JPH09305787A - Animation production and reproduction device and animation retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the quantity of data necessary for animations and to transfer the animations via a slow circuit by controlling the switching of parts data, etc., by means of a script. SOLUTION: The parts pattern data and the positioning coordinate of each parts are managed by a parts pattern recording means 5 and a parts positioning coordinate recording means 6 which are connected to an animation display means 1d. A macro recording means 3 which records the macros produced by users or the macro that is prepared from the beginning is connected to a script data editing means 1a. A script data execution means 1c is connected to a timer 4 which decides an execution interval of the script, a recording means 8 which records the script repetition data and a character name register means 9 which registers the names of characters including plural parts patterns combined together. In such a constitution, the desired animations to be expressed by users are easily produced and the animations are transferred in real time with no use of any exclusive fast circuit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an animation creating / reproducing apparatus and a communication apparatus using the apparatus, and in particular, an animation creating / reproducing apparatus for outputting a simple animation by switching a part pattern, and further, an apparatus for creating the animation. The present invention relates to a communication device that allows a sender to add information such as emotions by using the created animation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are the following documents regarding an animation creating / reproducing apparatus.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-290144 discloses a device that includes a device for storing basic shape data of character data and a device for selecting basic shape data, and executes an animation in accordance with a description in a predetermined action description language. Has been done.

As a device for outputting an animation by switching a pattern, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-203139 discloses a device for outputting an animation by switching a pattern over time.

Further, as one using communication, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-
Japanese Patent No. 203120 discloses an apparatus that performs animation processing such as changing the facial expression of a character on the screen in response to a reply such as "Yes" or "No" to the other party.

[0006] As means for transmitting animation,
Files using compressed moving image files such as QuickTime (Apple Inc.) and MPEG are widely used.

[0007] Regarding facial expressions in animation, there are many themes currently under study, for example, the Institute of Electronics and Communication Engineers, April 1995, pp. Research is being conducted in fields such as realistic communication, intelligent communication, and multi-modal interaction represented by 512-522 "Study on CG Animation of Eyes and Perception of Gaze".
Several achievements have been announced.

On the other hand, as a means for creating a facial expression by CG, a method of adjusting a parameter along the facial expression muscle representing the facial expression has already been established.

[0009]

However, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-290144, what kind of data is stored as basic shape data, the display position of each data and its designation, control method for selection and switching, and operation. The specific structure of the description language is not described, and the animation to be realized is unknown.

Further, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-203139 is designed to perform a predetermined animation by switching a pattern determined over time, and the user cannot make an animation. The device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-203120 has a predetermined animation for the answer, and the user can only select the prepared answer pattern.

As described above, these conventional devices lack customizability. When animation is used for communication, it is necessary to reflect the intention of the user, and these methods in which the user cannot create the animation themselves are insufficient.

As a method of transmitting a free animation, there is a method of transmitting the moving picture file described above. These methods have few restrictions on the animation that can be transmitted, but the amount of data is very large and the current transmission is impossible. The method takes a very long time to send, and is not suitable for real-time communication such as chat.

When expressing the contents of a conversation by inputting characters like a conventional device, it is necessary to think of a sentence because the contents to be conveyed by a picture are described in words. Also,
When an animation is used to represent the movement of a person and the action is used to express the content of the conversation, it is necessary to convey it in the same way even if the emotion can be expressed.

The above-mentioned QuickTime and MPE
When an animation is transmitted by a compressed moving image file such as G, the amount of bitmap data to be transmitted / received is large, and it is necessary to use a dedicated high-speed communication line for real-time communication.

In all of the researches on facial expressions in animation, the focus is on anthropomorphic machines such as the computer automatically detecting the facial expression shown by the user, or the computer contacting the user with the facial expression as a reaction to the user. However, it is not intended for the user to easily create an arbitrary facial expression.

The method of creating a facial expression along the facial muscles is used by a professional animator when creating a CG work. Knowledge and sense are required.

Further, it is difficult for the conventional techniques and apparatuses to retrieve facial expressions expressed by animation. Therefore, when communicating, an animation corresponding to information such as emotions intended by the caller is added. It is difficult to communicate by doing.

In order to use an animation representing information such as emotion as one of communication means,
There is a need for a database equipped with various animations that express emotions and a search means that can easily extract animations that accurately express the emotions to be conveyed from the database.

The object of the present invention is to solve these problems, and the animation that the user wants to express can be easily created, and the moving image is transmitted in real time without using a dedicated high-speed line. It is to provide an animation creation / playback device capable of doing so.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an animation search device capable of easily extracting an animation that accurately represents a user's intended emotion or the like.

[0021]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is to create a montage comprising a combination of a plurality of parts patterns such as eyes, mouth, hands, feet, etc., and each part pattern of the montage. And an input script for inputting an instruction for selecting and switching the part pattern by a script consisting of a predetermined command and a corresponding parameter, and an input script. This is achieved by the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, which comprises an executing means for translating and executing the script and a registering means for the user to register the combination of the scripts as a macro.

The animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention includes a transmitting means for transmitting the input script via a medium such as a floppy disk, optical communication, a telephone line, etc., and a script from another apparatus via the medium. It is preferable to further include a receiving means for performing the operation.

The execution means relating to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is preferably configured to change the script execution interval when a predetermined script is input.

The execution means relating to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is preferably configured to wait for a user operation when a predetermined script is input.

It is preferable that the execution means relating to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is configured to repeat a series of processing stored in a predetermined area when a predetermined script is input.

The animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention preferably further comprises means for combining a plurality of patterns to create a virtual background or scene of the screen.

The animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention preferably further comprises means for creating a virtual background or scene of the screen by designating the number, size and position of each pattern to be used.

The transmitting means relating to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is preferably constructed so as to be able to transmit the data of the virtual background and the scene of the screen which is composed of a plurality of patterns.

The receiving means relating to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention is preferably constructed so as to be able to receive the data of the virtual background of the screen and the scene consisting of a combination of a plurality of patterns.

According to the present invention, the above-described object is to provide an emotion parameter input means for inputting a parameter indicating a type of emotion and a level of strength desired to be expressed by a user, and a face for each type of emotion and level of strength. A database for storing the data of each part pattern forming the animation in association with each other, and a control means for searching the database for the data of each part pattern corresponding to the parameter input from the emotion parameter input means and outputting the data. It is achieved by the animation search device of the present invention, characterized in that

The emotion parameter input means relating to the animation retrieval apparatus of the present invention assigns the emotion type to one direction of each coordinate axis and displays the parameter coordinates in which the emotion strength level is associated with the absolute value of the coordinate, and the user can It is preferable that the emotion type and level can be input via means such as a pointing device.

In the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, a wide variety of animations can be realized by controlling switching of parts and repetition by a script. By registering a set of scripts as a macro, a series of operations can be performed with one command. This allows the user to create a character to his liking and create an animation.

By having a means for transmitting a script, the script can be transmitted and received in real time by a telephone line or optical communication, a character made on another machine can be controlled, and communication using animation in real time is possible. Become.

In the animation retrieval apparatus of the present invention, animation data is retrieved and output according to the emotion type and level parameters input by the user. Therefore, in conventional communication using electronic networks such as e-mail, not only linguistic information such as text but also an animation that makes it easy to visually understand emotions can be added. It becomes possible to convey the intention of the sender by supplementing the language in expressions such as (when it is angry in words, but when the intention is happy).

[0035]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of an animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

When communication is performed by the animation created by the device of the present embodiment, the device A having the structure shown in FIG. 1 and the device B having the same structure are connected via the RS-232C means 2.

In FIG. 1, a processing unit 1 including a CPU and the like.
Is a script data editing means 1a for the user to generate and edit the script, and a script data translating means 1b for separating the script into instructions and parameters,
Script data execution means 1c that actually performs processing according to the contents of the script, and animation display means 1d that reads the pattern data and displays it at a specified position on the screen of a display device 7 such as a CRT connected to the processing unit. Consists of.

The part pattern data and the positioning coordinates of each part, which are necessary when displaying a character as shown in FIG. 2, are the part pattern recording means 5 connected to the animation display means 1d and the parts positioning coordinates. It is managed by the recording means 6. R for these
OM or the like is used.

In the script data editing means 1a, a macro recording means 3 for recording macros (list of script commands) created by the user or prepared from the beginning.
Is connected. A backup memory or a flash memory is used for this. The script data execution means 1c is configured by combining a timer 4 for determining the script execution interval, a repetition data recording means 8 for recording the repetition data of the script, and a plurality of part patterns as shown in FIG. The character name registration means 9 for registering the character name is connected.

The RS-232C means 2 is used for transmitting / receiving a script to / from another connected device, and transfers the created animation from the machine A to the machine B or vice versa.

The script translation / execution processing of the apparatus of this embodiment will be described below.

The script used in this embodiment is
The commands are described in the format shown in FIG. 4, and if the types are roughly divided, there are three commands: commands to specify / create / delete characters, commands to switch parts, and commands to control animation such as repetition / execution intervals. Is. Each command is divided into a command part (command) and a parameter part, which are separated by the script data translating means 1b, and the corresponding processing is performed by the script data executing means 1c.

The function of each command will be described below.

The sel command is an instruction to register the character name in the character name registration means 9. Once registered, the same sel command can be used to specify the character for pattern switching. This allows control of multiple characters. The registered character is e
It is valid until erased using the rc command.

The set command is an instruction to change the pattern data of the specified character part. The pattern data of each part is as shown in FIG.
Uniquely determined by the part classification code and the part code. For example, the pattern data of the thin body is designated by the part code 01 and the part classification code 00. The animation display means 1d reads the pattern data from the part pattern recording means 5 and uses the coordinates read from the part positioning coordinate recording means 6 to form a pattern at a position corresponding to the selected character as shown in FIG. Is displayed. The priorities at this time are as shown in FIG.

The hed command is an instruction for determining the start of repetition, and the script data execution means 1c uses the h command.
When the ed command is received, the script data is repeatedly stored in the data recording means 8 until the rep command is received.

The rep command is an instruction for designating repetition, reads the parameter of the number of repetitions, and executes the script data recorded in the repetition data recording means 8 for the number of repetitions.

Wit is an instruction to change the interrupt interval of the timer 4. Since the command is executed at every timer interrupt, the command execution interval can be controlled by this.

%%% is a script terminator, and when it is read, execution is terminated.

By creating a combination of these commands, animation display can be performed by switching patterns.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of script translation and execution.

First, the script reading start position is set to the head (S1), and the script is read from the head. This script can be user created and local,
It may be received by communication or read by a disk or the like. The script command names are all 3
Since it is a character, read the command name (S2)
The processing is divided according to the conditions (S4 to S10). Until the terminal symbol (%%%) of the script is read, the read start position is moved to the next command start position (S1
1) Repeat similar processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a macro used in this embodiment. As shown in the figure, a combination of the above scripts, "Takeshi appeared" and "V sign"
By registering with the macro, it is possible to execute these series of operations by designating one macro. Furthermore, it is also possible to combine a plurality of macros into one macro, such as a macro "Takeshi V sign" that is a combination of "Takeshi appeared" and "V sign". By using such a macro, the time required for the user to input can be shortened, and it becomes possible to respond to the communication partner in real time.

Next, transmission / reception of animation between two devices (machine A and machine B) using the communication function will be described.

When moving a character on the machine B from the machine A, the sel command is first sent to the machine B by RS-2.
32C means 2 is used for transmission. Machine B receives the signal and performs script translation / execution according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In this case, when the character designated by the sel command in the machine B is not registered in the character name registration means 9, registration is performed, and when registered, the control target is changed. After this machine A to B
The script sent to is executed for the specified character. As a result, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to create a plurality of characters on the machine B by the l command, control the characters while switching the control target, and control one common character from the plurality of machines as shown in FIG. When deleting the registered character, erc
Use commands.

Similar to the character data described above, the background data is not directly sent / received by the bitmap data, but the type, position, size of the part data,
And a command to specify the number.

As shown in FIG. 10, using the communication function,
When the background part C is sent from the machine A to the machine B, a command for selecting the part C is sent to the machine B. At this time, data on the position, size (reduction rate), and number of the parts C are also transmitted as signals at the same time. Machine B receives these signals and translates and executes the signals. As a result, a plurality of background parts can be created on the machine B by the selection command, and the parts can be changed or deleted according to the scene. You can also create a common background from multiple machines.

An embodiment of the animation retrieval device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment of the animation search device of the present invention.

The animation search device according to the present embodiment is necessary for creating / synthesizing an animation based on the parameter selection unit 101 for selecting the emotion type and emotion level that the user wants to convey, and the parameter relating to the selected emotion. Data control unit 102 for creating various script data, and animation creation / playback unit 103 for creating / playing animation according to the script data
An animation display unit 104 that displays the created animation on the screen, a determination result input unit 105 that allows the user to input whether the displayed animation is intended, and data that outputs the animation as data. And an output unit 106.

As the animation creating / reproducing unit 104, a device having the same configuration as the device described in the above-described embodiment of the animation creating / reproducing device can be applied, and in the following description, it is assumed that the device has the same configuration. To do.

Next, referring to FIGS. 11 and 12,
The operation of the animation search device according to the present embodiment will be described.

First, the user selects the parameter selection unit 101.
The emotion to be expressed and the emotion level are selected and input via (S101).

Based on the input parameters, the data control unit 102 outputs the data necessary for creating and synthesizing the animation in the form of script data (S1).
02).

The animation creation / playback unit 104 that receives the script data sets the above-mentioned animation creation / playback unit 104.
An animation is created by the procedure described in the embodiment of the playback device (S103).

The created animation is displayed on the screen by the animation display unit 104 (S10).
4).

The user looks at the animation on the screen,
The determination result input unit 10 determines whether or not the facial expression is intended by the user.
It inputs via 5 (S105).

If the result is OK, the script data created by the data control unit 102 is output from the data output unit 106 to an e-mail editor or the like (S106).

If the user inputs No as the determination result in S105, the mode is set to accept the parameter input again, and the process returns to S101 to perform the processing.

The data control unit of this embodiment will be described below.

The data control unit according to the present embodiment comprises a database unit for storing part pattern data of facial expressions corresponding to emotion types and levels, and a control unit for performing processing according to input parameters. It is configured.

As shown in FIG. 13, the database unit classifies the facial expression pattern data into the respective parts of the eyebrows, the eyes, the nose, the upper cheeks, the mouth and the lower cheeks in accordance with the kind and level of emotions. And store it. The data of each part is registered as script data (part code) that creates an animation.

When a plurality of emotion types are selected, the control unit performs processing regarding how to process the data of each part. For example, when “joy” and “sadness” are selected, processing is performed on how to handle the “eyebrow” data. The following three can be considered as the processing in this case.

(1) Either emotion is given priority. If there is a difference in level, the one with the higher level is given priority, and if the levels are the same, the preset priority order is followed.

(2) Use intermediate data.

(3) The processing method is stored for each case, and the processing is performed based on the stored information.

The parameter selection section of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

“Pleasure”, “Sadness”, which are assigned to the predetermined direction of each coordinate, respectively, the kind of emotion to be expressed,
One or more are selected from "surprise" and "anger", and each emotion level is indicated by a broken line in the figure.
Select from among the levels of stages.

When selecting, the axial points of the coordinate axes shown on the screen are designated via an input device such as a mouse or arrow keys. The designated area is marked so that it can be easily visually recognized, as indicated by an X in the figure.If the search result is No, the marking area is fed back to the selection section until a new designation is made. Keep it. When the search result is OK by the user, the marking display is erased at that point and the original state is restored.

Although the animation retrieval apparatus of the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, various methods can be used for setting the emotion type and level parameter to be selected depending on the purpose of communication, the user or the terminal device. Can be considered. For example, when the search device of the present invention is applied to a simple terminal, it is possible to omit the emotion level and select and input only the type.

Regarding the pattern data registered in the database shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to increase or decrease the number of patterns in addition to the above-mentioned six parts from the eyebrows to the lower cheeks depending on the purpose, user and terminal. .

[0083]

[Effect of the invention] Creation of the animation according to claim 1
According to the playback device, it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of data required for animation by controlling the switching of the part data using a script instead of directly sending the bit map data of the part pattern. is there. As a result, it becomes possible to transfer a moving image using a low speed line, which was difficult in the past. Furthermore, by registering a combination of scripts as a macro, it becomes easy to create an animation according to a user's request.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the second aspect, it is possible to communicate with another apparatus using animation.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the third aspect, the motion speed of the animation can be changed.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the fourth aspect, it is possible to make the animation according to the response of the user or the communication partner.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the fifth aspect, the user's operation becomes easy when repeatedly inputting a series of scripts.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the sixth aspect, it becomes easy to create a background and a scene.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the seventh aspect, it becomes easy to create various backgrounds and scenes.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the eighth aspect, the created background or scene can be used in another apparatus.

According to the animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the ninth aspect, it becomes possible to use the background and the scene created by another apparatus.

According to the animation retrieving apparatus of the tenth aspect, it is possible to retrieve the animation corresponding to the emotion to be expressed, and in addition to the language message such as text and voice, the animation expressing the emotion can be searched. Can be sent to. This makes it possible to “visualize emotions and communicate”, which was difficult with conventional telephones, letters, and emails. As a result, it is possible to convey emotions by animation without considering difficult language expressions that convey emotions during transmission, and the information intended by the sender is transmitted to the receiver without misunderstanding. This is effective when communicating in a language other than the language normally used by the sender.

According to the animation search device of the eleventh aspect, the type and level of emotions are visually displayed, so that the type and level of emotions that the user wants to express can be easily input. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an animation creating / reproducing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of character data including a plurality of part patterns.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing priorities when displaying a part pattern.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a script.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of script translation / execution.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of a part pattern.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a script and a macro.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example of controlling a plurality of characters by communication.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of an example of controlling one character from a plurality of machines.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of an example of transmitting background data.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of an animation search device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an animation search operation.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a structure of a database.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of a parameter selection unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Processing Unit (CPU) 1a Script Data Editing Means 1b Script Data Translating Means 1c Script Data Executing Means 1d Animation Display Means 2 RS-232C Means 2a Script Data Sending Means 2b Script Data Receiving Means 3 Macro Recording Means 4 Timers 5 Parts Pattern Recording Means 6 Coordinate recording means for parts positioning 7 Display means (CRT) 8 Repeated data recording means 9 Character name registration means 101 Parameter selection section 102 Data control section 103 Animation creation / playback section 104 Animation display section 105 Judgment result input section 106 Data output Department

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Natsuko Ikeda 22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An animation creating / reproducing apparatus having means for creating a montage including a combination of a plurality of parts patterns of eyes, mouth, hands, feet, etc., and means for switching each part pattern of the montage,
An input means for the user to input an instruction for selecting and switching the part pattern by a script consisting of a predetermined command and a corresponding parameter, an executing means for translating and executing the input script, and a script for the user An animation creating / reproducing apparatus comprising: a registration unit for registering a combination of the above as a macro. 2. A transmission means for transmitting the input script via a medium such as a floppy disk, optical communication, or a telephone line, and a reception means for receiving the script from another device via the medium. The animation creating / reproducing device according to claim 1. 3. The animation creating / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the execution unit is configured to change a script execution interval when a predetermined script is input. . 4. The animation creating / creating animation according to claim 1, wherein the executing unit is configured to wait for a user operation when a predetermined script is input. Playback device. 5. The execution unit is configured to repeatedly perform a series of processes stored in a predetermined area when a predetermined script is input. Create the animation described in paragraph 1.
Playback device. 6. The animation creating / reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for creating a virtual background or scene of a screen by combining a plurality of patterns. . 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for designating the number, size and position of each pattern to be used to create a virtual background or scene of the screen. The animation creation / playback device described in the item. 8. The transmission means is configured to be capable of transmitting data of a virtual background of a screen or a scene composed of a combination of a plurality of patterns.
Animation creation / playback device described in. 9. The receiving means is configured to be capable of receiving data of a virtual background of a screen and a scene, which is a combination of a plurality of patterns.
Alternatively, the animation creating / reproducing apparatus described in 8. 10. An emotion parameter input means for inputting a parameter indicating a type of emotion and a level of strength to be expressed by a user, and data of each part pattern forming a face animation for each type of emotion and level of strength. An animation search comprising a database for storing the data corresponding to each other and a control means for searching the database for data of each part pattern corresponding to the parameter input from the emotion parameter input means and outputting the data. apparatus. 11. The emotion parameter input means assigns the emotion type to one direction of each coordinate axis and displays the parameter coordinates in which the strength level of the emotion is associated with the absolute value of the coordinate, so that the user can use a pointing device or the like. 11. The animation search device according to claim 10, wherein the type and level of the emotion can be input via the.