of calculating a rendering time period that is required in a rendering process for displaying on the display unit the interpolation screen component expressed by the interpolation component information, on a basis of rendering performance information expressing a performance of the rendering process and the interpolation component information created in the interpolation component information creation step;
• a rendering determination step of determining, on a basis of the rendering time period calculated in the rendering time period computation step, whether or not a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit is completed by the second rendering start time included in the second keyframe information;
• and
• a display control step of waiting until the second rendering start time without performing a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit, when determination is made in the rendering determination step that a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit is not completed by the second rendering start time, and of starting a rendering process for displaying, on the display unit, a screen component expressed by the second component information included in the second keyframe information, when the second rendering start time is reached without performing the rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component.

A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing an animation control program for displaying on a display unit by animation a screen component configuring a display screen, the program causing a computer to function as:

• a keyframe information storage unit that stores a plurality of keyframe information each of which includes start time information and component information, the start time information expressing a rendering start time at which a rendering process for displaying a screen component on the display unit should be started, the component information expressing a screen component that is displayed on the display unit by starting the rendering process at the rendering start time;
• an animation controller that acquires a current rendering start time at which the rendering process should be started, and acquires, from the keyframe information storage unit, first keyframe information that includes a first rendering start time prior to the acquired current rendering start time and second keyframe information that includes a second rendering start time following the current rendering start time;
• an interpolation component information creating unit that interpolates first component information, which is included in the first keyframe information acquired by the animation controller, and second component information, which is included in the second keyframe information acquired by the animation controller, to create interpolation component information expressing an interpolation screen component displayed on the display unit;
• a rendering performance information storage unit that stores rendering performance information expressing a performance of the rendering process;
• a rendering time period computing unit that calculates a rendering time period that is required in a rendering process for displaying on the display unit the interpolation screen component expressed by the interpolation component information, on a basis of the rendering performance information stored in the rendering performance information storage unit and the interpolation component information created by the interpolation component information creating unit;
• a rendering determination unit that determines, on a basis of the rendering time period calculated by the rendering time period computing unit, whether or not a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit is completed by the second rendering start time included in the second keyframe information;
• and
• a display controller that waits until the second rendering start time without performing a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit, when the rendering determination unit determines that a rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component on the display unit is not completed by the second rendering start time, and starts a rendering process for displaying, on the display unit, a screen component expressed by the second component information included in the second keyframe information when the second rendering start time is reached without performing the rendering process for displaying the interpolation screen component.