Efficient method of producing an animated sequence of images
AssigneeDanglesnort, LLC
InventorErik Anderson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computer-based method of generating an animated sequence of images eliminates inefficiencies associated with a lighting process. The method begins with the provision of a frame for the animation sequence. The frame includes at least one asset, which may be a character, background, or other object. The frame is rendered to thereby produce a set of images each based upon a different lighting condition. The frame is then composited during which a subset of the images are selected from the set and then adjusted. Settings such as intensity and color balance are adjusted for each of the subset of images.
Claims20
A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform steps for compositing a sequence of frames each having an asset to define an animated sequence comprising:
- receiving a sequence of frame sets, each frame set for one of the sequence of frames defining the animation sequence and each frame set including a plurality of rendered images that each depicts the asset with the same viewpoint but with a different illumination condition;
- generating at least one user interface upon a computer display;
- for each frame set, receiving a selection of a subset of the plurality of the rendered images whereby the selection defines a composite illumination for each frame set of the sequence of frames;
- and
- compositing each of the sequence of frames to form the animated sequence including merging the selected subset of rendered images for each frame set to provide the composite illumination for the animated sequence thereby replacing the need for a lighting process to be performed before rendering the frames.
A computer-implemented method for compositing a sequence of frames each having an asset to define an animated sequence, the computer implemented method performed by a processor executing software instructions stored on a non-transitory medium, the computer-implemented method including:
- receiving a sequence of frame sets, each frame set for one of the sequence of frames defining the animation sequence and each frame set including a plurality of rendered images that each depicts the asset with the same viewpoint but with a different illumination condition;
- generating at least one user interface upon a computer display;
- for each frame set, receiving a selection of a subset of the plurality of the rendered images whereby the selection defines a composite illumination for each frame set of the sequence of frames;
- and
- compositing each of the sequence of frames to form the animated sequence including merging the selected subset of rendered images for each frame set to provide the composite illumination for the animated sequence thereby replacing the need for a lighting process to be performed before rendering the frames.
A computer system for compositing a sequence of frames each having an asset to define an animated sequence, the computer system comprising:
- a processor;
- non-transitory medium storing computer readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform:
- receiving a sequence of frame sets, each frame set for one of the sequence of frames defining the animation sequence and each frame set including a plurality of rendered images that each depicts the asset with the same viewpoint but with a different illumination condition;
- generating at least one user interface upon a computer display;
- for each frame set, receiving a selection of a subset of the plurality of the rendered images whereby the selection defines a composite illumination for each frame set of the sequence of frames;
- and
- compositing each of the sequence of frames to form the animated sequence including merging the selected subset of rendered images for each frame set to provide the composite illumination for the animated sequence thereby replacing the need for a lighting process to be performed before rendering the frames.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.