JP2020091811A - Multi-content drawing system and multi-content drawing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a multi-content drawing system and multi-content drawing method for drawing many, various contents existing in a specific region in an optimal load.SOLUTION: A multi-content drawing system 10 for drawing many types and many contents M, M1, and M2 existing in a specific region R includes: at least a region rendering server 12 for generating a drawing result of a specific region R; and a content rendering server 13 for performing a calculation related for the drawing of the content. The region rendering server 12 transmits information about the position and the view point to the content rendering server 13, and receives the information as the image related to the rendering of the content from the content rendering server 13.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a multi-content drawing system and a multi-content drawing method.

In recent years, many services that reproduce a virtual world during computer games and chats have appeared. By allowing users to upload their models, such services give the illusion of visiting the world.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a game processing unit that performs a game process including a movement of a plurality of characters in a virtual world, and a specifying unit that specifies one character as a specific character based on a predetermined condition from the plurality of characters And a determination means for determining whether or not there is a commonality in the movement of a plurality of non-specific characters other than the specific character among the plurality of characters, and a specific means when the determination means does not determine that there is a commonality A character is determined as the priority display character, and at least one of the non-specific characters is determined as the priority display character when it is determined that there is a commonality. There is disclosed a system including an adjusting unit that adjusts a drawing-related parameter so that the image is included in a predetermined area of the display image.

The content structure that allows users to upload their model is not widely implemented. In order for users to enter the space in which such a system can see each other at the same time in the same server, room, etc., users must download the avatars of other users in advance. When such a structure is assumed, there are problems such as an increase in data transfer amount and an increase in rendering cost in the user device.

That is, as the number of participants increases, the amount of data that each user has to download from the server increases significantly. Also, if some users upload a fairly large model, others will have to download it, which consumes a huge amount of network bandwidth. Since this model is rendered by each client, there is a problem that the user of a low-spec device has a large change in the processing weight of the device due to the uncontrollable condition of another person entering the display area. ..

JP, 2005-71012, A

As described above, in the virtual space service and the like in which the user can freely upload the model, there is a current situation that the number of connections per person is about 20 to 30.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a multi-content drawing system and a multi-content drawing method for drawing various kinds and many contents existing in a specific area with an optimum load. ..

One aspect of the present invention is a multi-content drawing system that draws a large number of various types of content existing in a specific area, and at least an area rendering server that generates a drawing result of a specific area including the content, and A region rendering server is characterized in that the region rendering server transmits information regarding a position and a viewpoint to the content rendering server and receives information as an image regarding content rendering from the content rendering server.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the content server performs only the operation related to the registered model, and the area rendering server receives only the information as the image related to the rendering of the content without the calculation performed in the content server. It is possible to draw various kinds of contents existing in a specific area with an optimum load.

At this time, in one aspect of the present invention, the content may include a 3D model.

Even in the case of information that requires heavy data processing, such as a 3D model, in one aspect of the present invention, since information as an image relating to rendering is exchanged, it is possible to draw with an optimum load.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the information as an image related to rendering may be a G-buffer based on delay shading.

By doing so, even if the content has a large drawing load, the content becomes heavy only at the time of calculation in the content rendering server, and by scaling according to the load of each content, the subsequent rendering processing of the entire content is reduced. It will not affect the load.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the information as an image regarding rendering may include rendering information based on forward rendering.

The information as an image regarding rendering is not limited to delay shading, and may be based on forward rendering.

Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, the specific area may be rendered by processing of a plurality of area rendering servers.

By dividing and managing by a plurality of area rendering servers, it is possible to reduce the load even when a large area is drawn.

Another aspect of the present invention is a multi-content drawing method for drawing a large number of various kinds of contents existing in a specific area, wherein a calculation step of performing a drawing-related calculation using a calculating means, and a content in the drawing means Drawing condition acquisition step of acquiring information about the position and viewpoint of the image, a rendering information acquisition step of transmitting information from the drawing means to the calculation means, and receiving information as an image related to rendering from the calculation means, and information as an image related to rendering. From the above, there is a drawing step for generating a drawing result of a specific area including the content.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the calculation unit performs only the operation related to the drawing of the content, and the drawing unit does not need the calculation related to the drawing of the content and receives only the information as the image related to the rendering of the content. It is possible to draw various kinds and many contents existing in the area with an optimum load.

At this time, in another aspect of the present invention, the content may include a 3D model.

Even in the case of information that requires heavy data processing, such as a 3D model, in one aspect of the present invention, since information as an image relating to rendering is exchanged, it is possible to draw with an optimum load.

Further, in another aspect of the present invention, the information as an image related to rendering may be a G-buffer based on delay shading.

By doing so, even if the content has a large drawing load, the content becomes heavy only at the time of calculation in the content rendering server, and by scaling according to the load of each content, the subsequent rendering processing of the entire content is reduced. It will not affect the load.

Further, according to one aspect of the present invention, the information as an image regarding rendering may include rendering information based on forward rendering.

The information as an image regarding rendering is not limited to delay shading, and may be based on forward rendering.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a drawing unit that divides a specific area by a plurality of drawing units and generates a drawing result acquires a drawing result of an area managed by the drawing unit from an adjacent drawing unit. You may do it.

By dividing and managing with a plurality of drawing means, the load can be reduced even in the case of drawing a vast area.

Another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute the multi-content drawing method.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to draw a large number of various types of content existing in a specific area with an optimum load.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the conventional drawing system. It is a schematic diagram showing composition of a multi-contents drawing system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing composition of a multi-contents drawing system concerning other embodiments of the present invention. It is a flow figure showing an outline of a multi-content drawing method concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing a rendering method when a specific area is divided by a plurality of drawing means.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. Note that the present embodiment described below does not unreasonably limit the content of the present invention described in the claims, and all the configurations described in the present embodiment are indispensable as a solution means of the present invention. Not necessarily.

As an example to which the multi-content drawing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, in a virtual content such as a game or a virtual world, a user registers and operates a customized model (characters of participants, etc.), It is assumed that an image is drawn on the client terminal according to the viewpoint of each user (model). FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional drawing system, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a multi-contents drawing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the conventional drawing system 100, as shown in FIG. 1, the user registers (uploads) the model M from the client terminal 101 to the rendering server 102, and thereafter requests the rendering result from the rendering server 102. In addition, the user transmits input data such as the movement of the character M of the user from the client terminal 101 to the rendering server 102.

As in the drawing system 100 as shown in FIG. 1, according to the conventional method of downloading the drawing information of the respective models M, M1, and M2 based on the viewpoint from the model M of a certain user onto a device for drawing, a network is used. However, there is a problem that the calculation load on the device becomes heavy when the model information is wasted or the model information is downloaded and drawn on the device.

Further, in order to deal with the case where the other 3D models M1 and M2 enter the visual field S of the user's model M, the rendering server 102 has to download the models M1 and M2 from the user in advance. I wasted a lot of bandwidth every time. In order to solve such a problem, it is necessary to avoid the situation where model data must be downloaded suddenly.

The present invention was devised to solve such a problem, and one aspect of the present invention is, as shown in FIG. 2, various types and many contents M, M1, M2 existing in a specific region R. A multi-contents rendering system 10 for rendering a region rendering server 12 that generates a rendering result of a specific region R and a content rendering server 13 that performs a calculation related to rendering of a content. It is characterized in that information regarding a position and a viewpoint is transmitted to the content rendering server 13 and information as an image regarding rendering of the content is received from the content rendering server 13.

In the present invention, with such a configuration, the model M does not need to be transferred to another server after being stored (uploaded) in the content rendering server 13A, and if necessary, only the rendering result on the spot can be acquired. Good, the bandwidth problem due to the download of model M is solved.

Even if the model drawing in the content rendering server 13 is heavy, only the calculation of the model becomes heavy, and the load of the whole drawing process is not affected. In the case of a character (avatar) of a user who gives a heavy model, only the content server becomes heavy. It is possible to simply keep the content heavy, or to allocate a high-performance computer only to the content server according to the demand of the user. Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the user from seeing the load of the content by strengthening the content rendering server 13A that raises the model M of the user, and to apply to the uploader of the content. ..

Also, what is delivered to the user side is the rendering result of the content that is not model data, so the rendering result can be obtained without making the delivery destination aware of the content information. Therefore, it is not necessary to download the 3D model of the content on the user side, and the content can be protected. In addition, since it is not necessary for the area rendering server 12 to download the 3D model, it is possible to use the model display during the service without passing the 3D model to the service provider when the user himself distributes the model data. it can.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a multi-content drawing system 20 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the multi-content drawing system 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, a specific region R can be divided and managed by a plurality of region rendering servers 22 (22A to 22P). .. As a result, the load can be reduced even when drawing a vast area. Details will be described later.

Next, configurations of the region rendering server 12 and the content rendering server 13, which are components of the multi-contents rendering system according to the embodiment of the present invention, will be described.

The area rendering server 12 and the content rendering server 13 each include one or a plurality of CPUs (Central Processing Units), ROMs (Read Only Memory), RAMs (Random access Memory), communication units, etc., which should be provided as servers. A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) may be provided. In addition, an input unit such as a keyboard and a touch panel, an output unit such as a display monitor, and the like may be provided as necessary. The number and performance of each component may be selected according to the situation depending on the scale of the specific region R to be drawn, the type and number of contents, the calculation load, and the like. Further, the area rendering server 12 and the content rendering server 13 each have a program for implementing a multi-content drawing method described later.

The CPUs of the area rendering server 12 and the content rendering server 13 have a function of controlling the operation of each component provided in each server according to the data received via the communication units of each other and various programs stored in the ROM. .. In this embodiment, the CPU controls the operation for drawing the multi-contents according to the program for executing the multi-contents drawing method. Further, the CPU has a function of appropriately storing necessary data and the like in a RAM (Random access Memory) or the like when executing these various processes. A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is an arithmetic unit specialized for image processing, and is preferably provided in each server in order to execute rendering processing and the like.

A memory such as a ROM or a RAM has a function of storing information necessary for controlling the operation of each component of the multi-content drawing system 10. In the present embodiment, the memory stores a program for executing the multi-content drawing method executed by the multi-content drawing system 10 between the area rendering server 12 and the content rendering server 13.

The communication unit has a function of transmitting and receiving data among the area rendering server 12, the content rendering server 13, and the client terminal 11. The communication unit communicates with other servers and terminals through wired or wireless communication lines. When there are a plurality of area rendering servers 12, each area rendering server 12 can communicate with at least another adjacent area rendering server, and each area rendering server 12 has one or more content rendering servers 13 respectively. Can communicate with.

Next, processing performed in each of the client terminal (user device) 11, the area rendering server 12, and the content rendering server 13 will be described.

The client terminal (user device) 11 is a terminal used when a user uses the multi-content drawing system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. For example, it refers to an information terminal device including an arithmetic device capable of various arithmetic processes such as a general-purpose computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, and a mobile information terminal. The client terminal (user device) 11 requests the drawing result from the area rendering server 12 to which the request is sent, based on the position information of the character (avatar) M registered by itself. Also, the client terminal (user device) 11 operates scene information such as the position of the avatar M synchronized on the server as necessary. For this, the area rendering server 12 manages the inside of the area, and may issue a request for changing the area, or there may be another server that manages the state of the scene.

The area rendering server 12 creates a situation in which a specific drawing result can be acquired as needed. When there are a plurality of area rendering servers 12, the area rendering server 12 establishes a connection with an area rendering server that manages an adjacent area. Then, the area rendering server 12 acquires the drawing result from the area rendering server that manages the adjacent area that may be included in the viewpoint of the character (avatar) M when the client terminal (user device) 11 is connected. Each area rendering acquires a rendering result using the camera parameters passed at the same time when a request is made from another area rendering server.

When there are a plurality of area rendering servers 22 (22A to 22P) as shown in FIG. 3, the drawing result acquired from the adjacent area rendering server is pasted on the joint surface with the area rendering server around itself. This makes it possible to draw a plane outside the region. At this time, the joint surface may have a shape in which four-sided cubes are arranged on a plane or a shape in which hexagonal columns are arranged. Any shape that sufficiently fills the space and is divided by a plane may be used.

Further, the area rendering server 12 requests all the content rendering servers 13 (13A to 13C) that manage the content in the area to update information as an image regarding rendering. The information as an image regarding rendering includes depth, normal line, Light Accumulation buffer, display area determination mask image and material information such as albedo, roughness, metallic, etc., but G-buffer based on delay shading. Can be used. The G-buffer is a buffer that represents the normal line, depth, etc. of the entire screen. The area rendering server combines, for example, the G-buffers updated by the content rendering server into one in the area and synthesizes the G-buffers as one plane G-buffer. At this time, a shadow map is created by requesting a G-buffer of only the depth from a specific light viewpoint, if necessary, and actual lighting is performed using the plane, light information, shadow map, etc. Generate an image that reflects. At this time, a distorted projection matrix that matches the viewpoint seen by the actual user can be used.

In the multi-content rendering system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the information about the rendering sent from the content rendering server to the region rendering server is not limited to the deferred shading, but the forward rendering. It may be information as an image based on (Forward Rendering). Forward rendering is a method of sending light information and performing lighting up to the content rendering server. The final rendering result and the mask information or depth information necessary for compositing the transparency etc. The information is transmitted to the area rendering server.

The content rendering server 13 calculates in advance a minimum area surrounding the content or an area having a size suitable for image compression in order to determine a size of a surface suitable for drawing the content. The calculation of this area may be any as long as it can sufficiently calculate the size of the drawing screen required when a certain viewpoint is given. For example, AABB (Axis Aligned Bounding Box) or calculation of a sphere surrounding a simple model can be performed. In the content rendering server 13, for example, a projection matrix that allows this area to be well viewed when viewed from the user camera is calculated.

When there is a request from the area rendering server 12, the content rendering server 13 sends information as an image regarding rendering as a result in response to this request. As described above, the information as an image related to rendering is, for example, G-buffer. At this time, if the data is compressed and transferred, the data transfer amount can be further reduced. The content rendering server uses the projection matrix to generate a G-buffer from the existing model and transfers it to the area rendering server 12.

Next, a multi-content drawing method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the multi-content drawing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. One aspect of the present invention is a multi-content drawing method for drawing a large number of various kinds of contents existing in a specific area, which includes a calculation step S1 for performing a drawing-related calculation using a calculating means and a content in the drawing means. Drawing condition acquisition step S2 for acquiring information on the position and viewpoint, and a rendering information acquisition step S3 for transmitting information from the drawing means to the calculation means and receiving information as an image for rendering from the calculation means, and as an image for rendering. And a drawing step S4 for generating a drawing result of a specific area including the content from the information.

The calculation step S1 is a step of performing calculation regarding drawing of the content using a calculation means. Examples of the calculation means include the content rendering server described above. Further, the content is a model (avatar) of the user himself/herself set by a user in a virtual space such as a game or chat, and these models include a 3D model. In the calculating means, for example, as described above, a minimum area surrounding the content or an area having a size suitable for image compression is calculated in order to determine the size of the surface suitable for drawing the content, and this area is calculated by the user, for example. Calculate a projection matrix that looks good when viewed from the camera.

The drawing condition acquisition step S2 is a step of acquiring information on the position and viewpoint of the content in the drawing means. The drawing means is basically provided separately from the calculating means, and examples thereof include the area rendering server described above. In a virtual space such as a game or a chat, the user usually operates a model (avatar) registered by the user to change the viewpoint or move a place on the screen. The information at this time is sent from the client terminal (user device) operated by the user to the drawing means.

In the rendering information acquisition step S3, information is transmitted from the drawing means to the calculation means, and information as an image regarding rendering is received from the calculation means. At this time, when another user's model (avatar) exists within the field of view of the target user's model (avatar), information including an image regarding rendering of the other model is also received. For the information as an image regarding rendering, for example, G-buffer based on delay shading can be used as described above. In this way, the drawing means does not directly handle the data related to the content, but receives only the information as the image related to the rendering via the calculation means, so that the drawing load becomes heavy even if the number of kinds of content is large. Can be prevented. Therefore, the drawing method according to the embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to draw a large number of models (avatars) of each user at the same time even when more users participate.

The drawing step S4 is a step of generating a drawing result of a specific area including the content from information as an image related to rendering. For example, the information (for example, G-buffer) as an image related to rendering is acquired from the calculation unit in accordance with the position of the model (avatar), the viewpoint, the scene information about the arrangement object included in the field of view, and the other model (avatar). , G-buffer information and scene information are lit to draw the rendering result from the user's viewpoint.

Further, in the multi-content drawing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a drawing unit that divides a specific region by a plurality of drawing units (region rendering servers) and generates a drawing result is The drawing result of the area managed by the drawing means may be acquired from the adjacent drawing means.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a rendering method when the specific region R is divided by a plurality of drawing means. When there is a user's model M in a specific region R, it is assumed that an image of the model S in the field of view S is necessary for drawing at some time. At that time, the area that can be imaged on the plane includes the area r1, and the resultant image is inquired to the node managing the area r1. Since the result image at this time depends on the area of r2 and the area of r3, the node inquires to send the resulting image to the node of the area r4 adjacent to this node. This is basically recursively repeated. In this way, the images can be obtained by combining the images based on the information returned by the plurality of nodes.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to Examples, but the present invention is not limited to the following Examples.

<Example 1. Virtual reality environment where users upload their 3D avatars>
A multi-content drawing system and a multi-content drawing method according to an embodiment of the present invention are excellent in displaying various types of models that cannot be predicted in advance. So, for example, an environment in which each user can upload their own designed model, an environment in which each user can be observed by other users as they move, new users are suddenly placed in the space. It is suitable for expression in virtual space such as various environments. As a realistic example, there is an example in which each user simultaneously operates independently, such as a game-like element such as MMORPG or an SNS space on a 3D space.

Under such an environment, for example, the user uploads his model (avatar) to the content rendering server when registering the service. This content rendering server may be shared with other users, or if a heavy model is assumed, an exclusive content rendering server may be assigned. This allows the user to bear the penalty for the load on the entire network.

Next, the user accesses the area rendering server of the area to which his avatar belongs. At this time, when the number of area rendering servers increases dynamically, there may be a server for solving the area rendering server that manages the list of area rendering servers. When statically determined in advance from the area, only these servers need to exist. The connection may be established by simple socket communication, for example. If necessary, you can apply the compression technology used for streaming distribution.

The region rendering server requests the rendering result from the position of the avatar to the adjacent region rendering node that can appear. It can be generalized as the same situation as if the user were just connected. At this time, a normal rendering result is obtained by using a perspective matrix that is Perspective Offcenter.

Then, the scene information is acquired. If composed solely of avatars, the region rendering node can restore the scene information from the list of clients connected to it. If not only the avatar but also objects placed in advance are mixed, a management node of the scene graph is separately prepared, and the postures of the object list on the scene are sequentially solved from these.

After that, the region rendering server acquires the G-buffer from the content rendering server in accordance with the scene information, performs lighting from the G-buffer information and the scene information, and draws the rendering result from the user's viewpoint.

<Example 2. Simulation display under conditions where the shape of the model can change dynamically at the same time>
In the multi-content drawing system and the multi-content drawing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the shape generation cost for simulation is independent because the part that performs the rendering from the shape generation of the model itself and the part that performs the entire rendering are independent. It is possible to simulate data that is very high and it is not realistic to transfer it at a realistic speed. For example, there is a simulation in which the G-buffer drawing result of a certain partial area can be acquired from a given camera viewpoint. Depending on the purpose of simulation, it can be performed in real time, and even if it is not necessary, if a simulation result of a specific area can be obtained at a realistic speed, a large space can be drawn sequentially.

First, the content rendering server performs a simulation. The above-mentioned simulation is performed by the content rendering server, and the result is returned in response to the request of the area rendering server. In the actual operation, the content rendering server may be set up by the person who is the main body for executing the simulation. Such a content rendering server may be operated as a grid computing system of a large-scale space by allocating an empty area to the nodes participating in the simulation.

After that, the area rendering server acquires the result from the content rendering server. The region rendering server performs the necessary processing globally. Global processing here is not limited to lighting. For example, in the case of a simulation of a nebula, the value related to the interaction between each content rendering server is calculated from the simulation result of each partial area returned by the content rendering server.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail, those skilled in the art can easily understand that many modifications can be made without materially departing from the novel matters and effects of the present invention. You can do it. Therefore, such modifications are all included in the scope of the present invention.

For example, a term described in the specification or the drawings at least once together with a different term having a broader meaning or the same meaning can be replaced with the different term in any place in the specification or the drawing. The configuration and operation of the multi-contents drawing system are not limited to those described in the embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made.

10, 20 Multi-content drawing system, 11, 21 client terminal, 12, 22 (22A-22P) area rendering server, 13 (13A-13C), 23 (23A-23C) content rendering server, 100 drawing system, 101 client terminal , 102 rendering server, M, M1, M2 model, R specific region, S view field, S1 calculation step, S2 drawing condition acquisition step, S3 rendering information acquisition step, S4 drawing step

Claims (11)

A multi-content drawing system for drawing various kinds of many contents existing in a specific area,
at least,
A region rendering server that generates a rendering result of the specific region including the content,
A content rendering server that performs calculations related to the rendering of the above content,
The multi-content rendering system, wherein the area rendering server transmits information regarding a position and a viewpoint to the content rendering server, and receives information as an image regarding content rendering from the content rendering server. The multi-content drawing system according to claim 1, wherein the content includes a 3D model. The multi-content drawing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information as an image regarding the rendering is a G-buffer based on delay shading. The multi-content drawing system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information as an image regarding the rendering includes rendering information based on forward rendering. The multi-content rendering system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the specific area is rendered by a process of a plurality of the area rendering servers. A multi-content drawing method for drawing a large number of various contents existing in a specific area,
A calculation step for performing a calculation relating to the rendering of the content using a calculation means,
A drawing condition acquisition step of acquiring information on the position and viewpoint of the content in the drawing means,
A rendering information acquisition step of transmitting the information from the drawing means to the calculation means, and receiving information as an image regarding rendering from the calculation means,
A multi-content drawing method comprising: a drawing step of generating a drawing result of the specific area including the content from information as an image relating to the rendering. 7. The multi-content drawing method according to claim 6, wherein the content includes a 3D model. The multi-content rendering method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the information as an image regarding the rendering is a G-buffer based on delay shading. The multi-content drawing method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the information as an image regarding the rendering includes rendering information based on forward rendering. The drawing means for dividing the specific area by a plurality of the drawing means to generate a drawing result acquires the drawing result of the area managed by the drawing means from the adjacent drawing means. The multi-content drawing method according to any one of claims 6 to 9. A program for causing a computer to execute the multi-content drawing method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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