Apparatus and method to generate an animated graphical object

1. A computer-implemented method for animating a graphical object based on one or more animation parameters, the graphical object comprising at least one element wherein the at least one element comprises at least one frame wherein the at least one frame comprises a contour defining at least a part of the shape of the graphical object wherein the contour comprises a first side and a second side, and the at least one frame comprises a plurality of pairs of points where each pair of points comprises a first point located on the first side of the contour and a second point located on the second side of the contour, and wherein animating the graphical object comprises:

receiving, at an operating system executing on a computer device, a request to animate the graphical object in a design space based on the one or more animation parameters;

determining, at the operating system, an animation path for the at least one frame in the design space by determining a moving path from a first pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame to a second pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame wherein the first and second points of the second pair are respectively neighbours of the first and second points of the first pair of points; and

displaying the animation path on a display, wherein displaying the animation path includes interpolating between each of the plurality of pairs of points along the moving path.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the graphical object comprises a glyph, a pictogram icon or a vector-based drawing, and the at least one elements comprises a stroke.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein determining the moving path comprises respectively applying, at the operating system, a higher order interpolation to the first and second points of the pair of points based on a plurality of off-curve points located out of the contour of the at least one element; wherein the design space for one of the higher order interpolations comprises at least one of the two off-curve points twice.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein at least one of the plurality of off-curve points is determined by applying at the operating system a higher order interpolation to another one of the plurality of off-curve points.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more animation parameters comprise at least one of an element speed, an element direction and an element curvature and wherein animating the graphical object comprises determining, at the operating system, an animation speed based on at least one of the element speed, the element direction and the element curvature.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the animated graphical object comprises a plurality of elements each one defining the shape of the graphical object and wherein generating the animated graphical object comprises determining, at the operating system, an animation path for each of the plurality of elements wherein the one or more animation parameters comprise an element order indicating an order on which the elements are going to be animated.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more animation parameters comprises a pass time for at least one element of the plurality of elements wherein the pass time indicates a difference between an animation end time of said element and an animation begin time of the next element wherein the next element is determined based on the element order and wherein the pass time is based on a distance between said element and the next element and/or a relation between a direction of said element and a direction of the next element.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one element comprises a last frame comprising an ending point and/or an initial frame comprising a starting point.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the element comprises at least two frames and wherein animating the graphical object comprises determining, at the operating system, the animation path in the design space for each of the two frames wherein each of the two frames is rendered from a memory.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the element comprises at least two frames and animating the graphic object comprises rendering a first frame from a memory, determining, at the operating system, a first animation path in a first design space for the first frame, and determining a second animation path in a second design space for the second frame wherein the animation path for the second frame is determined by starting from the first frame.

11. The computer-implemented method according to claim 10 , wherein the second design space comprises a first, a second and a third interpolation wherein each interpolation comprises a starting animation time, an ending animation time and a maximum animation time wherein the starting animation time of the second and the third interpolations is equal to the starting animation time of the first interpolation, the ending animation time of the second and third interpolations is equal to the ending animation time of the first interpolation, the maximum animation time of the second interpolation time is equal to the starting animation time of the second interpolation and the maximum animation time of the third interpolation time is equal to the ending animation time of the third interpolation.

12. A computer-implemented method for animating a graphical object based on one or more animation parameters, the graphical object comprising at least one element wherein the at least one element comprises at least a one dimensional contour corresponding and mapped to different properties of a virtual pen comprising at least one frame defining at least a part of the shape of the graphical object wherein the at least one frame comprises a first side and a second side, and the at least one frame comprises a plurality of pairs of points where each pair of points comprises a first point located on the first side of the at least one frame and a second point located on the second side of the at least one frame, and wherein animating the graphical object comprises:

Receiving, at an operating system executing on a computer device, a request to animate the graphical object in a design space based on the one or more animation parameters;

determining, at the operating system, an animation path for the at least one frame in the design space by determining a moving path from a first pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame to a second pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame wherein the first and second points of the second pair are respectively neighbours of the first and second points of the first pair of points; and displaying the animation path on a display, wherein displaying the animation path includes interpolating between each of the plurality of pairs of points along the moving path.

13. The computer-implemented method according to claim 12 , wherein the animation parameter comprises at least one weight adjustment value corresponding to one of the plurality of width values.

14. A computer device for animating a graphical object based on one or more animation parameters, the graphical object comprising at least one element wherein the at least one element comprises at least one frame wherein the at least one frame comprises a contour defining at least a part of the shape of the graphical object wherein the contour comprises a first side and a second side, and the at least one frame comprises a plurality of pairs of points where each pair of points comprises a first point located on the first side of the contour and a second point located on the second side of the contour, the computer device comprising:

a memory to store data and instructions;

a processor to communicate with the memory;

a display; and

an operating system to communicate with the memory and the processor;

wherein the operating system is operable to:

receive a request to animate the graphical object in a design space based on one or more animation parameters;

determine an animation path for the at least one frame in the design space by determining a moving path from a first pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame to a second pair of the plurality of pairs of points of the at least one frame wherein the first and second points of the second pair are respectively neighbours of the first and second points of the first pair of points; and

display the animation path on the display, wherein displaying the animation path includes interpolating between each of the plurality of pairs of points along the moving path.

15. The computer device of claim 14 wherein the graphical object comprises a glyph, a pictogram icon or a vector-based drawing, and the at least one elements comprises a stroke.

16. The computer device of claim 14 wherein the operating system is further operable to determining the moving path comprises by respectively applying a higher order interpolation to the first and second points of the pair of points based on a plurality of off-curve points located out of the contour of the element; wherein the design space for one of the higher order interpolations comprises at least one of the two off-curve points twice.

17. The computer device of claim 16 wherein at least one of the plurality of off-curve points is determined by applying at the operating system a higher order interpolation to another one of the plurality of off-curve points.

18. The computer device according to claim 14 , wherein the one or more animation parameters comprise at least one of an element speed, an element direction and an element curvature and wherein animating the graphical object comprises determining, at the operating system, an animation speed based on at least one of the element speed, the element direction and the element curvature.

19. The computer device according to claim 14 , wherein the animated graphical object comprises a plurality of elements each one defining the shape of the graphical object and wherein generating the animated graphical object comprises determining, at the operating system, an animation path for each of the plurality of elements wherein the one or more animation parameters comprise an element order indicating an order on which the elements are going to be animated.

20. The computer device of claim 19 , wherein the one or more animation parameters comprises a pass time for at least one element of the plurality of elements wherein the pass time indicates a difference between an animation end time of said element and an animation begin time of the next element wherein the next element is determined based on the element order and wherein the pass time is based on a distance between said element and the next element and/or a relation between a direction of said element and a direction of the next element.