Apparatus, systems and methods for animation data

1 . A data processing apparatus comprising:

storage circuitry to store animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

selection circuitry to receive an animation data request and to select a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including at least one of a position and an orientation of a viewpoint with respect to the computer generated environment, and wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select the portion of the animation data in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties; and

output circuitry to output the portion of the animation data.

2 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select, as the portion of the animation data, one or more of:

animation data specifying animations for a subset of the animated objects of the computer generated environment; and

a time-based segment of the animation data for at least some of the computer generated environment, the time-based segment corresponding to a portion of the period of time.

3 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the animation data request is indicative of at least one of a spatial coordinate with respect to the computer generated environment and a spatial portion of the computer generated environment.

4 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment, the selection circuitry is configured to select at least some of the animation data associated with the respective animated object in dependence on whether a size of the respective animated object and a separation distance between the position of the viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition.

5 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment and which includes a plurality of interconnected sub-elements forming the respective animated object, the storage circuitry is configured to store metadata for a respective animated object indicative of two or more sub-element groups for the respective animated object, each of the plurality of interconnected sub-elements corresponding to one of the two or more sub-element groups based on a size of that sub-element, and wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select at least some of the animation data associated with the sub-elements of a given sub-element group in dependence on whether a reference size associated with the given sub-element group and a separation distance between the position of the viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition, the reference size being different for each of the two or more sub-element groups.

6 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select animation data associated with a subset of the animated objects in the computer generated environment in dependence on at least one of the position and the orientation of the viewpoint with respect to the computer generated environment.

7 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein for a respective object included in the subset, the selection circuitry is configured to select at least some of the animation data associated with the respective object in dependence on a separation distance between the position of the viewpoint and a position of the respective object so that the selected animation data for the respective object has a first quality when the separation distance has a first value and has a second quality different from the first quality when the separation distance has a second value different from the first value.

8 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the selected animation data having the first quality has at least one of a different animation rate and a different polygonal mesh data resolution to the selected animation data having the second quality.

9 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the animation data request is indicative of at least one of a respective time and a time duration with respect to the period of time.

10 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the animation data for the computer generated environment comprises timestamp information, and the selection circuitry is configured to select a time-based segment of the animation data within the period of time in dependence on the animation data request and the timestamp information.

11 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the selection circuitry is configured to match a respective timestamp of the timestamp information with a timestamp associated with the animation data request and select a time-based segment of the animation data based on the respective timestamp of the timestamp information.

12 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the animation data for the computer generated environment comprises a first predetermined portion of animation data for a first region of the computer generated environment and a second predetermined portion of animation data for a second region of the computer generated environment, and the selection circuitry is configured to select, as the portion of the animation data, one of the first predetermined portion and the second predetermined portion in dependence on the animation data request.

13 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the animation data for the computer generated environment specifies animations of one or more non-humanoid animated objects.

14 . The data processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage circuitry is configured to store the animation data for a first version of the computer generated environment and second version of the computer generated environment, the first version of the computer generated environment having a different visual appearance and different animations to the second version.

15 . A method comprising:

storing animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

receiving an animation data request;

selecting a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including at least one of a position and an orientation of a viewpoint with respect to the computer generated environment, and wherein the selecting is in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties; and

outputting the portion of the animation data.

16 . A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium containing computer software which when executed by a computer causes the computer to perform a method comprising:

storing animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

receiving an animation data request;

selecting a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including at least one of a position and an orientation of a viewpoint with respect to the computer generated environment, and wherein the selecting is in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties; and

outputting the portion of the animation data.

17 . A data processing apparatus comprising:

storage circuitry to store animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

selection circuitry to receive an animation data request and to select a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including a spatial portion of the computer generated environment, and wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select the portion of the animation data in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties including, for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment, selecting at least some of the animation data associated with the respective animated object in dependence on whether a size of the respective animated object and a separation distance between a position of a viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition; and

output circuitry to output the portion of the animation data.

18 . A method comprising:

storing animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

receiving an animation data request;

selecting a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including a spatial portion of the computer generated environment, and wherein selecting the portion of the animation data in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties includes, for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment, selecting at least some of the animation data associated with the respective animated object in dependence on whether a size of the respective animated object and a separation distance between a position of a viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition; and

outputting the portion of the animation data.

19 . A data processing apparatus comprising:

storage circuitry to store:

animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time; and

for a respective animated object including a plurality of interconnected sub-elements forming the respective animated object, metadata for the respective animated object indicative of two or more sub-element groups for the respective animated object, each of the plurality of interconnected sub-elements corresponding to one of the two or more sub-element groups based on a size of that sub-element;

selection circuitry to receive an animation data request and to select a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including a spatial portion of the computer generated environment, and wherein the selection circuitry is configured to select the portion of the animation data in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties including, for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment, at least some of the animation data associated with the sub-elements of a given sub-element group in dependence on whether a reference size associated with the given sub-element group and a separation distance between a position of a viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition, the reference size being different for each of the two or more sub-element groups; and

output circuitry to output the portion of the animation data.

20 . A method comprising:

storing animation data for a computer generated environment, the animation data specifying animations of animated objects of the computer generated environment for a period of time;

for a respective animated object including a plurality of interconnected sub-elements forming the respective animated object, storing metadata for the respective animated object indicative of two or more sub-element groups for the respective animated object, each of the plurality of interconnected sub-elements corresponding to one of the two or more sub-element groups based on a size of that sub-element;

receiving an animation data request;

selecting a portion of the animation data in dependence on the animation data request, wherein the animation data request is indicative of one or more animation data request properties including a spatial portion of the computer generated environment, and wherein the selecting is in dependence upon the one or more animation data request properties including, for a respective animated object corresponding to the spatial portion of the computer generated environment, selecting at least some of the animation data associated with the sub-elements of a given sub-element group in dependence on whether a reference size associated with the given sub-element group and a separation distance between a position of a viewpoint and a position of the respective animated object satisfies a selection condition, the reference size being different for each of the two or more sub-element groups; and

outputting the portion of the animation data.