Anima II: a 3-D color animation system

An animation software system has been developed at The Computer Graphics Research Group which allows a person with no computer background to develop an animation idea into a finished color video product which may be seen and recorded in real time. The animation may include complex polyhedra forming words, sentences, plants, animals and other creatures. The animation system, called Anima II, has as its three basic parts: a data generation routine used to make colored, three-dimensional objects, an animation language with a simple script-like syntax used to describe parallel motion and display transformations in a flexible, scheduled environment, the Myers algorithm used in the visible surface and raster scan calculations for the color display. This paper discusses the requirements, the problems, and the trade-offs of such a system. An overview of research in the area is given as well as the design and implementation highlights of the Anima II system.