FI118613B - Procedure and system for creating a vector graphics animation - Google Patents

Description

118613

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VECTOR GRAPHIC ANIMATION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to vector graphics. In particular, the invention relates to the production of animated vector graphics with limited resources.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

10 As the number of consumer electronics has increased, so has their visual appeal. As a result, 3D graphics have become familiar to people in so many contexts that they are no longer perceived as special, though their complexity has only increased over the years. In the early days of three-dimensional graphics, simple designs were used that could be shaded. Today, the most complex models have a tremendous amount of three-dimensional coordinates, the surfaces of which are coated with various patterns and shades. The most complex models' *** are used in a variety of industries, of which • · · ····. the most impressive is the entertainment and movie industry.

* * Calculating enormous models in the film industry requires enormous power. This would not be possible,.,) · * If the model calculation should succeed in real time.

Unlike games where computational fluency significantly limits game playability. The sample view must be counted dozens of times successfully. ···. 30 seconds to keep the game moving smoothly. Because of this, the complexity of the models has to be compromised by • V, which results in a reduction in visual appeal. Three-dimensional graphics, geometry calculations, shadows, and the like are known to one of skill in the art from several textbooks, so are not covered in this application.

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In games, vector graphics are typically used to create three-dimensional characters, but vector graphics per se work just as well on two-dimensional, or even multidimensional, systems. Traditional 3D graphics consist of static objects placed in the surrounding space. Objects can be moved by moving or rotating around an axis. In addition, the camera's position in space can be rotated to change the overall view. In addition to these, animated 3D characters can also be made. While traditional models were well suited for example to build a car on the screen of the game, nowadays a realistic character movement is required. This is accomplished by forming various movements on the character.

Typically, movement is accomplished by forming a skeleton on the character to which its surface forming components are attached. Typically, these com-20 components are triangles or polygons with surfaces that are suitably colored and shaded. For example, in the case of humans, they may form a muscle surface or, for example, a suit.

·: · The quality of the characters is influenced not only by the number of poles used:: ··· 25 but also by the smoothness of movement.

It has been possible to improve the smoothness of movement by using. through motion detection. Typically, the motion sensor '' V. ' The actor is organized so that the character has an actor • · * "to which the observation points are attached. Then the 30 actors make the desired movements, which are recorded.

• · · ···: Based on the motion observation points, natural-looking trajectories can be created for a three-dimensional model. Observation points are transformed into a · · · · Iin skeleton to which surface elements are attached. After this · · * · '35, the character's surface can be modified to the desired • · · · ... · without changing the trajectories. Motion Detection * 118613 3 There are numerous applications. Some examples are US 6664531 and US 6654498.

The problem with traditional three-dimensional systems is the power they require. One solution 5 for this is to equip less efficient devices, such as mobile phones, with a separate graphics processor that quickly calculates the required calculations. However, this complicates hardware and increases the number of components, costs, and power consumption. In addition, it is impossible to make system changes to existing hardware. Therefore, there is an obvious need for a method for producing 3D animated graphics on lower power systems. In addition, creating matrix-based three-dimensional animations requires a lot of space.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a new type of method for creating moving three-dimensional models. In particular, it is an object of the invention

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• ** j relieves the above-mentioned prior art problems * * * ··· * mx 3.

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: SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

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The invention describes a method and system for producing vector graphics animation. The system may also be implemented in part as software. The method according to the invention defines the motion data of the vector graphics and the characters for it. The motion path data is determined by the motion capture method. · · · · · · · · · · · · “Motion capture” means that the actor • • * 1 * performs the desired movements of the character. * ·· 35 battles are attached to observation points whose movements are extracted from the described motion. - Based on this, natural motion can be formed, which is known per se and is not described in detail here.

In addition, the characters are configured to be used with 5 trajectories. The characters can be defined by any design program, or even by manually calculating coordinates if necessary. You can specify more than one character.

When using an application, such as a game, 10 characters are combined into a path of motion. The first character to be selected is the one to be combined with the path information. Matching points are determined by combining character and path. Response points are defined as program code so that code combining can be performed later. The character's matchpoints connected to the trajectory's match point follow the movement of the trajectory. Multiple character points can be attached to one movement point counterpoint so that the character does not have any unoccupied points, even if the motion track has fewer match points than the character.

After that, the desired step of the trajectory is selected from the desired character, after which the character can be *: * rotated, for example, in the normal rotation calculation-

With the help of what ···. Finally, the character is halftone on the screen

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· ...: 25 for submission.

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···, The advantage of the invention compared to known systems is the small amount of data required. At the same

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• · *****, eliminating unnecessary movement data reduces memory requirements. Further, the trajectory can be flown with sufficient accuracy, so that the trajectory itself cannot be counted. The arrangement of the present invention * is particularly advantageous in low-capacity devices, such as mobile phones, where it operates much more efficiently than traditional systems. Further, the advantage of the present arrangement is that ·: Is that it works on existing terminals without costly modifications, and it is a further advantage of the invention that the invention can be used to create animations from unknown orbital material by combining them with character coordinates.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a method according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a functional block diagram of a system according to the invention, and Figure 3 illustrates the operation of an exemplary code according to the invention.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention describes a method and system for creating vector based animation. Figure 1 illustrates step by step the creation and presentation of an animation 20 according to the invention.

First, in the system of the invention, the motion path, step 10, and the characters, step 11, are created. ·: * The order between these steps is not essential for the function Φ · ** ·; ···, but the characters can also be created. 25 before creating motion paths. Characters can also be added. ·. adjust it later, and use it in conjunction with later movements.

• · *** Determining motion paths, step 10, is done using some known motion detection method. In such a character, the ... · · · points are distinguished from the character actor. After that, the actor plays the movements that are filmed. As described in materi-, ···. • · · · ... · 35 can be traced from the character to form the trajectory. Then the · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 118613 6 hand-draw and enter coordinates manually, and then the characters are ready to be used, for example, in games or other applications.

In the application, you select a character to draw, step 5, step 12. The character is selected from a set of characters defined in the game. The desired number of characters can be determined within the capacity of the terminal being used. The desired path is then selected, step 13. The paths can also be determined within the desired capacity of the terminal being used. The number of paths is not tied to the number of characters, but may be more or less. A single character can use several different trajectory data, and vice versa.

The selected motion path and character are combined using match points, step 14. When defining the character and motion path, special match points are also defined and stored as program code for later use. Later, match code can be successfully combined with program code. Preferably, the program code 20 is executed in a virtual machine which interprets the correspondences of the match points and connects the match points to each other. The point-to-point code and the actual point-to-point paths link the characters and the trajectory.

·; · For example, the figure to be depicted is marked with dots, • • Il · ...: 25, which represent the figure's arm with a link. ···. parts of the forearm of the character, for example, the elbow and the wrist, may be configured to move along the trajectory.

If the character has more points than the motion ** ·· ', their motion can be linked to the already bound motion points or other points in the character.

• .ΙΓ The character is then subjected to the desired vector ··· rigraphy operations, such as inversion, surface coloration and shading, step 15. · · · · · · · · · · · ·. operations are standard and any general vector operation can be used with the system. Lo- ··· · ... · the boxing animation is rasterized for drawing, step 16.

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Figure 2 illustrates a system according to the present invention. The system consists of three main components which are a design system for creating characters 20, a terminal device for driving the final fit 5 and a motion capture system 22.

The terminal 21 stores the characters created by the design system 20 and the motion paths created by the motion capture system 22 according to the method described in Figure 1. In addition, the terminal comprises a first selector for selecting 23 characters from a plurality of characters to be combined with motion path information. For example, the character is selected based on the game situation. If there are more than one character on the screen, they are passed one by one. Once the character to be processed is selected, 15 combinators are used to connect the 24 desired animation characters to the specified path path information. Preferably, the combiner 24 is a virtual machine implemented in the terminal that executes the code unifying the character. The system further comprises a second selector for selecting the desired step of the desired animation 20, for example, if the character is a walking person, selecting the desired step of the walking sequence, e.g., moving the left foot φ. * Ί *. After selecting the character and phase »·· *, the computation tools calculate the computation needed to represent the desired vector · 26, · 25 *. supplies, such as turning the character to walk away from the screen. Finally, the desired character is halftone on a '1 * screen to be drawn on the screen.

* ·· ** As will be apparent to one skilled in the art, the first selector 23, the combiner 24, the second selector .. 25, the computing means 26, and the raster 27 may be implemented as software components that can utilize general components of the hardware used. · # ... # you and / or components dedicated to a particular function • # *! * 35 and. For example, the computing means 26 can compute the required computations using a general processor ··· i or a specific graphics processor in the device.

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Figure 3 shows a simple animation according to the invention. The animation of Figure 3 forms a folding arrow with three original motion capture hotspots C1, C2, and C3. In step 2, new calculated points N1, N2 and N3 are also shown. The purpose of the example is to build a key in order diffracted Cl, C2 and C3, where C3 is the direction of the arrow tip. This is done by calculating the midpoint of the vectors C2 and C3, followed by calculating a neuter vector in the direction of the vector C2-C3 which is the length of the vector C2-N1. After that, the text is translated. 90 degrees to the left and halve its length to obtain the point N2. Similarly, point N3 is obtained by rotating the vector 90 degrees to the right. In the following, 15 things are illustrated by a short source code which, when executed in a virtual machine combiner, forms a folded arrow as shown in the figure.

1: Vector3D [] VA; 2: set Cl = 0; set C2 = 1; set C3 = 2; 20 3: set Nl = 3; set N2 * 4; set N3 = 5; 4: set TEMP1 = 10; 5: VA [N1] = (VA [C3] + VA [C2]) / 2; i #; j * 6: Vector3D VecTempl = VA [Nl] -VA [C2] / ··· 7: VA [N2] * = (RotateZ (VecTempl, -90) / 2) + !!!!; 25 VA [Nl]; • ·. ···. ' 8: VA [N3] = (RotateZ (VecTempl, +90) / 2) + '"f VA [N2];

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* ::: 9: setcolor (BLACK); * ··· * 10: drawLine (VA [Cl], VA [C2]); 30 11: drawLine (VA [C2], VA [N1]); 12: drawFilledTriangle (VA [N2], VA [C3], VA [N3]);

The code in line 1 defines a table for which the vectors are stored. The application example assumes that the required vector dots are stored in the table according to the definition. · * In actual application, they should be downloaded by a separate download. 118613 9, which is obvious to a person skilled in the art, is not shown. Line 2 sets the indexes of the vectors generated by motion capture. Line 3 sets the index of the computationally generated vectors. Line 4 specifies the index of the vertex used in the calculations. Line 5 calculates the average of two vectors that are stored in a table. Line 6 subtracts one of the 10 vectors in line 5 to obtain a direction vector of origin. This vector is temporarily stored. Line 7 rotates the vector to -90 degrees, divides the result by two, and saves it Line 8 does the same, but turn the vector 90 degrees to 15 degrees.

After line 7, any transformations such as rotation of vectors are made. They are not an integral part of the present invention because state-of-the-art graphics interfaces and processors assume that these functions are performed centrally. Lines 8-12 refer to the drawing of vectors on a screen where the drawing color is set to black, drawn lines, and filled in. * · * A triangle with angles N2, C3 and N3. It should be noted, ·, · that in the present figure shows the diffracted «« · ··, ·· 25 of the arrow a step. Arrowhead can be drawn. ···. similarly, no matter how skilled the arrow is. * No prior information is needed on points N1, N2 and N3, but they are obtained by running the unifying code **** in the combiner. Using the example code 30 avoids heavy performing the operations The above method of combining points and trajectory data in a jet machine is particularly advantageous because in this way previously unknown trajectory data can be easily combined with previously created characters.

The invention is not limited solely by the above. 118613 10, but many modifications are possible within the scope of the inventive concept as defined in the claims.

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Claims (20)

118613 A method for producing vector graphics animation, comprising the steps of: determining motion path information for an animation using a motion-5 capture method; determining the coordinates of one or more animation characters; characterized in that the method further comprises the steps of: determining specific match points for one or more animation characters and path data; storing special match points as program code; selecting a character from the plurality of characters for association with the determined li-15 kerat information; selecting the desired step of the desired animation character; combining the character of the desired animation with the specified motion path information by said match points in said program code; 20 calculating the computations needed to represent the desired phase vector graphics to represent all points of the figure; and ** "rasterize the desired character to be drawn on the screen. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the animation to be created is two-dimensional. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the animation to be created is; 30 three-dimensional. Ml ·. ***. The process of any one of the preceding claims 1 - Ψ · · ·. 3. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the animation to be created is part of the second animation IM. ta. The method of claim 1, 2 or 4, characterized in that the two-dimensional animation is converted to three-dimensional animation by adding the necessary z-coordinate. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of different character match points are associated with the match point of the motion path information. A system for producing vector graphics animation, comprising: means (22) for specifying motion path information of an animation by a motion capture method; means (20) for determining coordinates of one or more animation characters; a terminal (21) for displaying an animation; characterized in that the system further comprises: a first selector (23) for selecting a character from a plurality of characters to be associated with the specified path path information; a combiner (24) for mapping the matched points of the desired animation character to the matched points of the motion path data; a second selector (25) for a desired animation character ···: for selecting the desired phase, the computing means (26) for calculating the calculations required to represent the desired phase vector graph to represent all points of the character; ··· * ·: · and · ♦ ··. ···. a desired rasterizer (27) for rasterizing the desired character to be drawn on the screen; and. 30, in which system means (22) for specifying motion path information and animation coordinates (20) are arranged to determine specific match points for motion path information and animation coordinates, which are stored as program code. · · · The system according to claim 7, characterized in that the animation to be created is a two-dimensional one. 118613 System according to Claim 7, characterized in that the animation to be created is three-dimensional. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 5, characterized in that the system is arranged to integrate the animation to be formed as part of the second animation. System according to Claim 7, 8 or 10, characterized in that the system 10 is arranged to convert two-dimensional animation to three-dimensionality by adding the required Z-coordinate. A system according to any one of the preceding claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the combiner (24) is arranged to connect a plurality of different character counterpoints to a movement point data point. A software product for producing a vector graphics animation, which, when executed, executes the following steps: determining the motion trajectory data of the animation by a motion capture method; defines one or more animation characters · · ···! coordinates; . »: * Characterized in that the software product 25, when run on the device, further performs the steps of: • · · defining specific match points for one or more animation characters ·: · and path data; ; ** 'j storing special match points as program code ···; ; . ·. 30 selecting a character from the plurality of characters to merge with the specified li • φ · '11 / kerat data; *; * selecting the desired step of the desired animation character; combining the character of the desired animation with the specified motion path information contained in said program code. | ·, 35 by means of said equivalence points; 118613 calculates the calculations needed to represent the vector of the desired phase to represent all points of the selected character; and rasterizing the desired character to be drawn on the screen. A software product according to claim 13, characterized in that the animation generated by the software product is two-dimensional. A software product according to claim 13, characterized in that the animation generated by the software product is three-dimensional. Software product according to one of the preceding claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the animation generated by the software product is incorporated as part of the second animation. A software product according to claim 13, 14 or 16, characterized in that the software product, when run on the device, converts two-dimensional animation to three-dimensionality by adding the required Z-coordinate. A software product according to any one of the preceding claims 13 to 17, characterized in that the software product, when run on the device, combines a plurality of different character points to the corresponding point of the "**. Kerat data." ♦ * ··· * 19. A software product according to claim 16 or 17, characterized by combining · * · · ... * match points using a program code executed in the combiner.:: *: 30 : a true product, characterized by the fact that the combiner is a virtual machine implemented as a component of a software product ······•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• m · «· 118613