JPH10275245A - Compression method for animation information and computer readable recording medium recording compression program of animation information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively compress the animation information of a key frame animation. SOLUTION: When the animation information of a key frame system is compressed, the reference key frame information is read, recorded or transmitted (S6 and S12). Then the next key frame information is read in response to the end of output of the immediately preceding key frame information (S14). The object information included in the read key frame information is compared with the corresponding object information included in the immediately preceding key frame information, and the compressed key frame information including the object information that includes only the state information different from the link information is recorded or transmitted (S9 or S11). Then the 2nd output step (S9 or S11) is repeated until the compression of all information to be compressed is over (S2 to S14).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an animation processing method for recording or transmitting animation data created in advance using computer graphics, and more particularly, to generating an intermediate frame between key frame information by interpolation. The present invention relates to a method for compressing key frame information when displaying an animation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Moving image data such as animation is composed of a very large number of images (called frames). If the information of each frame is to be recorded as it is, an enormous data capacity is required. Therefore, a so-called moving image compression technique has been proposed for compressing and recording or transmitting such moving image information in such a manner that the amount of information is not reduced as much as possible.

When a moving image is input from a camera or output to a display, a so-called raster scan method is often employed. The raster scanning method is a method of decomposing each frame into a plurality of horizontal scanning lines, and scanning each scanning line sequentially from the top and from the left to the right. For this reason, the moving image compression method generally targets a raster scan image in many cases.

[0004] Animations generated by the computer graphics technique are also converted into scan line information by raster scan when displayed on a display. Therefore, when recording animation data, a method of compressing and recording a plurality of raster scan images has conventionally been adopted. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1988877 discloses a data compression technique for increasing the compression ratio by utilizing conditions specific to computer animation when compressing scan line information by raster scanning.

On the other hand, as one of the techniques for producing animation by computer graphics, there is a technique called key frame animation. In keyframe animation, an animation is regarded as a group of a plurality of "objects" that change over time. When creating an animation, do not create every frame;
Call. ) Only create. Next, an object in a frame other than the key frame (referred to as an “intermediate frame”) is automatically generated by performing an interpolation calculation on the object included in the key frame. This interpolation method is disclosed in JP-A-60-191366.
No. 6,086,045.

In the animation using the key frame method, the animation can be reproduced not from all the frames but only from information on a part of the key frames. Therefore, there is an advantage that the data amount is overwhelmingly small as compared with the case where information of all frames is created and recorded. Therefore, for example, the required capacity of the storage medium can be reduced, and the transmission time can be reduced.

By the way, in order to automatically generate an intermediate frame by interpolating from an information of a key frame, information on which object changes to which object is required. Therefore, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-191366 discloses a method of associating objects. It is necessary to record / transmit data relating to this association together with the key frame information.

FIGS. 8A to 8D show four key frames of a certain animation in chronological order. Less than,
A description will be given of how information of an object included in the key frame of the animation shown in FIG. 8 is recorded in the related art. In order to record the information of the object of the key frame, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0, data (state information) indicating the state of each object in each key frame needs to be prepared in advance, for example, as shown in a table form in FIG. .

In FIG. 8A, objects A0 to A2, B0
B3, E2 and E3 are filled polygons. The objects C1, C2 and the objects D1 to D3 are curves. FIG.
The key frames shown in (a) to (d) are presented at timings of times t0, t1, t2, and t3 during the animation.

As can be seen from FIGS. 8A to 8D, the objects A0, A1, and A2 show a change of one object. This object is called an object A. Similarly, object B
0 to B3 indicate changes of the same object B. Objects E2 and E3 show changes of one object E. Objects C1 and C2
Is one object C, and objects D1 to D3 are another one object D
The change of each is shown.

FIG. 9 shows an object appearing in each key frame corresponding to times t0 to t3, and the state of each object in each key frame. In FIG. 9, each column shows a key frame corresponding to each time, and each row corresponds to an object appearing in the animation. Each element in the table of FIG. 9 indicates state information of each object in the key frame. For convenience of explanation, reference numerals A0 to A2, B0 to B3,
C1, C2, D1 to D3, E2, E3, and the like also indicate the state information of the objects A to E at each time. In the table shown in FIG. 9, a blank column indicates that the object does not appear on the screen at that time.

In this case, it is assumed that a figure appearing in an animation is used as an object. However, various forms other than figures can be considered as objects. For example, figures can be lines, polygons, circles, three-dimensional figures, etc.
The information includes the size of characters, sound and music, parameters of image quality, the position and size of the display window, the thickness and color of the line, the position of the light source, and the position of the viewpoint.

For example, when it is desired to play a sound effect in a certain key frame, the sound effect is made to appear as an object in the key frame. When it is desired to change the position or size of the window displaying the animation at a certain key frame, the window parameter is inserted into the key frame. Thus, various numerical parameters used in the animation can all be treated as “objects” in the present specification, and in particular, can be treated as state values representing the state of the object.

If the data as shown in the table format in FIG. 9 is prepared in advance, the image of the intermediate frame at an arbitrary time is replaced with the key frames before and after that time (one or more key frames before and after). It can be calculated by interpolating the state information of the object described in the key frame information for the frame. This interpolation method is described in JP-A-61-19.
No. 1366. Known techniques for the interpolation calculation include linear interpolation and interpolation using curve approximation such as spline.

An example of a format for actually recording data as shown in FIG. 9 on a storage medium or the like is shown in FIG.
Shown in Referring to FIG. 10, animation information 100
Include a plurality of key frame information 102, 104,... For example, the key frame information 102 includes a time at which the key frame is to be presented, and object information on an object to be presented within the key frame. Each object information includes an identification number of the object and state information of the object. The same applies to other key frame information 104 and the like.

For example, FIG. 11 shows animation information in which the data shown in FIG. 9 is recorded in the format shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 11, animation information 110 includes key frame information 112, 114, 116 and 118. The key frames corresponding to the key frame information are to be presented at times t0, t1, t2, and t3, respectively.

For example, key frame information 112 includes object information of an object to be presented at time t0.

"A" in the first object information (a, A0)
Is an identification number indicating that the object information is related to the object A, and “A0” indicates state information of the object A at time t0. Also, the second object information (b, B0)
Among them, “b” indicates an identification number indicating that the object information is related to the object B, and “B0” indicates that the object information is state information of the object B at time t0. The meaning of each symbol shown in FIG. 11 is obvious to those skilled in the art from the above description and FIGS. 8 to 10. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated here.

The time (t0 to t3) and identification number of each key frame can be recorded in various expressions. For example, the time can be represented by a numerical value in units of 1/1000 second. Further, as the identification number, there is a method of expressing with a number of 0 or more which does not overlap with different objects.

There are various methods for expressing the state information of an object. For example, there is a method of expressing state information of an object using a command. An example of expressing the state information of the filled polygon using the command is shown below.

P p1, p2, p3, x1, y1, x
.., Xn, yn, where P is a command indicating that this object is a filled polygon. The parameters p1 to p3 are the color number of this polygon, the number of the fill pattern,
Represents the number of vertices of the polygon. x1, y1, x
2, y2,..., Xn, yn (n = p3) are the x and y coordinates of each vertex of the polygon. In the following description, it is assumed that various patterns are registered in advance as polygon filling patterns, and one of the parameters p2 is designated by a number.

Similarly, the following is an example of expressing a curve in a code format using a command.

L p1, p2, p3, x1, y1, x
2, y2,... Xn, yn where L is a command indicating that the object is a curve, and parameters p1 to p3 are a color number of the curve, a thickness of the curve, and a characteristic point of the curve, respectively. The points are indicated.
x1, y1, x2, y2,..., xn, yn (n = p3)
Is the coordinates of the characteristic point of the curve.

As the "object", various things other than the figure can be considered as described above, and each of them has a command for identifying the type of the object at the head and a format consisting of a parameter string determined by the command. Can be coded.

FIG. 12 shows another animation example.
Indicates what is called a business presentation. FIGS. 12A to 12D show key frames. In FIG. 12, objects F0 to F3 are objects F which are backgrounds.
, And are in the same state for all key frames. The objects G1 to G3 are the objects G including the characters "presentation" and are in the same state in the three key frames of FIGS. 12B to 12D. Objects H2 and H
Reference numeral 3 denotes an object H composed of the characters "item 1". The object H2 has a colored background, and the object H3 has a white background. The object I3 is an object I consisting of the characters “item 2”, is displayed only in the key frame shown in FIG. 12D, and has a colored background.

FIG. 13 shows key frame information for reproducing the animation shown in FIG. 12 in the same table format as in FIG. The relationship between FIG. 13 and FIG. 12 is the same as the relationship between FIG. 9 and FIG. Therefore, the details will not be repeated here.

FIG. 14 shows an example in which the data shown in FIG. 13 is represented by a conventional method. Referring to FIG. 14, animation information 130 includes four key frame information 132,
134, 136 and 138. These correspond to the key frames shown in FIGS. For example, the key frame information 132 is shown in FIG.
It represents the key frame shown in (a), and includes a display time t0 and graphic information (f, F0) relating to a background object F0. Graphic information (f, F0)
Of these, "f" is the identification number of the object F represented by the figures F0 to F3, and "F0" is the state information of the object F at the time of this key frame.

The structure of other key frame information is the same as the key frame information 132.

FIG. 15 shows another example of animation. The animation shown in FIGS. 15A to 15D is characterized by including repetition. The animation shown in FIG. 15 shows flapping of a bird. 15A to 15D, objects J0 to J3 represent the body of a bird, and objects K0 to K3 represent the wings of a bird, respectively. As can be seen with reference to FIG.
3 is the same in all keyframes. The objects K0 and K2 have the same shape, and the objects K1 and K3 also have the same shape. In this way, many repetitions often appear during animation.

FIG. 16 shows the animation shown in FIG. 15 in a table format. The relationship between FIG. 16 and FIG. 15 is the same as the relationship between FIG. 9 and FIG. Therefore, the details will not be repeated here.

FIG. 17 shows a mode for recording the data shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 17, this animation information 150 includes four pieces of key frame information 152 and 15.
4, 156 and 158. These pieces of key frame information indicate the key frames of FIGS. 15A to 15D, respectively. For example, the key frame information 152 is shown in FIG.
The key frame corresponds to the key frame of (a), and the display time t0 of this key frame and the two objects J0 and K
And object information about 0. Among them, “j” of the object information (j, J0) is an identification number indicating the object J, and “J0” indicates that the state of the object J is J0. The other key frame information 154 to 158 has the same meaning.

[0032]

Among the animations, the animation for a so-called business presentation as shown in FIG. 12 often does not change much on the entire screen, and new items are added to the screen in order. Often. When such an animation is recorded by using the key frame animation method as described above, even if the object once appears on the screen and does not change at all, it is necessary to record the object information in all subsequent key frames. is there. This is a matter of course in the key frame animation because it is necessary to record all the states of the object at the required time because of the interpolation between adjacent key frames. However, if such a recording method is used, there is a problem that the data amount becomes very large. In particular, when the state information itself of each object is large data, the storage capacity necessary for recording the animation information is considered to be proportional to the product of the number of key frames, the number of objects, and the data amount per object. Therefore, there is a problem that the required data amount increases at an accelerated rate.

Also, in the animation as shown in FIG. 15, due to the characteristics of the key frame animation method, even if the object has the same shape as the previously appeared object, its data is recorded for each appearing key frame. There is a need to. In this case as well, there is a problem that the storage capacity required when recording animation information becomes very large, as in the case of animation for business presentation.

Such a problem applies not only when recording animation information but also when transmitting it to another computer via a network.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for compressing animation information which can more efficiently compress animation information using a key frame animation method.

The object of the invention described in claim 10 is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium on which a compression program of animation information is recorded, which can more efficiently compress animation information using a key frame animation method.

[0037]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for compressing animation information, wherein an intermediate frame is generated and displayed by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer. Computer-based method for compressing key frame information for use. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame. The object information includes state information of the object and link information to corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information.

In this method, the first key frame information is read and read in response to the first output step of reading the key frame information serving as a reference and outputting the same to the medium, and reading the next key frame information in response to the end of the output of the immediately preceding key frame information. The object information in the key frame information and the corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with respect to the read key frame information are compared, and link information and state information having a difference are compared. Outputting the compressed key frame information including the object information including only the key information to the medium, and repeating the second output step until all the key frame information to be compressed is compressed. And

The object information of the key frame information after compression is
Only the link information and the different state information are included. State information that does not differ from the key frame to be compared is not included in the compressed key frame information. However, these can be restored from the key frame information that was compared during animation playback. Therefore, the same animation can be reproduced with a smaller amount of animation information than in the case where all the state information is recorded for each object information of each key frame as in the related art.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for compressing animation information according to the first aspect.
The key frame information having a predetermined relationship is the key frame information output immediately before the key frame information.

The key frame information output immediately before and the key frame information to be processed are sequentially compared as described above.
Key frame information including object information including only state information having a difference is output. Since only the comparison with the immediately preceding key frame information need be performed, the storage capacity required for the processing can be reduced. Also, as a characteristic of animation, there are many cases where the number of objects whose state changes between adjacent key frames is small. Therefore, by comparing the immediately preceding key frame with the key frame to be processed, it is expected that the state information that needs to be output is relatively reduced, and the data amount of the animation information can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the key frame information is output to a storage medium. Since the amount of data required for recording the animation information can be reduced, the required storage medium capacity can be saved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of compressing animation information according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein a medium to which the animation information is output is a communication medium. I do. Since the amount of data for animation information can be reduced, the same animation information can be communicated via a communication medium with a small amount of data,
Communication efficiency can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for compressing animation information, wherein an intermediate frame is generated by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer to generate key frame information for an animation to be displayed. This is a computer-based method of compression. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame. The object information includes state information of the object and link information to corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information.

In this method, a first output step of outputting key frame information serving as a reference to a medium, the next key frame information is read in response to the end of the output of the immediately preceding key frame information, and the read key frame information is read. The object information in the frame information is compared with the corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the read key frame information, and the difference between the link information and the different state information is compared. A second output step of outputting the compressed key frame information including the object information including only the amount to the medium;
Repeating the second output step until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed.

In this method, the object information of the compressed key frame information includes link information and corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information to which the object information belongs. As a result of the comparison, only the difference amount regarding the state information having the difference is included. No state information that does not differ is not included. Also, in the case of state information having a difference, as a characteristic of the animation,
The amount of the difference is often smaller than the value of the state information itself. Therefore, according to this method, the data amount of the animation information can be made much smaller than the conventional method.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect, keyframe information having a predetermined relationship is output before the keyframe information is output. The key frame information is already output to the medium. If the key frame information is stored after the key frame information is output, it is not necessary to read the key frame information again in order to compare the key frame information with the subsequent key frame information. Therefore, comparison processing between key frames can be performed quickly.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the fifth or sixth aspect of the present invention, a medium to which the animation information is output is a storage medium. I do. Since the amount of data required for the animation information is small, the capacity of the storage medium can be reduced.

An animation information compression method according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration of the fifth or sixth aspect, the medium to which the animation information is output is a communication medium. I do. Since the amount of data for animation information can be reduced, an animation having the same information amount can be reproduced by transmitting a smaller amount of data as compared with the conventional method.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for compressing animation information, wherein keyframe information for animation in which an intermediate frame is generated and displayed by interpolating between a plurality of keyframes using a computer. This is a method for compressing animation information using a computer. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame. The object information includes state information of the object and link information to corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information.

According to this method, a first output step of outputting reference key frame information to a medium, the next key frame information is read in response to the end of output of the immediately preceding key frame information, and the read key frame information is read. For each object information in the frame information, key frame information including object information in a parallel movement relationship with the object information is searched, and key frame information including the object information in the parallel movement relationship is searched. A second output step of outputting the compressed key frame information including the object information including the information for specifying the information, the link information, and the parallel movement amount to the medium; Repeating until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed.

In this method, the object information of the compressed key frame information specifies the key frame information including the link information and the object information of the object which is in a parallel movement with the object corresponding to the object information. Information and the amount of parallel movement are included. Object information of an object in a parallel movement relationship,
The coordinate information of the object in the key frame to be processed can be restored from the parallel movement amount. The required data amount is reduced as compared with the case where all the coordinate information of the object is recorded without the object information.

Also, the amount of parallel movement between objects having a parallel movement relationship is often smaller than the coordinate value of the object itself as a characteristic of animation. Therefore, according to this method, the data amount of the animation information can be made much smaller than the conventional method.

The recording medium according to the tenth aspect of the present invention compresses key frame information for animation in which an intermediate frame is generated and displayed by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer. This is a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing this to function is recorded. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame. The object information includes state information of the object and link information to corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information.

The recording medium reads a key frame information serving as a reference, and outputs the information to a medium.
In response to the end of the output of the immediately preceding key frame information, the next key frame information is read, and each object information in the read key frame information and a key having a predetermined relationship with respect to the read key frame information. A second output step of comparing the corresponding object information in the frame information and outputting the compressed key frame information including the link information and the object information including only the different state information to the medium; ,
And a computer-readable recording medium for recording a compression program for animation information for implementing the second output step until the entire key frame information to be compressed is compressed.

Here, as the computer-readable recording medium on which the animation information compression program is recorded, the one corresponding to claim 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Is also feasible.

[0057]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an animation information compression apparatus for performing a method according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, this device 30 includes a computer 32 connected to a network 42, a hard disk for recording animation information, and recording or outputting the same in response to an input / output request from computer 32. An external storage device 34 composed of a floppy disk or the like, a display device 36 connected to the computer 32 for displaying animation, a keyboard 40 for inputting necessary commands and data, a tablet, a digitizer, a mouse, etc. And a coordinate input device 38.

The computer 32 executes a program having a control structure according to a flowchart described later, thereby realizing the method according to the present invention. An interface circuit 48 between the computer and the network 42 and other peripheral devices, and a memory 52 for storing programs executed by the arithmetic processing unit 50 and data necessary for processing.

The animation information compression program is as follows:
It is supplied by a recording medium such as a magnetic tape or a CD-ROM. The animation information compression program is executed by the computer main body 32, and the operator operates the keyboard 40 or the mouse while watching the display device 36 to compress the animation information. Further, the compression program of the animation information may be supplied to the computer main body 52 via the network 42 by another computer.

The operation of the device 30 is the same as the operation of a normal computer. That is, the arithmetic processing unit 50 sequentially reads and executes the instructions stored in the memory 52,
By changing an instruction to be executed, data to be processed by the instruction, a data storage destination and a read destination, and the like according to the control structure of the program, a function described later is realized. Since the general operation of a computer is within the knowledge of those skilled in the art, the details thereof will not be repeated here.

In the following example, first, a case will be described in which animation information for the animation of the presentation shown in FIG. 12 is compressed. The basic framework of the required data in this case is as shown in FIG. 13, and it is assumed that the data shown in FIG. 14 is prepared in advance. In the present embodiment, the animation information is compressed by converting the data shown in FIG. 14 into the format shown in FIG. In the following description, FIG.
In the following, an example will be described in which animation information such as that shown in FIG. 4 is prepared and then compressed, but animation data in the data format shown in FIG. 2 is directly created without creating the data shown in FIG. It may be.

Referring to FIG. 2, the animation information 60 outputted by the method of the present invention includes four key frame information 62, 64, 66 and 68. These key frame information 62, 64, 66, and 68 correspond to the key frames in FIGS. 12A to 12D, respectively.

The key frame information 62 corresponds to the first key frame of the animation. In the present embodiment, the key frame information 62 is the same as the key frame information 132 shown in FIG. The key frame information 62 serves as a reference for compressing a subsequent key frame.

The key frame information 64 corresponds to the key frame shown in FIG. Key frame information 6
Reference numeral 4 includes a time t1 at which the key frame is displayed, graphic information (f,) relating to the background object F1, and graphic information (g, G1) relating to the graphic G1 composed of the characters "presentation". .

In the graphic information (f,), “f” corresponds to FIG.
The object information is similar to that shown in FIG.
Object F shown by objects F0 to F3 shown in FIG.
Is an identification number indicating that The characteristic of this graphic information is that the state information of the background object F1 shown in FIG. 12B, which is indicated as “F1” in the example shown in FIG. Is a state in which there is no). This is the key frame information 64
Indicates that the state of the object F is the same as the state information F0 regarding the object F in the key frame information 62. In this way, for the object information having the same state information as the previous frame, only the identification number indicating the correspondence (link) between the objects is recorded. This makes it possible to completely omit the amount of data necessary to represent the object information for an object having the same state information as the previous frame.
Therefore, in the animation having the same state information as the previous frame, the amount of data for recording or transmitting the same can be significantly reduced. At the time of restoring the animation, if there is no state information, the state information corresponding to the immediately preceding key frame may be used.

The graphic information (g, G1) in the animation information 64 corresponds to the object G1 consisting of the characters "presentation" shown in FIG. The object G1 corresponds to the objects G2 and G3 appearing in FIGS. 12C and 12D, respectively, and indicates the object G, but first appears in the key frame shown in FIG. 12B. Therefore, in the key frame information 64, the state information G1 of the object G is stored as it is together with the identification number g.

The key frame information 66 has the following features. As shown in FIG. 12C, the background object F (F
2) The object G (G2) consisting of the letters "presentation" is exactly the same as the previous key frame. Therefore, the respective object information becomes (f,) and (g,), and the same state information as that of the previous frame is not recorded. Also, since the object H2 (object H) consisting of the characters "item 1" appears for the first time in this key frame, the object information (h, H2) is recorded.

The characteristic of the object information 68 is that the objects F and G are recorded only as object information (f,) and (g,), respectively, because their states have not changed at all from the previous key frame. Since the state of the object H changes from the object H2 shown in FIG. 12C to the object H3 shown in FIG. 12D, only the background information of the character changes. Object information H including
3 is recorded. Since the object I first appears in this key frame, all the object information is recorded.

As described above, for an object in the same state as the previous frame, the state information is not recorded at all, and for an object in which only a part of the state information is different from the corresponding object in the previous frame, the state information is not recorded. Only the different object information is recorded. This eliminates the need to record the same state information as that of the previous frame among the state information of each object, so that there is an effect that the storage capacity or transmission amount for recording / transmitting animation information can be reduced.

FIG. 3 shows the apparatus shown in FIG.
4 from the animation information 130 shown in FIG.
A program for creating the compressed animation information 60 as shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S1 (hereinafter, the term "step" is omitted), a variable k representing the order of a key frame to be processed is set to a value indicating the first key frame. The key frame indicated by the variable k is hereinafter referred to as “key frame k”.

Next, in S2, it is checked whether or not the contents of the key frame k exist. If the key frame k does not exist, the process ends. If the key frame k exists, the process proceeds to step S3.

At S3, the information of "display time" included in the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k is recorded or transmitted. In this specification, recording or transmission is collectively referred to as "output". In this case, there is only a difference whether the output destination medium is a storage medium or a transmission medium, and the outline of the control structure of the program shown in FIG. 3 does not change at all. The data transmitted here is, for example, the display time “t0” in the key frame information 62 shown in FIG.

Next, in S4, a variable i for specifying an object in the key frame k is set to a value indicating the first object in the key frame k. Hereinafter, the object pointed by the variable i is referred to as “object i”.

At S5, it is checked whether or not the object i exists in the key frame. If the object i does not exist in the key frame, the control proceeds to S14. S14
The following processing will be described later. If the object i exists, the control proceeds to S6.

In S6, the object i is set to the immediately preceding key frame k
It is determined whether or not the object is linked to the object within -1. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the object information having the same identification number as the object i exists in the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k-1. If the object i is linked to the object in the previous key frame k-1, control proceeds to S7. If there is no link, the control moves to S12.

In S7, an object corresponding to the object i, that is, an object linked to the object i is searched for in the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k-1, and this object is set as an object j.

At S8, the states of the object i and the object j are compared. If both states are exactly the same, the control proceeds to S9
Proceed to. If the states of both are different even if some, control is S
Go to 10.

At S9, only the identification number of the object i is output, and the control shifts to S13. By the processing of S8 and S9,
For example, the object information (f,) in the key frame information 64 shown in FIG. 2 is created.

In S10, information other than the color information of the object i and the object j is compared with each other. If the states other than the color information are all the same, the control proceeds to S11; otherwise, the control proceeds to S12.

At S11, the color information of the object i and the identification number are output. By this processing, for example, object information (h, H3) in the key frame information 68 shown in FIG. 2 is created. After S11, the control proceeds to S13.

At S12, all the state information of the object i and the identification number of the object i are output. The data thus created is, for example, the object information (f, F1) in the key frame information 62 of FIG. 2, the object information (g, G1) in the key frame information 64, and the object information (h, F1) in the key frame information 66. H2) and the object information (i, I3) in the key frame information 68.

In S13, the object i is set to the next object in the key frame k, and the control returns to S5.

On the other hand, when it is determined in S5 that the object i does not exist, the control proceeds to S14. In S14, the key frame k is set to the next key frame, and the control returns to S2.

In the program having the control structure shown in FIG. 3, the result of the judgment in S6 is always NO because the first key frame has no key frame after that, so that all the object information Is output. The processes of S2 to S14 are repeatedly executed for the second and subsequent key frame information, and the process ends when there is no key frame information to be processed. By this processing, as described above, only the identification number of the object information in the immediately preceding key frame having the same state as the corresponding object information is recorded. In the case of object information in which only part of the state information is different, only the different state information is recorded.

As a result, the data amount of the animation information is significantly reduced as compared with the related art, and the storage capacity for storage and the transmission amount for transmission can be reduced.

Embodiment 2 In Embodiment 1 described above, when all pieces of information other than the color information of an object are the same, only the color information of the object and the identification number are output. However, as already mentioned, the method of the present invention can be similarly applied to information other than the color information. Embodiment 2 is such an example.

As information to be subjected to this processing, color information of an object, information on the type of line (line type) constituting the object, information on a fill pattern (paint type) of the object, coordinate information on the object, and the like can be considered. . FIG. 4 shows a flowchart corresponding to the control structure of a program for processing such information.

The apparatus for executing this program can use the apparatus for the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as it is. That is, this processing can be realized using a general computer.

Referring to FIG. 4, first in S21, key frame k is set as the first key frame.

In S22, it is checked whether or not the contents of the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k exist. If the corresponding key frame information does not exist, the process ends. If the corresponding key frame information exists, the control proceeds to S23.

At S23, the display time of the key frame k is output. That is, data indicated by “display time” in the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k is output.

At S24, the object i is set as the first object of the key frame k.

In S25, it is checked whether or not the object i exists in the key frame k. If the object i does not exist, the control proceeds to S39. If the object i exists, the control proceeds to S26.

In S26, the object i is set to the previous key frame k
It is checked whether or not the object is linked to the object in -1. Object i
Is linked to the object in the previous key frame k-1, the control moves to S27. If there is no link, the control proceeds to S37.

In S27, an object corresponding to the object i, that is, an object linked to the object i, which is present in the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k-1, is searched, and this is set as an object j.

In S28, only the information of the identification number of the object i is output.

In S29, the coordinate information of the object i and the coordinate information of the object j are compared with each other. If the coordinate information is the same, the control is S3
Proceed to 1. When the coordinate information is different, the control proceeds to S30.

At S30, the coordinate information of the object i is output. Control then proceeds to S31. By the processing in S29 and S30, the coordinate information of the object i is output only when there is a difference in the coordinate information between the object i and the object j to which the object i is linked. If there is no difference in the coordinate information, no coordinate information is output. On the reproducing side, an object having no coordinate information is determined to be the same coordinate information as the coordinate information of the object linked to the object, and the animation is reproduced.

In S31, the color information of the object i and the color information of the object j are compared. If the color information is the same, the control proceeds to S33.
If the color information is different, the control proceeds to S32.

At S32, the color information of the object i is output.
Thereafter, the control proceeds to S33. By the processing in S31 and S32, the object i and the object j linked to the object i
Only when there is a difference between the color information and the color information of the object i is output.

In S33, the line type information of the object i and the line type information of the object j are compared. If the line type information is the same, the control is S35.
Proceed to. If the line type information is different, the control proceeds to S34.

At S34, line type information of the object i is output. Control then proceeds to S35. By the processing of S33 and S34, the line type information of the object i is output only when there is a difference in the line type information between the object i and the object j linked to the object i.

In S35, the paint type information of the object i and the object j is compared. If the coating type information is the same, the control proceeds to S38. If the coating type information is different, the control proceeds to S36.

In S36, the application type information of the object i is output. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S38. By the processing in S35 and S36, the coating type information of the object i is output only when there is a difference between the coating type information of the object i and the object j linked to the object i.

At S37, the state information of the object i and the identification number are output. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S38.

In S38, the object i is set as the next object in the key frame k. Control is thereafter returned to S25.

In S39, the key frame k is set to the next key frame, and the control returns to S22.

Thereafter, the processing of S22 to S39 is repeatedly performed. Also in this example, in the process for the first key frame information, since the answer to the determination in S26 is always NO, the identification numbers of all objects and all state information are recorded. In the second and subsequent key frames, S29 to S
By the process of 36, only state information different from the linked object is recorded. By such processing, the data amount of the animation information is reduced, and the storage capacity or the data transmission capacity can be reduced.

In the example described above, the description is made with reference to the attribute information of the polygon. However, the present invention can be applied not only to polygons but also to attribute information of various other objects. Although the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 deals only with the processing of the attribute of the polygon, the processing shown in FIG. 4 also applies to the case of handling information of many types of objects other than the polygon as described above. Can be easily dealt with based on the flow chart. For example, between S28 and S29 shown in FIG.
A branching process according to the type of the object may be provided, and the processes of S29 to S36 may be prepared for each type of the object.

For example, various attributes can be considered according to the type of the object, such as the color of the character, the decoration attribute of the character, the direction of the gradation, the intensity of the sound, and the intensity of the light. If the state information of these attributes is the same between linked objects, the state information is not output, so that the data amount can be reduced. If there is information that is not transmitted in this way, the reproducing side can reproduce the key frame information using the state information of the object linked to the object.

Embodiment 3 In Embodiments 1 and 2, with respect to the object information in a certain key frame, the object information of the object linked to the object is output for each key frame output immediately before the key frame. The contents of the information to be output were changed according to the result of the comparison. However, data compression by comparing object information between key frames is not limited to this method alone. For example, in the case of the animation shown in FIG. 15, the objects J0 and J2 in FIGS.
Are the same, and the shapes of the objects K0 and K2 are the same. On the other hand, when FIG. 15 (b) and (c) are compared,
The shapes of the objects J1 and J2 are the same, but the shape of the object K1 is not the same as the shape of the object K2. Therefore, when only the shape of the object is considered, in the example shown in FIG. 15, the comparison with the key frame of FIG.
15 (a), more efficient compression can be performed.

In the third embodiment, the object information in a certain key frame is compared with the object information in another key frame different from the key frame, and the difference between the two is small or the same. If there is a key frame, the key frame number is recorded in the object information of the key frame to be processed. By doing so, it can be expected that the state information that must be recorded can be reduced, so that the animation information can be more efficiently compressed. Hereinafter, a third embodiment using such a method will be described.

This method is particularly effective for an animation in which repetition as shown in FIG. 15 appears.
This technique is effective for a wide range of animations, as iterative processing often occurs in animations.

FIG. 5 schematically shows animation information after the animation information 150 shown in FIG. 17 is compressed by the method of the third embodiment. With reference to FIG. 5, the animation information 80 includes key frame information 8
2, 84, 86 and 88. These key frame information correspond to FIGS. 15A to 15D, respectively.

The key frame information 82 is the same as the key frame information 152 shown in FIG. Therefore, the details thereof will not be repeated here.

The key frame information 84 is almost the same as the key frame information 154 shown in FIG. 17, except that the object information (j, J1) of the first object is (j, X1). different. X1 is data representing the amount of relative movement of the object J1 shown in FIG. 15B with respect to the object J0 shown in FIG. X1 can be recorded, for example, in the following format.

R p1, p2, p3 Here, R is a command indicating that this data indicates relative movement between key frames of an object, and p1 is a command indicating how many objects in a previous key frame are. Numerical values indicating whether the object has moved relatively, p2 and p3 are the moving distances of the object with respect to the predetermined x-coordinate and y-coordinate. In the case of an animation in which an object moves in a screen as shown in FIG. 15, p2 and p3 often have very small sizes compared to a case where the coordinates of the object are recorded as they are. Therefore, animation information can be more efficiently compressed.

The object information (k, K1) for the second object in the key frame information 84 is the same as the example shown in FIG. 17 because the object K1 first appears in this key frame.

Hereinafter, in the key frame information 86, the object J2
And information on K2 are (j, X2), respectively.
Shown as (k, Y2). Key frame information 8
8, the object information of the objects J3 and K3 is (j,
X3) and (k, Y3). Here, X2, X3, Y2, and Y3 are data expressing information on the relative movement of each object, similarly to X1, and the expression format is the same as X1 described above. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, X1, X2, X3, Y2, and Y3 can be represented by symbols as shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 15, objects J1, J2 and J3 are objects J0, J of the immediately preceding key frame, respectively.
1 and J2 have moved. Therefore, the key frame to be compared is the immediately preceding key frame, and in FIG. 6, the values following the symbol “R” of X1, X2, and X3 are all “1”. (X
1, y1) (x2, y2) (x3, y3) are respectively
Displacement of J1 with respect to object J0, object J with respect to object J1
2, the displacement of the object J3 with respect to the object J2.

On the other hand, objects K2 and K3 are 2
The objects K0 and K1 of the previous key frame have moved. Therefore, in this case, the key frame to be compared is the key frame two immediately before. The value following the symbol “R” for Y2 and Y3 is “2” as shown in FIG. (X4, y4) (x5, y5) are the displacement from the object K0 to K2 and the displacement from the object K1 to K3, respectively.
Up to the displacement. As described above, for example, a key frame to be compared is determined for the position of the object state information, and only the displacement of the object with respect to the key frame is recorded, so that the data amount of the object information can be reduced. Become. On the reproduction side, the coordinates of the object in the key frame are determined from the information specifying the key frame including the object information to be compared, which is included in the object information, and the displacement information included in the object information. It is possible to reproduce the key frame as required.

A program for creating data as shown in FIG. 5, that is, a program for implementing the animation information compression method according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In S41, the key frame k is set as the first key frame.

In S42, it is checked whether or not the contents of the key frame information corresponding to the key frame k exist. If the corresponding key frame information does not exist, the process ends. If the corresponding key frame information exists, the control proceeds to S43.

In S43, the display time of the key frame k included in the key frame information is output. The data output here is, for example, the time t0 shown in FIG.
t1, t2 and t3.

In step S44, the object i is set as the first object in the key frame k.

Subsequently, in S45, it is checked whether or not the object i exists. If the object i does not exist, the control is S53.
Proceed to. If the object i exists, the control proceeds to S46.

In S46, the object j to be compared with the object i is
Assume that the object is i for the time being. In addition, a numerical value L for calculating a relative position of a key frame serving as a reference of the relative movement amount of the object i with respect to the key frame is set to 0. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S47.

At S47, the object linked to the object j is
It is checked whether the key exists before the key frame including the object j. When there is no object linked to the object j, the control proceeds to S51. If there is, control proceeds to S48.

In S48, the object linked to the object j is newly set as the object j. Add 1 to the value of L.

Subsequently, in S49, for the object i and the object j, it is determined whether or not the object i has moved the object j. The following method is used as this determination method. First, it is checked whether or not all information other than the coordinates of the object i and the object j are exactly the same. If they do not match, it is determined that the object i has not moved the object j. If the information other than the coordinates is the same, it is compared whether the number of coordinates is the same. If the number of coordinates is not the same, it is determined that the object i is not the object j moved. When the number of coordinates is the same, the difference between the coordinate point of the object i and the corresponding coordinate point of the object j is checked. If the difference between the x-coordinate and the difference between the y-coordinates calculated for each corresponding coordinate point is the same for all points, it is determined that the object i is obtained by moving the object j. Otherwise, it is determined not to be so. If it is determined that the object i has moved the object j, the control proceeds to S50. In other cases, the control is S4
Return to 7.

In S50, the information indicating how much the object i has moved the object j and the value of the information L indicating how many times the linked object has moved since the object i have been moved. Is output. Thereafter, the control proceeds to S52. By this processing, the object information (j, X
1), (j, X2), (k, Y2), (j, X3), and (k, Y3) are output.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in S47 is NO, the control proceeds to S51, but in S51, the object i
Is output and the control proceeds to S52. Of the example shown in FIG. 5, (j, J0) (k, K
0) and (k, K1) are output in the process of S51.

In step S52, the object i is set as the next object in the key frame k. The control returns to S45, and the processing of S45 and subsequent steps is repeated.

If it is determined in S45 that the object i does not exist in the key frame k, the control proceeds to S53, but the control proceeds to S53.
At 53, the key frame k is set to the next key frame, and the control returns to S42. Thereafter, the processing of S42 and thereafter is repeated.

[0135]

As described above, when the animation information compression method of the present invention is used, in an animation in which new items appear in order, such as an animation for a business presentation, an object appearing first appears. Need not be recorded or transmitted many times.
Therefore, the amount of data for recording or transmitting the animation information is very small as compared with the conventional method in which all key frames need to be recorded or transmitted.

In the case of an animation with many repetitions, it is not necessary to record an object that has appeared once in the key frame information many times. Therefore, the data amount of the animation information becomes very small as compared with the conventional method of recording or transmitting all the object information in all the key frames. Therefore, small-capacity recording media that could not be used conventionally, such as floppy disks and ICs
(Integrated circuit) Animation can be recorded on a card or the like. Another effect is that a larger amount of animation data can be recorded in a fixed amount of storage media than before, so that dictionaries and manuals containing more animation information than before can be stored electronically. Can be recorded on various media.

Similarly, since the amount of animation data can be made very small, the transmission capacity for transmitting animation information can be reduced. For example, even if the amount of data that can be transmitted at one time is limited and animation information cannot be transmitted by the conventional method, animation information compressed by the compression method according to the present invention can be transmitted. . When transmitting animation information for playing the same animation,
When the animation information compressed by the method of the present invention is transmitted, there is an effect that the time required for transmission is significantly shorter than when the animation information prepared by the conventional method is transmitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for realizing a method for compressing animation information according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a data format of animation information in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a program for realizing the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program for realizing the method according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a data format of animation information in a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a symbolic expression of a relative movement in the third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a program for realizing the method of the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing key frames of an animation by a key frame method.

9 is a diagram showing the key frame information shown in FIG. 8 in a table format.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a data format when the data shown in FIG. 9 is recorded in a conventional format.

11 is a diagram schematically showing data contents when the data shown in FIG. 9 is recorded in accordance with the data format shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing key frames of a presentation animation.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing key frame information for the key frame shown in FIG. 12 in a table format.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a data structure when the key frame information shown in FIG. 13 is recorded according to a conventional method.

FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically illustrating a key frame of an example of an animation in which many repetitions appear.

16 is a diagram showing key frame information for the key frame shown in FIG. 15 in a table format.

FIG. 17 is a diagram schematically showing a data format of animation information composed of key frame information shown in FIG. 16;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 animation information compression device 32 computer 34 external storage device 36 display device 38 coordinate input device 40 keyboard 42 network

Claims (10)

[Claims] An animation information compression method using a computer, wherein an intermediate frame is generated by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer to compress key frame information for an animation to be displayed. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame, and the object information includes state information of the object and a key frame having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information. A first output step of reading the reference key frame information and outputting the same to the medium, including the link information to the corresponding object information in the information; The key frame information is read, and each object information in the read key frame information and the read key frame are read. Key information obtained by comparing the link information and the state information having a difference only with the link information and the state information having the difference, by comparing the key information with the corresponding object information in the key frame information having the predetermined relationship. A animation information compression method, comprising: a second output step of outputting frame information to the medium; and a step of repeating the second output step until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed. 2. The animation information compression method according to claim 1, wherein the key frame information having the predetermined relationship is key frame information output immediately before the key frame information. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medium is a storage medium. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the medium is a communication medium. 5. A method for compressing animation information using a computer, wherein an intermediate frame is generated by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer to compress key frame information for an animation to be displayed. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame, and the object information includes state information of the object and a key frame having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information. A first output step of outputting reference key frame information to a medium including link information to corresponding object information in the information; and a next key frame in response to the end of the output of the immediately preceding key frame information. The information is read, and each object information in the read key frame information and the read key frame information are read. With the corresponding object information in the key frame information having the predetermined relationship with respect to the compressed information including the object information including only the link information and the difference amount of the state information having the difference. A animation information compression method, comprising: a second output step of outputting key frame information to the medium; and a step of repeating the second output step until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed. 6. The method for compressing animation information according to claim 5, wherein said key frame information having a predetermined relationship is key frame information already output to said medium before each key frame information is output. 7. The animation information compression method according to claim 5, wherein the medium is a storage medium. 8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the medium is a communication medium. 9. A method for compressing animation information using a computer, wherein an intermediate frame is generated by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer to compress key frame information for an animation to be displayed. Each key frame information includes object information relating to an object to be displayed in the corresponding key frame, and the object information includes state information of the object and a key frame having a predetermined relationship with the key frame information. A first output step of outputting reference key frame information to a medium including link information to corresponding object information in the information; and a next key frame in response to the end of the output of the immediately preceding key frame information. The information is read, and for each object information in the read key frame information, an object corresponding to the object information is read. Key including the object information of an object in relation parallel move - frame -
Key information after specifying the key frame information including the object information related to the parallel movement, the link information, and the compressed key including the object information including the parallel movement amount. A animation information compression method, comprising: a second output step of outputting frame information to the medium; and a step of repeating the second output step until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed. 10. A computer-generated animation information compression program for compressing key frame information for an animation in which an intermediate frame is generated and displayed by interpolating between a plurality of key frames using a computer. Computer-readable recording medium, wherein each key frame information includes object information about an object to be displayed in a corresponding key frame, wherein the object information includes state information of the object and key key information. A first output step of reading key frame information serving as a reference, and outputting the key frame information to a medium, including a link information to the corresponding object information in the key frame information having a predetermined relationship with respect to the key frame information; The next key frame information is read in response to the end of the output, and the read key frame is read. Each object information in the frame information is compared with the corresponding object information in the key frame information having the predetermined relationship with the read key frame information, and the link information and the state information having a difference are compared. A second output step of outputting compressed key frame information including object information including only the key information to the medium, and a step of repeating the second output step until all of the key frame information to be compressed is compressed. Recording medium for recording a compression program of animation information for realizing the above.