JP2009140025A - Object design support program and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an object design support environment to reduce the man-hours of object design, and to reduce any setting error as far as possible. <P>SOLUTION: This object design support program for designing an object makes a computer execute functions of: retrieving a second section of the object positioned symmetrically to a first section of the object when prescribed definition information is set to the first section of the object having symmetry (1); copying the first definition information set to the first section to the retrieved second section (2); and converting the first definition information copied to the second section into second definition information for defining the second section by changing a part of the first definition information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an object design used for computer graphics modeling, and more particularly, to a support program and apparatus for efficiently designing a new object.

  Game machines and game machines configured to be able to display highly realistic 3D images are configured to perform 3D computer graphics operations on objects that are three-dimensional models. This object is designed in advance, that is, designed by the manufacturer.

  As a model for defining character objects such as humans and animals, a skin model (skeleton system) capable of expressing natural movements of humans and animals is known. The skin model is a model in which a skeleton (skeleton) in which bones are connected to character objects by joints is set, and each bone is defined hierarchically from a root (base point) that is the center of the skeleton structure. For each bone, the rotation angle from the bone corresponding to the directly connected hierarchy is calculated. By sequentially executing the calculation of the rotation angle according to the hierarchy order from the bone directly connected to the root, the posture (movement) of the skeleton of the character object is determined. The outer shape of a character object, that is, a skin (skin), is constituted by a set of polygons composed of a plurality of vertices, and each vertex of each polygon is associated with an influence from one or more bones. Therefore, the spatial arrangement of the skin is also determined by moving the bone by the calculation of the rotation angle.

The image display technology using the skin model as described above is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-10-188028 (Patent Document 1), JP-A-2005-141545 (Patent Document 2), JP-A-2001-209823 ( Patent Document 3).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-188028 JP 2005-141545 A JP 2001-209823 A

  By the way, in order to design a new object using a skin model, a bone to be related and a weight of the bone are set as vertex information for each vertex of a polygon constituting the skin.

  However, the number of polygons and vertices constituting one object is enormous, and the effort to accurately set vertex information for all of them is considerable. Also, if you accidentally set an incorrect bone or set an incorrect weighting value, you will not notice the setting error until the designed object is displayed as an image. Repeating the process of recognizing an incorrect setting after displaying an image and correcting the corresponding part will consume a huge amount of time for object design. Therefore, an object design environment that can reduce the man-hours for object design and reduce errors is required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an object design support environment that can reduce the man-hours for object design and reduce setting errors as much as possible.

In order to achieve the above object, an object design support program of the present invention is an object design support program for designing an object, and
1) a function of searching for a second part of an object at a position symmetrical to the first part of the object when predetermined definition information is set for the first part of the object having symmetry;
2) a function of copying the first definition information set for the first part with respect to the searched second part;
3) a function of converting a part of the first definition information copied to the second part into a second definition information for defining the second part;
Is executed.

  According to this invention, when the object has symmetry, if a part (first part) information is set by a designer (designer) or the like, the part constituting the symmetrical position (second part) This information is copied to the second portion, and then a part of the copied information, for example, information of a definition part related to symmetry is changed to match the second part. If the definition information on one side of the object having symmetry is set, the definition information on the other side is also copied / changed, so that the labor required for the design can be roughly halved. In addition to making it harder to make mistakes by reducing the number of settings or by about half, there is no room for new input errors in definition information to be copied, so setting errors can be greatly reduced. Since the present invention does not include the definition information setting function itself as a component, it can be applied to an add-on program added to a program for object design.

  Here, the “symmetry object” means a general object having an equal shape centered on a predetermined point or axis. For example, an object that models many normal humans and vertebrates is a symmetrical object. is there. A geometrically symmetrical solid figure is also an object having symmetry.

  Further, the first and second “portions” are not limited, and are surfaces (surfaces) or internal portions of an object having symmetry. For example, when an object is defined by a skin model, a part of the skin corresponds. The definition information is not limited, but when applied to a skin model, for example, information on the affected bone is included.

Similarly, the object design support program of the present invention is an object design support program for designing an object,
1) a function for setting definition information to specify a part of an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis;
2) a function to search for the second part of the object in a position symmetrical to the first part of the object;
3) a function of copying the first definition information set for the first part with respect to the searched second part;
4) A function of converting a part of the first definition information copied with respect to the second part into second definition information defining the second part,
Is executed.

  This invention includes the definition information setting function itself as a component, and can be applied to a case where the object design program itself having the function of the present invention includes the function of the present invention.

  Here, the function of searching for the second part, the function of copying the first definition information, and the function of converting to the second definition information are continuously executed when copying is instructed. It is preferable to configure.

  According to the invention, the definition information is copied in response to a copy instruction, and the program function is configured to perform batch copy based on the operation of the designer.

For example, the first definition information and the second definition information include information for specifying one or more of a plurality of bones set in the object.
According to this invention, the definition information includes information for specifying a bone, and the case where the position of the skin when the object is a skin model is determined by the influence of the bone is targeted.

For example, the first definition information and the second definition information include influence degree information indicating the magnitude of influence received from each of the identified bones.
According to this invention, the object is defined by the skin model and is defined so that the position of the skin is determined under the influence of a plurality of bones.

For example, each of the first part and the second part is a vertex of a polygon that constitutes the skin of the object.
This invention corresponds to the case where the object is defined by a skin model and the skin is composed of polygons.

Specifically, the object design support program of the present invention is a program for designing an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis, and as a precondition, there are a plurality of skins constituting the surface of the object. For each vertex that is set with polygons and that defines each polygon, related bone identification information can be set to identify bones that are affected by the vertices. For each bone, bone definition information including common information common to bones that are in a symmetric relationship with each other and symmetry information that indicates that they are in a symmetric relationship with each other. It is configured to include influence degree information indicating the size. And on the computer,
1) a function of setting predetermined related bone specifying information for the first vertex;
2) a function of searching for a second vertex at a position symmetrical to the first vertex;
3) a function of copying the related bone specifying information set for the first vertex with respect to the searched second vertex;
4) A function of changing the symmetry information about the bone definition information included in the related bone specifying information of the first vertex copied with respect to the second vertex to obtain related bone specifying information corresponding to the second vertex. Are executed.

  The object design support apparatus of the present invention is an object design support apparatus for designing an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis, and vertex information that defines the vertices of polygons constituting the surface of the object And the bone definition information that defines the bones that make up the skeleton of the object, and the related bones that set the related bone specifying information for specifying the bones whose vertices are affected by the vertices A specific information setting unit, a symmetric vertex search unit that searches for a vertex that is symmetrical to a vertex for which related bone specific information has already been set, and a vertex for which related bone specific information has already been set for the searched vertex Information copy section that copies related bone identification information set for, and related bone identification information copied for vertices at symmetrical positions Included by changing the symmetry information defining the symmetry and the symmetric information changing unit to relevant bone specific information corresponding to the copied vertices, comprising the.

  Here, the related bone specifying information includes, for each of the related bones, common information common to bones that are symmetrical to each other and bone definition information that includes the symmetrical information indicating that they are symmetrical to each other, and , Including influence degree information indicating the magnitude of the influence received from each of the related bones.

  For example, the “common information” is information indicating the position and hierarchy of the bone. For example, the position and hierarchy of the bone (for example, either the leg, the thigh or the buttocks, or the arm). Information indicating whether the upper arm portion or the lower arm portion). In addition, the “symmetry information” is information indicating a symmetry attribute. For example, in the case of a character object that is bilaterally symmetrical about the spine, it is information that specifies whether the object is right or left.

  The design support program of the present invention is a program that is provided in the form of an add-on program, for example, and is configured to be incorporated into a program main body for object design. Alternatively, the design support program of the present invention is provided in the form of an application program, and is also a program having an object design function. These programs are distributed, for example, by being stored in a storage medium or distributed so as to be downloadable via a network. Such a storage medium is a computer-readable medium, such as various types of ROM, USB memory with flash memory, USB memory, SD memory, memory stick, memory card, FD, CD-ROM, ± R / Physical storage media such as W, RAM, DVD-ROM, ± R / W, RAM, etc. are included. The broad storage medium includes a transmission medium such as the Internet capable of transmitting a program. This is because the program (downloaded) transmitted through the transmission medium is stored in the memory as it is and executed by the computer.

  According to the present invention, if the definition information of a part of the object having symmetry is set, the definition information on the other side is also copied / changed, so that the labor required for the design can be substantially halved. . In addition to making it harder to make mistakes by reducing the number of settings or by about half, there is no room for new input errors in definition information to be copied, so setting errors can be greatly reduced.

  Hereinafter, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a case where an object design program is executed in an image development computer will be exemplified. However, the following embodiment is merely an application example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment and can be variously modified and applied.

(Embodiment 1)
Embodiment 1 of the present invention relates to a form in which the object design support program of the present invention is provided as an add-on program.

(Configuration of image development computer)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the image development computer 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the hardware environment for object design includes an image development computer 1, an operation input device 20, and a display device 30. The image development computer 1 is a high-end computer for designing images such as object images. The operation input device 20 is an operation input means for inputting the operation of the designer of the object image, and includes, for example, a keyboard and a mouse. The display device 30 is a display that displays an image output from the image development computer 1.

  The image development computer 1 is a general-purpose computer, and includes a CPU 10, a ROM 11, a main memory (RAM) 12, an external storage medium drive 13, an image processing unit 14, and an operation input processing unit 15.

  The CPU 10 is the center of the control operation of the image development computer, outputs an I / O address via the system bus SB, selects a specific component, inputs and outputs data, and controls the entire apparatus centrally. To do. When the program is read, the CPU 10 transfers the object design program of the external storage medium DM to the object design program recording area 12a of the main memory 12 via the external storage medium drive 13, and the object design support program is transferred to the object design program of the main memory 12. The program is transferred to the support program recording area 12b. The CPU 10 is configured to execute an object design program. Further, the CPU 10 generates an image (data) necessary for object design and transmits it to the image processing unit 14.

  The ROM 11 is a non-volatile memory that stores a startup program used when starting the image development computer, a basic system program for operating the apparatus, and the like. Immediately after the power is turned on, the CPU 10 executes the activation program of the ROM 11 so that the external storage medium DM transfers the data of the external storage medium DM to the main memory 12.

  The RAM 12 is a main memory. The object design program transferred from the external storage medium DM is temporarily recorded and held in the object design program recording area 12a, and the object design support program is temporarily recorded and held in the object design support program recording area 12b. .

  The external storage medium drive 13 reads an object design program and an object design support program recorded on an external storage medium DM such as a DVD-ROM.

  The image processing unit 14 includes a semiconductor device such as an image decoder 14a, a GPU 14b having a frame buffer (VRAM) 14c, and a display controller 14d, and is configured to display an image convenient for object design. Images useful for object design include, for example, an object bone structure and a wireframe representation of the polygons that make up the skin, a surface model representation of the texture mapped to the skin, and the vertices, polygons, and bones required for object design. A text image including numerical values / characters for specifying each of them is listed.

  The image decoder 14a of the image processing unit 14 reads an image file compressed in a predetermined format stored in the external storage medium DM, and reproduces a frame image by a decoding process corresponding to the moving image compression format.

  The GPU 14b of the image processing unit 14 executes an image generation algorithm for generating a wire frame representation image or a surface model representation image in accordance with a command from the CPU 10, and performs the geometry processing, the rendering processing, and the like. The frame video image is configured to be output to the frame buffer 14c.

  The display controller 14d reads the image data stored in the frame buffer 14c at each frame time at the next frame time, and the luminance signal (brightness information) and color signal (color information) corresponding to the read image data. Information) is generated and output to the display device 30.

  The operation input processing unit 15 is an I / O port for inputting an operation signal from the operation input device 20. When the operation signal is received, an interrupt request is output to the CPU 10 or a read command from the CPU 10 is supported. Then, an operation signal is output to the system bus SB.

  Hereinafter, an apparatus that operates when the image development computer 1 executes an object development program and an object development support program is referred to as an “object design support apparatus”.

(Explanation of definition information)
Prior to the description of the functional blocks of the present invention, information related to an object to be designed in this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of the structure of an object to be designed. In this embodiment, an object is designed by applying a skin model (skeleton system). The skin model is a model in which a skeleton corresponding to the skeleton of an object is constituted by a plurality of bones as a structure corresponding to the vertebrate skeleton, and a skin corresponding to the skin is defined in relation to the bone. Each bone is connected to an adjacent bone by a joint.

  As shown in FIG. 3, for example, it is assumed that an object OBJ to be designed is a person modeled. In this figure, the object OBJ is composed of bones B0, B1, B6, B [L or R] 2 to 5, B [L or R] 7 to 10 and a skeleton. The plurality of bones are hierarchized. A lower number belongs to a higher hierarchy, and a higher number represents a higher hierarchy. As is clear from FIG. 3, the object OBJ has a symmetrical shape about an axis corresponding to the spine. The base point that is the starting point of the calculation is not particularly limited, but is set at, for example, the joint J0 corresponding to the hip bone.

  One of the features of the present invention is the naming of bones in such symmetrical objects. Among the bones constituting the object OBJ, “L” indicating that it is a left bone and “R” indicating that it is a right bone are assigned to the bone having symmetry as a symmetry attribute. is doing. Bones that are symmetric relative to each other are assigned numbers in the same hierarchy. Taking FIG. 3 as an example, the bone number “BL2” is assigned to the left side and the bone number “BR2” is assigned to the right side for the bone B2 of the clavicle portion belonging to the hierarchy “2”. In the example of FIG. 3, bones B 0, B 1, B 6 corresponding to the spine / head are not symmetric bones. "L" is not attached. By defining such bones, when referring to the definition information of one bone, it is possible to know the hierarchy of the bone, the existence of symmetry, and the symmetry attribute (for example, right or left). it can.

  Note that the bone naming rule can be arbitrarily set according to the system, and the rule is not limited as long as it can be recognized by a person or / and the system (computer). For example, in the above example, a number indicating the hierarchy was given, but in order to make it easy to understand the location of the bone intuitively, the general name of the part of the object, for example, "shoulder", "hip" etc. Also good. In the above example, the ASCII code (character) is added so that the designer can recognize it, but binary data other than the ASCII code may be used if it is not necessary for the human to visually recognize it. However, if recording is performed using byte information or word information, a bone may be defined in a set / reset state of a specific bit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the order of calculation of each bone from the joint J0 as the base point by arrows.
As shown in FIG. 4, in the skin system, the hierarchy of bones is set from the upper layer to the lower layer around the base point. The posture (arrangement) of the bone in the virtual three-dimensional space directly determines the posture of the object OBJ. By changing the posture of the bone every image update period (for example, a frame period), the object OBJ can be expressed as a moving image.

  The posture of each bone is calculated based on the spatial coordinates of the directly connected upper layer bone, the length of each bone, and the relative rotation amount from the upper bone. For example, when the vector of the bone B0 directly connected to the base point (0, 0, 0) is S0 (x0, y0, z0), the vector S1 (x1, y1, z1) of the bone B1 connected to the bone B0 ) Is expressed as follows.

S ₁ (x ₁ , y ₁ , z ₁ ) = S ₀ (x ₀ , y ₀ , z ₀ ) + Rx (α) · Ry (β) · Rz (γ) · LB ₀ (1)
Here, Rx (α), Ry (β), and Rz (γ) are rotation matrices that rotate about the X axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis by rotation amounts of α, β, and γ, respectively, and LB ₀ is a bone It is a scalar quantity indicating the length of B0. That is, the vector of the bone B (n + 1) connected to the tip of the bone Bn assigned to the immediately higher hierarchy is transferred from the vector B _n (x _n , y _n , z _n ) of the bone located in the immediately higher hierarchy from there. It is obtained according to equation (2) by a vector operation that adds the result of multiplying the amount of rotation and the length of the bone located in the layer immediately above.

S _{n + 1} (x _{n + 1} , y _{n + 1} , z _{n + 1} ) = S _n (x _n , y _n , z _n ) + Rx (α) · Ry (β) · Rz (γ) · LB _n ... (2)
By executing the calculation according to the equation (2) sequentially from the bones B0 and B6 directly connected to the joint J0 as the base point to the lower bones, the posture of the whole bone is calculated.

  In FIG. 4, for the bones constituting the upper body, the posture of the bone B0 is calculated from the joint JO of the hip bone, and the postures of the three bones B1, BL2, and BR2 connected to the bone B0 by the joint J1 are Calculated in parallel. Since bones BL3 to BL5 and BR3 to BR5 constituting left and right arms are connected to the bones BL2 and BR2, the postures of the bones are calculated in that order.

  For the bones that make up the lower body, the posture of the bone B6 is calculated from the joint JO of the hip bone, and the postures of the two bones BL7 and BR7 connected to the bone B6 at the joint J5 are then calculated in parallel. Further, the postures of the bones BL8 to BL10 and BR8 to BR10 constituting the left and right legs are calculated in the order of connection.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the relationship between polygons and bones constituting the skin, taking the left arm as an example.
In the skin model, the skin S is constituted by a set of a plurality of polygons. Individual polygons are defined by determining a plurality of vertices. FIG. 5 illustrates a polygon P1L as one of the polygons constituting the skin. The polygon P1L is defined by vertices V1 to V4. As shown in FIG. 5, each vertex V1 to V4 of the polygon P1L is associated with two bones, a bone BL3 and a bone BL4. The posture of the bone BL4 is determined by the relative rotation angle with respect to the bone BL3. When the postures of the bones BL3 and BL4 are determined, the relative positions of the vertices V1 to V4 associated with the respective bones are determined. When the relative positions of the vertices V1 to V4 are determined, the relative position of the polygon P1L is determined. When the positions of all the polygons P are determined, the positions of the skins S constituting the surface of the object OBJ are determined. The object OBJ can be rendered by mapping a predetermined texture to the polygons constituting the fixed skin S.

  Now, in the skin model of this embodiment, vertex information is set for each vertex in order to enable calculation of the relative position. The vertex information is defined by “position coordinates” and “related bone specifying information”. In the skin model, individual vertices constituting the polygon are affected by the posture of the bone, and the relative spatial arrangement is determined. Each vertex is associated with any one or more bones, and the relative position changes according to the movement of the associated bone. Information for determining the position of the vertex is “positional coordinates”, and information for specifying a bone associated with each vertex is “related bone specifying information”.

  A state in which the postures of all the bones are not changed for moving image calculation, that is, the states of the bones and skins as designed are referred to as “standard postures”. When the position coordinates of individual vertices in the standard posture are meant, they are referred to as “standard coordinates”.

  The “related bone specifying information” includes one or more related bone names associated with each vertex, weight information indicating the degree of influence received from each associated bone, and other attached information. The related bone name is a name based on the rule of one or more bones affecting each vertex. The weight information is a weighting coefficient that represents, to a real number from 0 to 1, how much influence is received from each of the associated bones when a plurality of bones are associated with each other. The attached information is information that affects the apexes in addition to the weight information, and is information that identifies a joint when the joint is also affected.

  In the example of FIG. 5, since the vertices V1 to V4 are affected by two bones, bone BL3 and bone BL4, these two bones are defined as related bone names, and weight information for each bone is given. The The distribution calculation is performed so that the sum of the weight information allocated to the bones affecting one vertex is 1.0. That is, if a vertex VE is affected by the bone Ba and the bone Bb, and the weight coefficient of the bone Ba is x (0 ≦ x ≦ 1), the weight coefficient of the bone Bb is y (= 1−x). Defined.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the naming of the bone having symmetry is specified by the symmetry attribute. If the polygons constituting the skin of the object are also designed to have symmetry, the vertex coordinates of the vertices between the polygons at symmetrical positions are also common.

  FIG. 6A shows an example of setting vertex information set for the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1L illustrated in FIG. 5, and FIG. 6B shows that the vertex information is set for the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1R that is symmetrical to the polygon P1L. An example of setting vertex information is shown. Here, the polygon P1R is a polygon located at the upper part of the upper arm of the right hand that is symmetrical with the polygon P1L located at the upper part of the upper arm of the left hand, that is, symmetrical to the polygon P1L about the spine axis.

  6A and 6B, as for the standard coordinates in each vertex information, the difference between the left and right positions appears in the x coordinate, but the y coordinate and depth corresponding to the height from the foot of the object OBJ. The z coordinate corresponding to the position in the direction is the same. Further, since the bone itself has the same symmetry as the skin, a common related bone name is given except for the difference in symmetry attribute (left or right, L or R). Also, the weight information assigned to the bones having a symmetrical positional relationship is the same. Therefore, the skin of the left arm receives an effect equivalent to the effect of the bone movement with respect to the motion of the bone of the right arm skin.

  In the present embodiment, the skin model is composed of bones, joints, and skins, but muscles (muscles) may be added as information. By adding muscle, it is possible to express the movement of the skin due to the bulge of muscles.

(Description of functional blocks and operating principle)
Next, the functional blocks in this embodiment will be described together with the operation principle.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block diagram of the object design support apparatus including a relationship with the software program.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the object design support apparatus includes a related bone specifying information setting unit 111, a symmetric vertex search unit 121, an information copying unit 122, a symmetric information change unit 123, a vertex information storage unit 131, and a bone definition information storage unit. 132, and a related bone specifying information storage unit 133.

  Among these functional blocks, the vertex information storage unit 131, the bone definition information storage unit 132, and the related bone specifying information storage unit 133 are the vertex information and bones transferred from the external storage medium DM in association with the object design program 110. This corresponds to the data area of the main memory 12 that stores the definition information. The related bone specifying information storage unit 133 corresponds to a data area of the main memory 12 that stores related bone specifying information set by processing of the object design program 110. The related bone specifying information setting unit 111 is realized by the CPU 10 executing the object design program 110, and the other functional blocks are functions realized by the CPU 10 executing the object design support program 120.

(Related bone specific information setting unit 111)
The related bone specifying information setting unit 111 is a basic function realized by executing an object design program, and is a functional block for setting definition information in order to specify a part of an object having symmetry. This functional block is a part of the function of the object design support apparatus realized by the image development computer 1 executing the object design program.

  The function of the entire object design support apparatus is to design a new object or modify a previously designed object by a designer's operation. When designing a new object, the object design support apparatus sets the bone structure of the object for skin system expression based on the operation signal input from the operation input apparatus 20. The designer inputs the standard coordinates of the joint to be the base, and designates the standard position of the bone in the highest hierarchy directly connected to the joint by the coordinate and the length of the bone by the numerical value. In addition, the standard position and length of the lower-layer bone connected to the highest-layer bone are sequentially set. When using a bone structure created in the past, only the bone structure data is extracted from the designed object data.

  The bone structure designed by the object design support apparatus is stored in the bone definition information storage unit 132. This bone definition information includes the above-described bone name Bxx, coordinates (x, y, z) indicating the standard position of each bone, and the bone length LBx. Each bone may be generated by designating these pieces of information by the designer, or the bone definition information of an object designed in the past may be used as it is, or a part thereof may be changed. In some cases, image data samples may be downloaded via an external storage medium DM or a network.

  Next, the object design support apparatus sets information relating to the skin for the designed bone. The skin is designed by sequentially setting the relationship between each vertex of a plurality of polygons corresponding to the bone structure and the bone. The related bone specifying information setting unit 111 relates to a function of setting related bone specifying information related to the vertex of a polygon that is a part of an object.

  Here, it is assumed that the standard coordinates of vertices for each polygon constituting the skin of the object are set in advance and stored in the vertex information storage unit 131. This vertex information may be set by the operator entering coordinate values or specifying the position with a pointer while viewing the image, but some polygons may be referenced with reference to previously designed object data. The vertex coordinates of may be modified.

  It is related bone specifying information set for each vertex that greatly affects the movement of the skin and the sense of the designer lives. This is because the posture of the skin when a moving image is displayed is greatly affected by how much weight is associated with each vertex with which bone.

  The related bone specifying information setting unit 111 reads the standard coordinates of each vertex from the vertex information storage unit 131, and sets related bone specifying information corresponding to the standard coordinate based on the operation of the designer. As shown in FIG. 6A, related bone specifying information to be designed includes related bone names that determine which bones are affected with respect to vertices for which standard coordinates are defined, weight information of related bones, and the like. Attached information.

  Here, it is assumed that the designer designs one side of a portion having symmetry when designing an object having symmetry. For example, when designing an object OBJ that is symmetrical to the left and right as shown in FIG. 3, the vertex information of the left skin is set if the object is set from the left side of the spinal axis. Then, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the polygon P1L is set, the next polygon P2L is set, and the vertex information of each polygon is set in order.

  Here, even if the standard coordinates of one side portion of the object having symmetry are set as shown in FIG. 6A, the related bone specifying information has not yet been set in the one side portion having a symmetrical relationship with the one side portion. That is, even when all the vertex information of the left polygons P1L and P2L is set, the vertex information of the right polygons P1R and P2R at symmetrical positions is set to anything other than the standard coordinates as shown in FIG. 6C. Not.

(Symmetric vertex search unit 121)
The symmetric vertex search unit 121 is an add-on function realized by executing the object design support program, and refers to the vertex information stored in the vertex information storage unit 131 and the object for which the related bone specifying information is set. It is a functional block that searches for a vertex (second portion) at a position symmetrical to each vertex (first portion).

  The vertices at the symmetric positions are approximate in standard coordinates because the object has symmetry. For example, as can be seen by comparing FIG. 6A and FIG. 6C, the standard coordinates at the vertex of the right polygon P1L and the standard coordinates at the vertex of the left polygon P1R are the same except for the x coordinate. . Therefore, a vertex at a symmetric position can be searched depending on whether coordinates other than the x coordinate coincide.

  In addition to searching for vertices at symmetric positions with reference to standard coordinates, it is also possible to search for vertices by referring to information associating vertices at symmetric positions. For example, if the polygon name is divided into left and right from the base point and given according to a certain rule (for example, a serial number), polygons that have the same name except for symmetry are polygons that are in symmetric positions. Can be specified, and the vertex can be searched. For example, for the polygon P1L, the polygon P1R having a common underline portion can be specified as a polygon arranged at a symmetrical position.

  Here, the symmetric vertex search unit 121 functions to search for a vertex at a symmetric position on condition that the designer has given a copy instruction. A designer who sets related bone specifying information for a certain vertex for a symmetrical object operates the operation input device 20 of the object design support device and inputs a command to copy the vertex information. To do. When this command is input, the symmetrical vertex search unit 121 searches for a vertex at a symmetrical position with respect to a vertex for which related bone specifying information has already been set. This is a case where the copying of the present invention is executed when the designer indicates the intention of copying the vertex information.

  However, the vertex search may be executed without the designer's operation. For example, when the setting of related bone specifying information for one or a predetermined number of vertices is completed, the object design support device may function to automatically search for vertices at symmetrical positions.

(Information copying unit 122)
The information copying unit 122 is an add-on function realized by executing the object design support program, and for the vertex (first portion) that has already been designed for the searched vertex (second portion). This is a functional block for copying related bone specifying information (first definition information) set in the above.

  The information copying unit 122 copies the related bone specifying information with respect to a vertex at a position symmetrical to the vertex for which the related bone specifying information is set. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the information of one vertex VaL of the upper left arm is copied to the vertex VaR at the symmetrical position of the upper right arm. Information on the left palm vertex VbL is copied to the vertex VbR at the symmetrical position of the right palm, and information on the port vertex VcL is copied to the vertex VcR at the symmetrical position of the starboard. In this way, the related bone specifying information is copied from one side of the symmetrical object to the other side.

  For example, for the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1L of the upper left arm shown in FIG. 6A, the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1R of the upper right arm are respectively searched, and the related bone specifying information is copied in a row.

  FIG. 9A shows information immediately after the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1R are copied. As shown in FIG. 9A, the related bone specifying information of each vertex of the left upper arm polygon P1L at a symmetrical position is copied as it is with respect to the standard coordinates of each vertex of the searched upper right arm polygon P1R.

(Symmetry information changing unit 123)
The symmetry information changing unit 123 changes the part of the related bone specifying information (first definition information) copied with respect to the vertex (second part) of the polygon at the symmetrical position, thereby changing the symmetry. This is a functional block for converting into related bone specifying information (second definition information) that defines the vertices of a polygon at a specific position.

  In other words, the symmetry information changing unit 123 sets the related bone specifying information for the copied vertex at the symmetrical position as the related bone specifying information suitable for the vertex. Specifically, the copied related bone name is merely a bone name associated with a vertex at a symmetrical position, and is changed to a bone name to which the vertex should be associated.

  In the naming rule of the present embodiment, bones at symmetrical positions are given the same hierarchical number, and a unique attribute, that is, a name that is different depending on whether it is right or left is given. Therefore, the symmetry information changing unit 123 changes the related bone names in the copied related bone specifying information to the bone names at the symmetrical positions. According to the example of the present embodiment, the name of the bone arranged on the right side is changed to the name of the bone arranged on the left side.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the related bone specifying information of the vertices V1 to V4 of the polygon P1L of the upper left arm is copied. The left bone name recorded in the name field is changed to the right bone name as shown in FIG. 9B. Even if the bone name is changed to a symmetrical bone name, the influence of the bone on each vertex is also symmetric, so there is no need to change the weight information itself. Also, if the attached information is symmetrical, no change is necessary.

The changed related bone specifying information is stored in the related bone specifying information storage unit 133. Therefore, if related bone specifying information on one side of an object having symmetry can be set, related bone specifying information on the other side can also be generated by copying and changing.
(Description of operation)
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B.
FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing an operation realized by the image design computer executing the object design program 110.

  Step S10 is a part of various processing steps related to object design realized by the object design program 110. In step S10, the related bone specifying information setting unit 111 executes a definition information setting routine. The definition information setting routine is a routine for setting related bone specifying information corresponding to the standard coordinates of polygons constituting the skin of the object based on the operation of the designer. For example, the designer sets information only on the left side or on the right side of a symmetrical object that is a design object, for example, if it is a symmetrical object, for example, if it is a symmetrical object.

FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing an operation realized by the image design computer executing an add-on program for object design support.
In step S20, the object design support program 120 monitors an operation signal from the operation input device 20, and determines whether the operation signal is a copy command. If it is not a copy command (NO), the process once returns from the processing routine of the add-on program. On the other hand, if the operation signal is a copy command (YES), the process proceeds to an object design support process related to the present invention.

  First, in step S100, the symmetrical vertex search unit 121 sets a polygon pointer for designating a polygon to the first polygon. The multiple polygons are named for distinguishing each polygon according to a certain rule as described above. Therefore, each polygon is instructed in order by operating the polygon pointer based on the rule assignment. It is possible to go.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S101, and the symmetric vertex search unit 121 sets a vertex pointer for instructing each vertex in turn for one polygon designated by the polygon pointer. The vertices are ruled to instruct each vertex in order from the reference vertex. For example, a rule is given such that a vertex is designated clockwise or counterclockwise from a reference vertex. If the rule is attached, it is possible to instruct the vertices defining the polygon in order by operating the vertex pointer without omission.

  Next, in step S <b> 102, the symmetrical vertex search unit 121 reads vertex information about the vertex designated by the vertex pointer from the vertex information storage unit 131. Then, the process proceeds to step S103, and the symmetric vertex search unit 121 refers to the vertex information stored in the vertex information storage unit 131, and determines whether or not there is a vertex arranged at a symmetrical position. Whether or not the vertex is arranged at a symmetric position is determined by determining the coincidence of coordinates other than specific coordinates (the x coordinate in the case of a symmetric object as shown in FIG. 7) as described above, or the symmetric position. It can be determined by referring to the specific information that associates the vertices in For example, taking the vertex V1 in the polygon P1L in FIG. 6A as an example, it is determined whether the y coordinate y1 and z coordinate z1 match the y coordinate and z coordinate of the vertex V1 in the polygon P1R in FIG. 6B as the copy destination. .

  If the result of determination in step S <b> 103 is that there is a vertex at a symmetrical position (YES), the information copying unit 122 has already been set as the vertex from which the symmetry is compared from the related bone specifying information storage unit 133. The related bone name (for example, the related bone names BL3 and BL4 in the case of the vertex V1 in the polygon P1L in FIG. 6A) is read, and the read related bone is read into the storage area of the related bone specifying information of the vertex existing at the symmetrical position. Copy specific information. Next, in step 105, the vertex weight information that is the basis of the symmetry comparison is copied to the storage area. Further, in step S106, if the attached information exists, the attached information of the vertex that is the basis of the symmetry comparison is copied to the area.

  At the stage where the copying of the related bone specifying information is completed, for example, the related bone specifying information of the vertex information of the polygon P1L shown in FIG. 6A is exactly copied and copied as the related bone specifying information of the polygon P1R arranged at the symmetrical position. Then, the storage state is as shown in FIG. 9A.

  Next, in step S107, the symmetry information changing unit 123 changes the related bone name for the copied vertex from which the symmetry is compared to the related bone name for the copied vertex. Thereby, for example, the related bone specifying information of the polygon P1R that was in the state of FIG. 9A immediately after copying is changed to information as shown in FIG. 9B. With the above processing, the processing for one vertex is completed.

  If there is no vertex at the symmetrical position in step S103 (NO), it may be a vertex of a polygon along the spine axis or an object having no symmetry in the first place. The process proceeds to step S108 without copying the information.

  In step S108, the vertex pointer is advanced by one, and in step S109, it is determined whether or not there are more vertices for the polygon. If there are unfinished vertices remaining in the polygon (NO), the process proceeds to step S102, and the processing from reading the vertex information of the vertices is repeated.

  If all the vertices have been processed for the polygon in step S109 (YES), the process proceeds to step S110, where the polygon pointer is advanced by one, and in step S111, there are more polygons for the object. It is determined whether or not. If a polygon that has not been operated remains in the object (NO), the process proceeds to step SS101, the vertex pointer is reset, and the processes in and after step S102 are repeated again.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the object design support function is provided in the form of an add-on program for the object design program. Therefore, the add-on program is stored in a physical storage medium for distribution or via a network. It is suitable for storing and distributing on a server so that it can be downloaded.

Further, the present embodiment further has the following advantages.
(1) According to this embodiment, when the object has symmetry, if related bone specifying information is set at the vertex of the polygon as the first part by a designer (designer) or the like, a symmetrical position is formed. The related bone specifying information is copied to the second portion to be processed, that is, the vertex at the symmetrical position, and the related bone name related to the symmetry of the copied information is matched with the destination vertex. Changed to Therefore, just by setting the definition information on one side of the object having symmetry, the related bone specifying information is automatically copied / changed on the other side, which can halve the effort spent on design. it can. In addition to making it difficult to make mistakes by halving the number of settings and about half of them, there is no room for new input errors in the information to be copied, so that setting errors can be greatly reduced.

  (2) According to the present embodiment, when copying is instructed by the designer, it is continuously executed, so it is possible to cope with batch copying based on the judgment of the designer.

  (3) According to this embodiment, one or more bone names associated with vertices are copied as definition information. Therefore, the setting of related bones that require trial and error and are troublesome to set is directly symmetrical. It is possible to shift to the apex in the, and greatly reduce the labor for setting the related bone name.

  (4) According to the present embodiment, the weight information indicating the magnitude of the influence of the vertex from each of the bones associated as the definition information is copied, so the weight of the related bones that require trial and error and are troublesome to set. The information can be transferred to the vertex at the symmetrical position as it is, and the labor for setting the weight information can be greatly reduced.

(Embodiment 2)
The second embodiment of the present invention relates to a form in which the object design support program of the present invention is provided as part of the object design program main body.
The configuration of hardware (image development computer) relating to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram according to the second embodiment.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, in the second embodiment, the object design program 110 includes the symmetric vertex search unit 121, the information copying unit 122, and the symmetric information change unit 123 according to the present invention together with the related bone specifying information setting unit 111. It is. In this respect, these functional blocks are different from the first embodiment provided by the object design support program 120 which is an add-on program. Therefore, in this embodiment, various functions by the symmetric vertex search unit 121, the information copying unit 122, and the symmetric information change unit 123 are provided as part of the main body function of the object design program 110. Since the operation of each functional block is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  11A and 11B are flowcharts for explaining the operation in the second embodiment. FIG. 11A shows processing steps related to the related bone specifying information setting unit 111. FIG. 11B shows processing steps relating to the object design support processing according to the present invention.

  In step S <b> 10, as a part of various processes related to object design, the related bone specifying information setting unit 111 executes a definition information setting routine. This is the same as in the first embodiment.

  Further, in step S11, it is determined whether or not the operation signal from the operation input device 20 is a copy command. If it is not a copy command (NO), the process proceeds to another process related to object design. On the other hand, if the operation signal is a copy command (YES), the process proceeds to step S12, and a submodule for object design support processing is called.

  As shown in FIG. 11B, in the object design support submodule, after the call, various processing steps in step S100 are executed. Since the process performed in the step with the same number as the step number in the first embodiment is the same as the process in the first embodiment, the description is omitted.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the object design support processing is provided as a part of the main body of the object design program. Other advantages are the same as those of the first embodiment.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the above and can be implemented with various modifications.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, a character object having left-right symmetry is illustrated as an object having symmetry, but the object having symmetry is not limited to this. An object to which the present invention can be applied is provided if it has symmetry in an arbitrary direction in the three-dimensional space with respect to a virtual point or axis.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the part of the object which determines symmetry is a vertex, it is not limited to this. It is possible to determine whether or not the polygon itself or a specific part inside the object has symmetry.

  In the above-described embodiment, the determination of symmetry is based on whether or not the position coordinates of the portion subjected to symmetry determination match. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If information indicating that there is a symmetric relationship with each other for a pair of portions having a symmetric relationship, it is determined whether the definition information should be copied by referring to the information. Is possible.

  In the above embodiment, the information to be copied when there is a portion having symmetry is related bone specifying information. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Any information associated with the portion subjected to symmetry determination, for example, image information such as normal vector and color, and attributes set in the part can be copied.

  Further, in the above embodiment, when there is a second part that exists at a symmetrical position corresponding to the first part, first, the definition information about the first part is copied, and then one of the definition information after copying is copied. The part (related bone name) has been changed, but the order is not limited. When the definition information of the first part is temporarily read into the memory for copying, a part of the definition information is changed to match the second part, and the changed definition information is changed to the second part. You may make it write as an accompanying thing.

1 is a configuration diagram of an image design computer (object design support apparatus) according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram of an object design support apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Illustration of the bone structure of the character object to be designed Explanatory diagram of hierarchy and calculation order in bone configuration Diagram showing the association between polygons (vertices) and bones Vertex information setting example of polygon P1L in the left arm Vertex information setting example of polygon P1R in the right arm Vertex information setting example before copying of polygon P1R in the right arm Conceptual diagram of symmetry judgment and copying in character objects Flow chart of object design processing in embodiment 1 Flowchart of object design support process in embodiment 1 Vertex information setting example of polygon P1R immediately after copying Example of vertex information setting for polygon P1R after change The block diagram of the object design assistance apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. Main flowchart of object design processing in embodiment 2 Sub-flowchart of object design processing in embodiment 1

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image development computer, 12 Main memory, 12a Object design program recording area, 12b Object design support program recording area, 13 External storage medium drive, 13 External storage medium drive, 14 Image processing part, 14a Image decoder, 14c Frame buffer, 14d display controller, 15 operation input processing unit, 20 operation input device, 30 display device, 110 object design program, 111 related bone specifying information setting unit, 120 object design support program, 121 symmetrical vertex search unit, 122 information copying unit, 123 Symmetric information changing unit, 131 Vertex information storage unit, 132 Bone definition information storage unit, 133 Related bone specifying information storage unit, Bx bone, BLx Symmetric left bone, BRx symmetry Of some right bone, DM external storage medium, Jx joint, P polygon, P1L left polygon, P1R right polygon

Claims (9)

An object design support program for designing an object,
On the computer,
A function of searching for a second part of the object at a position symmetrical to the first part of the object when predetermined definition information is set for the first part of the object having symmetry;
A function of copying the first definition information set for the first part with respect to the searched second part;
Executing a function of converting a part of the first definition information copied to the second part into a second definition information defining the second part. An object design support program characterized by An object design support program for designing an object,
On the computer,
A function for setting definition information to identify a part of an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis;
A function of searching for a second part of the object in a position symmetrical to the first part of the object;
A function of copying the first definition information set for the first part with respect to the searched second part;
Executing a function of converting a part of the first definition information copied to the second part into a second definition information defining the second part. An object design support program characterized by   The function of searching for the second part, the function of copying the first definition information, and the function of converting to the second definition information are continuously executed when copying is instructed. Item 3. The object design support program according to Item 1 or 2.   3. The object design support program according to claim 1, wherein the first definition information and the second definition information include information for specifying one or more of a plurality of bones set in the object.   5. The object design support program according to claim 4, wherein the first definition information and the second definition information include influence degree information indicating a magnitude of an influence received from each of the identified bones.   The object design support program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each of the first part and the second part is a vertex of a polygon constituting a skin of the object. An object design support program for designing an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis,
The skin that constitutes the surface of the object is set with a plurality of polygons,
For each vertex defining each polygon, related bone specifying information for specifying a bone in which the vertex is affected can be set.
The related bone specifying information includes, for each related bone, bone definition information including common information common to bones that are symmetrical to each other and symmetry information indicating that they are symmetrical to each other, and the relationship Including the degree of influence information indicating the magnitude of the influence received from each of the bones in the
On the computer,
A function of setting predetermined relevant bone specifying information for the first vertex;
A function of searching for a second vertex at a position symmetrical to the first vertex;
A function of copying the related bone specifying information set for the first vertex with respect to the searched second vertex;
Specifying the related bone corresponding to the second vertex by changing the symmetry information for the bone definition information included in the related bone specifying information of the first vertex copied to the second vertex Information function,
An object design support program characterized by causing An object design support apparatus for designing an object having symmetry with respect to a predetermined point or axis,
With reference to vertex information that defines the vertices of polygons that constitute the surface of the object and bone definition information that defines bones that constitute the skeleton of the object, the vertices are affected by the vertices A related bone specifying information setting unit for setting related bone specifying information for specifying a related bone;
A symmetric vertex search unit that searches for vertices that are symmetric with respect to vertices for which the relevant bone identification information has already been set;
An information copying unit that copies the related bone specifying information set for the vertex for which the related bone specifying information has already been set for the searched vertex;
Symmetry to make related bone specifying information corresponding to the copied vertex by changing symmetry information included in the related bone specifying information copied with respect to the vertex at the symmetrical position. An information change part;
An object design support device characterized by comprising: The related bone specifying information is
For each of the related bones, common information common to the bones in a symmetric relationship with each other, bone definition information including the symmetric information indicating that they are in a symmetric relationship with each other, and from each of the bones in the relationship The object design support apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the object design support apparatus is configured to include influence degree information indicating a magnitude of an influence received.

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