JP2004145173A - Picture display device and picture display program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture display device capable of realizing pseudo animation by hardware specification restrained to some extent. <P>SOLUTION: A picture display device displays moving pictures like pseudo animation by utilizing picture data 20, 21 which are offered from a picture data source such as a storage medium. At least two picture data 21, 23 are acquired from the picture data source and compounded and a display picture 24 is generated and displayed on a display part. The parameter of the picture element 21 included in the picture data 20 is controlled and variation is given to the content by control of the parameter. Similarly, the parameter of the picture element 23 included in second picture data 22 is controlled and variation is given to the content by control of the parameter. Thus, moving pictures of diversified modes can be generated by setting variation of pictures in display pictures in accordance with the first and second picture data and with control methods of their parameters. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image display device and a program using a pseudo animation technique using alpha blending.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As an animation method in a home game machine or the like, generally, a method of continuously switching and displaying a plurality of image data is used.
[0003]
For example, in a horse racing game, it is assumed that when a racehorse kicks the ground, an image of a soil column and soil smoke rising, and an image in which the soil column gradually decreases and the soil smoke gradually increases over time is assumed. Then, a plurality of pieces of image data in which the soil pillar gradually decreases and the soil smoke gradually increases with the passage of time are prepared in advance, and are sequentially switched and displayed according to the passage of time.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In such a method, since it is necessary to prepare many different image data in order to realize one animation, a relatively large capacity video RAM (VRAM) is required. In addition, since a plurality of image data is continuously switched and displayed, a certain degree of processing capability is required for a processor that performs processing. For this reason, there are many cases where it is not suitable for hardware specifications such as a home game machine, and it is often impossible to perform animation that actually matches the progress of the game.
[0005]
On the other hand, in order to perform pseudo-animation in an environment where the hardware specifications are limited such as a home game machine, only the scale of the same image is temporally changed, but only the scale is changed So it ’s difficult to provide enough animation.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an image display device and a program capable of easily realizing a pseudo animation even with a hardware specification limited to some extent. To do.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In one aspect of the present invention, an image display device that displays a moving image in which the shape and / or display state of a display object changes over time using image data provided from an image data source, Image data acquisition means for acquiring at least first and second image data of a plurality of image data constituting the display object from an image data source, and a first image included in the first image data An image synthesizing unit for synthesizing the element and the second image element included in the second image data to generate a display image, an image display unit for displaying the display image on a display unit, and the first image Display control means for determining changes in the parameters of the elements and the second image element, the parameters of the first image element are controlled over time, and the parameters of the second image element are controlled. The and an image control means for controlling the passage of time.
[0008]
The above image display device uses, for example, image data provided from an image data source such as a storage medium, and a moving image in which the shape and / or display state of a display object changes over time, such as pseudo animation. Display an image. Here, the shape of the display object includes, for example, the scale and size of the display object and the position in the display screen. The display state of the display object includes the transparency and brightness of the display object. From the image data source, at least two of the plurality of image data constituting the display object are acquired. These two pieces of image data are image data that are combined to form one moving image. Note that the display object may be configured by two or more pieces of image data.
[0009]
A display image is generated by combining the first image element and the second image element, and is displayed on the display unit. Then, the parameter of the image element included in the first image data is controlled with the passage of time, and the parameter of the image element included in the second image data is controlled with the passage of time. The change of the parameter is determined by the display control means. These parameters are parameters that affect the shape and / or display state of the display object. For example, the scale and display coordinates that affect the shape of the display object and the α that affects the display state of the display object. Value, brightness, etc. Therefore, it is possible to set the change of the image in the display image according to the first and second image data and the control method of those parameters, and to generate moving images of various modes.
[0010]
For example, when displaying an image in which a soil pillar and soil smoke rise when a racehorse kicks the ground in a horse racing game, for example, the image data source includes image data of the soil pillar as the first image element, Image data of soil smoke is included as an image element. For the display image, for example, the soil column gradually disappears by controlling the soil column parameters over time, and the display image is displayed so that the soil smoke gradually appears by controlling the soil smoke parameters over time. Can be changed.
[0011]
According to this method, since the number of image data to be prepared in advance is small, the capacity of the image data storage memory of the apparatus can be saved, and various moving images are displayed even in an apparatus having a simple configuration. be able to.
[0012]
In one aspect of the above image display device, the image control means controls the parameters of the first image element so that the first image element disappears from the display image as time passes, and The parameters of the second image element are controlled so that the second image element appears in the display image as time passes. Thereby, the display image obtained as a result can express a state of transition from the first image element to the second image element.
[0013]
In another aspect of the image display device, the parameter includes a scale and an α value of the image element, and the image control unit decreases the scale and the α value of the first image element as time passes. In addition, the scale and α value of the second image element are increased with the passage of time. Specifically, by changing the scale and α value of the image element, the image element can be gradually disappeared in the display image, or can be gradually emphasized and displayed. Therefore, it is possible to give various changes to the display image only by changing the parameters of the scale and α value of each image element.
[0014]
In another aspect of the image display device, the parameter includes a display position of the image element, and the image control unit changes the display position of the first image element as time passes, and time As the time elapses, the display position of the second image element is changed. According to this aspect, it is possible to give a motion to the display image only by independently changing the parameter of the display position of the first and second image elements.
[0015]
In another aspect of the present invention, when executed by a computer, the shape and / or display state of a display object changes over time on the display unit using image data provided from an image data source. The moving image display program generates a display image by combining the computer with the first image element included in the first image data and the second image element included in the second image data. Image compositing means, image display means for displaying the display image on a display unit, display control means for determining a change in parameters of the first image element and the second image element, and The parameters are controlled according to the passage of time, and function as image control means for controlling the parameters of the second image element according to the passage of time.
[0016]
By executing the above program on a computer, the above-described image display device can be realized.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
[Configuration of game device]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of a game device to which the present invention is applied. This game apparatus executes a predetermined game according to a game program recorded on a DVD-ROM 15 as a storage medium. In the present invention, a moving image is output and displayed as the game progresses.
[0019]
This game device includes a monitor 9, speakers 10 a and 10 b, a controller 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, a DVD-ROM 15, and a game machine body 16. A home television receiver is generally used for the monitor 9, and a built-in speaker of the television receiver is generally used for the speakers 10a and 10b. The speaker has two channels, a right channel speaker 10a and a left channel speaker 10b. The controller 12 functions as an input device, and is provided with an operation member that receives an operation by the player.
[0020]
The auxiliary storage device 13 is a storage medium for storing data related to game progress and the like, and for example, a semiconductor memory can be used. The DVD-ROM 15 stores programs and data necessary for game execution, which will be described later in detail. Note that various storage media such as a CD-ROM and a semiconductor memory may be used instead of the DVD-ROM 15.
[0021]
On the other hand, the game machine main body 16 includes a CPU 1 mainly composed of a microprocessor, a ROM 2 and a RAM 3 as main storage devices for the CPU 1, a graphics processing unit (GPU) 4 for image processing and sound processing, and a sound processing. A unit (SPU) 6, buffers 5 and 7 for these units, and a DVD-ROM reader 8 are provided. In the ROM 2, an operating system is written as a program necessary for operation control of a plurality of game machines. In the RAM 3, a game program and data read from a DVD-ROM 15 as a storage medium are written as necessary.
[0022]
The GPU 4 receives the image data from the CPU 1 and draws a game screen on the frame buffer 5, converts the drawn image data into a predetermined video reproduction signal, and outputs it to the monitor 9 at a predetermined timing. The SPU 6 reproduces game sound data such as sound and musical sound read from the DVD-ROM 15 and recorded in the sound buffer 7 and outputs it from the speaker.
[0023]
The DVD-ROM reader 8 reads a program or data recorded on the DVD-ROM 15 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 1 and outputs a signal corresponding to the read content.
[0024]
A communication control device 11 is connected to the CPU 1 via a bus 14, and a controller 12 and an auxiliary storage device 13 are detachably connected to the device 11. The communication control device 11 scans the operation state of the operation member of the controller 12 at a constant cycle (for example, 1/60 seconds), and outputs a signal corresponding to the scan result to the CPU 1. The CPU 1 determines the operation state of the controller 12 based on the signal. A plurality of controllers 12 and auxiliary storage devices 13 can be connected to the communication control device 11 in parallel.
[0025]
[Principle explanation]
Next, the principle of image display processing according to the present invention will be described. In the present invention, two images are prepared, and one image is formed by combining them. Then, by changing the parameters of the image elements included in each image with the passage of time, a pseudo animation is realized by changing the image content of the composite image.
[0026]
Hereinafter, specific examples will be described. In the following example, an image showing a state in which soil is scattered when a horse's foot kicks the ground on a race course in a horse racing game (hereinafter, referred to as “soil flying image” for convenience) will be described as an example. In this case, the soil flying image is created as a composite image of the first image that is the image of the earth pillar and the second image that is the image of soil smoke.
[0027]
FIG. 2 shows an example of a first image that is an image of a soil pillar. In FIG. 2, the first image 20 includes a soil column 21 as an image element in the image area. An image element refers to a component included in one image. In the actual game display image, the earth pillar is not an accurate triangle, but in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the triangle earth pillar rises for convenience of explanation. FIG. 2 shows how the image of the earth pillar 21 in the first image 20 changes with the passage of time. Such a change in the image is realized by changing the parameter of the earth pillar 21 that is an image element with the passage of time. In this example, “scale”, “α (alpha) value”, “luminance”, and “display coordinates” change as image parameters.
[0028]
“Scale” indicates the size and size of an image element. When the scale increases, the area indicated by the image element in the display image increases. When the scale decreases, the area indicated by the image element in the display image decreases.
[0029]
The “α value” indicates a mixing ratio in the alpha blending method. The alpha blending technique is a technique that is often used for translucent processing or the like, and is a technique for creating a translucent image or the like by mixing two image data at a predetermined mixing ratio. The mixing ratio here is called α value. For example, when the α value of the target image element is “0”, the image element is not visible at all, and when the α value is “100”, only the image element is visible. By setting the α value, it is possible to adjust how clearly the image element is visible.
[0030]
“Luminance” indicates the brightness of an image element. “Display coordinates” indicates the coordinates of image elements in the image display area, and includes X and Y coordinates in a planar image.
[0031]
In the example of FIG. 2, as the change in the parameter of the earth pillar 21 that is an image element, the scale becomes smaller with the passage of time, and the size of the earth pillar 21 becomes smaller. In addition, the α value decreases with time, and the soil column 21 gradually becomes difficult to visually recognize. The luminance is determined according to the situation during the game at that time. The display coordinates change so that the earth pillar 21 gradually moves rightward in the display image.
[0032]
Due to the change of the parameters as shown in FIG. 2, the image of the soil column 21 is expressed so that it becomes more difficult to visually see and disappear with time.
[0033]
FIG. 3 shows an example of the second image 22 including the soil smoke 23 as an image element. The parameters set for the soil smoke 23 are the scale, the α value, the luminance, and the display coordinates as in the case of the soil column 21 described above. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the scale of the soil smoke 23 increases with the passage of time, and the α value also increases. Thereby, the soil smoke is large and displayed in the second image 22 so as to be clearly seen. The luminance is determined according to the setting conditions during the game at that time, and changes as necessary. In addition, the display coordinates change so that the soil 23 moves in the right direction in the display image as time passes.
[0034]
FIG. 4 shows how the first image 20 and the second image 22 are synthesized. When the first image 20 and the second image 22 are combined, the soil column 21 is initially large and clearly visible, the soil smoke is small, and is not clearly recognized. Thereafter, the soil column 21 gradually becomes smaller and blurry, and instead the soil smoke 23 becomes larger and clearly visible. Thereby, in the display image of the horse racing game, the soil flying image after the horse kicks the ground can express the state that the soil pillars are greatly raised at first, and then the soil is gradually dispersed and scattered. .
[0035]
As described above, this method is realized by combining and displaying the first image 20 and the second image after the change, and changing the image parameters of the first image 20 and the second image with the passage of time. it can. Therefore, according to this pseudo-animation method, it is not necessary to prepare a large number of image data, and the required capacity of the VRAM is small.
[0036]
[Function block]
Next, functions of the image display device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of the image display apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the image display device includes an image data acquisition unit 40, an image control unit 41, an image composition unit 43, an image display unit 44, and a display control unit 45.
[0037]
The image data acquisition unit 40 acquires image data recorded in advance on a recording medium such as the DVD-ROM 15 and supplies it to the image composition unit 43. Here, the image data acquisition means 40 reads two different image data from the DVD-ROM 15 and supplies them to the image composition means 43 as a first image and a second image, respectively.
[0038]
The image synthesizing unit 43 synthesizes the first image data and the second image data received from the image data acquiring unit 40 to generate synthesized image data, and sends it to the image display unit 44. The image display unit 44 displays the composite image data on the display unit 9.
[0039]
The image control unit 41 sets and changes the image parameter of the first image data, and sets and changes the image parameter of the second image data. Here, as described above, the image parameter can be the scale, α value, luminance, display coordinates, etc. of the image elements constituting the image data. Moreover, the image control means 41 performs different control with respect to a 1st image and a 2nd image, respectively according to progress of time.
[0040]
Further, the display control means 45 executes overall control relating to control and display of image data in accordance with, for example, the game progress status. Specifically, the display control means 45 detects the display timing of specific image data, and controls the reading of image data from the DVD-ROM 15 by the image data acquisition means 40. Further, the display control means 45 determines the setting and changing contents of each image parameter by the image control means 41 and supplies them to the image control means 41. The image control unit 41 controls image parameters for the first image data and the second image data in accordance with instructions from the display control unit 45, respectively.
[0041]
Various changes can be given to the composite image by the control performed by the image control unit 41 on the first image data and the second image data, specifically, setting and changing of image parameters. Thereby, a pseudo animation can be realized by a simple process of generating and displaying the composite image while changing the image parameters of the plurality of image data.
[0042]
[Image display processing]
Next, image display processing according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This image display processing is realized by the CPU 1 of the game machine 16 executing the image display program stored in the storage medium such as the DVD-ROM 15 shown in FIG. 1 and functioning as each unit shown in FIG. Is done.
[0043]
First, the display control means 45 determines whether or not the image display timing has arrived (step S1). The image display timing is, for example, the timing at which a specific pseudo animation image is displayed while the game is being played by the game machine 16. In the above-described example of the horse racing game, the display timing here corresponds to the timing at which the jumping image generated when the racehorse foot kicks the ground as the racehorse is running.
[0044]
Next, the display control means 45 determines the initial values and change amounts of the parameters of the first image and the second image according to the setting status in the progress of the game (step S2). For example, in the above-described example of the flying image, the image parameters (scale, α value, luminance, and display image) of the first image (soil column) and the image parameters (scale, This corresponds to the determination of the initial value of the α value, the brightness, and the display image) and the subsequent changes.
[0045]
Next, the image data acquisition means 40 reads the image data of the first image (soil pillar) and the second image (soil smoke) from the DVD-ROM 15 in accordance with an instruction from the display control means 45 (step S3). .
[0046]
Next, the image control means 41 generates an image of the earth pillar from the image data read from the DVD-ROM 15 by the image data acquisition means 40 (step S11), and sends it to the image composition means 43. At the same time, the image control means 41 generates an image of soil smoke from the image data read from the DVD-ROM 15 by the image data acquisition means 40 (step S21), and sends it to the image composition means 43. The image synthesizing unit 43 synthesizes both image data, and displays them on the display unit 9 by the image display unit 44.
[0047]
Next, the image control means 41 changes each image parameter of the image element (earth pillar) in the first image data according to the change contents of the parameter of the first image data determined in step S2. In other words, the image control unit 41 changes the display coordinates, scale, α value, and the like of the earth pillar that is the image element (steps S12 to S14). Further, the image control means 41 changes each image parameter of the image element (soil) in the second image data according to the change contents of the parameter of the second image data determined in step S2. That is, the image control unit 41 changes the display coordinates, scale, α value, and the like of the soil that is the image element (steps S22 to S24).
[0048]
The processes of steps S21 to S15 and steps S21 to S25 are repeated until the display control means 45 detects the display end timing. When the display end timing comes (step S15, S25; Yes), the display of the image data is ended. To do.
[0049]
[Display image example]
Next, FIG. 7 shows an image display example according to the image display method of the present embodiment. In addition, this image example is an example of the above-mentioned soil flying image, and Fig.7 (a) has shown the earth pillar 21 and the soil smoke 23 as the image element. 7A to 7D, the horizontal axis is the time axis, and changes in the image elements over time are shown.
[0050]
FIG. 7B shows an example of a composite image. At first, only the soil column 21 is displayed, but the scale and α value of the soil column are lowered and the soil column gradually disappears. As the scale and α value increase, the soil smoke appears larger.
[0051]
FIG. 7C is an example of a composite image in which the parameters are slightly changed compared to the example of FIG. 7B. The scale of the soil column 21 and the rate of decrease of the α value are slowed down, and the soil column 21 is It disappears somewhat slowly.
[0052]
FIG. 7D is also an example of a composite image when the parameters are slightly changed as compared with the example of FIG. 7B, and the increase rate of the scale of the soil smoke is as shown in FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C. Compared to the case, the soil smoke is growing rapidly to some extent.
[0053]
As described above, various pseudo animations can be realized by appropriately changing the parameters of the image elements included in the prepared image data.
[0054]
In the above-described embodiment, soil smoke and soil pillars are exemplified as display objects by pseudo animation, but application of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention can be applied to the display of a moving image in which the shape and display state of a display object changes with the passage of time, such as a fire pillar, a flame, and a liquid such as a spray during explosion.
[0055]
In the above embodiment, the pseudo animation is performed by combining two pieces of image data, but three or more pieces of image data may be combined.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the image display device of the present invention, after preparing a plurality of image data, synthesizing and displaying them, parameters of image elements included in the respective image data are temporally changed. Therefore, various types of pseudo-animations can be realized by changing the parameters of the image data to be prepared and the image elements included therein. Unlike the normal animation method, this method does not require a large amount of image data, and thus does not require a large-capacity VRAM and can be realized with a simple configuration.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a control system of a consumer game device to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 shows an example of image data synthesized by the present invention and an example of parameter change thereof.
FIG. 3 shows another example of image data synthesized by the present invention and an example of parameter change thereof.
4 shows an example of a composite image of the image data shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG.
FIG. 5 shows functional blocks of an image display device according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of image display processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows an example of a composite image by image display processing of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 CPU
2 ROM
3 RAM
4 GPU
5 Frame buffer 6 SPU
7 Sound buffer 8 DVD-ROM reader 9 Monitor 10a Right channel speaker 10b Left channel speaker 11 Communication control device 12 Controller 13 Auxiliary storage device 14 Bus 15 DVD-ROM
16 Game console

Claims (8)

An image display device that displays a moving image in which the shape and / or display state of a display object changes over time using image data provided from an image data source,
Image data acquisition means for acquiring at least first and second image data of a plurality of image data constituting the display object from the image data source;
Image combining means for generating a display image by combining the first image element included in the first image data and the second image element included in the second image data;
Image display means for displaying the display image on a display unit;
Display control means for determining changes in parameters of the first image element and the second image element;
An image display comprising: image control means for controlling the parameter of the first image element with the passage of time and controlling the parameter of the second image element with the passage of time. apparatus. The image control means controls the parameters of the first image element so that the first image element disappears from the display image with the passage of time, and the second image element with the passage of time. The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a parameter of the second image element is controlled so that the image appears in the display image. The parameters include the scale and alpha value of the image element,
The image control means decreases the scale and α value of the first image element with the passage of time, and increases the scale and α value of the second image element with the passage of time. 2. The image display device according to 2. The parameter includes a display position of the image element,
The image control means changes the display position of the first image element over time,
4. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the image control unit changes a display position of the second image element as time elapses. A program that, when executed by a computer, displays a moving image in which the shape and / or display state of a display object changes over time on the display unit using image data provided from an image data source. And said computer
Image data acquisition means for acquiring at least first and second image data of a plurality of image data constituting the display object from the image data source;
Image combining means for generating a display image by combining the first image element included in the first image data and the second image element included in the second image data;
Image display means for displaying the display image on a display unit;
Display control means for determining changes in parameters of the first image element and the second image element;
A program that controls the parameters of the first image element according to the passage of time and functions as image control means for controlling the parameters of the second image element according to the passage of time. . The image control means controls the parameters of the first image element so that the first image element disappears from the display image with the passage of time, and the second image element with the passage of time. The program according to claim 5, wherein a parameter of the second image element is controlled such that the second image element appears in the display image. The parameters include the scale and alpha value of the image element,
The image control means decreases the scale and α value of the first image element with the passage of time, and increases the scale and α value of the second image element with the passage of time. 6. The program according to 6. The parameter includes a display position of the image element,
The said image control means changes the display position of the said 1st image element with progress of time, and changes the display position of the said 2nd image element with progress of time. The program as described in any one of thru | or 7.

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