JP2002092639A - Method and device for forming animation representing particle behavior - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To intuitively and efficiently form a particle animation. SOLUTION: An image of particle behavior is drawn by means of an inputting device 40 such as a tablet. A basic field analysis part 12 analyzes the image so as to decide a force field so as to display it on a force field editing screen of an outputting device 50. In the force field editing screen, a particle generator is also displayed in addition to the force field. A particle animation forming part 14 simulates the particle behavior under a given condition so as to display animation of the particle obtained as the result of the simulation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a technique for generating animation of a particle which is moved by a force field. This technology is used when creating animation, and is widely used in games and video contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to control particles in animation, it has been necessary for a user to appropriately combine predetermined force fields such as "gravity" and "magnetic force". As another method, there has been a control method by describing a relationship between particles such as artificial life and group knowledge. However, in a system that realizes these methods, it is difficult to intuitively combine force fields or set various parameter values to generate an animation as expected.

[0003]

It is difficult to intuitively control the behavior of particles, and some skill and trial and error have been required. For example, when trying to generate an animation in which steam rises from a coffee cup, steam is represented by particles. In order to set the trajectory, range, amount, etc. of the movement of the particles, it is necessary to change the detailed parameters while checking the movement many times, and the working efficiency is poor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a technique for generating a particle animation in which it is easy to intuitively control the behavior of a particle, and more efficiently. I have.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an arrangement as set forth in the claims is adopted. Here, the description of the claims will be supplementarily described.

First, the principle of the present invention will be described. In the present invention, a handwritten interface that is intuitive and easy to understand is used to generate a force field such as “gravity” or “magnetic field”. Thus, for example, by designating the movement of steam rising from a coffee cup (FIG. 1), it is automatically decomposed into a force field generated on the spot (FIG. 9). Then, when there is a defect in the particles with respect to the generated force field, the trajectory and the like can be changed again by correcting the trajectory by handwriting. From these facts, it is possible to intuitively produce an animation using particles as compared with the past.

According to the present invention, it is possible to intuitively control the flow of an animation using particles by using a handwriting interface. In addition, by adjusting the basic field automatically generated from the image handwritten here, animation can be easily produced using particles without troublesome work or skilled ability.

Further, the present invention will be described. According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, in an animation generation method, a step of storing a line image of a particle behavior input using a handwriting input device, and a step of storing the line image based on the stored line image. And generating an animation for displaying the behavior of the particles.

In this configuration, the particle animation can be generated intuitively by directly drawing a line segment representing the particle behavior.

A line segment can be input as a straight or curved locus (stroke) using a tablet or the like. A control point representing a line segment may be input.

Specifically, the input line segment image is decomposed and analyzed into a basic force field. A simulation of the particles in the force field determined in this way is executed to generate an animation of the particles.

The present invention can be realized not only as a method but also as an apparatus or a system.
In addition, it goes without saying that a part of such an invention can be configured as software. Also, it goes without saying that a software product (recording medium) used for causing a computer to execute such software is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Here, an apparatus for realizing generation of particle animation according to the present invention will be described, and then a handwriting interface will be described using steam from a coffee cup as an example. I do. In the description of each basic field, controllable parameters are also described. Next, a method of decomposing a handwritten image into a basic field will be described. Finally, an application to a group of moving scenes, which also includes animations based on the trajectory generated by the present invention, will be described.

FIG. 2 shows an entire animation generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, an animation generation apparatus 1 includes an animation generation unit (application) 10, an animation display unit (application) 20, an operating system It is configured to include a system 30, an input device 40, an output device 50, other resources (hardware, software), and the like. The animation generation device 1 is actually mounted on a game machine, a personal computer, or the like. It may be configured as an animation editing device. The operating system 30 depends on the mounting environment, and may be a general-purpose operating system for a personal computer or an embedded operating system unique to the device. The animation generation unit 10 determines a force field based on an image (line segment) indicating the behavior of the particle input from the handwriting interface (input device 40), and simulates the behavior of the particle under the environment of the force field. . In this way, data of the particle animation is generated. The animation display unit 20 receives the animation data, generates image data, and outputs the image data to the output device (display) 50. The animation display unit 20, for example, receives particle coordinate data from the animation generation unit 10 or the like, generates polygon data, and further performs a rendering process. Although not shown, dedicated hardware may be used for the rendering processing and the like.

FIG. 3 shows the animation generator 10 of FIG.
In this figure, the animation generation unit 10 includes a line segment storage unit 11, a basic field analysis unit 12, a force field animation generation unit 13, a particle animation generation unit 14, and the like. Line storage unit 1
Numeral 1 receives and stores an image (line segment) of the particle behavior input from the input device 40. The input device 40 can be configured by a tablet or the like that can input strokes and points. The line segment storage unit 11 stores information on curves and straight lines (including directions). The curve is, for example,
The control points can be analyzed as a Bezier curve or the like and held as line segment information. The curve may be decomposed into small straight line segments. The basic field analysis unit 12 decomposes the input line segment into a basic force field. The force field animation generator 13 displays the decomposed force field as an animation. The displayed force field animation can be edited using the input device 40. The particle animation generation unit 14 generates an animation by simulating the behavior of the particles under the determined force field. Force field animation generator 13 and particle animation generator 1
The animation of the force field and the particle behavior generated in step 4 is converted into image data by the animation display unit 20 and output to the output device (display device) 50.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described.

FIG. 4 shows a handwriting input screen (a), a force field editing screen (b), and a display screen (c) in the present system. First, an image of the behavior of particles is drawn using an input device (such as a tablet) 40. An image of the behavior can be freely input by a line segment. The basic field analysis unit 12 analyzes this image to determine a force field, and displays it on the force field editing screen. The force field editing screen displays a particle generator in addition to the force field. The parameters of the particle generator can also be edited here. Of course, the input / edit may be performed in any other phase. A simulation of the behavior of the particles is performed under given conditions, and an animation of the particles obtained as a result of the simulation is displayed.

FIG. 5 shows an input example when a tablet is used as the input device 40. The behavior of the particles is drawn as a line segment using a stylus pen on the tablet, and is output to the output device (display device) 50. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the behavior of a particle is defined by a line segment while displaying a plane, a front, and a side in addition to the three-dimensional display. This is basically the same as FIG. FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the behavior of a particle is input using a touch screen. A plane passing through the particle generator and parallel to the touch screen (screen) is set as an operation target. When you draw a line segment on the touch screen, the line segment is drawn on the parallel surface. As shown in FIG. 8, the speed of the particles and the magnitude of the force field may be designated using the speed and pressure of the stroke drawn on the tablet or the touch screen. FIG. 9 shows a processing flow of the system. The 3D model is handled on the handwriting input screen, and an image related to the movement of the particles is input as an animation (S1, S2). This image is disassembled and displayed in the basic force field (S3), and the screen (b) in FIG. 2 is obtained. At this stage, the force field can be edited (S4). The behavior of the particles based on the generated force field is confirmed on the screen (FIG. 2C) (S5, S6). If necessary, edit handwritten images and force fields.

FIG. 1 shows steam from a coffee cup, which is taken up in this example. This shows that the image was written by hand. If the source of the steam is wide, a generator that generates particles along a plane can be generated.

FIG. 10 shows a basic force field extracted from the image of steam of coffee. Steam tends to diffuse as it goes up, and animation of a force field is set to generate turbulence.

As described above, for the handwritten image, after a rough basic field is estimated based on the magnitude of the difference, a fine force field vector is set to simulate turbulence, and a physical image is set. Character animations can be performed with emphasis on.

Next, a basic force field for one point is shown in FIG. (A) is the input and (b) is the divergence. Also,
(C) can change the quality from the value when it is smaller than a certain range and when it is larger than a certain range. FIG. 12 shows the relationship between the distance and the value. (B) shows a displacement from a value corresponding to the distance that occurs in a spring or the like.
(C) also shows a special force field. (D) is one of the response curves conscious of the boundary, and before and after the boundary,
The way of working the force field is very different.

FIG. 13 shows a basic force field with respect to a straight line. (A) shows an approach in a linear direction, and (b) shows an approach having a boundary. In (c), the boundary has a gradient, and in (d), a force field is set parallel to a straight line. (E) is set in the rotation direction, and (f) is set in a spiral shape.

Next, FIG. 14 shows an example in which a path is indicated by a curve as a guideline of a force field. (A) shows a closed curve, and (b) shows an open curve.

FIG. 15 illustrates the generation of a force field according to the trajectory. As shown in FIG. 15, the force field is determined by defining the direction at each predetermined point of the drawn line segment as a tangential direction and defining a force field vector having a magnitude corresponding to the pressure data. By applying the above basic field, the handwritten image is decomposed into respective components. However, since the steam of coffee or the like makes more complicated movements, an appropriate vector is created for the portion that cannot be decomposed into the basic field as shown in FIG. Further, since the image itself is described by animation, a portion that is not decomposed in the basic field is described as an animation of a force field vector as shown in FIG.

Note that these decomposed force fields are added
It can be edited and deleted, and the movement of the imaged particles can be controlled by returning to the input interface of the image by handwriting or the editing phase of the force field and editing.

FIG. 18 shows a design example of a butterfly movement as a movement that was difficult to express as an intuitive image in the group knowledge model. First, create a path and write it as a rough flow, moving toward the flower. After that, by creating an image of the butterfly set as particles swaying around it,
The movement of the butterfly approaching the flower can be realized. FIG.
Shows an example in which the relation between particles is defined and the behavior of the particles is defined by the group knowledge model. In this example, as shown in FIG. 20, an operation not defined by the initial setting of the group knowledge model is defined by a line segment. In this example, the motion in which particles are separated from obstacles is drawn directly as a line segment image, and this is simulated based on a force field to generate an animation.
As described above, when the present invention is applied to the group knowledge model, more complicated operations can be intuitively input.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Use an intuitive and easy-to-understand handwriting interface to generate force fields such as "gravity" and "magnetic force". Thus, for example, by describing the trajectory of the movement of steam rising from the coffee cup, a force field generated at the place is automatically generated. Then, the particles are made to act on the generated force field, so that the animation can be confirmed. If there is a defect in the confirmed animation, it can be changed by correcting the locus or the like again by handwriting. Thus, animation production using particles can be performed more intuitively than before, and production efficiency is dramatically improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an input image of particle behavior according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention as a whole.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a handwriting input screen (a) in the embodiment described above;
It is a figure showing an example of a force field edit screen (b) and an animation display screen (c).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific mode of handwriting input.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of the handwriting input screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of handwriting input from a display screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of inputting a moving speed of a particle and a magnitude of a force field at the time of handwriting input.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing how steam from coffee is broken down into a force field.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the types of force fields from one point.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating types of a force field based on a change in force with respect to a distance from a focal point.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the types of force fields for lines.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a force field indicated by a pass line.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a force field is determined according to a trajectory.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a vector as a force field is individually specified.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of animating a plurality of force fields.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of an animation in which a butterfly is designated as a particle.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a group knowledge model.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example applied to a group knowledge model.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Animation generation apparatus 10 Animation generation part 11 Line segment storage part 12 Basic field analysis part 12 Basic field analysis part 13 Force field animation generation part 14 Particle animation generation part 20 Animation display part 30 Operating system 40 Input device 50 Output device

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on front page (72) Inventor Takashi Nozaki 1-14-10, Higashi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo F-term in Sony Kihara Laboratory (reference) 5B050 BA07 BA08 BA09 CA07 EA21 EA26 FA02 FA06 FA09 5B080 AA06 AA13 5E501 AC16 BA03 BA05 CB05 FA15

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A step of storing a line segment image of particle behavior input using a handwriting input device, and a step of generating an animation for displaying particle behavior based on the stored line segment image. An animation generation method characterized by the following. 2. A step of storing a line segment image of a particle behavior input using a handwriting input device; a step of determining a force field based on the stored line segment image; and a particle based on the force field. Generating an animation that displays the behavior of the object based on the characteristics of the force field and the particles. 3. The force field is a vector field or a scalar field acting on individual particles.
The described animation generation method. 4. The animation generating method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of editing the force field with a predetermined handwriting interface. 5. The animation generation method according to claim 1, wherein the arbitrary model animation is displayed by replacing the particle with an arbitrary model animation. 6. A handwriting input device, means for storing a line segment image of particle behavior input using the handwriting input device, and means for determining a force field based on the stored line segment image; An animation generating apparatus comprising: means for generating an animation for displaying the behavior of a particle based on the force field based on the characteristics of the force field and the particle; and means for displaying the generated animation. 7. The animation generating apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: means for displaying the force field; and means for editing the displayed force field. 8. A step of storing a line segment image of particle behavior input using a handwriting input device, a step of determining a force field based on the stored line segment image, and particles based on the force field. Generating an animation for displaying the behavior of the object based on the characteristics of the force field and the particles.