CN113018855B

CN113018855B - Action switching method and device for virtual role

Info

Publication number: CN113018855B
Application number: CN202110328078.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陈铁
Original assignee: Perfect World Beijing Software Technology Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: Perfect World Beijing Software Technology Development Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-03-26
Filing date: 2021-03-26
Publication date: 2022-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 2041-03-26
Also published as: WO2022198971A1; CN113018855A

Abstract

The application relates to a method and a device for switching actions of virtual characters, which are applied to a 2D game, wherein the method comprises the following steps: acquiring action switching information of the virtual character under the condition that the virtual character is showing a first frame of animation corresponding to a first action, wherein the action switching information is used for indicating that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to a second action; generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation which is not shown in the first frame of animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of the animation frames included in the part of the animation; and responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame of animation, and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame of animation corresponding to the second action. The method and the device solve the technical problem that the fluency of the action display is poor when the virtual role is switched in action.

Description

Action switching method and device for virtual role

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of computers, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for switching actions of virtual roles.

Background

At present, in some 2D games, the actions of game characters are all shown through frame animation, but the actions are made through the frame animation, and when the characters are switched, because the frames shown by the current actions are not ensured to be consistent with the frames at the beginning of the next actions, the game characters are very hard to switch, and a very obvious replacement phenomenon exists.

The existing solution generally adds bones to a 2D animation to produce a corresponding animation, and then performs fusion switching by calculating bone positions. For example, the above operations are performed by using a certain plug-in, but the role motions are still very stiff when the plug-in is used for motion switching, much like shadow play and a line puppet, and the effect of smooth display cannot be achieved.

In view of the above problems, no effective solution has been proposed.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for switching actions of virtual roles, which are used for at least solving the technical problem of poor fluency of action display when the actions of the virtual roles are switched in the related technology.

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a method for switching actions of a virtual character, which is applied to a 2D game, the method including:

the method comprises the steps that when a virtual character displays a first frame animation corresponding to a first action, action switching information of the virtual character is obtained, wherein the action switching information is used for indicating that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to a second action;

generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to a part of animation which is not shown in the first frame animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of animation frames included in the part of animation;

and responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame of animation, and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame of animation corresponding to the second action.

Optionally, the generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation not shown in the first frame of animation includes:

extracting key animation frames from the partial animation;

and connecting the key animation frames according to the time sequence in the partial animation to obtain the temporary animation.

Optionally, extracting key animation frames from the partial animation comprises:

determining the number of key frames according to a switching time, wherein the switching time is the time from the end of showing the first action to the beginning of showing the second action, and the switching time is smaller than the showing time of the partial animation;

and extracting animation frames meeting the number of the key frames from the partial animation as the key animation frames.

Optionally, the determining the number of key frames according to the switching time includes:

acquiring the switching time and a frame animation frame rate of the action of the virtual character, wherein the frame animation frame rate is used for indicating the number of animation frames displayed in each unit time;

and determining the product value of the switching time and the frame animation frame rate as the number of key frames.

Optionally, extracting animation frames satisfying the number of key frames from the partial animation as the key animation frames includes one of:

randomly extracting animation frames meeting the number of the key frames from the partial animation as the key animation frames;

extracting animation frames meeting the number of the key frames from the partial animation at equal intervals as the key animation frames;

extracting a start frame and an end frame from the partial animation, and randomly extracting N-2 animation frames from the rest frames except the start frame and the end frame to obtain a key animation frame, wherein N is the number of the key frames, and the key animation frame comprises the start frame, the N-2 animation frames and the end frame;

extracting a start frame and an end frame from the partial animation, and extracting N-2 animation frames from the rest frames except the start frame and the end frame at equal intervals to obtain the key animation frames, wherein N is the number of the key frames, and the key animation frames comprise the start frame, the N-2 animation frames and the end frame.

determining a presentation time of the partial animation;

and under the condition that the display time of the partial animation is greater than or equal to the target time, generating the temporary animation according to the partial animation.

Optionally, in response to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame animation, and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame animation corresponding to the second action includes:

stopping displaying the first frame of animation in response to the action switching information, wherein the displaying of the first frame of animation is stopped at the current frame;

connecting the current frame to display the temporary animation;

and connecting the temporary animation to display the second frame animation.

Optionally, the engaging the temporary animation to show the second frame animation comprises:

connecting the temporary animation to show a switching animation included in the second frame animation, wherein the switching animation is used for showing a switching action between the first action and the second action;

and connecting the switching animation to display the action animation included in the second frame of animation, wherein the action animation is used for displaying the second action.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided an action switching apparatus for a virtual character, which is applied to a 2D game, the apparatus including:

the device comprises an acquisition module and a display module, wherein the acquisition module is used for acquiring action switching information of a virtual character under the condition that the virtual character displays a first frame of animation corresponding to a first action, and the action switching information is used for indicating that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to a second action;

the generating module is used for generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the partial animation which is not shown in the first frame of animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of the animation frames included in the partial animation;

and the display module is used for responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame of animation and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame of animation corresponding to the second action.

Optionally, the generating module includes:

the extracting unit is used for extracting key animation frames from the partial animation;

and the connecting unit is used for connecting the key animation frames according to the time sequence in the partial animation to obtain the temporary animation.

Optionally, the extraction unit comprises:

a determining subunit, configured to determine a number of key frames according to a switching time, where the switching time is a time between ending presentation of the first action and starting presentation of the second action;

and the extraction subunit is used for extracting animation frames meeting the number of the key frames from the partial animation as the key animation frames.

Optionally, the determining subunit is configured to:

Optionally, the extraction subunit is configured to:

Optionally, the generating module includes:

the determining unit is used for determining the display time of the partial animation;

and the generating unit is used for generating the temporary animation according to the partial animation under the condition that the showing time of the partial animation is greater than or equal to the target time.

Optionally, the display module comprises:

the processing unit is used for responding to the action switching information and stopping displaying the first frame animation, wherein the displaying of the first frame animation is stopped at the current frame;

the first display unit is used for connecting the current frame to display the temporary animation;

and the second display unit is used for connecting the temporary animation to display the second frame animation.

Optionally, the second display unit is configured to:

and connecting the switching animation to show the action animation included in the second frame animation, wherein the action animation is used for showing the second action.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided a storage medium including a stored program which, when executed, performs the above-described method.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided an electronic device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the above method through the computer program.

In the embodiment of the application, when the virtual character is showing a first frame of animation corresponding to a first action, action switching information of the virtual character is acquired, wherein the action switching information is used for indicating that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to a second action; generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation which is not shown in the first frame of animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of the animation frames included in the part of the animation; responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame animation, and displaying the temporary animation and the second frame animation corresponding to the second action in sequence, if the action switching information of the virtual character is acquired to indicate that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to the second action when the virtual character is displaying the first frame animation corresponding to the first action, generating the temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the partial animation which is not displayed in the first frame animation, playing the temporary animation first and then playing the second frame animation of the second action after stopping playing the first frame animation, achieving the purpose of playing the original action quickly and playing the target action when the virtual character is switched, enabling two actions to be smoothly connected when different actions of the same virtual character are switched in the 2D game, overcoming the problem that the actions cannot be smoothly switched like the virtual character of the 3D game due to the lack of bones and skins of the virtual character of the 2D game, therefore, the technical effect of improving the fluency of the action display when the virtual character performs action switching is achieved, and the technical problem that the fluency of the action display is poor when the virtual character performs action switching is solved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the application.

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings without inventive exercise.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware environment of an action switching method of a virtual character according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of an optional method for switching actions of a virtual role according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a process for controlling a virtual character switch action in a 2D game according to an alternative embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an alternative virtual character action switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions of the present application better understood by those skilled in the art, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of this application and in the drawings described above are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used is interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the application described herein are capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed, but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Before describing the embodiments of the present application, the related terms referred to in the present application will be explained.

2D game: refers to two-dimensional interactive animation. Art resources (character walking, character state, map, etc.) in the 2D game can be rendered by png or jpg graphics files, and the 2D game has no way of completing perspective transformation.

3D game: is a game which uses the spatial stereo computing technology to realize operation. From the programming realization point of view, the game basic model (character, scene and basic terrain of the game) is realized by using a three-dimensional stereo model, and the character control of the game is realized by using a space stereo programming algorithm.

Virtual roles: are game characters in a game application. The game virtual character can be in the form of a character, an animal, a cartoon or other forms, and the embodiment of the application is not limited to this. Virtual characters in a 2D game may be referred to as 2D game virtual characters, and virtual characters in a 3D game may be referred to as 3D game virtual characters.

According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, an embodiment of a method for switching actions of a virtual character is provided, which is applied to a 2D game.

Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the above-described method for switching the actions of the virtual character may be applied to a hardware environment formed by the terminal 101 and the server 103 as shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 1, a server 103 is connected to a terminal 101 through a network, which may be used to provide services (such as game services, application services, etc.) for the terminal or a client installed on the terminal, and a database may be provided on the server or separately from the server for providing data storage services for the server 103, and the network includes but is not limited to: the terminal 101 is not limited to a PC, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, and the like. The method for switching the virtual role actions according to the embodiment of the present application may be executed by the server 103, the terminal 101, or both the server 103 and the terminal 101. The method for switching the actions of the virtual roles executed by the terminal 101 according to the embodiment of the present application may be executed by a client installed thereon.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of an optional method for switching actions of a virtual role according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the method may include the following steps:

step S202, acquiring action switching information of a virtual character under the condition that the virtual character is displaying a first frame of animation corresponding to a first action, wherein the action switching information is used for indicating that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to a second action;

step S204, generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation which is not shown in the first frame of animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of the animation frames included in the part of the animation;

and step S206, responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame of animation, and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame of animation corresponding to the second action.

Through the steps S202 to S206, if the motion switching information of the virtual character is obtained to indicate that the motion of the virtual character is switched from the first motion to the second motion when the virtual character is displaying the first frame of animation corresponding to the first motion, the temporary animation corresponding to the first motion is generated according to the part of the animation not displayed in the first frame of animation, after the playing of the first frame of animation is stopped, the temporary animation is played first and then the second frame of animation of the second motion is played, so that the purpose of rapidly playing the original motion and then playing the target motion when the virtual character switches motions is achieved, two motions of the same virtual character can be smoothly connected when different motions are switched in the 2D game, the problem that the motions cannot be smoothly switched as the 3D game virtual character due to the lack of bones and skins in the 2D game virtual character is solved, and the technical effect of improving the smoothness of the motion display when the virtual character performs the motion switching is achieved, and then solved the relatively poor technical problem of smoothness of action show when the virtual character moves and switches over.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the method for switching the actions of the virtual character may be applied to, but not limited to, a control engine of the virtual character, for example: a game engine, a movie animation production engine, a video live broadcast engine, and the like.

In the technical solution provided in step S202, the virtual character may be, but is not limited to, a 2D game virtual character in a 2D game application, or a 2D game virtual character in a 2D game function included in any other type of application, where the other type of application may include, but is not limited to: multimedia applications, live applications, short video applications, instant messaging applications, financial applications, shopping applications, social applications, office applications, educational applications, and the like. The 2D game avatars may be, but are not limited to, avatars that exhibit motion through frame animation. Compared with a mode that a 3D game virtual character realizes character actions through a skeleton and a skin, the 2D game virtual character showing the actions through frame animation may have unsmooth actions when the actions are switched.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the frame animation corresponding to the action of the virtual character may be made by, but is not limited to, action software, for example: the action software may include, but is not limited to, 3DMAX, by which actions corresponding to 2D game avatars are made according to 3D model action specifications. And the created motion is exported from the 3DMAX as frame animation using the same criteria (e.g., fixed number of frames per second, fixed shot at set position) and imported into the engine for use.

Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the action switching information is used to instruct to switch the action of the virtual character from the first action to the second action, and the action switching information may be, but is not limited to, an action switching instruction issued when controlling the virtual character, such as: when the player triggers a punch motion when the game character performs an arm-down motion in the process of controlling the game character, the acquired motion switching information is used for instructing to switch the motion of the game character from the arm-down motion to the punch motion.

In the technical solution provided in step S204, the partial animation is content that is not shown in the first frame of animation corresponding to the first action. Such as: the first motion is an arm-down motion, and the corresponding partial animation may be, but not limited to, an animation between a position where the arm is located from the time when the motion switching information is acquired and a position where the arm is located at the time when the arm-down motion is completed.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the temporary animation is generated according to a part of the animation that is not shown in the first frame of animation, and the temporary animation may be, but is not limited to be, used for quickly showing the remaining part of the first action, so as to shorten the time for showing the first frame of animation of the first action while being able to show the first action as much as possible.

As an alternative embodiment, generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation not shown in the first frame animation includes:

s11, extracting key animation frames from the partial animation;

and S12, connecting the key animation frames according to the time sequence in the partial animation to obtain the temporary animation.

Optionally, in this embodiment, but not limited to, key animation frames may be extracted from a part of the animation that is not shown in the first frame of animation, and then the key animation frames are connected in time sequence to obtain a temporary animation, thereby playing a role in shortening the time of the first frame of animation that shows the first action.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the manner of extracting the key animation frames may be extracted according to time, for example: and determining the switching time, and extracting the key animation frames according to the switching time. Alternatively, it can be extracted according to the number of animation frames, such as: and determining the number of the extracted animation frames, and extracting key animation frames meeting the number from part of animations. The manner of determining the number of extracted animation frames may include, but is not limited to: setting a predetermined number, setting the proportion (such as 5%, 7%, 15% and the like) of the number of the key animation frames in the number of the animation frames included in the partial animation, setting the number of the animation frames included in the partial animation to fall into different threshold ranges corresponding to different numbers of the key animation frames (such as 5 to 10 frames in the partial animation, taking 3 frames as the key animation frames, and more than 10 frames in the partial animation, taking 6 frames as the key animation frames), and the like.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the key animation frames are connected in chronological order in the partial animation, so that the remaining part of the first action shown in the temporary animation can be consistent and smooth.

Through the process, the key animation frames are extracted from part of the animation and are connected into the temporary animation according to the time sequence, when the same virtual character switches different actions in the 2D game, the temporary animation is displayed firstly, and then the frame animation of the next action is displayed, so that the two actions can be smoothly connected, the problem that the actions can not be smoothly switched like the actions of a 3D game virtual character in the 2D game due to the fact that the 2D game virtual character lacks bones and skins in the different action switching processes of the same virtual character in the 2D game is solved, and smooth display of the actions when the same virtual character switches different actions in the 2D game is realized.

As an alternative embodiment, extracting key animation frames from the partial animation includes:

s21, determining the number of key frames according to the switching time, wherein the switching time is the time from the end of displaying the first action to the beginning of displaying the second action, and the switching time is less than the displaying time of the partial animation;

and S22, extracting animation frames meeting the key frame number from the partial animation as the key animation frames.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the switching time is a time between the end of presenting the first action and the beginning of presenting the second action, and the switching time may be, but is not limited to, preset, such as: 5 milliseconds, 8 milliseconds, etc. Alternatively, the switching time may also be adaptively determined according to, but not limited to, presentation information (information such as resolution) of the frame animation, such as: the higher the resolution, the longer the switching time is determined, and the lower the resolution, the shorter the switching time is determined. This functionality may be, but is not limited to, obtained by training an artificial intelligence model using the samples.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the switching time is less than the presentation time of the partial animation, so as to achieve the effect of rapidly presenting the remaining part of the first action. The switching time may also be determined, but not limited to, according to the presentation time of the partial animation, and in one aspect, the switching time may be determined by setting a ratio of the switching time to the presentation time of the partial animation, such as: the set switching time is 10%, 20%, 25%, etc. of the presentation time of the partial animation. Taking the example of setting the switching time to be 20% of the presentation time of the partial animation, if the presentation time of the partial animation is 2 seconds, it can be determined that the switching time is 0.4 seconds. On the other hand, the presentation time of the partial animation can be set to fall into different ranges corresponding to different switching times, such as: the display time of the partial animation can be between 0 and 1 second without generating the temporary animation, the temporary animation of 0.5 second is generated within 1 to 3 seconds, and the temporary animation of 1 second is generated more than 3 seconds.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the number of key frames is the number of animation frames that need to be presented in the switching time. Animation frames meeting the number are extracted from part of animations and serve as key animation frames, and the effect of quick playing of the first action can be reflected.

As an alternative embodiment, determining the number of key frames according to the switching time includes:

s31, acquiring the switching time and a frame animation frame rate of the action of the virtual character, wherein the frame animation frame rate is used for indicating the number of animation frames displayed per unit time;

and S32, determining the product value of the switching time and the frame animation frame rate as the number of key frames.

Alternatively, in the present embodiment, the number of key frames may be determined, but not limited to, according to the switching time and a frame animation frame rate of the motion of the virtual character, the frame animation frame rate being used to indicate the number of animation frames to be presented per unit time, and a product value of the frame animation frame rate and the switching time may indicate the number of animation frames that can be presented within the switching time.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the unit time may be, but is not limited to, preset, for example: 1 millisecond, 10 milliseconds, 1 second, 10 seconds, 1 minute, 1 hour, and so forth.

As an alternative embodiment, extracting animation frames satisfying the number of key frames from the partial animation as the key animation frames includes one of:

s41, randomly extracting animation frames meeting the key frame number from the partial animation as the key animation frames;

s42, extracting animation frames meeting the key frame number from the partial animation at equal intervals as the key animation frames;

s43, extracting a start frame and an end frame from the partial animation, and randomly extracting N-2 animation frames from the rest frames except the start frame and the end frame to obtain the key animation frames, wherein N is the number of the key frames, and the key animation frames comprise the start frame, the N-2 animation frames and the end frame;

s44, extracting a start frame and an end frame from the partial animation, and extracting N-2 animation frames from the rest frames except the start frame and the end frame at equal intervals to obtain the key animation frames, wherein N is the number of the key frames, and the key animation frames comprise the start frame, the N-2 animation frames and the end frame.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the animation frames satisfying the number of key frames may be, but are not limited to, randomly extracted from a partial animation, or may be extracted at equal intervals.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the manner of extracting at equal intervals may be, but is not limited to, extracting one frame at regular intervals from the first frame in the partial animation, or skipping the first frame and extracting one frame at regular intervals. The interval may be, but is not limited to, the ratio of the total number of animation frames to the number of key frames in the partial animation, such as: if the total number of animation frames in the partial animation is 8 and the number of key frames is 4, one frame is extracted from every two frames. One way of extracting may be to extract the 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th, 7 th frames, and another way of extracting may be to extract the 2 nd, 4 th, 6 th, 8 th frames.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the start frame and the end frame in the partial animation may be directly determined as the key animation frames, and then the remaining key animation frames may be extracted from between the start frame and the end frame. The manner of extracting the rest key animation frames may be, but not limited to, random extraction, or may also be equal interval extraction. The interval may be, but is not limited to, the ratio of the number of animation frames between the start frame and the end frame to the number of key frames N-2, such as: if the total number of animation frames in the part of animation is 8 and the number of key frames is 4, two frames are extracted from 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 after the start frame 1 and the end frame 8 are extracted, for example, one frame can be extracted from every three frames. One way of extracting may be to extract the 2 nd and 5 th frames, another way of extracting may be to extract the 3 rd and 6 th frames, and still another way of extracting may be to extract the 4 th and 7 th frames.

Through the process, a certain switching time is set to show the temporary animation and then show the frame animation of the next action when the same virtual character switches different actions, so that the two actions can be smoothly connected, the problem that the 2D game virtual character lacks bones and skins cannot smoothly switch the actions like the 3D game virtual character in the different action switching process of the same virtual character is solved, and the smooth display of the actions when the same virtual character switches different actions is realized.

s51, determining the display time of the partial animation;

and S52, generating the temporary animation according to the partial animation when the showing time of the partial animation is larger than or equal to the target time.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, whether to generate the temporary animation may be determined according to the presentation time of the partial animation, and if the presentation time of the partial animation is long (for example, greater than or equal to the target time), the temporary animation may be generated according to the partial animation. For example: a temporary animation may be generated by setting a partial animation exhibiting a time of more than 3 seconds.

Optionally, in this embodiment, if the presentation time of the partial animation is short (for example, less than the target time), the temporary animation may not be generated, and the playback may be directly switched to play the second frame animation. For example: if the presentation time is set to be 1 second or less, the motion switching can be performed without generating the temporary motion picture.

Through the process, when the same virtual character switches different actions, if the remaining display time of the previous action is long, the temporary animation is extracted from the remaining part of the animation, and the frame animation of the temporary animation is displayed firstly and then the frame animation of the next action is displayed in the switching action, so that the two actions can be smoothly connected, the problem that the actions can not be smoothly switched like the 3D game virtual character in the different action switching process of the same virtual character due to the fact that the 2D game virtual character lacks bones and skins is further solved, and smooth display of the actions when the same virtual character switches different actions is further realized.

In the technical solution provided in step S206, after the display of the first frame animation is stopped, the temporary animation is displayed first, and then the second frame animation corresponding to the second action is displayed, so that smooth transition from the first frame animation to the second frame animation can be achieved, and the actions of the virtual character can be more harmonious and smooth.

As an optional embodiment, in response to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame animation, and sequentially displaying the temporary animation and a second frame animation corresponding to the second action includes:

s61, responding to the action switching information, stopping displaying the first frame animation, wherein the displaying of the first frame animation is stopped at the current frame;

s62, connecting the current frame to show the temporary animation;

and S63, connecting the temporary animation and displaying the second frame of animation.

Optionally, in this embodiment, stopping displaying the first frame animation may determine that the first frame animation stops on the current frame, then display the temporary animation next to the current frame, and then display the second frame animation next to the temporary animation.

Such as: and switching the action of the game role from the action of arm lowering to the action of punching a fist, stopping a first frame of animation of the action of arm lowering at a certain target position in the process of arm lowering, generating temporary animation which is used for quickly displaying the rest actions of the action of arm lowering, continuously playing the temporary animation which is used for quickly displaying the rest actions of the action of arm lowering by joining the target position, and playing a second frame of animation of the action of punching a fist.

Through the process, when the same virtual character switches different actions, after the frame animation of the previous action is stopped to be displayed, the generated temporary animation is displayed firstly, and then the frame animation of the next action is displayed, so that the two actions can be smoothly connected, the problem that the 2D game virtual character lacks bones and skins cannot smoothly switch the actions like the 3D game virtual character in the different action switching process of the same virtual character is solved, and the smooth display of the actions when the same virtual character switches different actions is realized.

As an alternative embodiment, the engaging the temporary animation to display the second frame animation comprises:

s71, connecting the temporary animation to show a switching animation included in the second frame animation, wherein the switching animation is used for showing a switching action between the first action and the second action;

and S72, connecting the switching animation to show the action animation included in the second frame animation, wherein the action animation is used for showing the second action.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the second frame animation corresponding to the second action may include, but is not limited to, a switching animation for showing a switching action between the first action and the second action, and an action animation for showing the second action.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the switching action between different actions may be different, and the switching action may be created when animation of the action is created, and may be created by the action software 3 DMAX.

Such as: for the above-described punch motion, when the motion of lowering the arm is switched to punch motion, the switching motion between the two motions may be a motion of raising the arm, and when the motion of extending the hand is switched to punch motion, the switching motion between the two motions may be a motion of retracting the arm, or the like.

The action of the game role is switched from the action of arm lowering to the action of punching a fist, the first frame of animation of the action of arm lowering stops at a certain target position in the process of arm lowering, the generated temporary animation is rapid display of the rest action of the action of arm lowering, the temporary animation which rapidly displays the rest action of the action of arm lowering is continuously played by connecting the target position, then the action of raising the arm is played, and then the action of punching a fist is played.

Through the process, when the same virtual character switches different actions, after the frame animation of the previous action is stopped being displayed, the generated temporary animation is displayed firstly, then the switching animation of the switching action between the two actions is displayed, and then the action animation of the next action is displayed, so that the two actions can be smoothly connected, the problem that the actions can not be smoothly switched like the 3D game virtual character in the different action switching process of the same virtual character due to the fact that the 2D game virtual character lacks bones and skins is further solved, and smooth display of the actions when the same virtual character switches different actions is further realized.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a process for controlling a 2D game virtual character switching action according to an alternative embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 3, the process uses action software such as 3DMAX and the like to make corresponding actions of the 2D game virtual character and switching actions between every two actions according to a 3D model action making specification, and then derives the actions from the 3DMAX as frame animations and introduces the frame animations into a game engine. Control of action switching is implemented in the engine by the following frame animation switching logic: firstly, when the motion switching is detected, the playing of the current frame animation (which is equivalent to the first frame animation) to the number of the frames and the remaining number of the frames of the current frame animation (namely, the partial animation) are determined, and the switching time is determined. Determining that the game role can play N-frame animation within the switching time, then extracting a starting frame and an ending frame from the remaining animation of the current frame animation which is not played completely, then taking out N-2-frame animation from the remaining frame which is not played completely at equal intervals to synthesize new frame animation (namely the temporary animation), immediately switching to play the temporary animation, directly switching to the switching animation between two actions which should be played originally after the temporary animation is played completely, and then playing the animation of the switched action (namely the second frame animation).

Through the process, animation producers do not have any learning cost, and can produce 3D animation by using familiar software; meanwhile, compared with the plug-ins such as Spine and the like, the method has no joint sense, is not as stiff as a puppet game, and is more smooth and natural compared with the traditional direct switching mode of frame animation. For game players, the action fluency of game characters is increased, so that the appearance is better.

It should be noted that, for simplicity of description, the above-mentioned method embodiments are described as a series of acts or combination of acts, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the present application is not limited by the order of acts described, as some steps may occur in other orders or concurrently depending on the application. Further, those skilled in the art should also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are preferred embodiments and that the acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required in this application.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiments can be implemented by software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and certainly can also be implemented by hardware, but the former is a better implementation mode in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM/RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes instructions for enabling an electronic device (such as a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device) to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present application.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided a virtual character motion switching apparatus for implementing the virtual character motion switching method, which is applied to a 2D game. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an optional virtual character action switching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 4, the apparatus may include:

an obtaining module 42, configured to obtain, when a virtual character is displaying a first frame of animation corresponding to a first action, action switching information of the virtual character, where the action switching information is used to instruct to switch an action of the virtual character from the first action to a second action;

a generating module 44, configured to generate a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the partial animation, where the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than the number of animation frames included in the partial animation;

and a display module 46, configured to respond to the motion switching information, stop displaying the first frame of animation, and sequentially display the temporary animation and a second frame of animation corresponding to the second motion.

It should be noted that the obtaining module 42 in this embodiment may be configured to execute step S202 in this embodiment, the generating module 44 in this embodiment may be configured to execute step S204 in this embodiment, and the displaying module 46 in this embodiment may be configured to execute step S206 in this embodiment.

It should be noted here that the modules described above are the same as the examples and application scenarios implemented by the corresponding steps, but are not limited to the disclosure of the above embodiments. It should be noted that the modules described above as a part of the apparatus may operate in a hardware environment as shown in fig. 1, and may be implemented by software or hardware.

Through the modules, if the action switching information of the virtual character is acquired to indicate that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to the second action when the virtual character displays the first frame animation corresponding to the first action, the temporary animation corresponding to the first action is generated according to the part of the animation which is not displayed in the first frame animation, after the first frame animation is stopped playing, the temporary animation is played first and then the second frame animation of the second action is played, so that the aim of rapidly playing the original action and then playing the target action when the virtual character switches the action is achieved, two actions can be smoothly connected when different actions of the same virtual character are switched in a 2D game, the problem that the actions can not be smoothly switched like the 3D game virtual character due to the lack of bones and skins in the 2D game virtual character is solved, and the technical effect of improving the action display smoothness when the virtual character performs the action switching is realized, and then solved the relatively poor technical problem of smoothness of action show when the virtual character moves and switches over.

As an alternative embodiment, the generating module includes:

As an alternative embodiment, the extraction unit comprises:

the determining subunit is configured to determine the number of keyframes according to a switching time, where the switching time is a time between ending presentation of the first action and starting presentation of the second action, and the switching time is less than a presentation time of the partial animation;

As an alternative embodiment, the determining subunit is configured to:

As an alternative embodiment, the extraction subunit is configured to perform one of:

As an alternative embodiment, the generating module includes:

As an alternative embodiment, the display module comprises:

As an alternative embodiment, the second display unit is configured to:

It should be noted here that the modules described above are the same as the examples and application scenarios implemented by the corresponding steps, but are not limited to the disclosure of the above embodiments. It should be noted that the modules described above as a part of the apparatus may be operated in a hardware environment as shown in fig. 1, and may be implemented by software, or may be implemented by hardware, where the hardware environment includes a network environment.

According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, an electronic device for implementing the method for switching the actions of the virtual character is also provided.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application, where as shown in fig. 5, the electronic device may include: one or more processors 501 (only one of which is shown), a memory 503, and a transmission means 505. as shown in fig. 5, the electronic apparatus may further include an input/output device 507.

The memory 503 may be used to store software programs and modules, such as program instructions/modules corresponding to the method and apparatus for switching the actions of the virtual character in the embodiment of the present application, and the processor 501 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the software programs and modules stored in the memory 503, that is, implements the method for switching the actions of the virtual character. The memory 503 may include high speed random access memory and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some examples, the memory 503 may further include memory located remotely from the processor 501, which may be connected to the electronic device through a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The transmission means 505 is used for receiving or sending data via a network, and may also be used for data transmission between the processor and the memory. Examples of the network may include a wired network and a wireless network. In one example, the transmission device 505 includes a Network adapter (NIC) that can be connected to a router via a Network cable and other Network devices to communicate with the internet or a local area Network. In one example, the transmission device 505 is a Radio Frequency (RF) module, which is used for communicating with the internet in a wireless manner.

Among them, the memory 503 is used to store an application program, in particular.

The processor 501 may call the application stored in the memory 503 through the transmission means 505 to perform the following steps:

By adopting the embodiment of the application, a scheme for switching the actions of the virtual role is provided. If the action switching information of the virtual character is acquired to indicate that the action of the virtual character is switched from the first action to the second action when the virtual character is displaying the first frame animation corresponding to the first action, the temporary animation corresponding to the first action is generated according to the part of the animation which is not displayed in the first frame animation, after the first frame animation is stopped being played, the temporary animation is played first and then the second frame animation of the second action is played, the aim of quickly playing the original action and then playing the target action when the virtual character is switched is achieved, two actions of the same virtual character can be smoothly connected when different actions of the same virtual character are switched in the 2D game, the problem that the actions can not be smoothly switched like the actions of the virtual character of the 3D game due to the fact that the virtual character of the 2D game lacks bones and skins is solved, and the technical effect of improving the fluency of the action display when the virtual character is switched in action is realized, and then solved the relatively poor technical problem of smoothness of action show when the virtual character moves and switches over.

Optionally, the specific examples in this embodiment may refer to the examples described in the above embodiments, and this embodiment is not described herein again.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the structure shown in fig. 5 is merely an illustration, and the electronic device may be a smart phone (e.g., an Android phone, an iOS phone, etc.), a tablet computer, a palm computer, and a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a PAD, etc. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the electronic device. For example, the electronic device may also include more or fewer components (e.g., network interfaces, display devices, etc.) than shown in FIG. 5, or have a different configuration than shown in FIG. 5.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by a program instructing hardware associated with an electronic device, and the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: flash disks, Read-Only memories (ROMs), Random Access Memories (RAMs), magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a storage medium. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the storage medium may be a program code for executing the method for switching the action of the virtual character.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may be located on at least one of a plurality of network devices in a network shown in the above embodiment.

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium is configured to store program code for performing the following steps:

Optionally, in this embodiment, the storage medium may include, but is not limited to: a U-disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a removable hard disk, a magnetic or optical disk, and other various media capable of storing program codes.

The above-mentioned serial numbers of the embodiments of the present application are merely for description and do not represent the merits of the embodiments.

The integrated unit in the above embodiments, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a separate product, may be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application, which are essential or part of the technical solutions contributing to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solutions, may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing one or more computer devices (which may be personal computers, servers, network devices, or the like) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application.

In the above embodiments of the present application, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed client may be implemented in other manners. The above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one type of division of logical functions, and there may be other divisions when actually implemented, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, units or modules, and may be in an electrical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The foregoing is only a preferred embodiment of the present application and it should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present application, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for switching the actions of a virtual character, which is applied to a 2D game, comprises the following steps:

generating a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to a part of animation which is not shown in the first frame animation, wherein the number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than that of the animation frames included in the part of animation, and the part of animation is content which is not shown in the first frame animation corresponding to the first action;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation not shown in the first frame of animation comprises:

extracting key animation frames from the partial animation;

3. The method of claim 2, wherein extracting key animation frames from the partial animation comprises:

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the number of key frames based on the handoff time comprises:

5. The method of claim 3, wherein extracting animation frames from the partial animation that satisfy the number of key frames as the key animation frames comprises one of:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to the part of the animation not shown in the first frame of animation comprises:

determining a presentation time of the partial animation;

7. The method of claim 1, wherein stopping presenting the first frame animation in response to the action switching information, and presenting the temporary animation and a second frame animation corresponding to the second action in sequence comprises:

connecting the current frame to display the temporary animation;

and connecting the temporary animation to display the second frame animation.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein engaging the provisional animation to show the second frame animation comprises:

9. An action switching device for a virtual character, which is applied to a 2D game, comprising:

a generating module, configured to generate a temporary animation corresponding to the first action according to a part of the animation that is not shown in the first frame of animation, where a number of animation frames included in the temporary animation is less than a number of animation frames included in the part of the animation, and the part of the animation is content that is not shown in the first frame of animation corresponding to the first action;

10. A storage medium, characterized in that the storage medium comprises a stored program, wherein the program when executed performs the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 8.

11. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 8 by means of the computer program.