This invention relates to animation apparatus and a method for simulating motion by periodic movement of a sequence of inanimate objects or images.
One of the earliest animation devices is the hand-rotated Phenakistoscope (by J. Plateau, ca. 1832) employing a rotary disk with radial viewing slits arranged to create a shutter-like effect on a series of images applied to the reverse side of the disk. With the image side of the disk facing a mirror, the disk is rotated. By viewing through the slits the images reflected by the mirror the illusion of motion or animation is achieved. This device can be viewed by one person only and the animations are dark and difficult to see clearly due to the shutter-like effect of the slits.
An improvement of the Plateau design was the Zoetrope (by W. Homer, ca. 1834) which employs a manually rotatable cylindrical drum in which the top edge of the drum has vertical viewing slits for viewing sequential images carried by the interior of the drum. As the drum rotates, the slits create the same shutter-like effect animation. The animation can be viewed by more than one person, but the visible quality of the animation is little improved over the Plateau device.
Some years after the introduction of the Zoetrop design, E. Muybirdge substituted three-dimensional objects for the two-dimensional images proposed by Homer.
The Praxinoscope (proposed by E. Reynaud, ca. 1877) eliminated the need for viewing slits by employing a set of radially facing mirrors positioned in the center of either a hand rotated disk or cylinder to reflect the images toward the viewer. The animation could be viewed simultaneously by multiple persons and is bright. Certain distortions and restricted angles of view adversely affected this design.
All of the previously mentioned devices originally were hand rotated utilizing an uninterrupted, decaying rate of rotation. Later variations employed motors to obtain consistent rotational speed. An apparatus patented in 1999 by O. Pope utilizes a motor to rotate a disk at a continuous speed. Applied to the disk are three-dimensional objects that are illuminated by a pulsing strobe light source which creates an animation effect. Unobstructed open view is achieved, but with the disadvantage of having to use a strobe light source which can be difficult to see in certain lighting conditions and may adversely affect its viewers.
An object of the invention is to provide animation apparatus and methods for providing real time animation of inanimate objects and images without the necessity of viewing slits, shutters, mirrors, or specialized light sources.
In the present invention the animation content is carried on the surface of a support that moves along an endless path in increments of uniform length. The content is sequential in nature and the effect of the intermittent movement creates the simulation of motion via the phenomenon of persistence of vision. The apparatus enables the animation content to be viewed without physical obstruction and without reliance on specialized lighting. Without limitations of viewing slits, and mirrors the content may be animated within three dimensions. Without the limitations of strobe or other special lighting, the content may be illuminated in any desired way. If the user desires, the content may be removed, rearranged, and replaced.
a is a diagrammatic, isometric view of a modified embodiment;
b is a diagrammatic, isometric view of another embodiment;
In all of the disclosed embodiments of the invention the animation content comprises a sequence of inanimate three-dimensional objects or two-dimensional images arranged in spaced apart relation on a carrier or support for movement along an endless path. In the following description and claims the collection of dimensional objects and images shall be referred to as animation content, whereas a single object or image shall be referred to as an animation content item.
The apparatus shown in
Each illustrative content item 2 is a three-dimensional representation of a person having a head, a body, two arms, and two legs. Although each item is similar, the positions of the arms and legs of each figure are different for the purpose of providing an animation which presents the illusion during intermittent rotation of the ring that the person represented by the item is walking.
The embodiment shown in
In the operation of the embodiment shown in
The length and speed of incremental movement of the ring and the dwell period between successive rotary increments are such as to enable the persistence of vision phenomenon to be achieved so as to provide the illusion of animation to the animation content 1.
In the embodiment shown in
The embodiment shown in
In each of the embodiments of
In those instances in which the number of content items corresponds to the number of increments of movement in which the content carrier is indexed during a full or 360° cycle of movement, there will be no apparent drifting of movement of the content items 2 either to the left or to the right. However, an apparent drift can be produced by providing a number of content items 2 different from the number of indexing increments in a full cycle of movement. For example, if there are twenty increments of indexing movement and more than twenty equally spaced content items 2, the animation will be such that the items 2 will appear to drift in the direction of their path of movement by the carrier (the ring, cylinder, or band).
On the other hand, if there are twenty increments of indexing movement and fewer than twenty equally spaced apart content items 2, the animation will be such that they will appear to drift counter to the direction of movement of the carrier. Thus, in the embodiment shown in
The disclosed embodiments are representative of a presently preferred forms of the invention, but are intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. The invention is defined in the claims.
This application claims the benefit of the filing dates of U.S. Provisional Applications No. 60/873,673, filed Dec. 6, 2006 and No. 61/005,130 filed Dec. 3, 2007, respectively.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61005130 | Dec 2007 | US |