System and method for animating virtual characters

Abstract

System and methods for defining and applying animations to virtual characters with interchangeable body parts that may be combined to form composite virtual characters are disclosed. According to aspects of the invention, a software program running on a gaming platform comprises a plurality of virtual characters, each comprising a plurality of interchangeable body parts. An animation clip may be defined for an interchangeable body part of a first virtual character. The animation clip may be defined for the first virtual character's interchangeable body party using a virtual skeleton that has the bones of the interchangeable body part and the bones of one or more generic body parts. The defined animation clip may control one or more of the bones of the interchangeable body part and one or more of the bones of the one or more generic body parts.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates generally to animating a virtual character, such as those found in video games or animated movies, and more particularly to animating a virtual character comprised of parts of other virtual characters.[0002]Animating a virtual character typically involves building an animated three-dimensional (3D) character model that is rigged with a virtual skeleton. A character rig generally includes the character's virtual skeleton bound to the character's 3D mesh or skin. The virtual skeleton typically includes a plurality of joints and / or bones that can be manipulated to move or deform the model into different poses. The virtual skeleton provides the basic form of the virtual character. For example, a humanoid virtual character may have a virtual skeleton that has bones representing a human form (e.g., a head bone, spine bones, arm / hand bones, leg / feet bones, pelvic bones, etc.). On the other hand, a reptilian virtual character ma...

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