KR20100048490A - Method and apparatus for making sensitive character and animation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method and a device for making sensitive character and an animation are provided to enable a user to easily generate their own character. CONSTITUTION: A storage unit(110) generates and stores a standard data with a characteristic part of a standard character as the center. A preprocess unit(120) generates a preprocess image for detecting outline of an image from inputted image information. A icon generating unit(130) uses a reference data selected by the outline and the standard data to generate group icon by parts. A character generation unit(140) generates a specific character by combining the group icon by parts.

Description

Method and Apparatus for Creating Emotional Character and Animation {Method and Apparatus for making sensitive character and animation}

The present invention relates to a method of character production and character animation generation, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for generating emotional characters and animation.

With the development and daily use of computers and electronic devices, the importance of the contents constituting the contents is emphasized more. In particular, the technology of the character or animation included in the content is a technology that has a very large application field with the development of the image technology. For example, characters and animation can be applied in various ways to e-learning, blog / homepage, messenger, public relations / guidance system and field.

According to the prior art, most character production and animation generation use general-purpose graphics programs such as FLASH or 3D MAX. Flash has the advantage of being able to implement various animation effects very easily. The generated data size is small and program functions such as scripts can be supported. However, since Flash is not a character animation-only tool, it is impossible to implement natural lip syncing after inserting a character into the content, and it is very difficult to implement various character animations. That is, characters and animations generated using such a general-purpose graphic program are not produced in a form that can be changed by a user according to a situation, and thus, it is difficult to express an actual situation.

In addition, universities and research institutes have published technology to detect facial features automatically by analyzing photographs of models.However, the method of detecting image features using model photographs is based on the effects of light. It is difficult to obtain a video that makes full use of features. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can be applied to various fields and that can easily produce characters and animations.

The background art described above is technical information possessed by the inventors for the derivation of the present invention or acquired during the derivation process of the present invention, and is not necessarily a publicly known technique disclosed to the general public before the application of the present invention.

The present invention aims to provide a method and apparatus for generating emotional characters and animations that can be easily generated by a non-expert general user in the computer part.

In addition, the present invention is to provide an emotional character and animation generation method and apparatus for reducing the overlap of work by applying the same animation code to the animation of different characters.

In addition, the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for generating an emotional character and animation that can implement the animation that can be linked to the conventionally developed content.

In addition, the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for generating an emotional character and animation that can be applied to a variety of character and animation E-learning, blog / homepage, messenger, promotion / guidance system and the field.

Technical problems other than the present invention will be easily understood through the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, generating and storing standard data centering on a feature of a standard character, generating a preprocessing image for detecting an outline of an image from input image information, and selecting a reference point and standard data selected from the outline Emotional character and animation generation method comprising the steps of generating a group icon for each part using the group icon for generating a specific character by combining a group icon for each part.

After the specific character generation step, the method may further include generating an animation by applying the same animation code to the generated specific character.

In addition, in a specific character generation step, after generating a character in a delicate character style, the configuration information for adjusting the number of group icons for each part corresponding to the configuration information of the specific character or otherwise specifying the method for drawing the group icons for each part is provided in advance. As the user simply specifies a character expression method, the character expression method of any one of three-dimensional characters, delicate characters, silhouette characters, cartoon characters, and simple characters can be changed and displayed in real time.

The function of this step is to make the content of a much more interesting and various feelings more easily than to compose the content by the expression method of the same character as the expression of the same character expression method in real time according to the content of the content.

After the specific character generation step, the step-by-part group icon that is not present when the animation code including the icon identifier corresponding to the group-specific group icon may be further skipped without applying the animation code. That is, when executing the animation, the animation code associated with the icon not included in the information of the character to which the animation is applied can be automatically skipped to apply the animation code to all display methods.

Here, the animation code may further include a character identifier of a specific character that can be replaced.

The method may further include animating a specific character to perform a preset operation, corresponding to the range of the character unit of the input text. For example, by specifying the range of the input text, overlapping the lip-sync animation with the smiley face and the turning face, and the character animation effect that gives emotion to the text by specifying the turning effect while laughing and talking about the specified text is very easy. It may include the step of importing.

After the specific character generation step, the method may further include extracting text data and frame rate (FPS) data from the pre-written content and animating the specific character to be synchronized with the frame rate data corresponding to the text data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a storage unit for generating and storing standard data centering on a feature of a standard character, a preprocessor for generating a preprocessed image for detecting an outline of an image from input image information, and a reference point selected from the outline And an icon generator for generating a group icon for each part using standard data and a character generator for combining a group icon for each part to generate a specific character.

Other aspects, features, and advantages other than those described above will become apparent from the following drawings, claims, and detailed description of the invention.

Emotional character and animation generation method and apparatus according to the present invention can be easily created by the non-expert general user in the computer portion of their own characters, applying the same animation code to the animation of the different characters to duplicate the work It can be reduced, and there is an effect that can implement the animation that can be linked to the previously developed content.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, action, component, part, or combination thereof described on the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

In the following description of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals, and redundant explanations thereof will be omitted. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for generating emotional characters and animation according to an embodiment of the present invention. The emotional character and animation generating apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment includes a storage unit 110, a preprocessor 120, an icon generator 130, a character generator 140, an animation generator 150, and a user. It may include an interface 160.

The present embodiment is characterized in using standard data stored in advance and character information extracted from an actual object to generate a character and an animation using the same. In other words, after extracting the standard data from the virtual standard character in advance and storing it, a specific character is generated by creating a group icon for each part of the character using the reference point selected from the outline of each part and the pre-stored standard data from the object to be actualized. Create

The group icon for each part is a group of icons that determine the characteristics of the character, for example, a face, an eye, a nose, and a mouth, and is configuration information representing a specific character. Here, the standard character and the specific character may be various objects such as a person, an animal, a plant, and a virtual character, and the following description will focus on the face of a person.

The storage unit 110 stores standard data. The standard data may be template data, and is pre-generated around the features of the standard character. When the standard character is a human face, the standard data may be divided into parts such as eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, and each part includes a standard group icon. That is, the standard data may include a group icon for each part. For example, the eye group may have a group icon such as wrinkles under the eyes, whites, or a border of the eyes, and the mouth group may have a group icon such as lip lines, lip glitter, lip wrinkles, or the like.

In addition, the standard data includes the front, side and back data of the standard character. Using this front, side, and back data, there is an effect that can implement a specific character in 3D animation.

The preprocessor 120 generates a preprocessed image for detecting an outline of the image from the input image information. In order to preprocess, the front image information of the character is input. In order to detect the outline of the image, the image of the photograph is binarized or specially processed. Binarization is a process of lowering the color values of several stages (usually 256) to 0 and 1 values, and through the binarization, the edge information of the image can be made clearer. In addition, special processing is processing for changing the color image to gray level or performing outline detection. The special processing can extract the outline, which makes it easier for the user to select a reference point on the outline.

The icon generator 130 generates a group icon for each part of the input image using the reference point selected from the outline and the standard data. After detecting the outline of the image and clicking a reference point that can be characterized, the standard group icon for each part is stored in advance to generate a specific group icon for each part. Here, the reference point click may be performed by a user interface, for example, a mouse.

In this case, if the user does not select all the points of the image's outline, but only clicks the reference point that can highlight the feature, a pattern of vector images connecting the reference points is created, and the specific group icon modifies and readjusts the standard group icon. Can be generated by The method of generating a pattern may be a method of automatically generating the remaining points based on a preset criterion stored in the storage 110 based on the clicked position. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the user's work is easy, there is an advantage that the amount of work significantly reduced.

Here, the preset criteria may be criteria corresponding to the characteristics of each site. For example, the preset criterion may be a criterion for generating an average point between the reference points in the case of the eye group or generating an average point on the curve in consideration of the curvature of the eye. In addition, the detailed data composition can be readjusted using the standard data values, taking into account the size and shape of the currently generated data. For example, straight lines, angled parts, etc., which can be generated because a specific group icon is created only after the reference point, can be re-adjusted in consideration of standard data, thereby making it a natural group icon.

In addition, the icon generator 130 may generate side data and back data by using the front data generated by the above-described method. As described above, the side data and the back data may include a group icon for each part.

Here, the side data and the back data of the standard data are composed of distance values away from the front data, and the side and back data of a specific character can also be obtained using the distance information. That is, the side data and the back data of a specific character may be generated by referring to the front data, the side data and the back data of the standard data based on the front data. This data generation process is as follows. First, when generating a specific character, front data of the specific character is generated by referring to the standard data by the above-described method. Then, the difference value is calculated by comparing the front data of the standard data and the front data of the specific character. Then, the difference value calculated on the side data of the standard data is applied to generate the side data of the specific character.

The character generator 140 generates a specific character by combining a group icon for each part. Since the group icon for each part includes all the elements that can generate a character such as an eye group, a nose group, a mouth group, and an ear group, a specific character may be generated by combining them.

The character generator 140 generates a group icon for each part to express the character of the entire delicate expression type, and then adjusts the number of group icons or draws a group icon for each part to express a 3D character, a delicate character, and a silhouette. It can bring the effects of expression of characters, cartoon characters and simple characters. The user can express various effects of the character by using the character generated once by simply selecting such a character type without repeatedly performing a separate production work. This type of character may be implemented by omitting each group icon of the character or by changing a method of drawing an icon. For example, in the delicate mode in the expression of the ball, if four icons are included, the expression of a simple character is expressed by only one icon. Simple characters are characters that can be applied to environments such as PDAs because of their small data size.

In addition, in the case of a silhouette character, the icon is omitted, and only the line style with a little transparency is implemented without filling the elements constituting the icon, and the outer part is drawn with a thicker line to give a silhouette feeling. Configuration information of the group icon designating all of these display methods may be generated in advance and stored in the storage unit 100. The storage unit 100 may separately include icon information for each display method. Therefore, as users specify only the presentation method, the same data can be used in various presentation methods. The present embodiment can provide a character type selecting means for allowing the user to select such a character type, for example, a radio button, a check box, and the like.

The animation generator 150 may generate an animation using the generated specific character. According to the present embodiment, the same animation code may be commonly applied to different character expression methods. That is, the data of each specific character is composed of group units, and each group is composed of icon units forming detailed shapes, and the animation code is composed of a character identifier for distinguishing different specific characters and an icon for each icon. Because they have identifiers, swapping these character and icon identifiers can animate other characters and icons. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, there is an advantage in that various characters and icons can be replaced and applied to the same animation code.

In this case, since an animation code is omitted for an icon that does not exist in the data of a specific character at the time of executing the animation code, the animation code created through the present invention can be commonly applied to all expression methods developed by the present invention. That is, when an animation is executed in a program, if an icon is hidden or deleted in a specific character group corresponding to the animation key, the same animation code can be jointly applied without being outputted. The reason why animation code can be applied to all characters is possible because all characters have the same vector data structure.

In addition, the animation generator 150 may animate the specific character according to the input text. That is, the animation generation unit 150 executes the specified animation at the position of the specified character by connecting the animation code to the range of the specified character, and can be executed in combination with the lip sync animation, so that the lip sync animation effect is expressed. You can bring along.

In addition, according to another embodiment, the animation generator 150 extracts text data and frame per second (FPS) data from the pre-written content, synchronizes the motion of a specific character to the frame rate data, Correspondingly, you can animate a specific character. In other words, by matching the content produced in the existing animation program with the frame rate (FPS) according to the present embodiment by appropriately arranging and expressing the specific character according to this embodiment, according to the content of the conventionally developed content and the specific character according to the present embodiment Natural linkage is possible.

In addition, when the animation is executed, the data value of a specific character is compared with that of standard data, and if the difference is large, the difference is automatically applied. For example, in the case of applying the lip sync animation, if the mouth group information of a specific character to be animated is much larger or smaller than the mouth group information of the standard data, the ratio of the size is applied to the lip sync animation when applying the animation code. It can bring the animation expression effect suitable for a specific character.

The user interface 160 is a user operable interface such as a mechanism, screen layout, screen components, etc. that make the present embodiment operable. For example, a user may click a reference point on an outline of an image using a mouse, designate a group icon using a check box displayed on the screen, and select the above-described character type by using a character type selection means. Here, the case in which the user interface 160 is a mouse, a check box, and a character type selection means has been described, but it can be implemented by other means.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating an emotional character and animation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S210, the standard data is generated and stored based on the feature of the standard character. The standard data is stored in advance before generating a specific character, and as described above, a specific character can be generated using the same.

In operation S220, a preprocessed image is generated to detect an outline of the image from the input image information. The preprocessed image is a binarized or specially processed image of the image, and the outline of the image is clearly derived through this preprocessing process.

In operation S230, a group icon for each part is generated by using the reference point selected from the outline and the standard data. The user selects a specific point from the outline of the sharply expressed image, and the selected reference point generates a group icon for each part of the specific character by deformation of the standard data.

In step S240, a specific character is generated by combining a group icon for each part, and the type of the specific character may be any one of a three-dimensional character, a delicate character, a silhouette character, a cartoon character, and a simple character as described above. . The three-dimensional character is a character formed by referring to all the front, side, and rear data of a specific character, and the cartoon character may be a character of a cartoon, for example, a method in which lines are monotonous and stand out.

In step S250, an animation is generated using the generated specific character. The same animation code can be applied to all characters according to the present embodiment, and different characters and icons can be executed in the same animation by replacing the character identifier and the icon identifier in the animation code.

In step S255, when the specific character does not have a group icon for each part during the execution of the animation, the icon is skipped to execute the animation, thereby eliminating the inability to apply the same code to the different characters.

In the above description, a block diagram and a flowchart of a method and apparatus for generating an emotional character and animation have been described in general. Hereinafter, a method and apparatus for generating an emotional character and animation according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be described based on. It is obvious that the present invention is not limited to these examples.

3 illustrates a preprocessing image and a reference point according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, an original image a and a preprocessed image b are shown.

The original image (a) is a target image to be characterized, and the preprocessed image (b) is generated by binarizing the original image (a) or adjusting the gray level. Since the preprocessing image b is represented by emphasizing the outline of the image, it is easy for a user to select the above-described reference point among the outlines. Referring to FIG. 3, the reference point 310 is selected along the outline of the eye of the preprocessed image b.

4 is a diagram illustrating a group icon according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, a group icon for an eye of a face of a character to be represented is shown. Group icons in the eye group may include sub-fold wrinkles, whites, pupil rims, iris pupils, eye glitter, eyelids, eyelids, lower lashes, and eyelashes. Such a group icon is generated with reference to the reference point selected in the preprocessing image b and the pre-stored standard data. That is, as described above, the group icon of the specific character can be generated by modifying the group icon of the pre-stored standard data with reference to the reference point selected in FIG. 3.

5 is a diagram illustrating an emotional character and animation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, a screen for executing a lip sync animation while changing a facial expression of the same sentence in real time is illustrated.

The character a lip-syncing while laughing and the character b lip-syncing with anger are lip-syncing the same sentence. This screen expresses that the present embodiment is applicable to the same animation code for different characters, different expressions of the same character, and lip sync.

According to the present embodiment, by carrying out a specified animation code related to facial expressions, motions, etc. while performing a lip syncing on a specific character, a specific character may not only execute a lip syncing animation for a predetermined character string but also may transmit emotions. It works. For example, if the lip sync animation and the smiley face and the faceless face are specified by specifying a range of input text, a specific character smiles and talks about the determined text, and thus, a turning animation may be generated. It has a character animation effect that gives emotion to the text.

Referring to the process of animate the content produced by flash in conjunction with the emotional animation character according to the present embodiment, first, the text data and frame data is extracted from the content produced by the flash, the extracted text according to the present embodiment Specify the animation code by selecting the range of. Then, the player according to the present embodiment matches the position of the frame and the FPS synchronization with the produced content and executes the animation. That is, by calling the file made of flash in the player according to the present embodiment and extracting the data to play in conjunction with the animation according to the present embodiment, the conventional content can be applied to this embodiment.

In the expression of instructors in lectures in the field of e-learning and u-learning, in the conventional method, the contents of the content and the instructor were very unnatural and the limits were large by attaching still pictures or encoded video files. According to this embodiment, it is possible to bring natural linkage between the character of the instructor and the content.

In addition, a detailed description of a system type, an embedded system, a common platform technology such as an embedded system, an O / S, an interface standardization technology such as an I / O interface, etc. As it is obvious to those skilled in the art, the present invention will be omitted.

Emotional character and animation generation method according to an embodiment of the present invention described above may be performed in combination with a predetermined device, for example, a mobile communication terminal after being stored in the recording medium. Here, the recording medium may be a magnetic or optical recording medium such as a hard disk, a video tape, a CD, a VCD, a DVD, or a database of a client or server computer built offline or online.

In the above, the emotional character and animation generation method and apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention described the configuration of the character and animation in accordance with an embodiment, but is not necessarily limited to this, and an object of another name Even if the method is implemented by generating or otherwise configuring the code, if there is no difference in the overall operation and effect, such other configuration may be included in the scope of the present invention, and those skilled in the art may claim It will be understood that various modifications and changes can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

1 is a block diagram of an emotional character and animation generating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for generating an emotional character and animation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 illustrates a preprocessing image and a reference point according to an embodiment of the invention.

4 illustrates a group icon according to an embodiment of the invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating an emotional character and animation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: emotional character and animation generating device

110: storage unit 120: preprocessing unit

130: icon generator 140: character generator

150: animation generator 160: user interface

310: reference point

Claims (8)

Generating and storing standard data based on a feature of the standard character; Generating a preprocessed image for detecting an outline of the image from the input image information; Generating a group icon for each part using the reference point selected from the outline and the standard data; And Emotional character and animation generation method comprising the step of generating a specific character by combining the group icon for each part. The method of claim 1, After the specific character generation step, Emotional character and animation generation method further comprising the step of generating an animation by applying the same animation code to the generated specific character. The method of claim 1, The specific character generation step, Any one of a three-dimensional character, a delicate character, a silhouette character, a cartoon character, and a simple character by adjusting the number of the group icon for each part generated according to the configuration information of the specific character or changing the method for drawing the group icon for each part Emotional character and animation generation method characterized by generating the above character by user selection. The method of claim 1, After the specific character generation step, Emotional character and animation generation method further comprising the step of skipping without applying the animation code to the group icon for each part when the animation code including the icon identifier corresponding to the group icon for each part. The method of claim 2, And the animation code further comprises a character identifier of the specific character that is replaceable. The method of claim 1, And animating the specific character so as to perform a plurality of preset operations corresponding to a range of character units of the input text. The method of claim 1, After the specific character generation step, Extracting text data and frame rate (FPS) data from pre-written content; And And animating the specific character so as to be synchronized with the frame rate data in correspondence with the text data. A storage unit which generates and stores standard data based on a feature of the standard character; A preprocessor configured to generate a preprocessed image for detecting an outline of the image from the input image information; An icon generator which generates a group icon for each part using the reference point selected from the outline and the standard data; And Emotional character and animation generating device comprising a character generator for generating a specific character by combining the group icon for each part.

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