JP2831218B2 - Image generation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating a realistic three-dimensional two-dimensional image from three-dimensional information set as numerical data in the apparatus by a ray tracing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to solve the problem that it takes time to generate a high-quality image in this type of apparatus, the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 has been considered. First, a ray tracing tree will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is an example of a ray tracing path, and FIG. 2B is a ray tracing tree corresponding to the ray tracing path in FIG. In the ray tracing method, rays emitted from a viewpoint are traced by calculating catadioptric refraction. In the course of this tracing, when the tracing light beam reaches the object surface, the light beam may be reflected or refracted, and the light beam splits up to two at the intersection with the object and collides with some objects I do. A ray tracing tree represents this process as a binary tree. The nodes of the ray tracing tree represent the objects to which the rays are reflected or refracted, and the branches represent the connection of the reflected or refracted rays. For example, it is assumed that a light ray is reflected or refracted as shown in FIG. 201 in the figure is a viewpoint, 202, 203, 204
Is an object. The ray emitted from the viewpoint 201 is the object A20
2, the reflected light intersects with the diffusing object 203, the refracted light intersects with the object C, and the light beam intersecting with the object C is further reflected. At this time, the ray tracing tree is shown in FIG.
(B). Reference numerals 205, 206, and 207 in the figure denote nodes of a ray tracing tree. An object A202, which is an object whose rays first intersect, enters the root 205, a node 206 below the root 205 enters an object B203 where the light reflected by the object A202 intersects, and a node 207 below the root 205 enters the object A202. The object C207 in which the refracted light of the light crosses enters.
Each node of the ray tracing tree can have information on whether or not the intersection is a shadow, in addition to the name of the object on which the ray hits. The ray tracing history data is represented by a ray tracing tree.

Next, the configuration and operation of a conventional image generating apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional image generation device. First, each component of the apparatus will be described. In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes a ray tracing unit that performs ordinary ray tracing. An image memory 502 stores the value of each pixel. A ray tracing tree memory 503 stores the ray tracing tree. Reference numeral 504 denotes a four-tree intersection object matching inspection unit that checks whether or not the intersection object of the four-pixel ray tracing tree near the calculation pixel matches the four-pixel ray tracing tree. Reference numeral 505 denotes another similarity inspection unit for inspecting the similarity between information other than the intersection object of the four-pixel ray tracing tree and the value of the four pixels stored in the image memory 504. 5
Reference numeral 06 denotes a control unit that controls the overall processing flow. 50
Reference numeral 7 denotes a high-speed ray tracing unit that performs ray tracing by omitting a search for an intersecting object. An interpolation unit 508 calculates the value of the calculated pixel by interpolating the values of the four pixels.

[0004] A conventional apparatus firstly includes a ray tracing unit 501.
The pixel value is calculated at an appropriate interval by the ray tracing method, and the calculated value is stored in the image memory 502. Information such as the intersection object obtained in the ray tracing process is stored in the ray tracing tree memory 503. Next, the value of the pixel located in the middle of them is calculated. At that time, first, the four ray tracing trees obtained in the process of calculating the four pixels in the vicinity of the pixel whose values have already been obtained are ray-traced. It is taken out from the tree memory 503, and a four-tree intersection object matching inspection unit 504 checks whether the four ray-tracing tree intersection objects match. If they do not match, the control unit 506 calculates the value of the calculated pixel by the ray tracing unit 501, and stores the calculated value in the image memory 502 and the information such as the intersecting object obtained in the process of ray tracing. It is stored in the memory 503. If the intersections of the four ray trace trees match, the four ray tracing trees are further combined with the luminance values stored in the image memory 502 to check the similarity by the other similarity check unit 505. I do. If there is no similarity other than the intersection object, the value of the calculated pixel is calculated by the high-speed ray tracing unit 507, and the calculated value is stored in the image memory 502.
Next, information such as the intersection object obtained in the ray tracing process is stored in the ray tracing tree memory 503. If there is similarity other than the intersection object, the interpolating unit 508 calculates the calculated value, and stores the calculated value in the image memory 502 and the same information as the four ray tracing trees in the ray tracing tree memory 503. An image is generated by repeating the above processing until there are no uncalculated pixels.

[0005]

However, in this apparatus, if even a part of the information of the intersecting object in the ray tracing process of the four pixels near the calculation pixel does not match, the intersecting object is determined for the coincident part. There is a drawback that ray tracing for searching for an intersecting object is performed although it can be estimated that the same is the same as the four neighboring pixels. In a case where a part different in the four pixels in the information of the intersecting object in the ray tracing process of the four pixels is divided into two groups, a group A and a group B, in the ray tracing process of the calculation pixels, There is the disadvantage of performing ray tracing to search for the intersecting object, although it may be the same as the intersecting object in either A or group B. Due to the above two drawbacks, the time required to search for an intersecting object in the ray tracing process was extremely long, and the image generation time was extremely long. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image generation apparatus that generates an image at high speed, omitting the search for an intersecting object, while paying attention to the conventional problem.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises means for partially comparing information of an intersecting object in a ray tracing process of four pixels in the vicinity of a calculation pixel. In the ray tracing process of the pixels, the partial coincidence of the information of the intersecting objects is detected, and if even part of the information coincides, the intersecting objects of the calculated pixels also correspond to the four pixels in the ray tracing process corresponding to the part. Is assumed to be the same as above, and the ray tracing is performed at high speed by omitting the search for the intersecting object.

[0007] In addition, among the information of the intersecting object in the ray tracing process of the four pixels, it is checked how many groups are divided into the portions different among the four pixels. If you are divided into two groups,
In the ray tracing process of the calculated pixel, the search for the intersecting object is omitted until the information of the intersecting object is the same in the four pixels, and then the ray tracing for searching the intersecting object once is performed. It is determined whether the intersecting object is not the same as the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group A or the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group B. If it is the same as the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group A (or group B), it is assumed that the ray intersects the same object in group A (or group B) in the subsequent ray tracing process, and The search for is omitted. If it intersects an object that is neither a crossing object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group A nor a crossing object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group B, the following ray tracing process will Ray tracing is performed at high speed by tracing.

[0008]

The image generating apparatus according to the present invention, even when a part of the information of the intersecting object in the ray tracing process of the four pixels in the vicinity of the calculation pixel does not match, does not intersect in the ray tracing process of the four pixels. For the part where the objects match, the intersection object of the calculation pixel is estimated to be the same as the matching part, and the search for the intersection object is omitted. In addition, ray tracing for searching for an intersecting object is performed for a part that does not match, and in the subsequent ray tracing process, if the search for an intersecting object can be omitted, ray tracing is performed at high speed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an image generating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the grouping of the coincident part, the non-coincidence part, and the partial part of the four ray tracing trees will be described using the ray tracing tree of FIG. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of four ray tracing trees. Ray tracing tree B301, ray tracing tree C302, ray tracing tree D30
3. Comparing the ray tracing tree E304, the subtree B30
5, partial tree C306, partial tree D307, partial tree E308
Are the same, so they are called matching parts. Partial tree BB309
, Partial tree CC310, partial tree DD311 and partial tree EE3
12, the subtree BB309, the subtree CC310, the subtree DD311 and the subtree EE312 are called non-coincidence parts. For the mismatched part, the subtree CC3
10 and the partial tree DD311 and the partial tree EE312 are the same, so they can be grouped together, and the remaining unmatched part, the partial tree BB309, can be grouped into one group. In this case, the unmatched part is divided into two groups. .

Next, the configuration of the image generating apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the image generating apparatus of the present embodiment. First, the components will be described. Reference numeral 101 in the figure denotes a control unit that controls the operation of the image generating apparatus according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 102 denotes a ray tracing unit that calculates the value of one pixel specified by the control unit 101 by ordinary ray tracing. Reference numeral 103 denotes a high-speed ray tracing unit that performs ray tracing by omitting a search for an object that intersects the value of one pixel specified by the control unit 101. 104
Is an interpolation unit that calculates the value of one pixel specified by the control unit 101 by interpolating the values of four neighboring pixels. 10
Reference numeral 5 denotes an adaptive high-speed ray tracing unit that calculates the value of one pixel by ray tracing partially omitting the search for an intersecting object. An image memory 106 stores pixel values calculated by any of the ray tracing unit 102, the high-speed ray tracing unit 103, the interpolation unit 104, and the adaptive high-speed ray tracing unit 105. Reference numeral 107 denotes a ray tracing tree memory that stores a ray tracing tree that represents information of the intersection object and the like obtained in the ray tracing process of the calculated pixel. Reference numeral 108 denotes a four-tree intersection object matching inspection unit that extracts a ray tracing tree of four pixels in the vicinity of the calculation pixel from the ray tracing tree memory and checks whether the intersection objects of the four pixels completely match. Reference numeral 109 denotes another similarity check unit that checks whether or not the four pixels have similarities other than the crossing object, based on information other than the crossing object between the four pixels and the value of the four pixels. is there. Reference numeral 110 denotes an intersection object matching portion detection unit that detects a portion where the intersection objects match from the 4-pixel ray tracing tree. Numeral 111 denotes a non-coincidence part group separation unit that divides the non-coincidence part of the ray tracing tree of the four pixels into groups and checks whether it is divided into two groups.

In the image generating apparatus having the above-mentioned components, the ray tracing unit 102, the high-speed ray tracing unit 103, and the adaptive high-speed ray tracing unit 105 output the calculated pixel values to the image memory 106 and simultaneously execute the ray tracing. The information of the intersecting object and the like obtained in the process of
Output to The interpolating unit 104 outputs the calculated pixel values to the image memory 106 and, at the same time, outputs to the ray tracing tree memory 107 the information of the ray tracing tree sent from the other similarity checking units through the control unit 101. The four-tree intersection object matching inspection unit 108 checks whether or not the four-pixel ray-tracing tree intersection objects match, and outputs whether or not they match to the control unit 101. If they do not match, the inspection unit 109 outputs the four-pixel ray tracing tree to the intersection object matching portion detection unit 110. The other similarity inspection unit 109 inspects the ray tracing tree sent from the four tree intersection object matching inspection unit and the value of the four pixels extracted from the image memory for similarity other than the intersection object, Control unit 1 determines the similarity of
01, and at the same time, outputs the ray tracing tree of the four pixels and the value of the four pixels. Crossing object coincidence part detection unit 1
Numeral 10 detects information of a part where the intersection object matches from the four-pixel ray tracing tree sent from the four-tree intersection object matching inspection unit, and detects the coincidence detected with the four-pixel ray tracing tree. Is output to the mismatched part group separating unit 111. The unmatched part group separating unit 111 transmits the 4
Group the unmatched parts known from the pixel ray tracing tree and the information of the matching part, and determine whether the mismatched part is divided into two groups, and determine whether the matching part is the four-pixel ray tracing tree. At the same time as outputting the information to the control unit 101, if the mismatched part is divided into two groups, the information of the two groups of the ray tracing objects is also output.

Next, the operation of the image generating apparatus of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image generating apparatus according to the present embodiment. The control unit 101 first calculates the pixel values at appropriate intervals by the ray tracing method in the ray tracing unit 102, stores the values in the image memory 106, and converts the information such as the intersection object obtained in the ray tracing process into a ray. It is stored in the tracking tree memory 107 (4a). Next, the value of the pixel A located in the middle of them is calculated. First, the value of the pixel B, the pixel C, the pixel D, and the pixel E in the vicinity of the pixel A, whose values have already been obtained, is obtained. The four ray tracing trees obtained by the four tree intersecting object coincidence inspection unit 108 are stored in the ray tracing tree memory 1
07, it is checked whether the intersection objects of the four ray tracing trees are completely matched (4b). If they do not match, the intersection object coincidence part detection unit 110 of four trees detects from the value to the part where the intersection objects of the four ray tracing trees coincide (4f). Subsequently, the non-coincidence part group separation unit 111 divides the non-coincidence part of the intersection object by the four ray tracing trees into groups, and checks whether it can be divided into two groups, Group A and Group B (4g). . Then, the adaptive high-speed ray tracing unit 105 traverses the process corresponding to the matching part in the ray tracing tree of the four pixels by omitting the search for the intersecting object (3h). In the subsequent ray tracing process, if the unmatched portions of the four ray tracing trees are not divided into two groups (4i), ray tracing for searching for an intersecting object is performed (4j). If the unmatched portions of the four ray tracing trees are divided into two groups (4i), ray tracing is performed to search for an intersecting object once (4k). If the intersecting object in this ray tracing process coincides with the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process of group A or group B (4 m), the following ray tracing process performs ray tracing without searching for the intersecting object. (4n), when the intersection object in the ray tracing process does not match the intersection object in the corresponding ray tracing process of the group A nor the corresponding intersection object in the corresponding ray tracing process of the group B (4m),
In the subsequent ray tracing process, ray tracing for searching for an intersecting object is performed (4p). If the intersecting objects of the four ray tracing trees completely match (4b), the other similarity checking unit 10
At 9, it is checked whether the four pixels have similarities other than the intersection object (4c). If there is no similarity other than the intersecting object (4c), the value of the pixel A is calculated by the high-speed ray tracing unit 103.
The ray tracing and calculation are performed by omitting the search for the intersecting object. If there is similarity other than the intersection object (4c), the interpolation unit 1
At 04, the values of the pixels B, C and D are interpolated and calculated (4e). An image is generated by repeating the above processing until there are no uncalculated pixels.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the search for an intersecting object requiring a large amount of calculation at the time of ray tracing, and to generate an image at high speed in consideration of catadioptric refraction. Can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image generation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a ray tracing path and a ray tracing tree corresponding to the ray tracing path;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of four ray tracing trees.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the image generation apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional image generation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Control part 102 Ray tracing part 103 High-speed ray tracing part 104 Interpolation part 105 Adaptive high-speed ray tracing part 106 Image memory 107 Ray tracing tree memory 108 Four tree intersection object coincidence inspection part 109 Other similarity inspection parts 110 Intersection object coincidence part Detecting unit 111 Non-coincidence part group separating unit 501 Ray tracing unit 502 Image memory 503 Ray tracing tree memory 504 Four-tree intersection object matching checking unit 505 Other similarity checking unit 506 Control unit 507 High-speed ray tracing unit

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A pixel value is obtained at an appropriate interval by a ray tracing method, and an intersecting object in a calculation pixel located in the middle thereof is obtained in a calculation process of four pixels in the vicinity of the calculation pixel whose values have already been obtained. When it is possible to omit the search for the intersecting object in the ray tracing process by estimating from the ray tracing history data on the intersecting object to be obtained, the apparatus for obtaining the values of all pixels in the image is omitted. Detecting means for detecting a matching part of the tracking history data, and omitting the search for the intersecting object in the ray tracing process corresponding to the history data detected by the detection means, the value of the calculated pixel, A first adaptive high-speed ray tracing means for searching for an intersecting object and performing ray tracing in a ray tracing step subsequent to a ray tracing step corresponding to the history data detected by the detection means. An image generation device comprising: 2. A pixel value is obtained at an appropriate interval by a ray tracing method, and an intersecting object in a calculation pixel located in the middle thereof is obtained in a calculation process of four pixels near the calculation pixel whose values have already been obtained. When it is possible to omit the search for the intersecting object in the ray tracing process by estimating from the ray tracing history data on the intersecting object to be obtained, the apparatus for obtaining the values of all pixels in the image is omitted. Detection means for detecting a matching portion of the tracking history data; group separation means for grouping different portions of the ray tracing history data relating to the four-pixel intersecting object; and group separation means. When the different portions of the history data are divided into two groups, group A and group B, the ray tracing process of the calculation pixel is performed. In the ray tracing process corresponding to the history data detected by the detecting means, the search for the intersecting object is omitted, and the ray tracing process corresponding to the history data detected by the detecting means is omitted. In the ray tracing process, ray tracing for searching for one intersecting object is performed. If the intersecting object at that time is the same as the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group A, the ray tracing subsequent to the calculation pixel It is assumed that the intersecting objects in the process are the same as the intersecting objects of group A, and the search for the intersecting objects is omitted. If it is the same as the crossing object in the corresponding ray tracing process, it is assumed that the crossing object in the subsequent ray tracing process of the calculation pixel is the same as the crossing object of group B, and the search for the crossing object is omitted. If the intersecting object at the time of ray tracing for searching for the intersecting object twice is different from the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group A and the intersecting object in the corresponding ray tracing process in group B, An image generating apparatus comprising: a second adaptive high-speed ray tracing unit that performs ray tracing for searching for an intersecting object in a ray tracing process after a calculation pixel.