JP2003288609A - Program, device, and method of 3-dimensional image processing and device for video game - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program which connects patches (or objects) together while avoiding generation of gaps. <P>SOLUTION: A program execution part 400 comprises a vertex coordinate setting part 401 setting vertex coordinates of polygons each of which consists of first and second patches, a vertex coordinate selecting part 402 for selecting the vertexes of polygons to be connected from the first and second patches, and a vertex coordinate changing part 403 making the vertex coordinate of the first patch and the vertex coordinate of the second patch agree with the vertex coordinate of the selected polygon. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to, for example, a video game device and the like, and includes first and second patches (or objects) each composed of a plurality of polygons.
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image processing technique for combining the two.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various game devices in which a plurality of objects such as characters are displayed in a pseudo three-dimensional space created on a monitor screen have become widespread. In such a game device, in order to display a game image,
The vertex coordinates of polygons forming an object (or a patch that is a part of the object) are stored in advance in a storage means such as a CD-ROM provided in the game device, and the object (or the object in the view from the virtual camera viewpoint) (or The vertex coordinates and the like of the patch) are read out from the storage means, connected in a virtual three-dimensional space, and then perspectively converted into a two-dimensional image, which is displayed on a monitor.

On the other hand, in order to realistically display an object having a complicated shape, it is necessary to increase the number of polygons forming the polygon model expressing the object.
Conversely, for a simple shaped object (or patch),
Increasing the number of polygons increases the memory and CPU load, which is not preferable. Therefore, conventionally, the number of polygons forming an object (or patch) is determined according to the shape of the object (or patch).

[0004]

However, when objects (or patches) having different numbers of polygons (number of vertices of polygons) are connected in a virtual three-dimensional space,
A gap is generated as shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is an example of a diagram for explaining a gap that occurs when two patches with different polygon numbers (polygon vertex numbers) are joined together. In FIG. 12, when the patch PM1 on the left side and the patch PM2 on the right side are combined, there are 10 vertices PV101 to PV110 to be combined with the patch PM1 and the vertices PV201 to P201 to be combined with the patch PM2.
Since the number of V208 is eight (that is, the number of vertices of polygons to be combined is different), a gap CL1 is generated at the combined position of the patch PM1 and the patch PM2.

Thus, an object (or patch)
The gap generated when the two are combined reduces the image quality of the game image and causes the reality to be impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a three-dimensional image processing program, a three-dimensional image processing apparatus, and a three-dimensional image processing method that combine patches (or objects) while avoiding the occurrence of gaps. Another object of the present invention is to provide a video game device.

[0007]

A three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 1 is a three-dimensional image processing program for combining a first patch and a second patch each composed of a plurality of polygons. The first and second
Vertex setting means for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the patch, the joining vertex selecting means for selecting the vertexes of the polygons to be joined from the first and second patches, and the vertex of the selected polygon. The first with respect to the coordinates
It is characterized by functioning as a vertex coordinate changing means for matching the vertex coordinates on the patch side with the vertex coordinates on the second patch side.

According to the above invention, the vertex coordinate setting means sets the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches, and the combined vertex selecting means selects from the first and second patches respectively. The vertices of the polygons to be combined are selected, and the vertex coordinate changing means makes the vertex coordinates of the first patch side and the vertex coordinates of the second patch side coincide with the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. The coordinates are changed. An image formed by combining the first and second patches by combining the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined with the first and second patches so that the gap between them is so-called stitched together. Image quality and reality are improved.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a second aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the first aspect, wherein the vertex coordinate changing means causes the vertexes of polygons to be combined in the first patch. When the number is larger than the number of vertices of the polygon to be combined in the second patch, the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the first patch are made to coincide with the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the second patch. It is characterized by that.

According to the above invention, when the vertex coordinate changing means has a greater number of vertices of polygons to be combined in the first patch than the number of vertices of polygons to be combined in the second patch, the first patch The vertex coordinates are changed so that the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in (1) match the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the second patch. That is, since the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the patch with the larger number of vertices match the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the patch with the smaller number of vertices, the number of vertices is increased. It is possible to easily combine the patches without increasing the number).

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a third aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the first or the second aspect, wherein the vertex coordinate setting means sets the first and second patches respectively. A free-form surface generating means for generating a free-form surface using control points having coordinate information prepared in advance to define, and a free-form surface generated by using a predetermined number of divisions for dividing the free-form surface The first and second
And a polygon generating means for generating the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the patch.

According to the above invention, the free-form surface generating means generates the free-form surface using the control points having the coordinate information prepared in advance to define the first and second patches, respectively, and the polygon generating means. Thus, the free-form surface generated by using the predetermined number of divisions for dividing the free-form surface is divided to generate the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches. Therefore, since the computer stores coordinate information of a smaller number of control points than the vertex coordinates of polygons, it may be possible to store the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches in advance. In comparison, the required storage capacity is reduced.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a fourth aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the third aspect, wherein the vertex coordinate setting means is a viewpoint position setting means for setting a position of a virtual viewpoint. And a division number determining means for obtaining the number of divisions using the virtual viewpoint position information, and the polygon producing means produces the vertex coordinates of the polygon using the obtained division number.

According to the above invention, the position of the virtual viewpoint is set by the viewpoint position setting means, and the number of divisions is obtained by the division number determining means using the virtual viewpoint position information. Then, the polygon generation means generates the vertex coordinates of the polygon by using the obtained division number. Therefore, by decreasing the number of divisions as the patch is farther from the position of the virtual viewpoint, it is possible to improve the processing speed while suppressing the deterioration of the image quality.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a fifth aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the fourth aspect, wherein the vertex coordinate setting means sets the reference for each of the first and second patches. It is characterized in that it comprises a reference coordinate setting means for setting the coordinates of the points, and the division number determining means obtains the division number based on the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint.

According to the above invention, the reference coordinate setting means sets the coordinates of the reference points of the first and second patches, and the division number determining means determines the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. Since the number of divisions is obtained by the above, an appropriate and appropriate number of divisions can be obtained.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a sixth aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the fifth aspect, wherein the division number determining means divides the image according to a distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. The feature is that the number of divisions is obtained using a lookup table in which the number is uniquely determined.

According to the above invention, the number of divisions is uniquely obtained from the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint via the look-up table, so that the more appropriate division number can be obtained.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a seventh aspect is the three-dimensional image processing program according to the fifth aspect, wherein the division number determining means uses a distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. It is characterized in that the number of divisions is obtained by a predetermined arithmetic expression.

According to the above invention, since the divisor is obtained from the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint by the arithmetic expression, a more appropriate division number can be obtained.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 8 is a three-dimensional image processing program for connecting a first object and a second object each composed of a plurality of polygons. Vertex coordinate setting means for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the second object, combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of the polygons to be combined from the first and second objects, and the selected polygon. It is characterized by functioning as a vertex coordinate changing means for matching the vertex coordinates on the side of the first object and the vertex coordinates on the side of the second object with respect to the vertex coordinates of.

According to the above-mentioned invention, the vertex coordinate setting means sets the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second objects, and the joint vertex selecting means sets the vertex coordinates.
The vertices of the polygons to be combined are selected from the first and second patches, respectively, and the vertex coordinate changing means selects the vertex coordinates of the first object and the second object from the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon. The vertex coordinates are changed so that they coincide with the vertex coordinates. An image formed by combining the first and second patches by combining the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined with the first and second objects so that the gap between them is so-called stitched together. Image quality and reality are improved.

A three-dimensional image processing program according to a ninth aspect is a three-dimensional image processing program for connecting an object and a patch each composed of a plurality of polygons, and a computer configures the object and the patch. Vertex coordinate setting means for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon, combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of the polygons to be combined from the object and patch, and the vertex on the object side with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. It is characterized in that it functions as a vertex coordinate changing means for matching the coordinates with the vertex coordinates on the patch side.

According to the above invention, the vertex coordinate setting means sets the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the object and the patch, and the joint vertex selecting means determines the vertices of the polygons to be joined from the object and the patch, respectively. The vertex coordinates are changed by the vertex coordinate changing means so that the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon coincide with the vertex coordinates of the object. By matching the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined with the object and the patch, the gap between the two is combined in a so-called stitched manner, and the image quality of the image formed by combining the first and second patches and Reality is improved.

A three-dimensional image processing apparatus according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is a first and second three-dimensional image processing apparatus each comprising a plurality of polygons.
A three-dimensional image processing apparatus for combining the above patches, the vertex coordinate setting means for setting the vertex coordinates of the polygons forming the first and second patches, and the first and second patches respectively. Combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of the target polygon, and vertex coordinate change for matching the vertex coordinates on the first patch side and the vertex coordinates on the second patch side with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon. And means.

According to the above invention, the vertex coordinate setting means sets the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches, and the combined vertex selecting means selects from the first and second patches respectively. The vertices of the polygons to be combined are selected, and the vertex coordinate changing means makes the vertex coordinates of the first patch side and the vertex coordinates of the second patch side coincide with the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. The coordinates are changed. An image formed by combining the first and second patches by combining the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined with the first and second patches so that the gap between them is so-called stitched together. Image quality and reality are improved.

According to the three-dimensional image processing method of the eleventh aspect, the first and second three-dimensional image processing methods each include a plurality of polygons.
A three-dimensional image processing method for combining the above patches, the vertex coordinate setting processing for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches in a computer, and the first and second patches. From each of the polygons to be combined, and the vertex coordinates of the first patch and the vertex coordinates of the second patch are matched with the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. The feature is that the vertex coordinate changing process is executed.

According to the above invention, the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches are set in the vertex coordinate setting process, and the first and second patches are respectively selected in the combined vertex selecting process. The vertices of the polygons to be combined are selected, and in the vertex coordinate change processing, the vertex coordinates are changed so that the vertex coordinates on the first patch side and the second patch side match the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon. Is applied. An image formed by combining the first and second patches by combining the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined with the first and second patches so that the gap between them is so-called stitched together. Image quality and reality are improved.

A video game device according to claim 12 is
An operation unit that receives an input from the outside, a game progress control unit that controls the progress of the game based on the input from the outside, and a game image generation unit that generates a game image corresponding to the progress of the game in the virtual three-dimensional space. And a display means for displaying a game image, wherein the game image generation means comprises apex coordinate setting means for setting apex coordinates of respective polygons forming the first and second patches, Combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of the polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and the vertex coordinates on the side of the first patch and the second patch with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. And a vertex coordinate changing means for matching the vertex coordinates on the side.

According to the above-mentioned invention, by the operating means,
An external input is accepted, the game progress control unit controls the progress of the game based on the external input, and the game image generation unit generates a game image corresponding to the progress of the game in the virtual three-dimensional space. Then, the game image is displayed by the display means. Then, when the game image generation means generates a game image corresponding to the progress of the game in the virtual three-dimensional space, the vertex coordinate setting means determines the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches. The vertices of polygons to be combined are selected from the first and second patches by the combination vertex selecting means, and the vertex coordinate changing means selects the vertices of the polygons on the first patch side with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon. The vertex coordinates are changed so that the vertex coordinates match the second patch side. An image formed by combining the first and second patches by combining the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined with the first and second patches so that the gap between them is so-called stitched together. Image quality and reality are improved.

[0031]

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video game device to which a three-dimensional image processing device of the present invention is applied. Note that, in the following description, a home video game device configured by connecting a home video game device to a home television will be described as an example of the video game device, but the present invention is not limited to this example. Alternatively, the invention can be similarly applied to a commercial video game device having an integrated monitor, a personal computer that functions as a video game device by executing a video game program, and the like.

The video game device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a home-use game machine 100 and a home-use television 200. The home-use game machine 100 has a computer-readable recording medium 30 in which a video game program including the three-dimensional image processing program of the present invention and game data are recorded.
0 is loaded, the video game program and the game data are appropriately read, and the game is executed.

The home-use game machine 100 has a CPU (Centra).
l Processing Unit) 1 (corresponding to a part of game progress control means and game image generating means), bus line 2, graphics data generating processor 3 (corresponding to a part of game image generating means), interface circuit (I /
F) 4, main memory 5, ROM (Read Only Memory)
6, expansion circuit 7, parallel port 8, serial port 9, drawing processor 10, audio processor 11, decoder 12, interface circuit 13, buffers 14 to 1
6, a recording medium drive 17, a memory 18, and a controller 19. The home-use television 200 includes a television monitor 21, an amplifier circuit 22, and a speaker 23.

The CPU 1 is connected to the bus line 2 and the graphics data generating processor 3 (corresponding to a part of the game image generating means). The bus line 2 includes an address bus, a data bus and a control bus,
CPU 1, interface circuit 4, main memory 5,
The ROM 6, the decompression circuit 7, the parallel port 8, the serial port 9, the drawing processor 10 (corresponding to a part of the game image generating means), the audio processor 11, the decoder 12 and the interface circuit 13 are connected to each other.

The drawing processor 10 is connected to the buffer 14. The audio processor 11 is connected to the buffer 15 and the amplifier circuit 22. The decoder 12 is connected to the buffer 16 and the recording medium drive 17. The interface circuit 13 is connected to the memory 18 and the controller 19 (corresponding to operating means).

The television monitor 21 of the home television 200 is connected to the drawing processor 10. The speaker 23 is connected to the amplifier circuit 22. In the case of an arcade video game device, the television monitor 21 (corresponding to display means), the amplifier circuit 22 and the speaker 23 may be housed together with each block constituting the home-use game machine 100 in one housing. is there.

Further, when the video game device is constructed by using a personal computer, a workstation or the like as a core, the television monitor 21 or the like corresponds to a display for a computer. The decompression circuit 7, the drawing processor 10, the voice processor 11, etc. correspond to a part of the program data recorded in the recording medium 300 or the hardware on the expansion board installed in the expansion slot of the computer. The interface circuit 4, the parallel port 8, the serial port 9, and the interface circuit 13 correspond to the hardware on the expansion board mounted in the expansion slot of the computer. The buffers 14 to 16 correspond to the respective storage areas of the main memory 5 or the extended memory (not shown).

Next, each component shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The graphics data generation processor 3 is a CPU
1 plays a role as a coprocessor. That is, the graphics data generation processor 3 performs coordinate conversion and light source calculation, for example, calculation of a fixed-point matrix or vector by parallel processing.

The main processing performed by the graphics data generation processor 3 is based on the coordinate data of each vertex in the two-dimensional or three-dimensional space of the image data supplied from the CPU 1, the movement amount data, the rotation amount data and the like. , A process of obtaining address data of an image to be processed on a predetermined display area and returning it to the CPU 1, a process of calculating the brightness of the image according to a distance from a virtually set light source, and the like.

The interface circuit 4 is a peripheral device,
For example, it is used for an interface such as a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball. The main memory 5 is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like. The ROM 6 stores program data serving as an operating system of the video game device. This program is a personal computer's BIOS (Bas
ic Input Output System).

The expansion circuit 7 is an MPEG (Movin
g Picture Experts Group) JPE for standards and still images
Decompression processing is performed on a compressed image that has been compressed by intra coding conforming to the G (Joint Photographic Experts Group) standard. Decompression processing is decoding processing (VLC: Variable
Decoding of data encoded by Length Code), inverse quantization processing, IDCT (Inverse Discrete Cosin)
e Transform) processing, intra-image restoration processing, etc.

The drawing processor 10 performs drawing processing for the buffer 14 at predetermined time intervals T (for example, T = 1/60 seconds in one frame) based on a drawing command issued by the CPU 1.

The buffer 14 is composed of, for example, a RAM,
It is divided into a display area (frame buffer) and a non-display area. The display area is composed of an expansion area of data to be displayed on the display surface of the television monitor 21. The non-display area is made up of storage areas such as data defining skeletons, model data defining polygons, animation data that causes the model to move, pattern data indicating the contents of each animation, texture data, and color palette data.

Here, the texture data is two-dimensional image data. The color palette data is data for designating colors such as texture data. Recording medium 30
The CPU 1 records these data in advance in the non-display area of the buffer 14 from 0 at once or a plurality of times according to the progress of the game.

As the drawing command, there are a drawing command for drawing a three-dimensional image using polygons and a drawing command for drawing a normal two-dimensional image. Here, the polygon is a polygonal two-dimensional virtual figure, and for example, a triangle or a quadrangle is used.

The drawing command for drawing a three-dimensional image using polygons is the polygon vertex address data indicating the storage position of the polygon vertex coordinate data on the display area of the buffer 14, and the texture buffer 14 to be attached to the polygon. Is performed for each of the texture address data indicating the storage position, the color palette address data indicating the storage position of the color palette data indicating the color of the texture on the buffer 14, and the brightness data indicating the brightness of the texture.

For the polygon vertex address data on the display area among the above data, the graphics data generation processor 3 converts the polygon vertex coordinate data in the three-dimensional space from the CPU 1 based on the movement amount data and the rotation amount data. By doing so, it is replaced with the polygon vertex coordinate data in two dimensions. The brightness data is determined by the graphics data generation processor 3 based on the distance from the position indicated by the polygon vertex coordinate data after the coordinate conversion from the CPU 1 to the virtually arranged light source.

Buffer 1 for polygon vertex address data
4 shows the address on the display area. Drawing processor 1
For 0, a process of writing texture data corresponding to the range of the display area of the buffer 14 indicated by the three polygon vertex address data is performed.

An object such as a character in the game space is composed of a plurality of polygons. The CPU 1 stores the coordinate data in the three-dimensional space of each polygon in the buffer 14 in association with the corresponding skeleton vector data. Then, in the case of moving the object on the display screen of the television monitor 21 by the operation of the controller 19 described later, when expressing the motion of the object or changing the viewpoint position of looking at the object, Processing is performed.

That is, the CPU 1 obtains the graphics data generation processor 3 from the three-dimensional coordinate data of the vertices of each polygon held in the non-display area of the buffer 14, the skeleton coordinates, and the rotation amount data. The amount of movement data and the amount of rotation data of each polygon are given.

The graphics data generation processor 3 sequentially obtains the three-dimensional coordinate data after the movement and rotation of each polygon based on the three-dimensional coordinate data of the vertices of each polygon and the movement amount data and rotation amount data of each polygon. .

3 of each polygon obtained in this way
The horizontal and vertical coordinate data of the dimensional coordinate data is supplied to the drawing processor 10 as address data on the display area of the buffer 14, that is, polygon vertex address data.

The drawing processor 10 writes the texture data indicated by the pre-assigned texture address data on the display area of the buffer 14 indicated by the three polygon vertex address data. As a result, on the display screen of the television monitor 21, an object having a texture attached to a large number of polygons is displayed.

A drawing command for drawing a normal two-dimensional image is composed of vertex address data, texture address data, color palette address data indicating the storage position of color palette data indicating the color of texture data in the buffer 14, and texture This is performed on the luminance data indicating the luminance. Among these data, the vertex address data is the vertex coordinate data from the CPU 1 on the two-dimensional plane, and the graphics data generation processor 3 based on the movement amount data and the rotation amount data from the CPU 1.
Is obtained by coordinate transformation.

The voice processor 11 reads an ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse) read from the recording medium 300.
Code Modulation) data is stored in the buffer 15,
The ADPCM data stored in the buffer 15 serves as a sound source.

Further, the audio processor 11 reads out ADPCM data from the buffer 15 based on, for example, a clock signal having a frequency of 44.1 kHz. The audio processor 11 performs processing such as pitch conversion, noise addition, envelope setting, level setting, and reverb addition on the read ADPCM data.

Audio data read from the recording medium 300 is a PC such as CD-DA (Compact Disk Digital Audio).
In the case of M (Pulse Code Modulation) data, the audio processor 11 converts this audio data into ADPCM data. Further, the processing of the PCM data by the program is directly performed on the main memory 5. The PCM data processed on the main memory 5 is supplied to the audio processor 11 and converted into ADPCM data. Then, the above-described various processes are performed, and the voice is output from the speaker 23.

As the recording medium drive 17, for example,
DVD-ROM drive, CD-ROM drive, hard disk drive, optical disk drive, flexible disk drive, silicon disk drive, cassette medium reader, etc. are used. In this case, as the recording medium 300, a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, an optical disk, a flexible disk, a semiconductor memory or the like is used.

The recording medium drive 17 reads image data, audio data and program data from the recording medium 300 and supplies the read data to the decoder 12. The decoder 12 performs error correction processing by ECC (Error Correction Code) on the data reproduced from the recording medium drive 17, and supplies the data subjected to the error correction processing to the main memory 5 or the audio processor 11.

As the memory 18, for example, a card type memory is used. The card-type memory is used to hold various game parameters at the time of interruption, such as holding the state at the time of interruption when the game is interrupted.

The controller 19 is an operating device used by the player for inputting various operation commands, and sends an operation signal to the CPU 1 according to the operation of the player. The controller 19 includes a first button 19a and a second button 19
b, third button 19c, fourth button 19d, up arrow key 19U, down arrow key 19D, left arrow key 19L, right arrow key 19R, L1 button 19L1, L2 button 19L
2, R1 button 19R1, R2 button 19R2, start button 19e, select button 19f, left stick 19SL and right stick 19SR are provided.

The up-direction key 19U, the down-direction key 19D, the left-direction key 19L and the right-direction key 19R are used to give the CPU 1 a command to move an object or a cursor vertically and horizontally on the screen of the television monitor 21, for example. used.

The start button 19e is used, for example, to instruct the CPU 1 to load the game program from the recording medium 300. The select button 19f is used to instruct the CPU 1 to make various selections regarding the game program loaded from the recording medium 300 to the main memory 5.

Left stick 19SL and right stick 1
Each button and each key of the controller 19 except 9SR is composed of a switch that is turned on when pressed from the neutral position by an external pressing force, and is returned to the neutral position and turned off when the pressing force is released. To be done.

Left stick 19SL and right stick 1
9SR is a stick-type controller having almost the same configuration as a so-called joystick. This stick-type controller has an upright stick, and is configured to be tiltable in a 360 ° direction including front, rear, left and right with a predetermined position of the stick as a fulcrum. Left stick 1
The 9SL and the right stick 19SR send the values of the x-coordinate in the left-right direction and the y-coordinate in the front-rear direction with the upright position as the origin to the CPU 1 via the interface circuit 13 as operation signals according to the tilt direction and tilt angle of the stick. To do.

The first button 19a and the second button 19
The b, third button 19c, fourth button 19d, L1 button 19L1, L2 button 19L2, R1 button 19R1 and R2 button 19R2 are used for various functions according to the game program loaded from the recording medium 300.

Next, the general operation of the above video game device will be described. When the recording medium 300 is loaded in the recording medium drive 17, a power switch (not shown)
When is turned on and the video game device is powered on,
Based on the operating system stored in the ROM 6, the CPU 1 instructs the recording medium drive 17 to read the game program from the recording medium 300. As a result, the recording medium drive 17 causes the recording medium 3
00, image data, audio data, and program data are read. The read image data, audio data, and program data are supplied to the decoder 12, and the decoder 12 performs error correction processing on each data.

The image data which has been subjected to the error correction processing by the decoder 12 is sent through the bus line 2 to the expansion circuit 7.
Is supplied to. The image data subjected to the above-described expansion processing by the expansion circuit 7 is supplied to the drawing processor 10,
It is written in the non-display area of the buffer 14 by the drawing processor 10. The audio data subjected to the error correction processing by the decoder 12 is written in the buffer 15 via the main memory 5 or the audio processor 11. The program data subjected to the error correction processing by the decoder 12 is written in the main memory 5.

After that, the CPU 1 advances the video game based on the game program stored in the main memory 5 and the contents instructed by the player using the controller 19. That is, the CPU 1 appropriately controls the image processing, the voice processing, the internal processing, and the like based on the content that the player uses the controller 19 to instruct.

As the control of the image processing, for example, the coordinate of each skeleton or the polygon vertex coordinate data is calculated from the pattern data corresponding to the animation instructed by the object, and the obtained three-dimensional coordinate data and the viewpoint position data are calculated. The supply to the graphics data generation processor 3 and the issuing of a drawing command including the address data and the brightness data on the display area of the buffer 14 which is determined by the graphics data generation processor 3 are performed.

As control of voice processing, for example, issuance of voice output command to the voice processor 11, level,
Reverb etc. are specified. As control of internal processing,
For example, calculation or the like is performed according to the operation of the controller 19.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus of the present invention. The three-dimensional image processing program of the present invention is recorded in the recording medium 300 shown in FIG. 1 similarly to the above-mentioned game program, loaded on the main memory 5, and the player controls the controller 1
Each function is realized by sequentially executing the three-dimensional image processing program on the main memory 5 by the CPU 1 while accepting an operation performed via 9. The three-dimensional image processing apparatus includes a program execution unit 400 that realizes various functions by executing various processing programs, and a storage unit 500 that stores data.

The program execution unit 400 includes a vertex coordinate setting unit 401 (corresponding to vertex coordinate setting means) for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches,
A combined vertex selection unit 402 (corresponding to combined vertex selection means) that selects the vertices of the polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and the first patch side for the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. A vertex coordinate changing unit 403 (corresponding to a vertex coordinate changing unit) that matches the vertex coordinates with the vertex coordinates on the second patch side is provided.

The storage unit 500 stores a control point coordinate storage unit 501 that stores coordinate data of control points that respectively define the free-form surfaces of the first and second patches, and the reference points and virtual points of the first and second patches. A division number table storage unit 50 that stores a lookup table (referred to as a division number table) in which the division number is uniquely determined according to the distance from the viewpoint in the virtual three-dimensional space.
2 and. How the free-form surface is defined by the control points will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the division number table. When the distance SL in the virtual three-dimensional space between the reference points of the first and second patches and the virtual viewpoint is 1000 m or less, the division number DN is 10, and as the distance SL increases, the division number DN increases. When the distance SL becomes smaller and the distance SL exceeds 3000 m, the division number DN is 4. The larger the distance SL, the smaller the division number DN, and the number of polygons forming the patch decreases in proportion to the square of the division number DN as described later. Therefore, the deterioration of the image quality is prevented and the processing speed is improved. .

The vertex coordinate setting unit 401a obtains the coordinates of the reference points of the first and second patches from the coordinates of the control points stored in the control point coordinate storage unit 501.
Stored in the division number table storage unit 502 (corresponding to the reference coordinate setting unit), a viewpoint position setting unit 401b (corresponding to the viewpoint position setting unit) that sets the position of the virtual viewpoint, and the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. The division number determination unit 401c (corresponding to the division number determination unit) that obtains the division number DN using the generated division number table and the control point coordinate storage unit 501 to define the first and second patches, respectively. A free-form surface generating unit 401d (which corresponds to a free-form surface generating means) that generates a free-form surface using control points having coordinate data
Polygon generation that divides the free-form surface generated by the free-form surface generation unit 401d using the division number DN determined by the division number determination unit 401c to generate vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches And a section 401e (corresponding to a polygon generating means).

The reference coordinate setting unit 401a has three sides in the axial direction forming the virtual three-dimensional space, and has a minimum volume rectangular parallelepiped (bounding) in the virtual three-dimensional space including all control points forming the patch. The coordinates of the center position of the box) are obtained as the coordinates of the reference points of the first and second patches, respectively.

The viewpoint position setting unit 401b receives an input from the player from the controller 19 and displays an appropriate position in accordance with the progress of the game (for example, the main character which is the character to be operated by the player is displayed in the center of the field of view). The position of the virtual viewpoint is set to such a position.

The division number determination unit 401c obtains the division number DN from the distance SL between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint using the division number table stored in the division number table storage unit 502. By using the division number table shown in FIG. 3, the division number DN becomes smaller as the distance SL between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint becomes larger, and the number of polygons forming the patch becomes smaller, so that the deterioration of the image quality is prevented. Meanwhile, the processing speed is improved.

The free-form surface generating section 401d controls the control point coordinate storage section 501 to define the first and second patches respectively.
A free-form surface is generated by a parametric function using control points having coordinate data stored in.
As a parametric function, here, Bezier (Bez
The case of using the ier) function will be described. A free-form surface obtained by using a Bezier function is called a Bezier surface.

Control point P _{i, j} (where i = 0, 1, ...,
The coordinates of M, j = 0, 1, ..., N) are set to P _{i, j} (x _{i, j} , y
_{i, j} , z _{i, j} ), polynomials B _mi (u), B of two parameters u, v (where 0 ≦ u ≦ 1, 0 ≦ v ≦ 1)
_nj (v) and the coordinates P _{i, j} (x _{i, j} , y _{i, j} , z) of the control point P _{i, j
The} free-form surface S (u, v) is expressed by the following equation by the product of _{i, j} ).

[0082]

[Equation 1]

The coordinates P _{i, j} (x _{i, j} , y _{i, j} ) of the control point P _{i, j}
The manner in which the free-form surface S (u, v) changes as z _{i, j} ) changes will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. 4 and 5, the number of control points is 16 (M = 4, N = 4)
And the coordinate axes are shown at the bottom right of the figure. FIG. 4 shows the case where the control points P _{i, j} are in the same plane, and FIG. 5 shows the case where the control points P _{i, j} are not in the same plane. As shown in FIG. 4, when the control points P _{i, j} are in the same plane, the free-form surface S (u, v) is a plane passing through all the control points P _{i, j} .

As shown in FIG. 5, when the control points P _{i, j} are not in the same plane, the free-form surface S (u, v) becomes an end point (4
(The point at the corner) coincides with the position of the control point P _{i, j} ,
A three-dimensional curved surface determined by the coordinates P _{i, j} (x _{i, j} , y _{i, j} , z _{i, j} ) of the control point P _{i, j} is formed. For example, since the control point P _2,2 is displaced in the negative direction of the z axis, the free-form surface S (u, v) is also displaced in the negative direction of the z axis, and the control point P _2,3 is the z axis. Since it is displaced in the positive direction of
(U, v) is also displaced in the positive direction of the z axis. Thus, the coordinates P _{i, j} (x _{i, j} , y _{i, j} , z _{i, j} ) of the control point P _{i, j}
The free-form surface S of the desired shape by changing
It is possible to form (u, v). It is also possible to form a free-form surface S (u, v) having a more complicated shape by increasing the number of control points P _{i, j} (at least one of M and N).

The polygon generation unit 401e uses the number of divisions determined by the division number determination unit 401c to generate the free-form surface S (u, v) generated by the free-form surface generation unit 401d.
Is divided to generate the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the first and second patches. Specifically, the vertex coordinates of the polygon are generated by setting the values of the parameters u and v of the free-form surface S (u, v) according to the division number DN. For example, when the division number DN is 5, u (=
0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) and v
36 is obtained by substituting the combination with (= 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0) into the equation (1-1).
The individual coordinates are used as the vertex coordinates of the polygon. When using a quadrilateral polygon, 25 (= 5
The vertex coordinates of (× 5) polygons are set, and when a triangular polygon is used, the vertex coordinates of 50 (= 5 × 5 × 2) polygons are set. That is, the number of polygons is proportional to the square of the division number DN.

The joining vertex selecting section 402 selects the vertices of polygons to be joined from the first and second patches. For example, the patch PM1 on the left side shown in FIG.
And the patch PM2 on the right side are combined, the patch P
For M1, the vertices PV101 to PV110 are selected as the vertices of the polygon to be combined, and for the patch PM2, the vertices PV201 to PV208 are selected as the vertices of the polygon to be combined.

If the number of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the first patch is larger than the number of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the second patch, the vertex coordinate changing unit 403 determines that the first
The second is the vertex coordinate of the polygon to be combined in the patch
The coordinates of the vertices of the polygons to be combined in the patch are matched. For example, when the left patch PM1 and the right patch PM2 shown in FIG. 12 are combined, the coordinates of the vertices PV101 to PV110 of the patch PM1 are made to coincide with the coordinates of the vertices PV201 to PV208 of the patch PM2.

FIG. 6 is an example of a flowchart of the vertex coordinate changing process performed by the vertex coordinate changing unit 403. Here, the vertices P1i (i = 0, 1, ..., H) of the polygons forming the first patch and the vertices P2j (j = 0, 1, ...) of the polygons forming the second patch. , K)
The case of combining and will be described. Here, it is assumed that the number H of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the first patch is larger than the number K of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the second patch. The coordinates of the vertex P1i are (P1xi, P
1yi, P1zi), and the coordinates of the vertex P2j are (P2
xj, P2yj, P2zj).

First, the adjustment coefficient α for adjusting the difference in the number of vertices is obtained by dividing the number K of vertices by the number H of vertices (step ST1). Then, the counter h is initialized to 0 (step ST3). Then, the counter k is set to the integer part of the product of the counter h and the adjustment coefficient α (step ST5). Next, the coordinates of the vertex P2k are changed to the coordinates of the vertex P1h (step ST
7). Then, it is determined whether the counter h is less than the number of vertices H (step ST9). If this determination is positive, the counter h is incremented (step ST
11) and returns to step ST5. If this determination is affirmative, the process ends.

FIG. 7 is an example of an explanatory view for explaining the result of performing the vertex coordinate changing processing shown in FIG. 6 when the two patches having different polygon numbers (the number of polygon vertices) shown in FIG. 12 are joined together. Is. In FIG. 7, when the patch PM1 on the left side and the patch PM2 on the right side are joined, the vertices PV101 to PV11 to be joined by the patch PM1.
Since 0 is 10 and the vertices PV201 to PV208 to be combined with the patch PM2 are 8, the vertices to be combined with the patch PM1 in FIG. 12 in the vertex coordinate changing process performed by the vertex coordinate changing unit 403. The coordinates of PV101 to PV110 are changed so as to coincide with the coordinates of the vertices PV201 to PV208 to be combined with the patch PM2. That is, the vertices PV101 to PV1 to which the patch PM1 in FIG.
10, the vertex position is the vertex PV10 in FIG.
The vertex coordinates are changed so that the positions are from 1D to PV110D. As a result, the patch PM1 and the patch PM2 are combined while avoiding the formation of a gap.

FIG. 8 is an example of an explanatory view for explaining a gap generated when connecting eight patches and one object. In FIG. 8, patches PM3 to PM
As a result of the 10 and the object OBJ being combined, gaps CL2 to CL6 are generated at the connecting portions having different division numbers between the patches to be combined (or between the patch and the object).

FIG. 9 is an example of a diagram for explaining the result of the image processing of the present invention when the eight patches shown in FIG. 8 and one object are combined. In FIG. 9, the vertex coordinates of the patch (or object) on the side with a large number of vertices to be combined are adjusted so that the position of the vertex is the position of the vertex of the patch (or object) on the side with a small number of vertices to be combined. Has been changed. For example, the upper left side of the patch PM3 has five vertices to be combined with the patch PM10, and the lower right side of the patch PM10 has seven vertices to be combined with the patch PM3. The position of the vertex on the lower right side of the patch PM10 that is to be joined to the patch PM3 is the patch PM3.
The vertex coordinates of the upper left side of the are changed so as to match the position of the vertex that is the target of connection with the patch PM10. As a result, the patches and the patch and the object are connected while avoiding the occurrence of a gap.

FIG. 10 is an example of a screen view of a screen formed by pasting a texture on the polygons forming the patch and the object shown in FIG. Since a gap is generated in a joint portion where the number of divisions between patches (or between a patch and an object) is different, image quality and reality are degraded.

FIG. 11 is an example of a screen view of a screen formed by pasting a texture on the polygons forming the patch and the object shown in FIG. Since the patches and the patch and the object are connected while avoiding the occurrence of a gap, the image quality and the reality are improved.

The present invention can take the following forms. (A) In the present embodiment, the case has been described in which the vertex coordinates of the polygons forming the patch are generated by the polygon generation unit. However, the vertex coordinates are stored in advance in a storage unit such as a ROM or a CD-ROM provided in the computer. However, it may be read from the storage means. In this case, the load on the CPU is reduced. (B) In this embodiment, the case where the reference point of the free-form surface used when obtaining the number of divisions of the free-form surface is the center point of the bounding box has been described.
For example, one of the control points for forming a free-form surface
It may be in the form of one point. (C) In this embodiment, the case where a free-form surface is generated using a Bezier function has been described, but other functions such as a spline function and NURBS (N
on-Uniform Rational B-Spl
ine) function, Sub Division Surfa
A form using the ce function may be used. (D) In the present embodiment, the case where the number of divisions of the free-form surface is obtained using a lookup table has been described, but it may be obtained using a predetermined arithmetic expression. (E) In the present embodiment, the case where two patches are combined has been described, but it is also possible to combine two objects or an object and a patch. (F) In this embodiment, the case of changing the vertex coordinates of the vertices to be combined has been described. However, in addition to the vertex coordinates, other vertex information such as vertex color, vertex texture coordinates, and vertex normal vector At least one may be changed. However, if two patches to be combined, two objects, or a patch and an object have different material information (ambient color, diffuse color, specular color, texture information, etc.), the vertex texture An image with a natural touch is formed when the coordinates are not changed.

[0096]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined in the first patch and the second patch coincide with each other, so that the gap between the two is connected in a so-called stitched manner. , The quality and reality of an image formed by combining the first and second patches can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the patches can be easily combined without increasing the number of vertices (increasing the number of polygons). According to the third aspect of the invention, the computer stores coordinate information of a smaller number of control points than the vertex coordinates of the polygon.
The storage capacity required can be reduced as compared with the case where the vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the second patch are stored.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the further the patch is from the position of the virtual viewpoint, the smaller the number of divisions is, so that the processing speed can be improved while suppressing the deterioration of the image quality. According to the invention described in claim 5, the appropriate number of divisions can be easily obtained.

According to the invention described in claim 6, it is possible to more easily and appropriately determine the appropriate number of divisions. According to the invention of claim 7, a more appropriate number of divisions can be obtained.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined of the first and second objects are coincident with each other, so that the gap between the two objects is connected in a so-called stitched manner. It is possible to improve the image quality and the reality of the image formed by combining the first and second patches.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, since the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined with the object and the patch are matched, the gap between the two is connected in a so-called stitched manner, and The image quality and the reality of the image formed by combining the two patches can be improved.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined in the first and second patches are coincident with each other, so that the gap between the two is connected in a so-called stitched manner. It is possible to improve the image quality and the reality of the image formed by combining the first and second patches.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, since the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined in the first and second patches match, the gap between the two is connected in a so-called stitched manner, The image quality and the reality of the image formed by combining the first and second patches are improved.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, since the vertex coordinates of the polygons to be combined in the first and second patches match, the gap between the two is connected in a so-called stitched manner, The image quality and the reality of the image formed by combining the first and second patches can be improved, and the fun of the game can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a video game device to which a three-dimensional image processing device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of the three-dimensional image processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a chart showing an example of a division number table.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the position of a control point and the shape of a free-form surface.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the position of a control point and the shape of a free-form surface.

FIG. 6 is an example of a flowchart of vertex coordinate changing processing.

7 is an example of an explanatory diagram for explaining a result of performing the vertex coordinate changing process shown in FIG. 6 when two patches are joined together.

FIG. 8 is an example of an explanatory diagram for explaining a gap that occurs when combining eight patches and one object.

9 is an example of a diagram for explaining a result of performing the image processing of the present invention when the eight patches shown in FIG. 8 and one object are combined.

FIG. 10 is an example of a screen view of a screen formed by pasting a texture on the polygons forming the patch and the object shown in FIG.

11 is an example of a screen view of a screen formed by pasting a texture on polygons forming the patch and the object shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is an example of a diagram for explaining a gap that occurs when two patches with different polygon numbers (polygon vertex numbers) are joined together.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 bus lines 3 Graphics data generation processor 4 Interface circuit 5 main memory 6 ROM 7 Expansion circuit 8 parallel ports 9 serial port 10 drawing processor 11 Voice processor 12 decoder 13 Interface circuit 21 television monitor 29 Controller 400 Program execution section 401 vertex coordinate setting unit (vertex coordinate setting means) 401a Reference coordinate setting unit (reference coordinate setting means) 401b Viewpoint position setting unit (viewpoint position setting means) 401c Division number determination unit (division number determination means) 401d Free curved surface generation unit (free curved surface generation means) 401e Polygon generation unit (polygon generation means) 402 Join vertex selection unit (join vertex selection means) 403 Vertex coordinate changing unit (vertex coordinate changing means) 500 storage 501 control point coordinate storage unit 502 Division number table storage unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C001 BC00 BC05 BC08 CA01 CB01                       CB02 CB04 CB06 CC02 CC08                 5B050 BA09 CA07 EA12 EA13 EA28                       FA02 FA05 FA09                 5B080 AA10 AA13 AA18 CA01 FA02                       GA22

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional image processing program for connecting a first patch and a second patch, each of which is composed of a plurality of polygons, wherein a computer causes a vertex of each polygon that constitutes the first and second patches. Vertex coordinate setting means for setting coordinates, combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and the first patch for the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. A three-dimensional image processing program that functions as a vertex coordinate changing unit that matches the vertex coordinates on the side of the second patch with the vertex coordinates on the side of the second patch. 2. The vertex coordinate changing means in the first patch if the number of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the first patch is larger than the number of vertices of the polygons to be combined in the second patch. The three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 1, wherein the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined are matched with the vertex coordinates of the polygon to be combined in the second patch. 3. The free-form surface generating means for generating a free-form surface using control points having coordinate information prepared in advance for defining the first and second patches, respectively, The free surface generated by using a predetermined number of divisions for dividing the curved surface is divided into the first and second
The three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a polygon generating unit that generates vertex coordinates of each polygon forming the patch. 4. The apex coordinate setting means includes a viewpoint position setting means for setting a position of a virtual viewpoint, and a division number determining means for obtaining a division number using virtual viewpoint position information, and the polygon generating means, 4. The three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 3, wherein the vertex coordinates of the polygon are generated by using the obtained division number. 5. The apex coordinate setting means includes reference coordinate setting means for setting coordinates of respective reference points of the first and second patches, and the division number determining means includes the reference points and the virtual points. The three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 4, wherein the number of divisions is obtained based on the distance from the viewpoint. 6. The division number determination means obtains the division number using a lookup table in which the division number is uniquely determined according to the distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. 3D image processing program. 7. The three-dimensional image processing program according to claim 5, wherein the division number determining unit obtains the division number by a predetermined arithmetic expression using a distance between the reference point and the virtual viewpoint. . 8. A three-dimensional image processing program for combining a first object and a second object, each of which is composed of a plurality of polygons, the computer including the first and second objects.
Vertex coordinate setting means for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon constituting the object, combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertex of the polygon to be combined from the first and second objects, and the vertex of the selected polygon. A three-dimensional image processing program that functions as vertex coordinate changing means for matching the vertex coordinates on the side of the first object and the vertex coordinates on the side of the second object with respect to the coordinates. 9. A three-dimensional image processing program for combining an object and a patch, each of which is composed of a plurality of polygons, wherein a computer sets vertex coordinates for setting the vertex coordinates of each polygon constituting the object and the patch. Means for selecting the vertices of the polygon to be combined from the object and the patch, and the vertex coordinates on the object side and the vertex coordinates on the patch side with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygon. A three-dimensional image processing program characterized by causing it to function as a vertex coordinate changing means. 10. A three-dimensional image processing apparatus that combines a first patch and a second patch, each of which is composed of a plurality of polygons, wherein the vertex coordinates of each polygon that constitutes the first and second patches are set. Vertex coordinate setting means, combined vertex selection means for selecting the vertices of polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and the vertex on the first patch side with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. A three-dimensional image processing apparatus comprising: vertex coordinate changing means for matching the coordinates with the vertex coordinates on the second patch side. 11. A three-dimensional image processing method for combining a first patch and a second patch, each of which is composed of a plurality of polygons, wherein a vertex of each polygon constituting the first and second patches Vertex coordinate setting processing for setting coordinates, combined vertex selection processing for selecting the vertices of polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and the first patch for the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. And a vertex coordinate changing process for matching the vertex coordinates on the side of the second patch with the vertex coordinates on the side of the second patch.
Dimensional image processing method. 12. An operation means for receiving an input from the outside, a game progress control means for controlling the progress of the game based on the input from the outside, and a game image corresponding to the progress of the game in a virtual three-dimensional space. A video game device comprising a game image generating means for displaying and a display means for displaying a game image, wherein the game image generating means is a vertex for setting vertex coordinates of polygons constituting the first and second patches. Coordinate setting means, combined vertex selecting means for selecting the vertices of polygons to be combined from the first and second patches, and vertex coordinates on the side of the first patch with respect to the vertex coordinates of the selected polygons. And a vertex coordinate changing unit for matching the vertex coordinates on the side of the second patch.