3-dimensional animation generating apparatus

Abstract

In a 3-dimensional animation generating apparatus which uses a computer, the user generates a number of static images having parent-child relationships and which serve as key frames in the sequence from the start to the end of the animation, a number of animation frames specified by the user being automatically inserted between the key frames by means of interpolation. In this 3-dimensional animation generating apparatus, the times of each of the key frames as specified by the user are stored, the parent object coordinates and child object coordinates generated by the user are stored in a world coordinate system, along with parent-child relationship in each of the key frames. When the 3-dimensional animation generating apparatus generates interpolated frames, the parent-child relationship in neighboring key frames in the time sequence is interpolated to first generate the parent-child relationship existing in the interpolated frame, after which the parent object coordinates in the interpolated frame are calculated in the world coordinate system by interpolating the parent object coordinates in each of the neighboring key frames. The coordinates of a child object in an interpolated frame are determined from the parent-child relationship within the interpolated frame and the parent object coordinates in the interpolated frame. The animation is thus generated from the interpolated frame parent object coordinates, the interpolated frame child object coordinates, and the parent-child relationship.