JP2002260008A - Three-dimensional character data forming device and three-dimensional diagram data forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically form a high-grade three-dimensional diagram shape from contour line data on two-dimensional character and diagram. SOLUTION: A character shape structure analyzing part 4 determines whether or not the outer periphery of a character hole is included in the outer periphery of a character from two-dimensional outline data inputted via a character outer peripheral data acquiring part 2, and stored in a character outer peripheral data storage part 3. When determined that the answer is affirmative, a character shape upper-under surface projecting polygon dividing part 5 divides an area between both outer peripheral data into projecting polygons. A character shape side surface forming part 6 forms a side surface of a three-dimensional character by moving divided respective components in the z axis direction, and forms three-dimensional shape data on the character.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to three-dimensional shape data for generating data representing a three-dimensional shape from data representing an arbitrary two-dimensional shape such as a character constituted by a contour on a two-dimensional plane. More particularly, the present invention relates to a three-dimensional character data generator and a three-dimensional graphic data generator for characters and graphics.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional three-dimensional character data generating apparatus, for example, a first conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-1033.
There is a "three-dimensional character creation device" disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 80. This conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. The two-dimensional character is input by the two-dimensional character input device 140, and the two-dimensional character on the xy plane is defined in the storage device 120. Next, the operator operates the z-direction correcting device 130 while watching the display on the display device 110,
The shape design of the three-dimensional character is advanced. At this time, the z-coordinate value of each point is changed on the xz projection plane 112 or the yz projection plane 113, and the input two-dimensional character is modified into a three-dimensional character. The three-dimensional image of the three-dimensional character being modified can be confirmed on the three-dimensional image projection surface 114. Next, based on the image data of the pattern input from the area background input device 150, image data in a state where a pattern is attached to the surface of the three-dimensional character in the storage device 120 is generated. Is displayed. However, the generation of the three-dimensional character shape in the present invention is performed by the operator using the xz projection plane 112 or the yz projection plane 113, and is not automatic generation.

In order to automatically generate a three-dimensional character shape, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
There is a “shape conversion method, a recording medium recording the processing procedure of the method, and a shape conversion device” disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-53578. This is to generate only a side shape of a character from outline data representing a character shape on a two-dimensional plane. Therefore, in this conventional example, only a part of the three-dimensional shape is generated, and a complete three-dimensional shape of the character cannot be obtained.

A third conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
JP-A-53579 discloses “a shape conversion method and a recording medium on which the conversion procedure is recorded, and a shape conversion device”. That is, a given two-dimensional bitmap font character is input, each bit data constituting the bitmap font character is made to correspond to a three-dimensional shape, and the three-dimensional shape as a whole character is synthesized by combining them. To generate. However, bitmap fonts
Jaggies are likely to occur in the outline, and in order to make the jaggies inconspicuous, it is necessary to use a sophisticated bitmap font having a large number of bits constituting a character.

[0005]

However, in the first conventional example, since the operator manually generates a three-dimensional character shape, the processing load on the operator is large, and the processing time is extremely long. Real-time generation is not possible. Although the above-mentioned second conventional example aims at automatic generation of a three-dimensional character shape, the data to be generated is only the data of the side surface. There is no incomplete data, and it must be said that it is useless data for practical use. In the above third conventional example, although a three-dimensional character shape can be generated for the time being, it is generated from bitmap data, so that jaggies occur in the outline of the character shape. Therefore, when drawing is performed by CG or the like using this, jaggies at the time of drawing are further added, and the character quality is extremely low. Further, in order to make all bitmap characters correspond to the three-dimensional shape, an extremely large amount of data is required to realize a certain-quality three-dimensional shape.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an apparatus capable of easily generating high-quality three-dimensional shape data. That is, data representing a three-dimensional shape is automatically and real-time generated from outline data of a given two-dimensional character or figure without trouble of an operator, and the quality of the character or figure is also represented by a bitmap font. The present invention provides an apparatus capable of generating data of a three-dimensional shape with much higher quality than that generated based on the. In addition, various texture patterns can be applied to the surface of three-dimensional characters and figures, and a character-shaped pedestal can be installed or stamped, so that various three-dimensional character expressions can be supported. A three-dimensional shape data device is provided.

[0007]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional character data generating apparatus for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data. Using, the outer circumference determining means for determining the outer circumference of the character parts constituting the character and the outer circumference of the hole formed in the character, and has an inclusion relationship with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and A containment relation specifying means for specifying the outer periphery of the character component located at a position closest to the outer periphery of the hole; and an inclusive relation with the character part based on the internal region of the outer periphery of the character part specified by the inclusion relation specify means. A region excluding the inner region around the hole is divided into polygons, and the outer periphery of an unspecified character part is divided into polygons by the above-mentioned dividing region. Move the replication of character parts according to region, and a side surface generating means for generating a side from the apex of the character component and the cloning character parts.

More specifically, the character shape structure analysis unit determines the outer periphery of the character hole from the two-dimensional outline data stored in the character outer periphery data storage unit input via the character outer periphery data acquisition unit. It is determined whether or not the outer periphery is included. If it is determined that the data is included, the character-shaped upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit divides the area between both outer peripheral data into convex polygons. Further, the character-shaped side surface generation unit 6 moves each of the divided components in the z-axis direction to
The side of the three-dimensional character is formed, and three-dimensional shape data of the character is generated.

Further, in order to solve the above problems, a three-dimensional graphic data generating apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data. An outer circumference determining means for determining an outer circumference of a graphic component constituting the graphic and an outer circumference of a hole formed in the graphic; and an inclusive relationship with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and An inclusive relation specifying means for specifying the outer periphery of the graphic component located at a position closest to the outer periphery, and an inner peripheral area of the graphic component specified by the inclusive relation specifying means, and The area excluding the internal area is divided into polygons, and the outer periphery of the unspecified graphic part is divided into polygons by dividing the internal area into polygons. That moves a copy of the graphic components, and a side surface generating means for generating a side from the apex of the graphic component and the duplicated figure component.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a three-dimensional character data generation method and a three-dimensional character data generation method, each of which comprises the characteristic constituent means of the three-dimensional character data generation device and the three-dimensional graphic data generation device. It can be realized as a graphic data generation method, or as a program including those steps. And the program is
Not only is it stored in a ROM or the like provided in the three-dimensional character data generation device or the three-dimensional graphic data generation device, but also in a CD-R
It can also be distributed via a recording medium such as an OM or a transmission medium such as a communication network.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment according to the present invention will be described.
6 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation apparatus 101 according to Embodiment 1. The three-dimensional character data generation device 101 includes a character code input unit 1, a character outer periphery data acquisition unit 2, a character outer periphery data storage unit 3, a character shape structure analyzer 4, a character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5, and a character shape side surface generator. It comprises a unit 6 and a character shape data output unit 7.

The character code input unit 1 is an input device such as a so-called keyboard and mouse, and converts these input signals to generate character codes such as ASCII codes and JIS codes and graphic codes. The character code generated by the character code input unit 1 is output to the character periphery data acquisition unit 2.

The character outer periphery data acquiring unit 2 stores so-called outline data (hereinafter, also referred to as “outline data”) of a character corresponding to the character code input from the character code input unit 1, and stores the character outer periphery data. To get from.

The character outline data storage section 3 stores character outline data in advance corresponding to character codes. In this case, if the fonts are different even if the characters are the same, the outline data will also be different. Therefore, outline data is stored in the character periphery data storage unit 3 in association with the character code and the font type. The outline data acquired by the character periphery data acquiring unit 2 is output to the character shape structure analyzing unit 4.

In general, outline data includes a total number of points, an identifier of a curve type, coordinate data of a start point (coordinates in the outline data are two-dimensional xy coordinates, the same applies hereinafter), and a connection method between points. (For example, there are a connection method using a straight line and a connection method using a curve.)
(Hereinafter, referred to as “point sequence coordinate data”), one set of data is constituted by the number of character parts, which will be described later, forming one character.

Usually, the connection between the points is made by using a straight or two-dimensional B-Spline curve, and a continuous curve is generated by further connecting the connections between the points. Therefore, in the connection method using a straight line, the position data of the point sequence represents an end point, and in the connection method using a curve, the position data of the point sequence represents a control point when a curve is generated. Also, a closed curve can be formed by connecting the start point and the end point of the point sequence, and this closed curve is a curve representing the outer periphery of the character. In the present embodiment, the point sequence coordinate data in the character outline data indicates the value of the xy coordinate, and the coordinate axis in the height direction when the character is represented three-dimensionally is the z-axis.

Further, since some characters have a torus structure with a hole, the point sequence of the outline data includes a point sequence that constitutes the outer periphery of the outer shape of the character (hereinafter, referred to as a “character outer peripheral point sequence”). And a sequence of points forming the outer periphery of the hole of the character (hereinafter, referred to as “hole outer periphery point sequence”).

As in the case of the Chinese character "", one character may be composed of a plurality of character parts.
Here, the “character part” refers to elements that are not connected to each other and that constitute a character. In the case of the above "time", the character part of the outer "mouth" and the character part of the inner "b" are constituted. In the case of Russian "ё", "・", "・"
And "e". Therefore, each character component has one character peripheral point sequence. Further, some character parts have one or a plurality of hole peripheral point sequences.

In order to realize the distinction between the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence, usually, the direction in which the individual points of the character outer peripheral point sequence are defined (that is, The direction of tracing in order) and the direction in which the points in the hole outer periphery point sequence are arranged have opposite relationships. Here, the trajectory when tracing the character periphery point sequence is "clockwise",
It is assumed that point sequence coordinate data is stored in the character periphery data storage unit 3 so that the way of tracing the hole periphery point sequence is “counterclockwise”. However, how to decide this way,
There is no special reason. Note that an identifier for explicitly distinguishing the outer periphery of the character from the outer periphery of the hole may be provided, but in this case, the data amount to be stored in the outer character data storage unit 3 increases.

FIG. 2 shows the way of turning when the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence are traced as described above.
In FIG. 2, the character peripheral point sequence is represented by clockwise black points P0 to P9, and the hole peripheral point sequence is represented by counterclockwise white points P10 to P15.

First, the character shape structure analysis section 4 determines whether the received character string outline data is a character line point sequence or a hole line point sequence. The procedure of this determination will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) Assuming that the point sequence obtained from the outline data is P0, P1,..., Pn, two adjacent vectors PiPi + 1 and Pi + 1Pi + 2 generated from these point sequences. , An angle θi + 1 forming an inner product is obtained (where i = 0, 1,..., N, and Pn + 1 = P0; the same applies hereinafter). For example, a vector P0P1 and a vector P1P2
In this case, the angle forming the inner product is θ1.

(2) The outer product of two vectors related to the angle θi + 1 forming the inner product is obtained, and if the value is positive, a positive sign is added, and if the value is negative, a negative sign is added. The angles θi + 1 forming the above inner products are sequentially calculated, and the sum of them is ± 2π.

(3) The sum of the angles θi + 1 forming the signed inner product obtained in (1) and (2) above is obtained, and the sum is −2π
If this is the case, it is determined that the character is a character outline point sequence that can be traced clockwise,
If it is 2π, it is determined that it is a hole outer peripheral point sequence that follows in a counterclockwise direction.

Next, as a result of the discrimination in the above (3), in the case of a character consisting only of a character outer peripheral point sequence, a process for obtaining the following boundary box is performed, and then the structural analysis result information described later and an outline are obtained. The data is output to the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5. When the character outer periphery point sequence and the hole outer periphery point sequence coexist (that is, when the hole outer periphery point sequence exists), a structure analysis (analysis of inclusion relation) described below is performed.

In the following, as shown in FIG. 2, a description will be given of a method of obtaining a boundary box for a character outer peripheral point sequence using the numeral "0". (1) The minimum value of the x coordinate from the character outline point sequence (xo-min)
And the maximum value (xo-max), and the minimum value (yo-min) and the maximum value (yo-max) of the y coordinate. (2) Four points A (xo-min, yo-max) and point B (xo-max) created based on the minimum and maximum values obtained in (1).
max, yo-max), point C (xo-max, yo-min), point D (x
o-min, yo-min) is used as a boundary box. However, in the case of normal mathematical notation, vertices are specified in a counterclockwise direction. In the present embodiment, vertices are specified in a clockwise direction in accordance with the order notation of the character outer peripheral point sequence.

(3) Half of the total length of each side of the boundary box ABCD (hereinafter, referred to as "length L")
Is calculated from the length L = (side AB) + (side BC). After this processing, the point sequence coordinate data, the number of boundary boxes, the coordinates of four vertices of the boundary box (or xo-min, xo-max, yo-min, yo-max), and the length of each side The sum is stored in the character outer data storage unit 3. The same boundary box a as above for the hole periphery point sequence
xh-min, xh-max, yh-min, yh-max of four coordinate values (hereinafter referred to as “four coordinate values”) constituting the bcd are obtained,
Similarly, it is stored in the character periphery data storage unit 3.

From the above, for example, in the case of the character "", the character outer peripheral point sequence of the character component of the outer "mouth" and the character outer peripheral point sequence of the character component of the inner "b" are used. And a group of outer-peripheral points of two character holes, that is, a character part of the outer “mouth” and a character part of the inner “b”. Therefore, two boundary boxes ABCD are created based on the two character outer peripheral point sequences, and two boundary boxes abcd are created based on the two hole outer peripheral point sequences.

Next, in order to clarify the inclusion relation between the group of the character outer peripheral point sequence and the group of the hole outer peripheral point sequence,
For each of the boundary boxes of the character outer peripheral point sequence, the following inclusion relationship is determined for the four coordinate values constituting the boundary boxes of all the hole outer peripheral point sequences.

(Judgment of Inclusion Relationship) "" xo-min <xh-min <xh-max <xo-max "and" yo-min
If <yh-min <yh-max <yo-max ", the perimeter of the hole is included in the perimeter of the character. Otherwise, it is not included."

In the above-described determination of the inclusion relationship, the hole peripheral point sequence of one character hole is included in the character peripheral point sequence of a plurality of character parts, or is apparently included even though it is not actually included. It is possible that a situation has occurred. For example,
The case of “solid” or “store” corresponds to such a case. Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to correct the inclusion relation, which can be executed by the following correction rule.

(Correction Rule) "When the outer periphery of one character hole is included in the outer periphery of a plurality of character parts, the hole is included in the outer periphery of the innermost character part." Are specifically described below. First, the first method is as follows. (First method) The inside / outside judgment between the character outer peripheries of two characters is substituted by comparing the length L of the boundary box of the character outer perimeter point sequence, which was obtained earlier,
It is determined that the smaller value of L is the inner character. In the first method, the calculation time is short, and the inclusion relation can be determined at high speed. However, in the case of an exceptional font, the determination of the inclusion relationship may not be successful. Therefore, a second method that requires a long calculation time but can stably determine the inclusion relation will be described below.

(Second Method) (1) For a boundary box of a character outer peripheral point sequence,
The inclusion relation is determined. That is, “coordinates of a boundary box of a character outer peripheral point sequence of one character among a plurality of characters determined to include a certain hole are xoj-min, xoj-max, yoj
-min, yoj-max (where j is a suffix of the character outline including the character hole, j = 1 to n), and if the following condition is satisfied for a certain k, the character hole is replaced by the suffix k. Judge as a hole in the character. (Condition) “For any j ≠ k, xoj-min <xok-min” and “y
oj-min <yok-min "and" xok-max <xoj-max "and" yok
-max <yoj-max ""

If this condition is not satisfied, the following judgment (2) is made. When the above condition is satisfied, xok-min = max (xo-min) yok-min = max (yoj-min) xok-max = min (xo-max) yok-max = min (yoj-max) It is. Therefore, as a determination procedure, first, max
(Xoj-min) = k is obtained from xok-min (the minimum value of the x coordinate of the boundary box is compared between arbitrary boundary boxes, and j having the maximum value among them is k)
It is sufficient to check whether the remaining three conditions are satisfied with respect to k.

(2) When the condition of (1) is not satisfied, the minimum value of the distance from the center of gravity of the boundary box of the hole outer periphery point sequence to the outer periphery of each character outer shape is calculated, and among these minimum distances, It is determined that the hole belongs to the outer periphery of the minimum character outline. However, the "minimum distance from the center of gravity of the boundary box of the character hole to the outer periphery of the character outer shape" is calculated by calculating the minimum value of the distance to a point on the character outer periphery and the minimum value of the distance to the side of the character outer periphery. , The smaller of the two.

The distance to a point on the outer periphery of the character is calculated using a normal Euclidean distance (root of the sum of squares). The distance to the outer edge of the character is obtained as follows. However, the character peripheral point sequence is represented by P0 (p0x, p0y), P1 (p1x, p1y),
.., Pn (pnx, pny), the center of gravity of the boundary box of the character hole is C (cx, cy), and the side PkPk +
Let the foot of the perpendicular dropped to 1 be H (hx, hy). a = pk + 1x-pkx, b = pk + 1y-pky, d = Cx-p
kx e = Cy-pky α = (a × d + b × e) / (a ** 2 + b ** 2) hx = α × a + pkx hy = α × a + pky where k = 0, 1, 2,..., n And Pn + 1 = P0 (here, “X ** Y” represents X to the Yth power; the same applies hereinafter).

Next, min (pkx, pk + 1x) ≦ hx ≦
max (pkx, pk + 1x) and min (pky, pk + 1)
y) ≦ hy ≦ max (pky, pk + 1y), the distance | CH | to the side is calculated by the following equation. If this condition does not hold, there is no distance to the side, so the processing moves to the next side. | CH | = (| PkC × PkPk + 1 |) / | PkPk + 1 | = | d × b−a × e | / (a ** 2 + b ** 2) ** (1/2)

The character structure analysis result information is a tree structure information having a hierarchy (for example, a point sequence "L").
When "B" is included in the dot sequence "LA", it can be described as "LA-LB" or the like. The information represented by the tree structure is output to the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5 as character structure analysis result information.

The processing in the character shape structure analysis unit 4 configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a case where a character shape structure analysis is performed on the Chinese character "". Also, FIG.
4 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing flow in the inclusion relation analysis processing in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the point sequence of “times” includes a point sequence 401 of the outer periphery of the “mouth” portion, and a point sequence 40 of the outer periphery of the hole of the outer “mouth” portion.
2. Point sequence 403 on the outer periphery of the inner "B" portion and the inner "B"
Is constituted by a dot sequence 404 on the outer periphery of the hole of the portion.

First, the character shape structure analysis unit 4 determines whether the point sequence of “times” received from the character periphery data acquisition unit 2 represents the character periphery point sequence by the above-described method. It is determined whether a point sequence is represented (S4).
05). As a result, the point sequence 401 (Lo-1) and the point sequence 40
3 (Lo-2) corresponds to the character peripheral point sequence (406), and it is determined that the point sequence 402 (Lh-1) and the point sequence 404 (Lh-2) correspond to the hole peripheral point sequence (407). Thereafter, the boundary box and the length L are calculated for the character outer peripheral point strings 401 and 403 (S408), and the hole outer peripheral point strings 402 and 403 are calculated.
A boundary box is calculated for 404 (S409).

Next, the above-mentioned hole outer periphery point sequence 402 (Lh-1)
Then, an inclusion relation analysis process is performed on which character peripheral point sequence includes the hole peripheral point sequence 404 (Lh-2) (S410).

In the inclusion relation analysis processing (S410), first, the boundary box of the character outer peripheral point sequence (Lo-1, Lo-2) to be analyzed and the hole outer peripheral point sequence (Lh-1, Lh-2) are obtained. The boundary box is specified (S501), and it is determined whether or not the boundary box of the hole peripheral point sequence is included in the boundary box of the character peripheral point sequence (S502, S503). This determination is performed for all combinations of the boundary boxes of the character outer peripheral point sequence and the boundary boxes of the hole outer peripheral point sequence (S5).
04, S501 to S503). In the case of "times",
It is determined that the character outer peripheral point sequence Lo-1 includes the hole outer peripheral point sequences Lh-1 and Lh-2, and the character outer peripheral point sequence Lo-2 includes the hole outer peripheral point sequence Lh-2 (411). .

In the above determination, when it is determined that one hole peripheral point sequence is included in a plurality of character peripheral point sequences, the only character peripheral point sequence that includes the hole peripheral point sequence is specified. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the inclusion relation as described below (S412, S413, S505).

First, one hole outer peripheral point sequence is specified, and all (for example, N) character outer peripheral point sequences including the same are specified.
Further, N is calculated by the above-described first or second (1) method.
Identify the innermost character peripheral point sequence from among the characters (S
506, S509).

If it cannot be specified (S50)
7) The innermost character peripheral point sequence is specified by the above-described second (2) method (S508, S510).

As described above, the determination of the inclusion relation for “times” is based on the fact that the hole outer peripheral point sequence (Lh-2) of the inner “b” portion is the character outer peripheral point sequence (Lo− It is corrected to be included only in 2), and this structural analysis result information can be represented by a tree structure (414).

When there is no hole in the character (or character part), the structure analysis result information that the structure is a flat structure without a hierarchy is provided in the same manner as in the case of the hole, and the character shape upper and lower surface is convex. Output to the polygon division unit 5. As described above, a character (or character part) can be represented by a tree structure such as “outer shape only” or “outer shape + character hole” based on the structure analysis result information obtained from the character shape structure analysis unit 4. it can. Here, the “component” refers to an internal area (including a character peripheral point sequence) or a character peripheral point defined by a character peripheral point sequence, which is a target of polygon division in a character or a character part, which will be described later. A region (including a character peripheral point sequence and a hole peripheral point sequence) excluding an internal region inside a hole defined by a hole peripheral point sequence from a character peripheral internal region defined by a column.

The character-shaped upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5 divides the above-mentioned components into convex polygons. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which a triangle is taken as an example of a convex polygon, and polygon division is performed using this.

First, the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5
In a case where a hole outer periphery point sequence is included in a component to be divided, a process of connecting a character outer periphery point sequence and a hole outer periphery point sequence is performed as a pre-process for performing triangular polygon division (hereinafter, “ Is referred to as “connection”), and is converted into a single point sequence on the outer periphery. At the same time, a reordering process of the point sequence numbers (numbers indicating the order of arrangement of the point sequences) is performed. This connection is a process of connecting the outer periphery of the character and the outer periphery of the hole based on the outline data to generate so-called one-stroke writing point sequence coordinate data. The connection can be realized by the following two methods.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the first connection method is applied to the kanji character “ta” and the point sequence numbers are changed. Hereinafter, the first connection method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, only the point sequence number of each point sequence is shown.

(First Connection Method) (1) For all the character holes, the maximum values x-max, y-max of the x and y coordinates based on the sequence of the hole outer peripheral points of each character hole.
And the minimum values x-min and y-min are obtained, and the center coordinates of each character hole ((x-max + x-min) / 2, (y-ma
x + y-min) / 2).

(2) The nearest character outer peripheral point is determined from the center coordinates of each character hole (hereinafter, referred to as "proximal point"). However, in order to reduce the amount of calculation, the distance in this case is replaced by the sum of squares of the x and y coordinates, and no route is taken. If there is more than one character hole, after determining the proximity point for one character hole so that there is no overlap in the proximity points, for the next character hole, start from the character outer peripheral point excluding the proximity point. Select a nearby point. In the example of FIG. 5, the point of proximity to the character hole 615 is point “4” in the character peripheral point sequence.

(3) The hole outer peripheral point of the character hole closest to the above-mentioned adjacent point is obtained, and the order of the hole outer peripheral point sequence is rearranged so that the point becomes the starting point (that is, the point sequence number is changed). . For example, the original hole periphery point sequence is represented by {P0, P1,.
, Pm}, and when the point on the outer periphery of the character hole closest to the proximity point is Pk, {Pk,..., Pm, P0, P1,.
・ Replace the dot sequence numbers in the order of, Pk-1}. In the case of the example of FIG.
Since the point on the outer periphery of the hole closest to the adjacent point among the points 2, 3 is point “2”, the point sequence numbers are changed so as to be in the order of {2, 3, 0, 1}.

(4) A hole peripheral point sequence is embedded in a character peripheral point sequence, and a point sequence number is changed. For example, if the point sequence number of the original character peripheral point sequence is {Q0, Q1, Q2,..., Qi, Qi + 1,
, Qn}, the new hole periphery point sequence after the replacement of (3) is {P0, P1,..., Pm} and the proximity point is "Qi", The embedding of the hole periphery point sequence is ｛Q0,
, Qi, {P0, P1,..., Pm, P0},
Qi, Qi + 1,..., Qn}. When a new point sequence number is assigned to the point sequence thus embedded, they become {0, 1, 2, ..., i, i + 1, ..., i + m +
1, i + m + 2, i + m + 3,..., N + m + 3}. When there are a plurality of character holes, connection is performed by sequentially embedding the dot sequence numbers of the adjacent points in ascending order. In the case of the example of FIG. 5, if it is assumed that only the hole periphery point sequence of the character hole 615 is embedded for convenience, the sequence number of the character periphery point sequence is {0, 1,..., 4,. If the new hole perimeter point sequence after the rearrangement of (3) is {0, 1, 2, 3}, the point adjacent to the character hole 615 is point “4”. , Embedding the hole sequence, {0,1,..., 4, {0,1,2,3,0},
4, ..., 11}. Furthermore, when the point sequence numbers are newly changed, {0, 1,..., 4, 5,.
.., 17 °. As shown in FIG. 5, when the above connection is applied to other character holes 616 to 618, the point sequence numbers of the newly generated outer peripheral point sequence are finally {0, 1, .., 35 °.

Thereafter, the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5 associates the point sequence of the outer periphery newly generated by this connection with the character outer periphery point sequence and the hole outer periphery point sequence before connection. (For example, in a table format). In addition, since the point sequence of the outer periphery generated by this connection includes an overlap point, an identifier indicating the overlap point is also stored in the character outer periphery data storage unit 3 together.

Next, a description will be given of a second connection method in which the algorithm of the first connection method is reinforced and modified so that an exceptional character (or character part) can be processed.

(Second Connection Method) (1) Focusing on one character hole to be processed, calculate the distance from each point of the hole peripheral point sequence to each point of the character peripheral point sequence, The smallest one (minimum distance) is specified. Further, the distance from each point of the above-mentioned hole outer periphery point sequence to the side of the character outer periphery is calculated, and the minimum distance is specified from the calculated distance.

(2) The smaller one of the minimum distances specified in (1) above is adopted as the minimum distance of the noted character hole, and the point of the hole outer peripheral point sequence and the point of the character outer peripheral point sequence ( Alternatively, two points are determined: a point in the hole periphery point sequence and a point of a perpendicular foot lowered to the side of the character periphery.

(3) The point sequence numbers of the hole periphery point sequence are changed in the order starting from the point of the hole periphery point sequence determined in (2). For example, if the original hole periphery point sequence is {0, 1,.
k,..., m}, and when the hole peripheral point closest to the adjacent point is the point “k”, {k,..., m, 0, 1,.
The point sequence numbers are rearranged in the order of.

(4) If the minimum value of the minimum distance to the character periphery is a point in the character periphery point sequence, the hole periphery point sequence is embedded in the character periphery point sequence and the point sequence number is changed.
For example, the point sequence number of the original character peripheral point sequence is {0, 1, 2,
.., I, i + 1,..., N}, and the point sequence numbers of the hole periphery point sequence after the rearrangement of the above (3) are {0, 1,.
, M}, the embedding when the point closest to the start point of the hole periphery point sequence is i is {0, 1, 2, ..., i,
{0, 1,..., M, 0}, i, i + 1,..., N}, and since the point sequence numbers are serially changed, {0, 1, 2,. i, i + 1, ..., i + m +
1, i + m + 2, i + m + 3,..., N + m + 3}. This is a new point sequence on the outer periphery. At this time, in addition to the new outer peripheral point sequence, the starting point of the hole outer peripheral point sequence, the character outer peripheral point sequence before connection, and the hole outer peripheral point sequence, and further, i, i + 1, i + m
+1 and i + m + 2 are stored in the character outer data storage 3 as overlapping points.

On the other hand, if the point satisfying the minimum value of the minimum distance to the outer periphery is the point of the perpendicular foot lowered to the side of the character outer shape, the point of this perpendicular foot is embedded in the character outer peripheral point sequence, and the point sequence number Replace For example, when the foot of the perpendicular line is on the side generated by points k and k + 1 in the character peripheral point sequence, this point is embedded between k and k + 1. Next, the hole outer peripheral point sequence is embedded in the character outer peripheral point sequence after completion of embedding in the same manner as above, and the point sequence numbers are changed. Embedding is performed using the embedded character outer peripheral point k + 1) as a proximity point. Also in this case, in addition to the new outer peripheral point sequence, the start point of the hole outer peripheral point sequence, the character outer peripheral point sequence before connection, and the hole outer peripheral point sequence, and further, k + 1,
k + 2, k + m + 3, k + m + 4 are stored in the character periphery data storage unit 3 as overlapping points.

(5) If there are a plurality of character holes, the above-described processes (1) to (4) are performed for the next character hole. However, regarding the point that once became an overlap point in (4),
Exclude from the minimum distance calculation target in (1).

Next, two methods of dividing the constituent elements into triangles will be described. First, the first triangulation method will be described. Algorithms for triangulation of a convex hull with respect to a sequence of points on a plane have been studied in the field of computational geometry.
There is a launay triangulation algorithm. Also,
The algorithm for calculating the convex hull for the point sequence is Gra
ham algorithm and Quickhul algorithm. Therefore, the component is only the character periphery,
Moreover, if the outer shape of the character is convex, the triangulation is completed by applying the Duraunay algorithm. However, in general, as can be seen from the above description, there are often holes in the constituent elements, and the outer shape of the character is often a concave polygon such as "A". Therefore, the components are subjected to triangulation by a method in which these algorithms are combined and improved as described below.

(1) A point sequence is newly generated from the point sequence on the outer periphery generated by the above-described connection except for the overlapping point located behind the point sequence (this is referred to as “point sequence B”). The relation is stored in the character outer data storage unit 3 in a table format. In other words, in this table, the connected peripheral point sequence and the point sequence before connection are associated, and the connected peripheral point sequence and the point sequence B from which the rear overlapping point is removed therefrom. Are associated with each other.

(2) For the point sequence B, a convex hull is generated by the Graham or Quickhull method. (3) If the point sequence on the outer periphery of the component is one character outline, and the generated point sequence on the outer shape of the convex hull matches the point sequence on the outer periphery before connection, an identifier 0 is assigned. Others give identifier 1.

(4) The convex hull generated in (2) is triangulated by the Duraunay algorithm. if,
If the identifier is 0, the process from (1) is performed on the next component, and if the identifier is 1, the process proceeds to (5). (5) The center of gravity of the triangle generated in (4) is calculated.

(6) Let P0, P1,..., Pm be the point sequence on the outer periphery obtained by the connection, and refer to the above table for the points in the point sequence B corresponding to Pi and Pi + 1. Assuming that Q and R are Q and R, when a triangle is constituted by QR as one side, the center of gravity Ci of those triangles (this Ci
Is at most two), and the cross product of the vector PiPi + 1 and the vector PiCi is calculated. However, if there are two triangles that include QR as a side, outer product calculation is performed for each center of gravity.

At this time, when the coordinate system of the space in which the character shape is defined is a right-handed system and the calculation result of the cross product is positive, the triangle is a triangle formed in a concave portion of the character outline, or It is rejected because it is a triangle inside the character hole. In the case of a left-handed system, reject if the result of the cross product is negative. The above processing is sequentially performed for i = 0,..., M−1. At this time, if both Pi and Pi + 1 are overlapping points, corresponding Pj-1 (overlapping point corresponding to Pi) and Pj (Pi + 1
Are present behind the point sequence B (i.e., i <j-1), and when the triangle removal determination for the side PiPi + 1 is completed, the rear side Pj-1Pj
Is set in the table so as not to perform the determination of. When the process is completed up to i = m-1, the process is repeated for all components from the above (1) for the next component.

FIG. 6A shows an example of a processing result when the above-described first triangulation method is applied to “ta”. However, the numbers in the figure indicate the point sequence numbers of the point sequence B. The result of the triangulation is represented by a set of three points in point sequence B. In general, in the case of a right-handed system, a surface where the above three points are arranged in a counterclockwise direction is defined as an upper surface, and a surface which is clockwise in the opposite direction is defined as a lower surface. No problem). In addition, assuming that three points constituting the triangle are PQR, the rotation direction of the arrangement can be determined by calculating the cross product of the vector PQ and the vector PR and determining the sign thereof. For example, if the coordinate system is a right-handed system and the cross product calculation result is positive, the arrangement of PQR is counterclockwise and the arrangement of PRQ is clockwise. The same determination can be made for the left-handed system (however, clockwise is generally defined as the surface).

Next, a second triangulation method will be described. The point sequence of the connected outer periphery obtained in the preprocessing is represented by P0,
Assuming that P1,..., Pm, the second method performs the following processing. However, here, in the above table, the identifier 1 is held for the point of the concave portion on the outer periphery of the character outline and the point of the outer periphery of the character hole. The detection of the point of the concave portion calculates an outer product of two vectors PiPi + 1 and Pi + 1Pi + 2 generated from a sequence of points on the outer periphery of the character outline, and in the case of a right-handed system, when the sign is positive, Pi +1 is the point of the recess (the reverse is the case for the left-handed system).

(1) The cross product of the vectors P0P1 and P1P2 is calculated and its sign is calculated (here, the right-hand system is used, but in the case of the left-hand system, the same operation can be performed only by reversing the sign). However, since point removal is performed in the following (2b), if the number of remaining points in the point sequence finally becomes three, no outer product is performed, and the three points are held in that order. I do. Since the triangle formed by the three points is the last triangle in the division processing, the processing ends there.

(2a) If the result of the cross product of (1) is negative,
It is checked whether the inside of the triangle P0P1P2 does not include the point of the point sequence B of the outer periphery of the character hole held in the table or the concave part of the character outer shape. In this check, the sign of the cross product of the vectors formed by connecting the points to be checked with the vectors P0P1 and P0 is positive, the sign of the cross product of the vectors formed by connecting the points to be checked with the vectors P1P2 and P1 is positive, and the vector P2P0 If the sign of the cross product of the vector formed by connecting the points to be checked with P2 and P2 is positive, it is determined that the checked point is inside the triangle.

(2b) If no point is included in the triangle in the judgment of (2a), three points P0P1P2 are held in this arrangement (this arrangement is equivalent to clockwise), and P1 is a point sequence B
, A new sequence of points is generated, and the processing from (1) above is continuously performed on the triangle P0P2P3.

(2c) If a point is included in the triangle in the judgment of (2a), a new point sequence is generated by moving P0 to the end of the point sequence B, and the triangle P1P2P3 is continued. The processing is performed from the above (1).

(2d) The result of the cross product of (1) is positive or 0
If so, a new point sequence in which P0 is moved to the end of the point sequence B is generated, and the processing from (1) is continued for the triangles P1, P2, and P3.

FIG. 6B shows an example of the processing result in the case where the above-described second triangulation method is applied to “ta”. However, the numbers in the figure indicate the dot sequence numbers of the dot sequences on the outer periphery that have been connected in the preprocessing. By combining a plurality of sides and triangles generated in the above division,
Division by a general polygonal shape becomes possible.

Further, FIG. 7 shows an example of a processing result when the above-mentioned second triangulation method is applied to Russian “ё”.
Shown in By applying the first triangulation method to each component, the coordinate data of the point sequence B (here, 2
(Dimensions) and data (data represented by three indices in point sequence B) representing an arrangement of three points representing each divided triangle. In general, in the right-handed data format, when characters are displayed in three dimensions, the arrangement of the three points on the components on the lower surface is clockwise, and the arrangement of the three points on the components on the upper surface is counterclockwise. Also,
By applying the second triangulation method, coordinate data (here, two-dimensional) of the connected sequence of points on the outer periphery can be obtained,
Similarly, data representing an arrangement of three points of each triangle (data represented by three indices in a connected outer peripheral point sequence) is generated. Here, the “index” refers to an identifier for representing each vertex of the divided triangle. For example, when the triangle is composed of P1P2P3, “1”, “2”, and “3” are indexes. The above first
The format of the data generated by the triangulation method or the second triangulation method is generally referred to as indexed surface data. However, the arrangement of the point sequence in the case of the left-handed system is opposite to that in the case of the right-handed system. in this way,
In the character-shaped upper and lower convex polygon dividing unit 5, indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface and indexed surface data of each component on the lower surface for one character are generated and output to the character-shaped side surface generating unit 6. You.

The character shape side surface generation unit 6 receives the indexed surface data output from the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5, and from the character outer circumference data storage unit 3, a sequence of original outer periphery points ( The data of the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence in the format before the connection is obtained. Furthermore, the character-shaped side surface generating unit 6 extends the indexed surface data three-dimensionally. Hereinafter, the character shape side surface generation processing for expanding the indexed surface data in the character shape side surface generation unit 3 three-dimensionally will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the character shape side surface generation processing. FIG. 9 (a)-
(D) is a diagram showing an outline of four types of methods for moving the upper surface of the character in the height direction, which are required when the indexed surface data is extended three-dimensionally.

First, as the initialization processing, the character-shaped side surface generating section 6 expands the point sequence coordinate data in the indexed surface data of each component on the lower surface into three dimensions, and corresponds to the z coordinate value. All parts are set to 0. Similarly, all the parts corresponding to the z-coordinate values of the point sequence coordinate data of the point sequence (hereinafter referred to as “lower point sequence”) on the lower surface obtained by expanding the original outer peripheral point sequence into three dimensions are set to 0 ( S90
1).

Next, a method of moving the upper surface of the character in the height direction is specified, and based on each method (S902),
The z-coordinate value of the point sequence coordinate data in the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character, and the point sequence on the upper surface obtained by expanding the original outer peripheral point sequence into three dimensions (hereinafter referred to as “upper point sequence”). ) Is determined.

FIG. 9A is a diagram showing an outline of the first method. The first method is to lift the upper surface of the character vertically in the height direction (h is the height of the lift).
In this case, among the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character, all the z coordinate values of the point sequence coordinate data are set to h. Similarly, the point sequence coordinate data of the original point sequence on the outer periphery is extended three-dimensionally to generate an upper point sequence, and all parts corresponding to the z coordinate value are set to h (S903).

FIG. 9B is a diagram showing an outline of the second method. In the second method, the reference vector v (vx, vy,
vz). in this case,
Of the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character, the z coordinate value of the point sequence
The dimension is extended to these dimensions, and the coordinate values for the reference vector are added to these dimensions. Similarly, the z-coordinate value of the point sequence coordinate data of the original point sequence on the outer periphery is set to 0 to generate a three-dimensionally extended upper point sequence, and the coordinate values of the reference vector are added to these (S904).

FIG. 9C is a diagram showing an outline of the third method. A third method is a method in which a character is reduced or enlarged and then moved in the height direction (h is h). In this case, reduction or enlargement conversion is performed on the point sequence coordinate data in the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character, and the z coordinate value is set to 3
Extend to dimensions. Similarly, reduction or enlargement conversion is performed on the point sequence coordinate data of the original point sequence on the outer periphery, and the z-coordinate value is set to h to generate a three-dimensionally expanded upper point sequence (S905).

FIG. 9D is a diagram showing an outline of the fourth method. The fourth method is a method of moving by rotation conversion, and an appropriate rotation axis vector and rotation angle θ are given in advance. In this case, among the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character, the z-coordinate value of the point sequence coordinate data is extended to three dimensions by setting it to 0, and a rotation axis given in advance to these coordinate values is set. The rotation conversion defined by the vector and the rotation angle θ is performed, and the coordinate values after the conversion are calculated. Similarly, the z-coordinate value of the point sequence coordinate data of the original perimeter point sequence is set to 0 to generate a three-dimensionally extended upper point sequence, and a predetermined rotation axis vector and rotation The rotation transformation defined by the angle is performed, and the coordinate value after the transformation is calculated (S906).

As can be seen from the above processing, the lower point sequence and the upper point sequence of the three-dimensionally expanded original outer periphery have the same point sequence number. As described above, the character-shaped side surface generating unit 6 generates the indexed surface data of each component of the upper and lower surfaces of the character extended in three dimensions (S
907), and is output to the character shape data output unit 7.

Assuming that the lower point sequence of the periphery of each component expanded in three dimensions is {P′n} and the upper point sequence is {Pn}, in the case of the right-handed system, the side surface is a square PiP′iP′i + 1Pi + It can be generated as 1 (in the counterclockwise order, in the case of a left-handed system, you can rearrange it clockwise). In order to obtain side data in the form of indexed surface data, QiQi + nQi + 1Qi + n + is added to point sequence coordinate data of a point sequence (here, {Q2n}) in which a lower point sequence is added after an upper point sequence. Arrange the index data in the order of 1. The generated indexed surface data of the side surface of each component is output to the character shape data output unit 7.

The character shape data output unit 7 hierarchically combines the indexed surface data of the upper and lower surfaces of each component of the character and the indexed surface data of the side of each component output from the character shape side surface generator 6. And collectively output it to an external device (for example, a three-dimensional graphic display device). When the data format is converted, the data format is converted and then output.

As described above, for a character including a hole, the inclusion relation between the outline of the character or character part and the character hole is clarified, so that the character is divided into units of the character part.
Dimensional display can be enabled.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1 described above, the upper surface of the character is linearly lifted in the height (z-axis) direction to form the side surface of the three-dimensional character linearly.
Although an example of generating a three-dimensional character has been described, in the second embodiment, an arbitrary intermediate outer periphery is provided on a side surface of a three-dimensional character, and various bevel-shaped side surfaces are formed based on the intermediate outer periphery. An embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the description of the same components as those in the first embodiment is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the three-dimensional character data generation device 201 according to the present embodiment. The apparatus 201 includes a bevel-shaped side surface generation unit 11 instead of the character-shaped side surface generation unit 6, and includes a character-shape data output unit 12 instead of the character-shape data output unit 7. The three-dimensional character data generation device 201 configured as described above will be described in detail below.

In the bevel-shaped side surface generating section 11, in addition to the output result of the character-shaped upper / lower-surface convex polygon dividing section 5, as in the first embodiment, the data of the original outer point sequence is stored in the character outer peripheral data. Input from section 3. In the indexed surface data of each component on the lower surface of the character, the point sequence coordinate data is extended three-dimensionally, and all parts corresponding to the z coordinate value are set to 0. Similarly, a lower point sequence obtained by expanding the point sequence coordinate data of the original outer peripheral point sequence into three dimensions is generated, and all parts corresponding to the z coordinate values are set to 0.

Next, it is lifted vertically in the height direction (h is the lifted height), and the point sequence coordinate data of the indexed surface data of each component on the upper surface of the character is extended three-dimensionally. All parts corresponding to coordinate values are set to h. Similarly, an upper point sequence is generated by extending the point sequence coordinate data of the original point sequence on the outer periphery into three dimensions, and all portions corresponding to z coordinate values are set to h. The indexed surface data of each of the three-dimensionally expanded upper surface and lower surface components is output to the character shape data output unit 12 (except for the mold type bevel shape described last).

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a method of generating a bevel-shaped outer shape and a bevel-shaped intermediate outer periphery. FIG. 11A is a diagram showing the simplest bevel-shaped outer shape. In FIG. 11A, an intermediate outer periphery 1220 is generated between the upper and lower surfaces of the character, and the bevel shape is formed such that the cross section of the side of the character when cut obliquely becomes a convex hexagon. . In this case, the middle outer periphery 1220 outside the character
Is the outer circumference 1210 (or 1
230) is generated by enlarging, and the middle outer periphery of the character hole is generated by reducing the outer periphery of the hole on the upper surface (or lower surface) of the character.

The other bevel shapes shown in FIG.
Contrary to (a), a case may be considered in which the side surface of the character is cut obliquely inward, and the bevel shape is formed so that the cross section becomes a concave hexagon. In this case, the middle outer periphery of the character is generated by reducing the outer periphery 1210 (or 1230) of the upper surface (or lower surface) of the character, and the middle outer periphery of the character hole is
It is generated by enlarging the outer periphery of the hole on the upper surface (or lower surface) of the character. Other combinations of the middle outer periphery of the outside of the character and the middle outer periphery of the character hole include a case where the character outline and the character hole are both enlarged and generated, and a case where both the character outline and the character hole are reduced and generated.

Hereinafter, a method for generating the intermediate outer circumference will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

As described above, in order to generate the intermediate outer circumference, it is necessary to expand or reduce the outer circumference of each component. For the intermediate outer periphery, the normal vector of the outer periphery of the component is obtained, and the points in the point sequence of the outer periphery of the component are moved in the normal direction (in the case of enlargement, the normal vector is moved in the positive direction; In the direction of.). A method of generating an intermediate outer circumference when points on the outer circumference of the component are P0, P1,..., Pn will be described below.

(1) Vector pi = PiPi + 1 1340
(A vector with the point of the subscript i as a starting point and the point of the next subscript i + 1 as an end point) is obtained. However, the last vector obtained is pn = PnP0 (a vector whose suffix is the last point on the outer circumference as the start point and the first point as the end point) (S130).
1).

(2) A normal vector Ni = (Nix, Niy) 1341 of each vector pi = (pix, piy) is obtained (S1302). The method of obtaining the normal vector is as follows. However, there are two types of normal vectors. (When pix * piy ≠ 0): Nix = ± 1 / (1+ (pix / piy) ** 2) ** (1/2), −Niy = ± (pix / piy) × 1 / (1+ (pix / Piy)
** 2) ** (1/2) (when pix = 0, piy ≠ 0): Nix = ± 1, Niy = 0 (when pix ≠ 0, piy = 0): Nix = 0, Niy = ± 1. The one that satisfies the following condition is selected from the two normal vectors obtained above. (Conditional expression): pix * Niy-piy * Nix> 0

(3) A normal vector NPi = (NPxi, NPyi) is obtained for each point Pi on the outer periphery by the following equation (S1303). NPi = (Ni-1 + Ni) / || Ni-1 + Ni || = ((Ni-1x + Nix) / ((Ni-1x + Nix) ** 2+ (Ni-1y + Niy) ** 2)) ** (1/2), (Ni-1y + Niy) / ((Ni-1x + Nix) ** 2+ (Ni-1y + Niy) ** 2)) ** (1/2) However, NP0 is as follows. NP0 = (Nn + N0) / || Nn + N0 || = ((Nnx + N0x) / ((Nnx + N0x) ** 2+ (Nny + N0y) ** 2)) ** (1/2), (Nny + N0y) / ((Nnx + N0x) * * 2 + (Nny + N0y) ** 2)) ** (1/2))

(4) When the amount of enlargement / reduction of the outer periphery is L, the next αi is calculated (S1304). However, the specific enlargement / reduction amount L will be described later. αi = L / cos θi = L / (NpixNix + NpiyNiy) However, in the case of the outer periphery of the component, the denominator of the above equation does not become 0 or less. Therefore, if it becomes 0 or less, an abnormality has occurred.

(5) Assuming that a point on the middle outer periphery corresponding to each point Pi on the outer periphery is Pi'1242, Pi 'is obtained by the following equation. These become a dot sequence constituting the enlarged intermediate outer periphery (S1306). Pi ′ = Pi + αiNPi In the case of reduction, the point on the intermediate outer periphery is obtained by Pi ′ = PiαiNPi for Pi ′ (S1307).

Using the sequence of points on the intermediate outer periphery thus generated, the sequence of upper points, and the sequence of lower points, a method of generating a side surface shape is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, the point sequence on the middle outer periphery is extended three-dimensionally, and the z coordinate value is set to half of h / 2 here (in this case, the z coordinate value can be set to any value between 0 and h. Is). Next, Pcn, Pcn + 1 are the point sequence on the middle outer periphery corresponding to the upper point sequence Pn, Pn + 1, and the lower point sequence is Pcn.
n ′, Pn + 1 ′, the side surface generated by connecting the outer periphery of the upper surface and the intermediate outer periphery is “P
In “nPn + 1Pcn + 1Pcn”, the side surface generated by the connection between the middle outer circumference and the lower circumference is “PcnPcn + 1Pn + 1′Pn ′”.

Therefore, the indexed surface data of the side surface generated from the outer periphery of the upper surface and the intermediate outer periphery is represented by a point sequence Q obtained by appending the point sequence of the intermediate outer periphery to the upper point sequence (number n).
, Qn, Qn + 1,..., Q2n, and in the case of counterclockwise rotation, the indexes are Qi, Qi + 1, Qi + n + 1, Qi + n.
Are sequentially configured. Similarly, indexed surface data of a side surface generated from the middle outer circumference and the lower circumference can be generated.

Next, as an advanced form of generating the above-mentioned intermediate outer periphery, two intermediate outer peripheries are generated, and the shapes of the upper and lower edges of the character outer periphery are cut off, so-called typical bevel shapes. The method will be described with reference to FIG. In this case, the method of generating the intermediate outer circumference is basically the same as the above-described generation method.

FIG. 13A is a diagram schematically showing a case where two intermediate outer peripheries forming a so-called convex side surface, the side surfaces protruding from the upper and lower surfaces of the character, are generated. In FIG. 13A, of the two intermediate outer peripheries to be generated, the one closer to the upper surface is referred to as a first intermediate outer perimeter 1411 and the one closer to the lower surface is referred to as a second intermediate outer perimeter 1412. Next, as shown in FIG. 13A, the beveling angle of the bevel shape is θ1 for the outer periphery of the upper surface and θ2 for the outer periphery of the lower surface. In this case, the two intermediate outer peripheries 1411 and 1412 are both the character outer perimeter 14 on the upper surface
10 will be enlarged.

As can be seen from FIG. 13 (a), when enlarging the character outer periphery 1410 on the upper surface to generate an intermediate outer periphery,
Since tan θi = hi / Li, hi = Litan θi. However, in this case, i = 1 or 2. After performing the above calculations, h0 = h− (h1 + h2) is calculated,
The z coordinate value of the point sequence of the first intermediate outer periphery 1411 is represented by h0 + h2 (=
hh1), and a three-dimensional point sequence is generated by setting the z coordinate value of the point sequence of the second intermediate outer periphery 1412 as h2. The generation of the side surface can be performed in the same manner as the above-described method of generating the side surface in the case where the number of the intermediate outer circumference is one, by noting that the number of the intermediate outer circumference is increased by one.

FIG. 13B is a diagram schematically showing a case where two intermediate outer peripheries forming a concave side surface are generated, contrary to FIG. 13A. In this case, two intermediate outer peripheries are generated by reducing the outer perimeter 1420 of the upper surface of the character.
It can be generated by the same method as in (a).

Next, in the case where the shape of the side surface is a curve, this curve is approximated by a polygon, and a number of intermediate outer peripheries are generated according to the polygon to generate the side surface.
It will be described based on. Here, the curve for controlling the generation of the intermediate outer circumference is basically a quadratic curve, and a description will be given assuming, for example, a circle, a parabola, and a spline curve.

First, as shown in FIG. 14 (a), a case where the side surface has a semicircular convex shape will be described. Note that the enlargement is L, the rising height is h (≧ 2L), and the number of intermediate peripherals to be generated is 2n + 1. FIG.
In the example of (a), n = 2.

As can be seen from FIG. 14 (a), the generated intermediate outer circumference is the middle intermediate outer circumference 15 at the height h / 2.
11 is symmetric. Accordingly, the central intermediate outer periphery 15
If you create an intermediate circumference above (or below) 11
The lower (or upper) middle outer periphery may be generated using symmetry. The aspect is generated by the method described above. The problem with generating the middle circumference is that
This is to calculate the amount of enlargement other than the center intermediate outer periphery 1511 and its z coordinate value. The calculation method will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 14 (c), the middle outer periphery 1
511 is defined as an intermediate outer circumference 0, and thereafter, in the order away from both sides,
The intermediate outer circumference is 1, 2,. Enlargement amount L of intermediate outer circumference i
The i and z coordinate values zi can be calculated by the following equation (where the radius of the bevel circle is r). Li = L−r (1-cos (2iθ / (n + 1))) zi = h / 2 ± hi = h / 2 ± rsin (2iθ / (n +
1)) r = 1 / 2L (L ** 2 + h ** 2/4) θ = arctan (2L / h) where i = 0, 1,..., N and zi In the z coordinate of the middle outer circumference, a minus value indicates the z coordinate of the lower middle circumference.

FIG. 14B shows the appearance of a bevel when the shape of the side surface is concave. When the shape of the side surface is concave, L
For i, the sign is minus and the reduction amount is used, but z
i is the same as the case of the convex shape in FIG.

Next, a case where the bevel shape of the side surface is a parabola will be described. As in the case of the circle, the number of intermediate outer circumferences to be generated is 2n + 1, the enlargement / reduction amount of the intermediate outer circumference i is Li,
Assuming that the z-coordinate value is zi, i = 0, 1,..., n, in the case of a convex, Li = L (1-i ** 2 / (n + 1) ** 2) zi = h / 2 ± ih / 2 (n + 1) = h (1 ± i / (n
+1)) / 2 where zi represents a z-coordinate of the upper middle outer periphery when its value is plus, and a z-coordinate of the lower middle outer periphery when its value is minus. Note that the above is the case of convex, but in the case of concave, the sign of Li is minus and the amount of reduction is used, but zi is the same as the case of convex.

When a quadratic spline curve is used, it is assumed that a parameter whose z coordinate value is 0 to h is virtually introduced between the lower surface and the upper surface. A spline curve is generated based on the above parameters and appropriate control points between the upper and lower surfaces input by the operator of the apparatus 201. However, the end points of the upper surface and the lower surface are fixed to 0. The amount of projection / recess by the spline curve is the enlargement / reduction amount, and the z coordinate value of the parameter is the z coordinate value of the middle outer periphery. As described above, the middle outer periphery is generated according to the quadratic spline curve, and the side surface of the character is generated in the same manner as described above.

Finally, a case of generating a mold-type bevel side surface will be described with reference to FIG.
When a mold-type bevel-shaped side surface is generated, it can be generated by modifying and applying the above-described method of generating two intermediate outer peripheries. Hereinafter, a procedure for generating a bevel-shaped side surface of a three-stage mold type will be described.

(1) Same as the outer periphery of the original component (however,
The z coordinate values are not the same. ) Middle outer circumference 1610, 16
11, two intermediate outer peripheries 1620 that are reduced from the original outer perimeter,
1621 and two intermediate outer peripheries 163 that enlarge the original outer perimeter.
0, 1631 are generated in the manner described above.

(2) When the starting height is h (this h is inputted from outside or a default value is used),
The z-coordinate values of the two reduced outer peripheries are h and 2h, respectively.
/ 2, and two intermediate outer circumferences 1610 identical to the original outer circumference,
The z coordinate values of 1611 are set to 2h / 3 and h / 3, respectively,
The z coordinate values of the two enlarged outer peripheries are respectively h / 3,
Set to 0.

(3) Of the intermediate periphery generated by reduction,
The surface constituted by the upper intermediate periphery is defined as the upper surface of the component, and the z coordinate value of the point sequence of the intermediate periphery is set to h (z
The upper surface is generated by the reduced middle outer periphery having the coordinate value h). (4) Of the intermediate outer circumferences generated by the enlargement, the surface constituted by the lower intermediate outer circumferences is defined as the lower surface of the component, and the z coordinate value of the point sequence of the intermediate outer circumferences is set to 0 (z coordinate value is 0). The lower surface is created by the enlarged intermediate outer periphery of

(5) By connecting corresponding points between the two intermediate outer circumferences generated by the reduction, the side face 1622 of the uppermost step is generated in the same manner as described above. (6) Reduced intermediate periphery (z coordinate value is 2h /
By connecting the corresponding point of 3) and the upper middle outer circumference (z coordinate value is 2h / 3) of the same middle outer circumference as the original outer circumference, the middle upper surface (horizontal plane) is formed in the same manner as described above. Generate.

(7) Corresponding points between the two intermediate outer circumferences that are the same as the original outer circumference generate the middle side surface 1612 in the same manner as described above. (8) By connecting corresponding points of a lower intermediate outer circumference (z coordinate h / 3) of the same intermediate outer circumference as the original outer circumference and an intermediate outer circumference (z coordinate value h / 3) generated by enlargement, The lower upper surface (horizontal plane) is generated in the same manner as described above. (9) By connecting corresponding points between the two intermediate outer circumferences generated by enlargement, the lowermost side surface 1632 is generated in the same manner as described above.

When the upper surface and the lower surface are generated by the above-described method, if the original constituent elements are divided into triangles, the correspondence relationship between the indices on the outer periphery does not change. Therefore, the point sequence coordinates of the indexed surface data are not changed. It is only necessary to reduce or enlarge only the data portion.
In this case, the indexed surface data of the upper surface and the lower surface of the original component are not output to the character shape data output unit 12, but the indexed surface data generated here is sent together after generation. .

The character shape data output unit 12 outputs the indexed surface data of the upper and lower surfaces of each component of the character and the indexed surface data of the bevel side of each component sent from the bevel-shaped side surface generator 11. The face data is grouped by a hierarchical description and output to the outside. When the data format is converted, the data is converted and then output.

FIGS. 16A to 16D show examples of four types of bevel shapes according to the present embodiment. FIG. 16 (a)
In the first embodiment, the first method is a side surface shape when the upper surface of the character is lifted vertically in the height direction, which is a case of “no bevel”. FIG. 16B shows an example in which a bevel shape in which the cross section of the side surface protrudes in a convex hexagonal shape is generated similarly to the shape of FIG. FIG.
(C) is an example in which two intermediate outer peripheries are generated, and a bevel shape in which a side surface cross section is a convex trapezoidal shape when the scraping angles with respect to the outer peripheries of the upper surface and the lower surface of the character are equal. FIG.
(D) is an example of the “mold type” bevel shape shown in FIG. As described above, since the intermediate outer periphery is generated and the side surface is generated based on the intermediate outer periphery, it is possible to automatically realize more various three-dimensional character side shapes.

(Embodiment 3) In Embodiment 3, a case where a finer three-dimensional shape is made possible by interpolating between the points of the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence with appropriate points. An example will be described. In the present embodiment, description of the same components as those in the above-described embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device 301 according to the third embodiment. The three-dimensional character data generation device 301 newly includes a character outer periphery data interpolation unit 21, a character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon subdivision unit 22, and a texture coordinate generation unit 24, and replaces the character shape side surface generation unit 6 with a character shape side surface. Generator 2
3 is provided with a character shape data output unit 25 in place of the character shape data output unit 7. Hereinafter, the three-dimensional character data generation device 301 configured as described above will be described in detail.

The character peripheral data interpolating unit 21 interpolates appropriate points into the character peripheral point sequence and hole peripheral point sequence of each component output from the character shape structure analyzing unit 4 and expresses the character in three dimensions. The shape of the shape is refined. The method of interpolating points into a character outer peripheral point sequence or a hole outer peripheral point sequence is as follows.

(1) The sum of the distances when two consecutive points are connected to the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence of each component sent from the character shape structure analyzer 4. Calculate the total distance. Also, the total number of point sequences in that case is calculated. (2) The reference distance is calculated by dividing the total distance by the total number, calculating an average distance, and dividing the calculated average distance by a number corresponding to an arbitrary subdivision level. (3) When the distance between two consecutive points in the original character outer peripheral point sequence or hole outer peripheral point sequence is larger than the reference distance,
A point is generated in the middle so as to be less than the reference distance. The point to be generated is generated on a line connected by a straight line or a line connected by a curve, which is specified in the outline data stored in the character outer circumference data storage unit 3. Even when a new point is added between the existing point sequences, the point sequence number is corrected while maintaining the arrangement (instead of making the new point sequence number last).

FIG. 18 shows an example of a case where a new point is interpolated between a series of points for "times". In FIG. 18, three points per side are interpolated with respect to the character peripheral point sequence 1911, and two points are interpolated with respect to the hole peripheral point sequence 1912. Hereinafter, similarly, the character outer peripheral point sequence 191
In the third and hole peripheral point sequence 1914, one point is interpolated per side.

As described above, in the character peripheral data interpolating unit 21, the peripheral data of each component whose points have been interpolated and corrected are sent to the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon dividing unit 5. In the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon re-dividing unit 22, the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon dividing unit 5 further divides a triangle obtained by dividing each component into the above-described triangle. This subdivision is performed because the vertices of the triangular polygon generated by the character shape upper and lower convex polygon division unit 5 are on the outer periphery of the character.
When the shape is bent or twisted, the deformation of the outer periphery becomes linear, and there is a high possibility that an unnatural situation will occur. Subdivision is performed to prevent such unnaturalness.

Next, a method of subdividing a triangular polygon will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a method of subdividing an original triangle into four parts. FIG. 21A is a diagram for explaining a method of performing the inner division using the midpoint of the side of the triangle. In the present embodiment, this is performed by the inner division method using the midpoint of the side of the triangle as shown in FIG. This inner division method calculates the midpoint of each side of the triangle, and divides the original triangle into four by three line segments connecting the midpoints. Therefore, the number of triangles is
It increases by a factor of four for each division.

Here, for each of the constituent elements, the point sequence of the outer periphery connected in the preprocessing of the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5 is represented by {P [0], P [1],. P [n]},
The point sequence on the outer periphery of the character outline is represented by {Po [0], Po [1],.
・, Po [l]}, the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character hole is {Ph [x]
[0], Ph [x] [1],..., Ph [x] [kx]. Hereinafter, an algorithm of the inner division method for a triangular polygon having an index arrangement of {a, b, c} will be described.

(1) | ab |, | bc |, | ca
Calculate the value of |. (2) If | ab | = 1, the midpoint Pab of P [a] P [b] is obtained, added to the end of the point sequence as Pab = P [last + 1], and the index last + 1 = α is held. (3) | ab | {1 and (a, b)} (lastor
g, 0) & (a, b) ≠ (0, lastorg) (where lastorg is the last value of the index of the point sequence before the division operation), and the middle point of P [a] P [b] Check if you are not asked. As a result of the check, if found, the index is held as α, and the data at the midpoint is removed from the check list described later. If not found, the midpoint Pab of P [a] P [b] is found and added to the end of the point sequence as Pab = P [last + 1], and the index last + 1 = α is held. At the same time, the index set number (a, b) is added to the checklist.
And α. Therefore, the check list is composed of the index set number and the index generated by the index set number. In the check, the index set numbers are compared in any order.

(4) The above (2) and (3) are performed in the same way for | bc | and | ca |, and the index β for | bc | and the index β for | ca | Holds the index γ. (5) Index sequence {a, b, c} that defines a triangle
And an index sequence {a, α, γ}, {b, β, α}, {c, γ, β},
{Α, β, γ} is inserted instead.

Next, a description will be given of the reconstruction of a sequence of points on the outer periphery of the character outline accompanying the subdivision of the triangle. The following operation is performed on the point sequence on the outer periphery of the original character outline. (1) With respect to {Po [0], Po [1],..., Po [n]}, the midpoint of Po [I] Po [I + 1] is obtained, and these are defined as W [I]. However, if I = 0, 1,..., N, Po
[N + 1] = Po [0]. (2) Double the number of indices of {Po [0], Po [1],..., Po [n]} to obtain {Po [0], Po [2],
Po [4], Po [6], ..., Po [2n]},
W [I] is inserted as Po [2I + 1]. The new point sequence {Po [0], Po [1], Po]
[2], Po [2n], Po [2n + 1]} is a point sequence on the outer periphery of a new character generated by the subdivided triangle. In addition, in the case of the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character hole, a new point sequence on the outer periphery of the character hole generated by the subdivided triangle is obtained by the same processing as the case of the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character outline.

Since the above-mentioned inner division method divides the original triangle into four, the number of triangles increases four times. Assuming that the initial state in which subdivision has never been performed is level 0, if the level increases by one in one subdivision, the triangle increases by 4r at level r with respect to level 0.

In the processing of the above inner division method, if the level of the subdivision of the triangle is set to r, r processing is required. Therefore, a method of raising the level by two or more at a stretch will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21B.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the subdivision method when the subdivision level of the triangle is set to r. FIG. 21B is a diagram illustrating a state in which the level of subdivision of the triangle is increased from level 0 to level r at a stretch. In FIG. 21B, α
[I] is the index (I = 0, 1,..., 2 ** r-2) of the subdivision point Pab [α [I]] of P [a] P [b], and Pab [α [ I]] is Pab [α [I]] = ｛(I + 1) P [b] + (2 ** r−
I-1) It can be calculated from P [a]｝ / 2 ** r. Similarly, β [I] is P [b] P [c]
Of the subdivision point Pbc [β [I]] (I = 0,
1,..., 2r-2), and Pbc [β [I]] is Pbc [β [I]] = ｛(I + 1) P [c] + (2 ** r−
I-1) It can be calculated from P [b]｝ / 2 ** r. Further, γ [I] is an index (I = 0, 1, 1) of an internal dividing point Pca [γ [I]] of P [c] P [a].
, 2r-2), and Pca [γ [I]] is Pca [γ [I]] =］ (I + 1) P [a] + (2 ** r−
I-1) It can be calculated from P [c]｝ / 2 ** r. ξ [I] [k] is the index of the subdivision point Pαγ [ξ [I] [k]] of P [α] P [γ] (I =
0, 1,..., 2 ** r-3, 0 ≦ k ≦ I,) and P
αγ [ξ [I] [k]] is Pαγ [ξ [I] [k]] = ｛(I + 1−k) P [α
[I + 1]] + (k + 1) P [γ [2 ** r−I−
3]]｝ / (I + 2). An algorithm will be described based on the occurrence of the above subdivision points.

(1) | ab |, | bc |, | ca
Calculate the value of |. (2) If | ab | = 1, the above-mentioned subdivision point Pab [α [I]] of P [a] P [b] (I = 0, 1,..., 2 ** r
-2), add Pab = P [last + 1 + I] to the end of the point sequence, and add the index last + 1 + I
= Α [I]. (3) | ab | {1 and (a, b)} (lastor
g, 0) & (a, b) ≠ (0, lastorg) (where lastorg is the last value of the index of the point sequence before the division operation), and the subdivision point of P [a] P [b] Check if is required. As a result of the check, if found, the index is held as α [I],
The data of the subdivision point is removed from a check list described later. If not obtained, the above-mentioned subdivision point Pab [α [I]] of P [a] P [b] (I = 0, 1,..., 2 ** r
-2), add Pab = P [last + 1 + I] to the end of the point sequence, and add the index last + 1 + I
= Α [I]. At the same time, the set number (a, b) and α [I] of the index are held in the check list. Therefore, the check list is composed of the index set number and the index generated by the index set number. In the check, the index set numbers are compared in any order.

(4) For | bc | and | ca |, the above (2) and (3) are performed in the same manner, and P [b] P
The subdivision point of [c] and the subdivision point of P [c] P [a] are obtained, and are added to the point sequence coordinate data if necessary. If necessary, the index set number (b,
c) and β [I], index pair numbers (c, a) and γ
[I] is held. (5) When r> 1, the internal dividing point Pαγ [ξ [I] [k]] of the above P [α] P [γ] is obtained and added to the end of the point sequence, and the index last + 1 + I (I + 1 ) / 2
+ K = ξ [I] [k] is held. Where I = 0,1,
.., 2 ** r-3, 0 ≦ k ≦ I.

(6) When r = 1, the index sequence {a, b, c} defining the triangle is removed, and the index sequence {a, α [0], γ defining the four triangles is removed.
[0]｝, {b, β [0], α [0]}, {c, γ
[0], β [0]｝, {α [0], β [0], γ
[0]｝ is inserted instead.

(7) When r> 1, the index sequence {a, b, c} defining the triangle is removed, and the following index sequence defining 4r triangles is inserted instead. However, when I = 0, 1,..., 2 ** r−1, processing is performed according to I. When I = 0, ｛a, α [0], γ [2 ** r−
2] Insert｝ instead. When I = 1, ｛α [0], α [1], ξ [0]
[0]｝, ｛α [0], ξ [0] [0], γ [2 ** r-
2], ｛γ [2 ** r-2], ξ [0] [0], γ [2
** r-3]｝. When I = 2, ｛α [1], α [2], ξ [1]
[0]｝, ｛α [1], ξ [1] [0], ξ [0]
[0]}, {[0] [0], {[1] [0],}
[1] [1]}, {[0] [0], {[1] [1],
γ [2 ** r-3], {γ [2 ** r-3], ξ [1]
[1], γ [2 ** r-4]} are inserted instead. When 3 ≦ I ≦ 2r−2, Δα [I−1], α
[I], {[I-1] [0]}, {α [I-1],}
After [I-1] [0], {[I-2] [0]}, {
[I-2] [k], ξ [I-1] [k], ξ [I-1]
[K + 1]} and {[I-2] [k], {[I-1]
[K + 1], {[I-2] [k + 1]} (where 0
≦ k ≦ I−3) (that is, the repetition is I
-2 times), {[I-2] [I-2],} [I-
1] [I-2], {[I-1] [I-1]}, {[I
-2] [I-2], ξ [I-1] [I-1], γ [2 **
r-1-I]}, {γ [2 ** r-1-I], {[I-
1] Insert an index sequence ending with [I-1], γ [2 ** r-2-I]} instead.

When I = 2 ** r-1, ｛α [2 ** r
-2], b, β [0]｝, {α [2 ** r-2], β
After [0], {[2 ** r-3] [0]}, {[2 ** r
-3] [k], β [k], β [k + 1]} and {[2 **
r-3] [k], β [k + 1], ξ [2 ** r-3] [k
+1]} (where 0 ≦ k ≦ 2 ** r-4) (ie, the repetition occurs 2 ** r-3 times), {
[2 ** r-3] [2 ** r-3], β [2 ** r-3], β
[2 ** r-2]｝ ｛ξ [2 ** r-3] [2 ** r-3],
β [2 ** r-2], γ [0]｝, ｛γ [0], ξβ [2
** r-2], c} is inserted instead.

Next, the regeneration of the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character outline will be described below. (1) For {Po [0], Po [1],..., Po [n]}, Po [I] Po [I +
1], and these are set as W [I] [k].
However, when I = 0, 1,..., N, in particular, Po [n + 1] =
It is assumed that Po [0]. Also, k = 0, 1,..., 2 ** r-2
Then, W [I] [k] is obtained by the following equation. W [l] [k] = ｛(k + 1) Po [l + 1] + (2 **
rk-1) Po [l]｝ / 2 ** r

(2) ｛Po [0], Po [1],..., Po
The index of [n] is multiplied by 2 ** r, and {Po}
[0], Po [2 ** r], Po [2 × 2 ** r], Po [3
× 2 ** r], ..., Po [nx2 ** r]}, and
[I] [k] is inserted as Po [I × 2 ** r + k + 1] (where I = 0, 1,..., N, k = 0, 1,.
2 ** r-2).

The new point sequence {Po} thus created
[0], Po [1], Po [2], Po [3], Po [4]
..., Po [nx2 ** r], Po [nx2 ** r + 1], Po
[(N + 1) × 2 ** r-1]} is a point sequence on the outer periphery of a new character outline generated by the subdivided triangle.
In the case of a dot sequence on the outer periphery of the character hole, it can be reconfigured by the same processing.

Character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon subdivision unit 22
If the original 0-level data is held, re-division can be performed such that a once-divided triangle is returned to a coarse triangle by always re-dividing from the 0-level. For example, if you want to lower to p level when you increase to r level,
If the data of the r level is discarded and the data of the p level is newly generated from the 0 level, p
You have moved to the level.

The character-shaped side surface generating section 23 includes the character-shaped side surface generating section 6 in the first embodiment and the character-shaped side surface generating section 23 in the second embodiment.
By the same processing as that performed by the bevel-shaped side surface generation unit 11, indexed surface data of the upper and lower surfaces and side surfaces of each component of the character is generated, and this data is output to the texture coordinate generation unit 24.

The texture coordinate generating section 24 generates the smallest square including each of the constituent elements on the lower surface and the upper surface. The lowermost point of this square and the lowermost point of the lower surface of the component are translated so as to overlap at the origin, the coordinates of the point sequence after these translations are obtained, and the obtained coordinate value is the length of the side of the square. Then, the result is used as mapping coordinates. this is,
It corresponds to the coordinates when the envelope square is normalized. For the side surface, the circuit length (sum of the distance between two consecutive points in the point sequence) is determined for the closed curve forming the outer peripheral shape and the hole shape, and the distance between the two points from the starting point to each point is calculated. A parameter representing the distance between the start point or each point (0 to 0)
≦ s ≦ 1) (starting points are assigned 0 and 1). In the height direction, t = 0 is assigned to the lower surface and t = 1 is assigned to the upper surface.

A cylinder containing each component (or all components) is provided, a cylindrical coordinate system is defined for this cylinder, and the vertices of the component are projected from the center coordinates of the cylinder to use the coordinates in the cylindrical coordinate system. The texture coordinates can be determined. However, the cylindrical coordinate system needs to be normalized. Also, a sphere including each component (or all components) is provided, a polar coordinate system is defined on this sphere, and texture coordinates can be obtained by using coordinate values in the polar coordinate system in which vertices of the components are projected from the center of the sphere. Can decide. However, the polar coordinate system needs to be normalized.

The texture coordinates obtained as described above are added to the indexed surface data so as to match the order of the point sequence coordinate data on the outer periphery of the indexed surface data, and output to the character shape data output unit 25. I do. In the character shape data output unit 25, indexed surface data with texture coordinates of the upper and lower surfaces of each component of the character and indexed surface with texture coordinates of the side surface of each component are sent from the texture coordinate generator 24. The face data is grouped by a hierarchical description and output to the outside. When the data format is converted, the data is converted and then output. As described above, the points between the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence are interpolated at appropriate points, and polygon division is performed based on the interpolated points. Therefore, a more precise three-dimensional character can be created.

(Embodiment 4) In Embodiment 1 described above, an example of generating a three-dimensional character has been described.
In the fourth embodiment, an example will be described in which a pedestal such as a column is provided below a three-dimensional character. In the present embodiment, the description of the same components as those in the first embodiment is omitted.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device 401 according to the fourth embodiment. The three-dimensional character data generating device 401 is provided with a pedestal shape generating unit 35, and a character pedestal code input unit 31 instead of the character code input unit 1, and a character outer pedestal shape obtaining unit instead of the character outer data acquisition unit 2. 32, a character peripheral pedestal shape storage unit 33 instead of the character peripheral data storage unit 3, and a character pedestal shape structure analysis unit 34 instead of the character shape structure analysis unit 4.
Is provided with a character shape side surface generation unit 36 in place of the character shape side surface generation unit 6, and a character base shape data output unit 37 in place of the character shape data output unit 7. 3 configured as above
Hereinafter, the three-dimensional character data generation device 401 will be described in detail.

The character pedestal code input unit 31 is, similarly to the character code input unit 1 of the first embodiment, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, converts these input signals, and converts the input signals such as ASCII codes and JIS codes. Generate a pedestal code to specify the shape of the pedestal in addition to the character code. The character code and the pedestal code generated by the character pedestal code input unit 31 are output to the character outer pedestal shape acquisition unit 32.

The character peripheral pedestal shape acquiring unit 32 stores the character outline data corresponding to the character code received from the character pedestal code input unit 31 and the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal corresponding to the pedestal code in the character peripheral pedestal shape storage unit. 33. Character periphery data storage unit 3 of the first embodiment
Similarly to the above, character outline data is stored in advance in the character outer pedestal shape storage unit 33 in correspondence with the character code. Regarding the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal, the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal corresponding to the pedestal code is stored in the character outer pedestal shape storage unit 33 in advance. The outline data of the character and the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal acquired by the character outer pedestal shape acquiring unit 32 are output to the character pedestal shape structure analyzing unit 34. It is assumed that the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal defines which surface is the upper surface of the pedestal (hereinafter referred to as “pedestal upper surface”).

In the character pedestal shape structure analyzing section 34, the character shape structure analyzing section 4 of the first embodiment is used for the characters.
In the same manner as the above, character structure analysis result information is generated. As the character structure analysis result information, the only character part that includes the hole is specified for each character hole, and information representing the inclusion relationship is created by the same method as in the first embodiment.

The character peripheral pedestal shape structure analyzing unit 34 additionally includes a boundary box of the entire character and its center coordinates (hereinafter referred to as “character center coordinates”), and a three-dimensional boundary box of the pedestal. ) And the center coordinates of the boundary box corresponding to the upper surface of the pedestal (hereinafter referred to as “base center coordinates”) so that the center of the boundary box of the character coincides with the center of the boundary box corresponding to the upper surface of the pedestal. Go to further,
An enlarged rectangle is obtained by adding a predetermined margin amount to the boundary box of the character, and the minimum pedestal scaling amount is calculated so that the enlarged rectangle is included in the boundary box surface corresponding to the moved pedestal upper surface. The character structure analysis result information is sent to the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon division unit 5 and is processed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Further, the center coordinates of the boundary box of the character, the center coordinates of the pedestal, and the pedestal scaling amount are output to the pedestal shape generating unit 35.

The pedestal shape generation unit 35 scales and converts the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal with the pedestal scaling amount output from the character pedestal shape structure analysis unit 34, and the pedestal center coordinates obtained after the conversion are the character center coordinates and the character center coordinates. The pedestal is translated so as to match, and the three-dimensional coordinate value of the pedestal after the movement is corrected. These converted data are output to the character pedestal shape data output unit 37.

In the character-shaped side surface generating section 36, like the character-shaped side surface generating section 6 in the first embodiment and the bevel-shaped side surface generating section 11 in the second embodiment, the upper surface, A lower surface, a side surface, and a bevel-shaped side surface are generated and sent to the character pedestal shape data output unit 37.

The character pedestal shape data output unit 37 outputs the upper, lower, and side surfaces based on the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal and the respective constituent elements of the character sent from the pedestal shape generator 35 and the character shape side surface generator 36. Of the indexed surface data are collectively output by a hierarchical description and output to the outside. At this time, even if it is necessary to convert the data format, the data format is once converted to the data format and then converted.

FIG. 23 shows an appearance of a three-dimensional kanji character “ta” with a pedestal generated according to the fourth embodiment. As described above, since it is possible to provide a columnar or other pedestal under the three-dimensional character based on the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal, it is possible to display a more variously decorated three-dimensional character. .

(Embodiment 5) In Embodiment 4 described above,
Although a case has been described where a three-dimensional character with a pedestal is generated based on the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal, in the fifth embodiment, a three-dimensional character with a pedestal is generated based on outline data of the pedestal.
An embodiment in which a two-dimensional character is generated will be described. Note that, in the present embodiment, description of the same components as those in the above-described fourth embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generating device 501 according to the fifth embodiment. The three-dimensional character data generation device 501 includes a character base code input unit 41, a character base peripheral data acquisition unit 42, a peripheral data storage unit 43, a character base shape structure analysis unit 44, a character base shape surface convex polygon division unit 45, a character base. The shape side surface generation unit 46 and the character pedestal shape data output unit 47 are configured. The three-dimensional character data generation device 501 configured as described above will be described in detail below.

The character pedestal code input unit 41 is, similarly to the character code input unit 1 of the first embodiment, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, and converts these input signals to obtain an ASCII code or JIS code. Generate a pedestal code to specify the outline data of the pedestal in addition to the character code. The character code and the pedestal code generated by the character pedestal code input unit 41 are sent to the character pedestal outer periphery data acquisition unit 42.

The character pedestal outer periphery data acquiring section 42 acquires from the outer peripheral data storage section 43 the outline data of the character corresponding to the character code received from the character pedestal code input section 41 and the outline data of the pedestal corresponding to the pedestal code. I do. The outline data of the character is stored in advance in the outer periphery data storage unit 43 in association with the character code, similarly to the outer periphery data storage unit 3 of the first embodiment. In addition, the outline data of the pedestal is also associated with the pedestal code, and
Is stored in advance. Character base outer circumference data acquisition unit 42
The outline data of the character and the outline data of the pedestal obtained in step (1) are output to the character pedestal shape structure analyzing unit 44. Here, when a hole is formed in the pedestal, outline data representing the hole is stored in the outer circumference data storage unit 43 in advance.

The character pedestal shape structure analysis unit 44 generates character and pedestal structure analysis result information for each of the character outline data and the pedestal outline data, similarly to the character shape structure analysis unit 4 of the first embodiment. I do. As the character structure analysis result information, the only character part that includes the hole is specified for each character hole, and if a hole is formed in the base, the hole in the base is used as the structure analysis result information of the base. Are identified, and information representing these inclusion relationships is created by the same method as in the first embodiment. The character pedestal shape structure analysis unit 44 also obtains the character center coordinates, the boundary box and the pedestal center coordinates of the entire pedestal in the same manner as in the fourth embodiment, and the center of the character coincides with the center of the pedestal. To move. Further, an enlarged rectangle in which a predetermined margin amount is added to the boundary box of the character is obtained, and a minimum pedestal scaling amount is calculated so that the enlarged rectangle is included in the surface of the boundary box corresponding to the upper surface of the pedestal. The structural analysis result information of the character and the pedestal, the character center coordinates and the pedestal center coordinates, and the pedestal scaling amount are output to the character pedestal shape surface convex polygon division unit 45.

The character pedestal shape surface convex polygon division unit 45
The components of the character are processed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the components of the pedestal are scaled by the pedestal scaling amount, and the center coordinates of the boundary box of the character and the boundary of the pedestal The same process is performed on the data that has been translated so that the center coordinates of the box match. Indexed surface data of each component of the character and the pedestal, which is the processing result, is output to the character pedestal shape side surface generation unit 46.

The character pedestal-shaped side surface generator 46 includes the character-shaped side surface generator 6 of the first embodiment and the second embodiment.
Similarly to the bevel-shaped side surface generation unit 11, the upper and lower surfaces, the side surfaces, or the bevel-shaped side surfaces of the respective components of the character and the pedestal are generated. The generated pedestal components are further translated downward by the amount corresponding to the rising amount after the generation in the z-axis direction. However, when the side surface of the pedestal is generated by rotation conversion, reverse rotation conversion is performed by the amount of rotation at that time. The upper and lower surfaces of each component of the character and pedestal generated by the above processing,
The indexed surface data of the side surface is output to the character pedestal shape data output unit 47.

The character pedestal shape data output unit 47 combines the characters sent from the character pedestal shape side surface generation unit 46 with the indexed surface data of the upper and lower surfaces and side surfaces of each component of the pedestal by a hierarchical description. Output to the outside. When it is necessary to convert the data format into cylindrical coordinates or polar coordinates, the data format is converted and output. In Embodiments 4 and 5,
Since the lower surface of the three-dimensional shape of the character is connected to the pedestal and is invisible, it can be omitted, and the amount of data can be reduced by this omission.

As described above, it is possible to provide a columnar or other pedestal under the three-dimensional character based on the outline data of the pedestal, so that more variously decorated three-dimensional characters can be displayed. it can.

(Embodiment 6) In Embodiment 6, an example in which a three-dimensional stamping plate is generated will be described. In this embodiment, the description of the same components as those in the above embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device 601 according to the sixth embodiment. The three-dimensional character data generating device 601 includes a character engraving plate code input unit 51, a character engraving plate outer data acquisition unit 5,
2. An outer circumference data storage unit 53, a character stamping plate shape structure analyzing unit 54, a character stamping plate shape surface convex polygon dividing unit 55, a character stamping plate shape side surface generating unit 56, and a character stamping plate shape data output unit 57. Hereinafter, the three-dimensional character data generation device 601 configured as described above will be described in detail.

The character engraving plate code input unit 51 is an input device such as a so-called keyboard or mouse, similar to the character code input unit 1 of the first embodiment, and converts these input signals to obtain an ASCII code or a JIS code. In addition to the character code, a marking plate code for specifying outline data of the marking plate is generated. Character engraving board code input unit 51
The character code and the engraving plate code generated in are output to the character engraving plate outer periphery data acquisition unit 52.

The character engraving plate outer periphery data acquiring unit 52 stores the outline data of the character corresponding to the character code received from the character engraving plate code input unit 51 and the outline data of the engraving plate corresponding to the engraving plate code in the outer periphery data. Obtained from the unit 43. As for the character outline data, similarly to the character outer periphery data storage unit 3 of the first embodiment, the character outline data is stored in the outer periphery data storage unit 53 in advance corresponding to the character code. Also,
Regarding the outline data of the engraved plate, the outline data of the engraved plate corresponding to the engraved plate code is stored in the outer peripheral data storage unit 53 in advance. The outline data of the character and the outline data of the engraving plate acquired by the character engraving plate outer periphery data acquiring unit 52 are output to the character engraving plate shape structure analyzing unit 54. Here, when a hole is formed in the marking plate, outline data corresponding to the hole is stored in the outer circumference data storage unit 53 in advance.

The character engraving plate shape structure analyzing section 54 first obtains a rectangular boundary box of the entire character and its rectangular center coordinates, and a rectangular boundary box of the entire engraving plate and its rectangular center coordinates, and obtains the character boundary box. Move so that the center of the mark coincides with the center of the boundary box of the marking plate. Further, an enlarged rectangle in which a predetermined margin amount is added to the boundary box of the character is obtained, and a minimum engraving plate scaling amount is calculated so that the enlarged rectangle is included in the surface of the boundary box corresponding to the upper surface of the engraving plate. Next, the point sequence on the outer periphery of the engraving plate is scaled and converted by the engraving plate scaling amount, and the parallel movement is performed so that the center coordinates of the character rectangle and the engraved plate rectangular center coordinates after the scaling conversion coincide with each other. Outline data.

For each of the outline data of the character and the outline data of the new engraving plate, structural analysis result information of the character and the engraving plate is generated in the same manner as in the character shape structure analyzing section 4 of the first embodiment. As the character structure analysis result information, the only character part that includes the hole is specified for each character hole. Further, as the structural analysis result information of the stamping plate, when the stamping plate has a hole, the stamping plate including the hole is specified, and the information indicating the inclusion relation is determined by the same method as in the first embodiment. Created by However, the structural analysis result information of the marking plate generated here is information applied to the lower surface of the marking plate shape (this is referred to as “the lower surface of the marking plate”). Furthermore, of the new outline data of the engraving plate and the outline data of the character, those obtained by reversing the order of the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character outline and the point sequence on the outer periphery of the character hole (character outline as a character hole, character hole as a character) As with the character shape structure analysis unit 4 of the first embodiment, structure analysis result information is also generated for data obtained by combining data that corresponds to an outer shape and corresponds to a change. However, the structural analysis result information of the marking plate generated here is information applied to the upper surface of the marking plate shape.

The character stamping plate shape surface convex polygon dividing unit 55 performs the same processing as the character shape upper and lower surface convex polygon dividing unit 5 of the first embodiment on each component of the character and the marking plate upper and lower surfaces. FIGS. 26 (a) to 26 (c) show an example of a state after the division (in this example, one character and one component on the upper and lower surfaces of the marking plate exist). The characters resulting from the processing and the indexed surface data of the components on the upper and lower surfaces of the marking plate are sent to the character marking plate shape side surface generating unit 56.

In the character engraving plate side surface generating unit 56, similarly to the character shape side surface generating unit 6 of the first embodiment and the bevel side surface generating unit 11 of the second embodiment, each of the constituent elements of the engraving plate is provided. Create top, bottom, side or bevel shaped sides. Next, with respect to the position of the z-axis on the upper surface of the engraving plate, each partial structure on the upper surface of the character is moved downward in the z-axis (corresponding to the depth of engraving,
(Must be smaller than the height of the riser) to generate the lower surface of the engraved portion on the upper surface of the stamping plate. Lastly, the corresponding points between the lower surface of the engraved portion and the upper surface of the engraving plate are used to generate the side surface of the engraved portion by the same processing as that of the character-shaped side surface generating unit 6 of the first embodiment. , And the reverse of the first embodiment. Character engraving plate shape data output unit 57 of indexed surface data of the upper and lower surfaces and side surfaces of each component of the character and the engraving plate generated by the above processing
Is output to

The character engraving plate shape data output unit 57 compares the character output from the character engraving plate shape side surface generating unit 56 with the indexed surface data of the upper, lower, and side surfaces of each component of the engraving plate by hierarchical description. In summary,
Output to outside. When it is necessary to convert the data format into cylindrical coordinates or polar coordinates, the data format is converted and output.

As described above, since it is possible to generate an engraved plate including three-dimensional characters based on the outline data of the engraved plate, it is possible to display even more complicated concave three-dimensional characters. In the above-described first to sixth embodiments, by repeating the processing one character at a time, processing for a continuous character string is also possible. Further, in order to deal with a character string with one pedestal or one marking plate, the processing may be performed by enlarging the boundary box of the character to the boundary box of the entire character string.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made mainly on characters including holes, but the same applies to general graphics having holes (including graphic parts constituting graphics). With this configuration, three-dimensional data capable of automatically displaying a high-quality three-dimensional figure can be generated.

[0183]

As described above, the three-dimensional character data generating device according to the present invention is a device for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data, and forms a character using two-dimensional character data. Outer circumference determining means for determining the outer circumference of the character part to be formed and the outer circumference of the hole formed in the character, and having an inclusive relationship with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and being closest to the outer circumference of the hole. From the inner area of the outer periphery of the character component specified by the inclusion relation specifying means, and from the inner area of the outer circumference of the character part specified by the above-described inclusive relation specifying means, Dividing the removed area into polygons, and for the outer periphery of the character parts that are not specified, dividing means for dividing the internal area into polygons, and copying the character parts relating to the areas polygon-divided by the dividing means. Moved, characterized in that it comprises a side surface generating means for generating a side from the apex of the character component and the cloning character parts.

As a result, three-dimensional character data can be generated automatically and in real time from the given two-dimensional character outline data without bothering the operator, and generated based on a bitmap font. It is possible to generate a three-dimensional character with much higher quality than a three-dimensional character.

In the three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to the present invention, the two-dimensional character data is outline data defined on a two-dimensional plane representing the outline of the character or the outline of a hole. Acquiring the outline data, classifying the outline data into first outline data representing the outline of the character and second outline data representing the outline of the hole, and classifying the first outline data.
An outer periphery of the character component is determined based on outline data, and an outer periphery of the hole is determined based on the classified second outline data.

[0186] The inclusion relation specifying means may include a first determination unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the character component, a second determination unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the hole, and the first determination unit. A first specification that specifies a rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of one or more character components that includes the rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of the hole by comparing the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit with the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit. Part, a second specifying unit that specifies the outer periphery of the character component relating to the innermost rectangle among the rectangles specified by the first specifying unit, and an outer periphery of the character component specified by the second specifying unit. An inclusion information creating unit that identifies the outer periphery of the only character component that includes the outer periphery of the hole and creates information indicating the inclusion relationship.

[0187] The inclusive relation specifying means includes a first determining unit for determining a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the character component, a second determining unit for determining a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the hole, and the second determining unit. The distance between the center of gravity of the rectangle pertaining to the outer periphery of the hole determined by the first determination unit and each side of the rectangle pertaining to the outer periphery of the character component determined by the first determination unit, or the point sequence relating to the centroid and the character component Among the distances to one point, the shortest distance determining unit that determines the shorter one as the shortest distance for the character part, and the shortest distance determined by the shortest distance determining unit, for all character parts, It may also be configured to include an inclusion information creating unit that determines that the character component associated with the shortest shortest distance is the outer periphery of the only character component that includes the outer periphery of the hole, and creates information indicating the inclusion relationship. it can.

Thus, a geometrical structure analysis is performed on the character represented by the outline data.
The character structure, such as whether or not a character hole is formed in the character, becomes clear.
Dimensional display becomes possible. That is, it is clear whether or not the generated three-dimensional character has a hierarchical structure. Therefore, when editing a character shape or performing an animation, it is divided into units of character parts, 3D display is possible.

Further, the three-dimensional character data generating device is
Further, with respect to the lower and upper surfaces of the components of the character component,
Generate the smallest square including this, translate the square so that the sequence of points defining the top and bottom surfaces of the component is included in the square, identify individual coordinate values in the component, The coordinate value obtained by dividing the coordinate value of the square by the length of the side of the square is defined as the mapping coordinate, and the sum of the distance between the two points of the outer peripheral point sequence defining the generated side surface and the starting point to each point. It is also possible to provide a texture coordinate generation means for generating texture coordinates based on a ratio of a distance, a ratio of a height from the lower surface to the upper surface, and a height of each point in the point sequence on the outer periphery.

Thus, since texture coordinates are generated, it is possible to apply various texture patterns to the three-dimensional character surface.

Further, the three-dimensional character data generating device may include:
Further, a reference distance is calculated by dividing an average distance between two consecutive points by a predetermined value with respect to a point sequence included in the first outline data or the second outline data, and calculates a reference distance between the two consecutive points. A data interpolating unit for interpolating one or more new points between the two points may be provided so that the distance becomes equal to or less than the reference distance when the distance is equal to or more than the reference distance.

Further, the three-dimensional character data generating apparatus may include a subdivision unit for subdividing the convex polygon divided by the division unit.

As a result, points are interpolated with respect to the character outer peripheral point sequence and the hole outer peripheral point sequence, and the divided polygons are re-divided to perform finer polygon division. Higher quality can be achieved.

Further, the three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to the present invention converts the outline data of the character corresponding to the character code into the three-dimensional shape data of the base corresponding to the base code and the outline data of the base corresponding to the base code. Based on the three-dimensional characters on the base, or based on the outline data of the character corresponding to the character code and the outline data of the engraving plate corresponding to the engraving plate code,
Conversely, it is also possible to display a character that is dug into a three-dimensional concave shape. Further, a configuration may be employed in which a bevel shape is generated as the shape of the side surface of these three-dimensional characters.

As a result, it is possible to mount characters on the pedestal and to make the characters engraved on a plate, and to generate various bevel shapes for the side surface shape, so that it is possible to flexibly respond to various requests for three-dimensional display of characters. It becomes possible.

A three-dimensional graphic data generating apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data. And an outer periphery determining means for determining the outer periphery of the hole formed in the figure, and a figure which has an inclusive relation with the outer periphery of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and is located at a position closest to the outer periphery of the hole. An inclusion relation specifying means for specifying the outer periphery of the part, and a polygon obtained by removing the internal area of the outer periphery of the hole having the inclusion relation with the graphic part from the internal area of the outer periphery of the graphic part specified by the inclusion relation specifying means. For the outer periphery of the figure component that has been divided and not specified, a dividing unit that divides the internal region into polygons, and a copy of the figure component relating to the region that has been polygonally divided by the dividing unit are moved. Characterized in that it comprises a side surface generating means for generating a side serial figure component from the apex of the duplicated figure component.

Thus, even for a figure having a hole formed therein, three-dimensional data can be generated automatically and in real time from contour data of a given two-dimensional figure without bothering the operator. However, it is possible to generate a much higher-quality three-dimensional figure than a three-dimensional figure generated based on a bitmap font. From the above, it is considered that the effects of the present invention are enormous and bring new benefits.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing how to turn when following a character outer peripheral point sequence and a hole outer peripheral point sequence.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a case where a character shape structure analysis is performed for a kanji character “”.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing flow in the inclusion relation analysis processing in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 applies the first connection method to the kanji “ta”,
It is a figure showing signs that point sequence number change was performed further.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing result when the first triangulation method is applied to “field”; (B)
It is a figure showing the example of the processing result at the time of applying the 2nd triangulation method to "field".

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing result when the second triangulation method is applied to Russian “に”;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a character shape side surface generation process in a character shape side surface generation unit.

FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an outline of a first method of moving the upper surface of a character in a height direction. (B) is a figure which shows the outline of the 2nd method of moving the upper surface of a character to a height direction. (C) is a figure which shows the outline of the 3rd method of moving the upper surface of a character to a height direction. (D) is a figure which shows the outline of the 4th method of moving the upper surface of a character to a height direction.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing the simplest bevel-shaped outer shape. (B) is a figure for demonstrating the generation method of the intermediate outer periphery of a bevel shape.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in an intermediate outer circumference generation processing.

FIG. 13 (a) shows 2D for forming a convex side surface.
It is a figure showing the outline in the case of generating two middle circumferences.
(B) is a figure which shows the outline | summary in the case of producing | generating two intermediate outer periphery in order to form a concave side surface.

FIG. 14A is a diagram showing a shape of a side surface that is convex in a semicircular shape. (B) is a figure which shows the shape of the side surface which becomes concave in semicircle shape. (C) is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of each value in the intermediate outer periphery of the side which is convex in the shape of a semicircle.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a case where a mold-type bevel-shaped side surface is generated.

FIG. 16A is a diagram illustrating a shape of a side surface when the upper surface of the character is lifted vertically in the height direction in the first embodiment. (B) is an example in which a bevel-shaped side surface whose cross section protrudes in a convex hexagonal shape is generated. (C)
This is an example in which two intermediate outer peripheries are generated, and the cross-section of the side surface when the scraping angles with respect to the outer peripheries of the upper surface and the lower surface of the character are equal is a convex trapezoidal bevel shape. (D) is an example in which the shape of the side surface is a mold type bevel shape.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a case where a new point is interpolated between two points for the Chinese character “times”.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a method of subdividing an original triangle into four parts.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in a subdivision method when the level of subdivision of a triangle is set to r.

FIG. 21A is a diagram for explaining a method of performing internal division using a midpoint of a side of a triangle. (B) is a diagram showing a state in which the level of the subdivision of the triangle is increased from level 0 to level r at a stretch.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a view for explaining a character shape with a base.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a three-dimensional character data generation device according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 26 (a) is a diagram for explaining the upper surface of the marking plate. (B) It is a figure for explaining the character engraving part lower surface of an engraving board. (C) It is a figure for explaining a marking plate lower surface.

FIG. 27 is a functional block diagram of a conventional three-dimensional character creation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 102, 3D character data generator 103, 104, 105, 106 1 Character code input unit 2 Character outer periphery data acquisition unit 3 Character outer periphery data storage unit 4 Character shape structure analysis unit 5 Character shape upper and lower surface convex polygon division unit 6 , 36 Character shape side surface generation unit 7, 12, 25 Character shape data output unit 11 Bevel shape side surface generation unit 21 Character outer circumference data interpolation unit 22 Character shape upper and lower surface convex polygon subdivision unit 23 Character shape side surface generation unit 24 Texture coordinate generation Unit 31, 41 Character pedestal code input unit 32 Character outer pedestal shape acquisition unit 33 Character outer pedestal shape storage unit 34, 44 Character pedestal shape structure analysis unit 35 Pedestal shape generation unit 37, 47 Character pedestal shape data output unit 42 Character pedestal outer periphery Data acquisition units 43, 53 Outer circumference data storage unit 45 Character pedestal shape surface convex polygon division unit 46 sentences Base shape side generation unit 51 Character engraving plate code input unit 52 Character engraving plate peripheral data acquisition unit 54 Character engraving plate shape structure analysis unit 55 Character engraving plate shape surface convex polygon division unit 56 Character engraving plate shape side generation unit 57 Character engraving plate Shape data output section

Claims (32)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data, wherein the two-dimensional character data is used to determine the outer periphery of a character part constituting a character and the outer periphery of a hole formed in the character. Outer circumference determining means for determining, having an inclusion relationship with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and inclusion relation specifying means for specifying the outer circumference of the character component at a position closest to the outer circumference of the hole, From the inner region of the outer periphery of the character component specified by the inclusion relation specifying means, the region excluding the inner region of the outer periphery of the hole that has an inclusive relationship with the character component is divided into polygons. Dividing means for dividing the internal region into polygons; moving a copy of the character part relating to the area divided by the polygon by the dividing means; 3-D character data generating device, characterized in that it comprises a side surface generating means for generating a side from. 2. The two-dimensional character data is outline data defined by a two-dimensional plane representing the outline of the character or the outline of a hole, and the outer circumference determining means acquires the outline data and obtains the outline data. Are classified into first outline data representing the outline of the character and second outline data representing the outline of the hole, and the outer periphery of the character component is determined based on the classified first outline data. 2. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the outer periphery of the hole is determined based on two outline data. 3. The dividing means forms an area obtained by removing an inner area of an outer periphery of a hole which is inclusive of the outer periphery of the character component from an inner area of the outer periphery of the character part specified by the inclusion relation specifying means. Element, the component is divided into convex polygons, and for the outer periphery of an unspecified character part, its internal region is used as a component, the component is divided into convex polygons, and data representing the divided components is generated. 3. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 2, wherein 4. The three-dimensional apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the side surface generating means moves the copy of the component divided by the dividing means in a direction having a coordinate component orthogonal to the two-dimensional plane. Character data generator. 5. The outline data includes, for each of the character components, outline data including a dot sequence representing an outer periphery of the character component arranged in an order of proceeding in one of a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction; For each of the holes, outline data including a point sequence representing an outer periphery of the hole arranged in an order proceeding in a direction opposite to the one direction is included, and the outer periphery determining unit arranges the points of the point sequence. 5. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 4, wherein the classification is performed based on the determined direction. 6. The inclusive relation specifying means includes: a first determining unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the character component; a second determining unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the hole; A first specification that specifies a rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of one or more character components that includes the rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of the hole by comparing the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit with the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit. Part, of the rectangles specified by the first specifying unit, a second specifying unit that specifies the outer periphery of the character component related to the innermost rectangle, and the outer periphery of the character component specified by the second specifying unit, 6. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 5, further comprising: an inclusion information creating unit that identifies the outer periphery of the only character component that encompasses the outer periphery of the hole and creates information indicating the inclusion relationship. apparatus. 7. The side surface generating means, based on data representing the divided components and data obtained by copying the data and moving the data in a direction having a coordinate component orthogonal to the two-dimensional plane. hand,
An upper and lower surface generating unit for generating data representing a three-dimensional upper surface and a lower surface, and an intermediate outer peripheral generating unit for generating data representing an intermediate outer periphery based on data on the outer edge of the upper or lower surface generated by the upper and lower surface generating unit. And generating a side surface by connecting a vertex of the intermediate outer perimeter related to the data generated by the intermediate outer perimeter generating unit and a vertex pertaining to the data of the outer edge portion of the upper surface and the lower surface to generate data representing the side surface The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 6, further comprising: a side surface generation unit that performs the operation. 8. The intermediate outer circumference generating unit calculates a normal vector of a vector formed by starting and ending points of any two adjacent points among vertices related to the outer edge of the upper surface or the lower surface. Based on the xy coordinates of the line vector multiplied by a certain magnification, the xy coordinates of the start point, and a predetermined z coordinate value, a point constituting an intermediate outer periphery corresponding to the start point is specified, and the outer periphery of the upper surface or the lower surface is rounded. 8. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 7, wherein data representing the intermediate outer periphery is generated by sequentially specifying points constituting the intermediate outer periphery. 9. The three-dimensional character data generating device further generates a minimum square including the lower surface and the upper surface of the component of the character component and defines the upper surface and the lower surface of the component. The square is translated so that the column is included in the square, the individual coordinate values in the component are specified, and the coordinate values obtained by dividing these coordinate values by the length of the sides of the square are defined as mapping coordinates. The ratio of the sum of the distances between the two points of the outer peripheral point sequence defining the generated side surface and the distance from the starting point to each point, the height from the lower surface to the upper surface, and each point in the outer peripheral point sequence 9. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising texture coordinate generating means for generating texture coordinates based on a ratio to the height of the three-dimensional character data. 10. The three-dimensional character data generating device is provided with a cylinder including all of the constituent elements or a cylinder including each of the constituent elements, and defining a cylindrical coordinate system normalized to the cylinder.
9. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 8, further comprising texture coordinate generation means for projecting each vertex of the component from the center coordinates of the cylinder and generating texture coordinates by using coordinates in the cylindrical coordinate system. apparatus. 11. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus further comprises: providing a sphere including all of the constituent elements or a sphere including each of the constituent elements; defining a normalized polar coordinate system on the sphere; 9. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising texture coordinate generating means for projecting each vertex from the center coordinates of the sphere and generating texture coordinates by using the coordinate values in the polar coordinate system. 12. The inclusion determining unit, wherein: a first determining unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the character component; a second determining unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the hole; The distance between the center of gravity of the rectangle pertaining to the outer periphery of the hole determined by the first determination unit and each side of the rectangle pertaining to the outer periphery of the character component determined by the first determination unit, or the point sequence relating to the centroid and the character component Of the distance to one point
The shortest distance determining unit that determines the shorter one as the shortest distance for the character component, and the shortest distance determined by the shortest distance determining unit is compared for all the character components. 6. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: an inclusion information creating unit that determines that the outer periphery of the only character component encompasses the outer periphery of the hole and creates information representing the inclusion relationship. . 13. The three-dimensional character data generation device further divides an average distance between two consecutive points by a predetermined value from a point sequence included in the first outline data or the second outline data. Data interpolation means for calculating a reference distance and interpolating one or more new points between the two points so that the distance between the two points is equal to or less than the reference distance when the distance between the two points is equal to or greater than the reference distance. The three-dimensional character data generation device according to claim 5, further comprising: 14. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said three-dimensional character data generating apparatus further comprises a subdivision unit for subdividing the convex polygon divided by said division unit.
Dimensional character data generator. 15. A character base code input means for inputting a character code and a base code, and a character periphery storing outline data of a character corresponding to the character code and three-dimensional shape data of the base corresponding to the base code. A character shape pedestal for acquiring character outline data and three-dimensional shape data of the character pedestal from the character shape pedestal shape storage means based on the character code and the pedestal code input by the character pedestal code input means; Based on the outline data of the character obtained by the shape obtaining means and the character outer pedestal shape obtaining means, the character is configured by analyzing the inclusion relationship between the outer circumference of the character and the outer circumference of the hole formed in the character. The component is specified, and the pedestal related to the three-dimensional shape data acquired by the character peripheral pedestal shape acquiring means is specified. Character shape structure analysis means for calculating a condition under which the character can exist on the upper surface; and pedestal shape generation means for converting the three-dimensional shape data of the pedestal based on the condition calculated by the character shape structure analysis means. A character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon dividing unit that divides each of the character components specified by the character shape structure analyzing unit into convex polygons; and a polygon divided by the character shape upper / lower surface convex polygon dividing unit. A character shape side surface generating means for generating an upper surface, a lower surface and a side surface by spatially moving the character data. 16. A character base code input means for inputting a character code and a base code, and outer circumference data storage means for storing outline data of a character corresponding to the character code and outline data of the base corresponding to the base code. Based on the character code and the pedestal code input by the character pedestal code input means, a character outer pedestal shape obtaining means for obtaining outline data of characters and pedestals from the outer circumference data storage means; Based on the outline data of the character obtained by the means, analyzing the inclusion relation between the outer periphery of the character and the outer periphery of the hole formed in the character, specifying the constituent elements constituting the character, Based on the pedestal outline data acquired by the acquisition means, Analyzing the inclusion relationship of the perimeter of the hole that has been identified to identify the components that constitute the pedestal,
A character pedestal shape structure analyzing means for calculating a condition under which the character can be placed in the pedestal; and, for each of the components of the character specified by the character pedestal shape structure analyzing means, the character pedestal is divided into convex polygons. Character pedestal shape surface convex polygon dividing means for converting data representing each component of the pedestal based on the condition in which the character can exist in the pedestal calculated by the shape structure analyzing means, and then dividing the data into convex polygons, A character pedestal-shaped side surface generating means for spatially moving each component divided by the character pedestal-shaped surface-convex polygon dividing means to generate an upper surface, a lower surface, and a side surface; Data generator. 17. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said character pedestal shape side surface generating means generates a bevel shape as a side surface shape. 18. A character marking plate code input means for inputting a character code and a marking plate code, and storing outline data of a character corresponding to the character code and outline data of a marking plate corresponding to the marking plate code. Outer circumference data storage means; and a character outer engraving board shape obtaining means for obtaining outline data of a character and an engraving board from the outer circumference data storage means based on the character code and the engraving board code input by the character engraving board code input means. Based on the outline data of the character acquired by the character outer engraving plate shape acquiring means, a component that constitutes a character by analyzing the inclusion relationship between the outer periphery of the character and the outer periphery of a hole formed in the character Is calculated, a condition under which the character can be placed in the stamping plate is calculated, and the stamping plate is Converts the line data, analyzes the inclusion relationship between the outer periphery of the stamping plate and the outer periphery of the hole formed in the stamping plate based on the converted outline data of the stamping plate, and configures the stamping plate lower surface. , And convert the outer point sequence representing the character outline into a point sequence representing the character hole,
An outline obtained by converting a dot sequence on the outer periphery representing a hole of a character into a dot sequence representing an outline of the character, and combining outline data of a new character based on the converted dot sequence and outline data of the stamp plate after the conversion. Data is generated, and based on the merged outline data, the enclosing relationship between the perimeter of the engraving plate pertaining to the converted outline data and the perimeter of the character pertaining to the new outline data is analyzed to form the upper surface of the engraving plate. Character engraving plate shape structure analyzing means for specifying a component to be performed; and a character engraving plate shape surface to be divided into convex polygons for each of the characters specified by the character engraving plate shape structure analyzing means and the constituent elements of the engraving plate upper and lower surfaces. The convex polygon dividing means, and the respective components of the marking plate divided into polygons by the character marking plate shape surface convex polygon dividing means are spatially moved. The upper surface, the lower surface, and the side surface of the engraving plate are formed, and the components on the upper surface of the character are spatially moved by a predetermined depth to generate the lower surface and the side surface of the engraved portion of the engraving plate. A three-dimensional character data generation device, comprising: a generation unit. 19. The three-dimensional character data generating apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said character engraving plate-shaped side surface generating means generates a bevel shape as a side surface shape. 20. An apparatus for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data, wherein the two-dimensional graphic data is used to determine the outer circumference of a graphic part constituting a graphic and the outer circumference of a hole formed in the graphic. Outer circumference determining means for determining, having an inclusion relationship with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining means, and including relation specifying means for specifying the outer circumference of the graphic component at a position closest to the outer circumference of the hole, From the internal region of the outer periphery of the graphic component specified by the inclusion relation specifying means, the region excluding the internal region of the outer periphery of the hole having the inclusion relationship with the graphic component is divided into polygons. Dividing means for dividing the internal region into polygons; moving a copy of the graphic part relating to the area divided by the polygon by the dividing means; 3-dimensional graphic data generating device, characterized in that it comprises a side surface generating means for generating a side from the point. 21. The two-dimensional graphic data is outline data defined by a two-dimensional plane representing the outline of the graphic or the outline of a hole, and the outer circumference determining means acquires the outline data and obtains the outline data. Are classified into first outline data representing the outline of the figure and second outline data representing the outline of the hole, and the outer periphery of the figure part is determined based on the classified first outline data. 21. The three-dimensional graphic data generating apparatus according to claim 20, wherein an outer periphery of the hole is determined based on two outline data. 22. The dividing means forms an area obtained by removing an internal area of an outer periphery of a hole which is inclusive of the outer periphery of the graphic component from an inner peripheral area of the graphic part specified by the inclusion relation specifying means. Element, the component is divided into convex polygons, and with respect to the outer periphery of the unspecified graphic part, its internal region is used as a component, the component is divided into convex polygons, and data representing the divided components is generated. 22. The three-dimensional graphic data generating apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the processing is performed. 23. The three-dimensional apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the side surface generating unit moves the copy of the component divided by the dividing unit in a direction having a coordinate component orthogonal to the two-dimensional plane. Graphic data generator. 24. The outline data includes, for each of the graphic components, outline data including a sequence of points representing the outer periphery of the graphic component arranged in the order of proceeding in one of clockwise and counterclockwise directions; For each of the holes, outline data including a point sequence representing an outer periphery of the hole arranged in an order proceeding in a direction opposite to the one direction is included, and the outer periphery determining unit arranges the points of the point sequence. 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the classification is performed on the basis of the determined direction.
3. The three-dimensional graphic data generating apparatus according to claim 1. 25. The inclusion relation specifying means, wherein: a first determination unit that determines a rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of the graphic component; a second determination unit that determines a rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of the hole; A first specification that specifies a rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of one or more graphic components including the rectangle that surrounds the outer periphery of the hole by comparing the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit with the rectangle that is determined by the second determination unit. Part, of the rectangles specified by the first specifying unit, a second specifying unit that specifies the outer periphery of the graphic component related to the innermost rectangle, and the outer periphery of the graphic component specified by the second specifying unit, 25. The three-dimensional graphic data generation apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising: an inclusion information creating unit that identifies the outer circumference of the only graphic part that includes the outer circumference of the hole and creates information representing the inclusion relationship. apparatus. 26. The inclusion relation specifying means, wherein: a first determination unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the graphic component; a second determination unit that determines a rectangle surrounding the outer periphery of the hole; and the second determination unit The distance between the center of gravity of the rectangle pertaining to the periphery of the hole determined by the above and each side of the rectangle pertaining to the periphery of the graphic component determined by the first determination unit, or the point sequence of the point of gravity relating to the graphic component Of the distance to one point
The shortest distance determining unit that determines the shorter one as the shortest distance for the graphic component, and the shortest distance determined by the shortest distance determining unit is compared for all the graphic components. 25. The three-dimensional graphic data generation apparatus according to claim 24, further comprising: an inclusion information creating unit that determines that the outer periphery of the only graphic part encompasses the outer circumference of the hole, and creates information representing the inclusion relationship. . 27. A method for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data, comprising using two-dimensional character data to determine the outer periphery of a character part constituting a character and the outer periphery of a hole formed in the character. An outer circumference determining step to determine, having an inclusion relation with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determination step, and an inclusion relation specifying step of specifying the outer circumference of the character component at a position closest to the outer circumference of the hole; From the inner region of the outer periphery of the character component specified by the inclusion relation specifying step, the region excluding the inner region of the outer periphery of the hole having the inclusion relationship with the character component is divided into polygons. A dividing step of dividing the internal region into polygons; and moving a copy of the character part relating to the area divided by the polygon in the dividing step. 3-D character data generating method characterized by comprising a side generation step of generating a side from the apex of the cloning character parts. 28. A program for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data, the program causing a computer to execute the steps in the three-dimensional character data generation method according to claim 27. 29. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for generating three-dimensional character data from two-dimensional character data is recorded, wherein the program according to claim 28 is recorded. 30. A method for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data, comprising using the two-dimensional graphic data to determine the outer circumference of a graphic part constituting a graphic and the outer circumference of a hole formed in the graphic. An outer circumference determining step to determine, an inclusive relation with the outer circumference of the hole determined by the outer circumference determining step, and an inclusive relation specifying step of specifying the outer circumference of the graphic component at a position closest to the outer circumference of the hole; From the internal region of the outer periphery of the graphic component specified by the inclusion relation specifying step, the region excluding the internal region of the outer periphery of the hole having the inclusion relationship with the graphic component is divided into polygons. A dividing step of dividing the internal region into polygons; and moving a copy of the graphic part relating to the area divided by the polygon in the dividing step. 3-dimensional graphic data generation method characterized by including the side generating step of generating a side from the apex of the replicated figure component. 31. A program for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data, wherein the program causes a computer to execute the steps in the three-dimensional graphic data generating method according to claim 30. 32. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for generating three-dimensional graphic data from two-dimensional graphic data is recorded, wherein the program according to claim 31 is recorded.