JP4815521B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention provides an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer that are suitable for generating an image representing a state in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons arranged in a virtual space is divided by a division plane. Related to the program.

  Conventionally, various techniques for generating an image representing the appearance of an object arranged in a virtual space have been proposed. For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the shape of an object is formed using bones, control points, vertices, and polygons.

  A bone corresponds to a bone in humans, and the bones are connected to each other at a connection point. Changing the relative position and orientation of adjacent bones will change the outline of the object.

  Typically, bones are managed by a tree-like hierarchy having bones as nodes. The position and orientation of the bone (hereinafter referred to as “root bone”) with respect to the root node of the tree structure represent the position and orientation of the entire object in the virtual space. The bone of the parent node (hereinafter referred to as “parent bone”) and the bone of the child node (hereinafter referred to as “child bone”) are directly connected, and by changing the direction of the child bone relative to the parent bone, Change relative position and orientation.

  The appearance of the object is formed by attaching a texture to a polygon that connects vertices that move as the bone deforms. The surface formed by this polygon is called a skin.

  Each bone is associated with a plurality of control points, and these control points operate in conjunction with the bone. That is, even if the bone changes its position and orientation, the relative position of the control point to the bone does not change.

  Each vertex is associated with a plurality of control points with weights. The position of each vertex when the position or orientation of the bone is changed is a position obtained by weighting and averaging the position of the control point associated with the vertex.

  In addition, each bone has an initial position and initial orientation. When the bone takes the initial position and initial orientation, each vertex and the control point associated with that vertex overlap at the same position. Typically, it is configured.

  By performing such processing, when the object is deformed, it is possible to prevent the skin from being unnaturally crushed or crushed.

  Such an object is also used to represent the appearance of a character or monster in a game or the like in which characters and monsters arranged in a virtual space battle each other.

Japanese Patent No. 40111285

  Here, in the real world, when the tail of the lizard is cut, the tail itself having the cut lizard body may continue to move as it is. Even in the game, there is a demand for a similar expression when a character attacks a monster with a sword.

  In general, when an object placed in a virtual space is divided (cut) by a dividing plane (cutting plane), the state of a plurality of objects that are divided and separated from each other can be appropriately imaged. The desire to do is strong.

  Furthermore, even when an object is divided, there is a demand for reusing necessary information as much as possible to reduce memory usage.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and is an image processing apparatus and image suitable for generating an image representing a state in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons arranged in a virtual space is divided by a certain division plane. It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing method and a program that implements these on a computer.

  In order to achieve the above object, the following invention is disclosed in accordance with the principle of the present invention.

  An image processing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit, a bone moving unit, a control point moving unit, an arrangement unit, a selecting unit, a dividing unit, a generating unit, and a group moving unit, and is configured as follows. .

That is, the following information is stored in the storage unit.
(A) Initial positions and initial orientations of a plurality of bones connected to each other.
(B) Initial positions of a plurality of control points.
(C) Dependency information representing a weight at which each of the plurality of control points depends on each of the plurality of bones.
(D) Vertex information indicating which of a plurality of control points each of a plurality of polygons has as a vertex.
(E) Group information indicating to which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs.
(F) The reference position and reference orientation in the virtual space for each of the groups.

  Here, the appearance of the object before division is formed by polygons belonging to one group, but when this object is divided into two, there are also two groups to which the polygon belongs. In addition, a reference position and a reference orientation are determined for each group so that each cut portion can move independently.

  On the other hand, each information is classified and stored, so that, as will be described later, even when an object is divided, each information is not copied, deleted, or rewritten as much as possible.

  On the other hand, the bone moving unit changes the initial position of each of the plurality of bones and the amount of change in the position and orientation from the initial direction (hereinafter referred to as “bone change amount”) when the relative direction in which the plurality of bones are connected to each other is changed. ").

The movement of the bone may be performed based on an instruction from the user, may be performed based on a change amount associated with the passage of time in advance, or may be performed according to a certain algorithm or a random number. As a method for determining the bone change amount for each bone, various modes such as the following methods can be adopted.
(A) A forward kinematics method in which the amount of change in position and orientation propagates from the parent bone to the child bone in the tree structure.
(B) Inverse kinematics method in which a bone of a leaf node (hereinafter referred to as “leaf bone”) is moved to a target position in a tree structure, and a change in position and orientation is propagated toward the root bone.

  The position and orientation in the virtual space of the entire object composed of a plurality of bones are expressed by the reference position and reference orientation of the group corresponding to the entire object.

  Further, the reference position and the reference orientation are information representing the position and orientation of the root bone in the virtual space.

  Therefore, the coordinate value itself of each bone in the coordinate system fixed to the root bone can be used as the bone change amount.

Furthermore, the control point moving unit performs the following functions.
(A) For each of the plurality of control points, the control when the position of the control point is moved from the stored initial position in conjunction with the movement of each of the plurality of bones by the obtained change amount. The amount of change in the position of the point (hereinafter referred to as “linked change amount”) is obtained.
(B) A weighted average is applied to each of the obtained interlocking change amounts by applying a weight depending on the bone to which the control point depends, whereby a change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “control point change”). Called "quantity").

  For example, consider a situation where N control points and M bones are prepared. Let r [i, j] be the vector that represents the amount of change when the i-th control point is moved so that the relative position with respect to the j-th bone does not change when the j-th bone moves. . Also, let w [i, j] be the weight at which the i-th control point depends on the j-th bone.

Then, the control point change amount of the i-th control point is
[Σ _{j = 1} ^M w [i, j]] / [Σ _{j = 1} ^M w [i, j]]
It can be calculated as follows.

  The control point change amount is a vector that represents a change in the position or orientation of the vertex associated with the control point.

  Note that when w [i, j] = 0, the i-th control point does not depend on the j-th bone, and in this case, it is not necessary to obtain r [i, j].

  In many cases, it is sufficient that the number of bones on which the control points depend is about 1 to 4. Therefore, as will be described later, it is typical to set an upper limit on the number of bones on which the control points depend.

  Further, the placement unit determines, for each of the plurality of polygons, the reference position with respect to the group to which the polygon belongs and the relative position of the vertex of the polygon with respect to the reference orientation, and the control point change amount obtained for the control point with respect to the vertex. As a result, the polygon is arranged in the virtual space.

  The control point change amount is information corresponding to a relative position and orientation with respect to the reference position and the reference orientation. Further, as described above, the reference position and the reference direction are determined for each group to which the polygon belongs.

  Therefore, when placing a polygon in the virtual space, first, a group to which the polygon belongs is examined, and a reference position and a reference orientation of the group are acquired. Next, the control point for the vertex of the polygon is examined, and the control point change amount of the control point is acquired.

Then, the position and orientation of the vertex in the virtual space is
(A) a reference position and a reference orientation;
(B) the initial position and orientation of the vertex;
(C) Control point change amount;
Is obtained by transforming the coordinates.

  As described above, there may be a method of matching the initial position and initial direction of the vertex with the initial position and initial direction of the root bone. In this case, the position and orientation in the virtual space can be obtained by adding the control point change amount to the reference position and the reference orientation.

One vertex is generally shared by a plurality of polygons. Further, polygons that share a certain vertex mostly belong to the same group. Therefore,
(A) Information on which group the position of the vertex was obtained as a reference;
(B) the position of the obtained vertex;
By associating and caching, the amount of calculation can be suppressed.

  With the above configuration, the polygons classified for each group are arranged in the virtual space, so that an image representing the state in the virtual space can be generated as will be described later.

  Information on the whole of a plurality of bones can be shared by a polygon in one group and a polygon in another group. For example, consider an object that can be separated into two.

  The outline of the object is represented by a group of bone information. When this object is separated, the reference position and the reference orientation of each group are different. When the objects are not separated but are integrated, the reference position and the reference direction of each group match.

  That is, it is not necessary to add, delete, separate, or duplicate the information about the bone itself regardless of whether the object is divided or not. This is one of the features of the present invention.

  Then, the selection unit selects a polygon that intersects a divided surface in which a side of the polygon belongs to the virtual space, among the plurality of polygons belonging to the same group.

  Polygons belonging to the same group move together in the virtual space, although their relative positions may change. The dividing plane divides these polygons into a plurality of groups.

  Since the dividing plane intersects with the polygons arranged in the virtual space, the dividing plane cuts not the polygons that constitute the surface of the object at the reference position / reference posture and the initial position / initial posture, It is a polygon that forms the surface of an object that has moved or deformed in the virtual space.

  For example, consider a case where an enemy character object is cut by a sword. In this case, the trajectory of the movement of the sword corresponds to the dividing surface, and the polygon that intersects the dividing surface corresponds to the part of the skin that has been cut by colliding with the sword.

  If the shape of the dividing surface is a flat shape such as a circle, a fan shape, or a flat surface arranged in the virtual space, the calculation of the intersection determination can be facilitated.

On the other hand, the dividing unit performs the following functions.
(A) In the selected polygon, an internal division ratio at which the intersection of the side that intersects the dividing plane internally divides between the vertices of the side is obtained.
(B) A position (hereinafter referred to as an “internal division position”) is obtained that internally divides between the initial positions stored in the storage unit with respect to the control point that is the vertex of the side by the obtained internal division ratio.
(C) The obtained internal division position is stored in the storage unit as the initial position of a new control point.
(D) The dependency information on the control point that is the vertex of the side is mixed, and the mixed result is stored in the storage unit as dependency information on the new control point.
(E) The vertex information for the selected polygon is deleted from the storage unit, thereby deleting the divided polygon.
(F) A control point for a vertex of a new polygon obtained by dividing the selected polygon by the dividing plane to be a vertex of a side not divided by the dividing plane and an intersection of the sides divided by the dividing plane Is stored in the storage unit to generate a new polygon.
(G) Group information for a group to which a polygon that intersects with a division plane stored in the storage unit belongs, which side the vertex of the polygon is on the division plane, and a common side of the polygon It is divided into a plurality of group information depending on whether they are connected.
(H) The reference position and reference direction for the plurality of group information are set as the reference position and reference direction for the group information before the division.

  The polygon selected in (a) above is a polygon that intersects with the dividing plane. When the polygon is formed of a convex polygon and the dividing surface has a planar shape, two of the sides of the polygon intersect the dividing surface. Further, the line segment connecting the intersection points corresponds to the line segment where the dividing plane and the polygon intersect.

  When the vertex of the polygon coincides with the intersection, any one of the two sides extending from the vertex is arbitrarily selected, and the intersection internally divides the selected side into 0: 1. Think about it.

  In (b) above, based on the rate at which the polygon after the object has moved / deformed intersects the split surface, the position of the intersection of the polygon after deformation corresponds to the position of the polygon before deformation. .

  As described above, the position of the vertex of the polygon depends on one or more bone change amounts. Therefore, the internal division position obtained here approximates the position at which the side of the polygon before deformation is cut.

  In (c) above, a new control point having an internal position as an initial position is added. In (d) above, it is determined which bone depends on which bone with the added control point. It has established.

  The position of the new control point is obtained by internally dividing the sides of the polygon by the internal ratio obtained in (a) above.

Further, in order to obtain a weight at which a new control point depends on the j-th bone, the following method can be used for mixing in addition to the method using the internal division ratio described later.
(1) A method in which the weight of a vertex closer to the inner dividing point among the two vertices divided by the new control point is used as it is.
(2) A method using the average of the weights of two vertices divided by a new control point for each bone.
(3) A method of adopting the larger of the weights of two vertices internally divided by a new control point for each bone.
(4) A method of randomly adopting one of the weights of two vertices internally divided by a new control point for each bone.

  In (e) above, the vertex information of the polygon that intersects the split surface is deleted. On the other hand, it is not necessary to change the vertex information of the polygon that intersects the dividing plane.

  In (f) above, a polygon that includes the control point added in (c) above at the vertex is added instead of the deleted polygon.

  Therefore, according to the above (e) and (f), the polygon intersecting the division plane is divided into a plurality of polygons.

  (G) performs polygon grouping. The present invention contemplates a situation in which polygons belonging to one group are separated by a dividing surface. In many cases, one group is divided into two groups by the dividing plane.

  However, depending on the size and shape of the dividing surface, one group may be divided into three or more groups, or even if it is cut, it may remain as one group as a whole.

  Therefore, it is assumed that two polygons having a common side are connected to each other, and a group to which the polygon belongs is determined by this connectivity.

  Note that a side having a vertex at a control point newly added by the intersection with the dividing plane is not a target for determining connectivity between polygons.

  (H) defines the reference position and reference direction for each group. Immediately after cutting, the reference position and reference direction of the group after cutting coincide with each other, so that the group after cutting comes into close contact with each other with the division plane as a boundary.

  According to the present invention, based on the situation where the object is cut after moving / deforming, by dividing some polygons in the situation before being moved / deformed, and performing grouping of the whole polygon again, It is possible to suppress duplication / deletion / change of various information that determines the position and shape of the object as much as possible and to simulate the cutting of the object by simple calculation.

  The image generation apparatus of the present invention further includes a group moving unit and a generation unit, and can be configured as follows.

  That is, the group moving unit changes the reference position and the reference direction for each of the group information stored in the storage unit, and again arranges the plurality of polygons in the arranging unit.

  For example, when the deviation between the two changes greatly with the passage of time, it is possible to reproduce a situation in which the cut parts of the object are gradually separated.

  On the other hand, the generation unit generates an image representing a state in which a plurality of polygons arranged in the virtual space are viewed from the viewpoint arranged in the virtual space in the direction of the line of sight arranged in the virtual space.

  In addition, when the group once formed is cut by a new dividing surface, the above-described configuration can be used as it is. For example, the present invention can be applied to a situation in which a player swings down a sword many times on an enemy character in the game and chops the enemy character.

  When an image is repeatedly generated at predetermined time intervals and the image is displayed on the screen every time it is generated, a moving image representing how the object is cut is presented.

  According to the present invention, in a situation where an object is divided, it is possible to generate an image representing a state in which the object is cut by moving the polygon for each group.

  Further, in the image generation device of the present invention, the dividing unit mixes the dependency information by dividing the weights of the dependency information with respect to the vertices of the sides intersecting the dividing plane by an internal ratio, It is possible to configure the dependency information of the internally divided result as dependency information for a new control point.

That is, it is assumed that the vertices of the sides to be internally divided are p-th and q-th, respectively, and the internal ratio is A: B. Then the weight that the new control point depends on the jth bone is
[B × w [p, j] + A × w [q, j]] / [A + B]
It can be calculated as follows.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a weight by a simple calculation by calculating the weight of a new control point forming an internal dividing point based on the internal division ratio at which the divided surface cuts the side. .

  Further, in the image generation device of the present invention, there is an upper limit for the number of non-zero weights in each piece of dependency information, and the number of non-zero weights in the internally divided dependency information exceeds the upper limit. In this case, the weight can be corrected to 0 in the order of increasing weight, and the number of non-zero weights in the dependency information of the mixing result can be set as the upper limit.

  As described above, when an upper limit is set for the number of bones on which a certain control point depends, the number of bones on which a new control point depends must not exceed the upper limit.

  Therefore, M weights from the weight depending on the first bone to the weight depending on the Mth bone are selected from the largest to the upper limit.

  Here, consider the case where the upper limit is L. Then, among the weights obtained by the internal division calculation for the new control point, the number of non-zero weights is any of L to 2 × L.

  Therefore, L items are selected in descending order of the weight value, and the remaining weights are corrected to zero.

  A weight at which a certain control point depends on M bones can be considered as a vector having M elements, but most of the values of the elements of this vector are zero. That is, this vector is a sparse vector. Therefore, this vector is not implemented as a one-dimensional array having M elements, but expressed as an array including L pairs of non-zero weight indices and weights corresponding to the indices. Thus, it is possible to suppress the amount of memory used.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately suppress the number of bones on which control points depend, thereby reducing the amount of calculation and the amount of memory used.

  In the image generating apparatus of the present invention, the plurality of polygons are all triangles, the selected polygon is a triangle ABC having points A, B, and C as vertices, and the side AB is divided at the intersection D. If the side AC is divided at the intersection E and the sum of the corners EDC and DCB is less than or equal to the sum of the corners DEB and EBC, the new polygon is configured to be a triangle ADE, a triangle DEB, and a triangle EBC. be able to.

  The polygon forming the surface of the object arranged in the virtual space is generally composed of a triangle or a quadrangle, but in the present invention, the shape of the polygon is limited to a triangle.

  Here, when the triangular shape is elongated, unnatural constriction and collapse are likely to occur when an image is generated.

  Therefore, in the present invention, when a certain triangle is divided to obtain three triangles, the angle between the sides sandwiching the vertex is used in order to prevent the triangle from becoming elongated.

  According to the present invention, when a polygon is divided, it is possible to prevent the generated image from becoming unnatural as much as possible by appropriately selecting the shape of the polygon after the division.

  Further, the image generation apparatus of the present invention can be configured as follows.

  That is, a plurality of bones are hierarchized into a tree structure in which each bone is a node and one of the two connected bones is assigned as a parent node and the other bone as a child node.

  Then, the coordinates of the connection point where the child node bone (hereinafter referred to as “child bone”) in the coordinate system fixed to the parent node bone (hereinafter referred to as “parent bone”) is connected to the parent bone, and The Euler angle or quaternion representing the orientation of the child bone represents the initial position and initial orientation of the child bone.

  Further, the bone moving unit changes the relative direction of the child bone with respect to the parent bone by changing the Euler angle or the quaternion representing the direction of the child bone.

  The present invention relates to a preferred embodiment of the above invention, and the position and posture of a single bone are determined by the relative position and posture with respect to the bone that is the parent of the bone.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately change the outline of an object based on forward kinematics and inverse kinematics by managing bones hierarchically.

  An image processing method according to another aspect of the present invention is executed by an image processing apparatus having a storage unit, a bone moving unit, a control point moving unit, an arrangement unit, a selecting unit, a dividing unit, a generating unit, and a group moving unit.

  The image processing method of the present invention includes a bone movement process, a control point movement process, an arrangement process, a selection process, and a division process.

  Here, in the storage unit, initial positions and initial orientations of a plurality of bones connected to each other, initial positions of the plurality of control points, and weights that the plurality of control points depend on each of the plurality of bones. Dependency information to be represented, vertex information indicating which of the control points each of the plurality of polygons has as a vertex, group information indicating to which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs, and each of the groups A reference position and a reference orientation in the virtual space are stored.

  On the other hand, in the bone moving step, when the bone moving unit changes the relative direction in which the plurality of bones are connected to each other, the initial position of each of the plurality of bones, the position from the initial direction, and the amount of change in the direction ( Hereinafter referred to as “bone change amount”).

  Further, in the control point moving step, the control point moving unit stores the position of the control point in association with the movement of each of the plurality of bones by the obtained change amount for each of the plurality of control points. The amount of change in the position of the control point when moving from the initial position (hereinafter referred to as “linked change amount”) is obtained, and the control point depends on the bone for each of the obtained linked change amounts. A change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “control point change amount”) is obtained by applying a weight and taking a weighted average.

  In the placement step, the placement unit determines, for each of the plurality of polygons, the relative position of the vertex of the polygon with respect to the reference position and the reference direction with respect to the group to which the polygon belongs, with respect to the control point for the vertex. By setting the point change amount, the polygon is arranged in the virtual space.

  On the other hand, in the selection step, the selection unit selects a polygon that intersects a division plane in which a side of the polygon is arranged in the virtual space, among polygons belonging to the same group among a plurality of polygons.

  Further, in the dividing step, the dividing unit obtains an internal division ratio in which the intersection of the side intersecting the dividing plane in the selected polygon is internally divided between the vertices of the side, and is controlled as the vertex of the side A position that internally divides between the initial positions stored in the storage unit for the points at the determined internal ratio (hereinafter referred to as “internal divided position”) is obtained, and the determined internal divided position is newly controlled. The initial position of the point is stored in the storage unit, the dependency information on the control point that is the vertex of the side is mixed, and the mixed result is stored in the storage unit as dependency information on the new control point. By deleting the vertex information for the selected polygon from the storage unit, the divided polygon is deleted, and the vertex of a new polygon obtained by dividing the selected polygon by the dividing surface is displayed on the dividing surface. By minutes By storing in the storage unit the vertex information that is the control point that is the vertex of the non-performed side and the control point for the intersection point of the side that is divided by the dividing plane, a new polygon is generated and the division that is stored in the storage unit The group information for the group to which the polygon that intersects the surface belongs is determined depending on which side the vertex of the polygon is on the split surface and whether the polygon is connected by having a common side. The reference position and reference direction for the plurality of group information are set as the reference position and reference direction for the group information before the division.

  A program according to another aspect of the present invention is configured to cause a computer to function as the above-described image processing apparatus.

  The program of the present invention can be recorded on a computer-readable information storage medium such as a compact disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, digital video disk, magnetic tape, and semiconductor memory.

  The above program can be distributed and sold via a computer communication network independently of the computer on which the program is executed. The information storage medium can be distributed and sold independently from the computer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the image processing apparatus suitable for producing | generating the image showing a mode that the object which consists of the some polygon arrange | positioned in virtual space was divided | segmented by a certain division plane, an image processing method, and these are made into a computer. Can be provided.

It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of a typical information processing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the bone of the object processed by the image processing apparatus of this embodiment, a control point, and a vertex. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the bone of the object processed by the image processing apparatus of this embodiment, a control point, and a vertex. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the polygon which makes the skin of the object processed with the image processing apparatus of this embodiment, and a vertex. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the polygon which makes the skin of the object processed with the image processing apparatus of this embodiment, and a vertex. It is explanatory drawing showing the condition where an object is cut | disconnected by a division surface. It is explanatory drawing showing the condition where an object is cut | disconnected by a division surface. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the new polygon and vertex which arose by having been cut | disconnected after a deformation | transformation. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode in the basic posture of the polygon and vertex produced | generated by cut | disconnecting. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode in the basic posture of the polygon after the division | segmentation of an object, and a vertex. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode when each group is arrange | positioned in a different position and direction in virtual space. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode when each group is arrange | positioned in a different position and direction in virtual space. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of control of the image processing which the image processing apparatus which concerns on this embodiment performs. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the object of a complicated shape is cut | disconnected. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the object of a complicated shape is cut | disconnected. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the object of a complicated shape is cut | disconnected. It is explanatory drawing which shows what kind of separation is considered when a polygon is isolate | separated. It is explanatory drawing which shows what kind of separation is considered when a polygon is isolate | separated.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In the following, for ease of understanding, an embodiment in which the present invention is realized using a game information processing device will be described. However, the embodiment described below is for explanation, and the present invention is described. It does not limit the range.

  Therefore, those skilled in the art can employ embodiments in which each or all of these elements are replaced with equivalent ones, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a typical information processing apparatus that can function as the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment by executing a program. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  An information processing apparatus 100 shown in the figure corresponds to a so-called consumer game machine, and includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a read only memory (ROM) 102, a random access memory (RAM) 103, an interface 104, a controller 105, An external memory 106, an image processing unit 107, a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc ROM) drive 108, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 109, an audio processing unit 110, a microphone 111, and a hard disk (HD) 121 are included. Various input / output devices can be omitted as appropriate.

  When the information processing apparatus 100 is caused to function as a typical consumer game machine, a DVD-ROM storing a game program and data is mounted on the DVD-ROM drive 108 and the power is turned on. Then, the game program is executed and the game can be played.

  However, in the present embodiment, typically, an application is installed in the HD 121 from a DVD-ROM attached to the DVD-ROM drive 108. Then, by executing the program stored in the HD 121, various applications including a game are executed.

  In order to make the portable game device portable, the DVD-ROM drive 108 is not used, but an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) cassette is mounted in the ROM cassette slot and the HD 121 is mounted. It can also be omitted. In this case, the application program is written in the EEPROM cassette and then the program is executed. In addition, an application program can be installed in the external memory 106.

  The CPU 101 controls the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 100 and is connected to each component to exchange control signals and data. Further, the CPU 101 uses arithmetic operations such as addition / subtraction / multiplication / division, logical sum, logical product, etc. using an ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) (not shown) for a storage area called a register (not shown) that can be accessed at high speed. , Logic operations such as logical negation, bit operations such as bit sum, bit product, bit inversion, bit shift, and bit rotation can be performed. In addition, the CPU 101 itself is configured so that saturation operations such as addition / subtraction / multiplication / division for multimedia processing, vector operations such as trigonometric functions, etc. can be performed at a high speed, and those provided with a coprocessor. There is.

  The ROM 102 records an IPL (Initial Program Loader) that is executed immediately after the power is turned on, and when this is executed, the program recorded on the DVD-ROM is read out to the RAM 103 and execution by the CPU 101 is started. The The ROM 102 stores an operating system program and various data necessary for operation control of the entire information processing apparatus 100.

  The RAM 103 is for temporarily storing data and programs, and retains programs and data read from the HD 121 and DVD-ROM, and other data necessary for the progress of the communication battle game and chat communication. Further, the CPU 101 provides a variable area in the RAM 103 and performs an operation by directly operating the ALU on the value stored in the variable, or temporarily stores the value stored in the RAM 103 in the register. Perform operations such as performing operations on registers and writing back the operation results to memory.

  The controller 105 connected via the interface 104 receives an operation input performed when the user executes the game.

  The controller 105 does not necessarily have to be externally attached to the information processing apparatus 100, and may be formed integrally. The controller 105 of the portable terminal device includes various buttons and switches, and handles these pressing operations as operation inputs. In addition, in the information processing apparatus 100 using the touch screen, the user traces the trace of the touch screen using a pen or a finger as an operation input.

  The external memory 106 detachably connected via the interface 104 stores data indicating game play status (past results, etc.), data indicating the progress of the game, and log of chat communication in a network battle ( Data) is stored in a rewritable manner. The user can record these data in the external memory 106 as appropriate by inputting an instruction via the controller 105.

  As described above, it is possible to adopt a form in which the application program is installed in the external memory 106 and executed. This is suitable when the external memory 106 has a large capacity.

  A DVD-ROM mounted on the DVD-ROM drive 108 stores a program for realizing the game and image data and audio data associated with the game. Under the control of the CPU 101, the DVD-ROM drive 108 performs a reading process on the DVD-ROM loaded therein, reads out necessary programs and data, and these are temporarily stored in the RAM 103 or the like.

  The image processing unit 107 processes the data read from the DVD-ROM by an image arithmetic processor (not shown) included in the CPU 101 or the image processing unit 107, and then processes the processed data on a frame memory ( (Not shown). The image information recorded in the frame memory is converted into a video signal at a predetermined synchronization timing and output to a monitor (not shown) connected to the image processing unit 107. Thereby, various image displays are possible.

  As a monitor of a portable terminal device, a small liquid crystal display is typically used. When a touch screen is used as the controller 105, the display panel of the touch screen functions as a monitor. A display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or a plasma display can be used as a monitor for a terminal device for playing at home or a server device for a network game.

  The image calculation processor can execute a two-dimensional image overlay calculation, a transmission calculation such as α blending, and various saturation calculations at high speed.

  Also, polygon information arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space and added with various texture information is rendered by the Z buffer method, and the polygon arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space from the predetermined viewpoint position is determined in the direction of the predetermined line of sight It is also possible to perform high-speed execution of operations for obtaining rendered images.

  Further, the CPU 101 and the image arithmetic processor operate in a coordinated manner, so that a character string can be drawn as a two-dimensional image in a frame memory or drawn on the surface of each polygon according to font information that defines the character shape. is there.

  The NIC 109 is used to connect the information processing apparatus 100 to a computer communication network (not shown) such as the Internet, and conforms to the 10BASE-T / 100BASE-T standard used when configuring a LAN. An analog modem for connecting to the Internet using a telephone line, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) modem, an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) modem, a cable modem for connecting to the Internet using a cable television line, etc. These are configured by an interface (not shown) that mediates between these and the CPU 101.

  An application program can be installed in the HD 121 or the like based on information obtained from the computer communication network via the NIC 109.

  The audio processing unit 110 converts audio data read from the HD 121 or DVD-ROM into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal from a speaker (not shown) connected thereto. Further, under the control of the CPU 101, sound effects and music data to be generated during the progress of the game are generated, and the corresponding sound is output from a speaker, headphones (not shown), and earphones (not shown). Output.

  When the audio data recorded on the HD 121 or the DVD-ROM is MIDI data, the audio processing unit 110 refers to the sound source data included in the audio data and converts the MIDI data into PCM data. If the compressed audio data is in ADPCM format or Ogg Vorbis format, it is expanded and converted to PCM data. The PCM data can be output by performing D / A (Digital / Analog) conversion at a timing corresponding to the sampling frequency and outputting it to a speaker.

  Furthermore, a microphone 111 can be connected to the information processing apparatus 100 via the interface 104. In this case, the analog signal from the microphone 111 is subjected to A / D conversion at an appropriate sampling frequency so that processing such as mixing in the sound processing unit 110 can be performed as a PCM format digital signal.

  As described above, the information processing apparatus 100 used in the present embodiment typically uses a large-capacity external storage device such as the HD 121. The HD 121 can also perform the same functions as a DVD-ROM or the like mounted on the ROM 102, RAM 103, external memory 106, DVD-ROM drive 108, and the like.

  In addition, it is possible to adopt a form in which a keyboard for accepting a character string editing input from a user, a mouse for accepting various position designations and selection inputs, and the like are connected. In addition, a general-purpose personal computer, a server computer, or the like can be used instead of the information processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.

  The information processing apparatus 100 described above corresponds to a consumer game apparatus, but the terminal apparatus and server apparatus of the present invention can be realized as long as the electronic apparatus can perform various input / output processes. . Therefore, the terminal device and server device of the present invention can be realized on various computers such as a mobile phone, a mobile game device, a karaoke device, and a general business computer.

  For example, similarly to the information processing apparatus 100, the business computer has a CPU, RAM, ROM, DVD-ROM drive, NIC, and HD as constituent elements, and has simpler functions than the information processing apparatus 100. In addition, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic tape, etc. can be used as an external storage device, and it is typical to use a keyboard or mouse as an input device instead of the controller 105. is there.

  2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing the state of bones, control points, and vertices of an object processed by the image processing apparatus of the present embodiment. FIGS. 4 and 5 are image processing apparatuses of the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the mode of the polygon which makes the skin of the object processed by, and a vertex. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to these drawings.

  In these drawings, in order to facilitate understanding, an object having a rod-like shape is assumed. For example, it may be considered to represent a monster such as a longhorn beetle, or may represent a human upper arm to lower arm, or a thigh to shin.

  The outline of the object 201 is defined by three bones 211, 212, and 213. The bone 211 and the bone 212 are connected at their endpoints, and the bone 212 and the bone 213 are connected at their endpoints.

  In general, a designer who designs a deformable object such as a character or a monster that is arranged in a virtual space adopts the most natural shape of the object as a basic posture. Here, the most natural shape is generally a posture in which the joints are not bent and the distance between the bones is not too close, and when the object has a human-like appearance, both hands and feet are straightened. In many cases, a widened shape is used.

  2 and 4 correspond to the basic posture of the object 201. FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the bones 211, 212, and 213 are substantially aligned.

  3 and FIG. 5, the object 201 is deformed from the basic posture. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the inclination of the bone 211 itself is changed, the bone 212 is inclined with respect to the bone 211, and the bone 213 is inclined with respect to the bone 212 in the same direction. Therefore, when the object 201 is viewed as a whole, it is bent in a mountain shape.

Control points 221 to 229 are associated with the bones 211, 212, and 213 as follows. In the figure, the control points 221 to 229 are indicated by x marks.
(A) The control points 221 and 222 depend only on the bone 211.
(B) The control points 223 and 224 depend on the bones 211 and 212.
(C) The control point 225 depends on the bones 211, 212, and 213.
(D) The control points 226 and 227 depend on the bones 212 and 213.
(E) The control points 228 and 229 depend on the bone 213.

  Here, “depending on one bone with a certain control point” means that the relative position of the control point with respect to the bone in the basic posture is maintained even after the bone position and orientation change. means.

  Also, “depending on multiple bones with a certain control point” means that the control point in the basic posture is split for each bone, and the relative position of the split control point to the bone is It means that the position and orientation are maintained as they are.

  Comparing FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the control points 221 and 222 are not split, the control point 223 is split into two control points 223a and 223b, and the control point 224 is the control point 224a. The control point 225 is split into three control points 225a, 225b, and 225c, and the control point 226 is split into two control points 226b and 226c. The control point 227 is split into two control points 227b and 227c, and the control points 228 and 229 are not split.

  For example, when a control point 223 that depends on two bones 211 and 212 is considered, the relative positional relationship between the control point 223a and the bone 211 in FIG. 3 is the relative position between the control point 223 and the bone 211 in FIG. Consistent with the relationship. In addition, the relative positional relationship between the control point 223b and the bone 212 in FIG. 3 matches the relative positional relationship between the control point 223 and the bone 212 in FIG.

  In this way, when the position or orientation of a bone changes from the basic posture, the control point that depends on the bone finds the destination moved in conjunction with the bone.

  Further, each control point is associated with a vertex of the polygon. Specifically, the control point 221 is at the vertex 231, the control point 222 is at the vertex 232, the control point 223 (223a, 223b) is at the vertex 233, and the control point 224 (224a, 224b) is at the vertex 234. The control point 225 (225a, 225b, 225c) is at the vertex 235, the control point 226 (226b, 226c) is at the vertex 236, the control point 227 (227b, 227c) is at the vertex 237, and the control point 228 is The control point 229 is associated with the vertex 238 and the vertex 239, respectively.

  If the control point does not split, the vertex is placed at the same position as the control point. If the control point splits, the vertex is placed at the weighted average position of the control point position. In this figure, it is assumed that the weights are set equal to each other. Therefore, if the control point is divided into two control points, the middle point is divided into three control points. The center of gravity of the triangle is the vertex position.

  4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which polygons are arranged by vertices 231 to 239. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  As shown in the figure, the polygon 241 is a triangle having vertices 231, 232, 234, the polygon 242 is a triangle having vertices 231, 233, 234, and the polygon 243 has vertices 233, 234, 235. The polygon 244 is a triangle having vertices 233, 235, 236, the polygon 245 is a triangle having vertices 235, 236, 237, and the polygon 246 is a triangle having vertices 236, 237, 238. The polygon 247 is a triangle having vertices 237, 238, 239.

  In this way, even when the object is deformed, natural deformation can be realized without causing unnatural constriction or collapse.

  Note that the number of bones that make up the object, the number of control points, the number of polygons, what polygons to select as polygons, and the weights of control points and bones can be arbitrarily changed according to the application. is there.

  These polygons all belong to one group and move together in the virtual space.

  Now, let us consider a situation where the object 201 deformed in this way is cut by a planar dividing surface. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams showing a situation in which the object 201 is cut by the dividing plane. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, the dividing surface 301 and the polygons 244 and 245 intersect each other. That is, the polygons 244 and 245 are both divided into a plurality of polygons by cutting.

  When the polygons 244 and 245 intersecting the dividing plane 301 are removed, the group of polygons 241, 242, and 243 and the group of polygons 246 and 247 are separated as shown in FIG. .

  The polygons 241, 242, and 243 are connected by sharing sides, and the polygons 246 and 247 are connected by sharing sides. Because it is.

  On the other hand, the polygons 244 and 245 are both divided into two new polygons by intersecting the dividing plane 301. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of new polygons and vertices generated by cutting after deformation. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  As shown in this figure, new vertices 431, 432, and 433 are arranged at intersections where the split surface 301 and the sides of the polygons 244 and 245 intersect, and polygons 441, 442, 443, and 444 are formed. It has become.

As described above, in this embodiment,
(A) A control point is arranged at a position overlapping the vertex in the basic posture,
(B) As each bone on which the control point depends moves, the destination to which the control point has moved in conjunction with the bone is obtained.
(C) A position obtained by averaging the movement destinations of the control points with the dependent weight is set as the position of the vertex after the deformation.

  Therefore, it is necessary to determine the position of the vertexes 431, 432, and 433 newly generated by cutting in the basic posture.

  In the present embodiment, the position of the vertex in the basic posture is obtained so that the internal ratio that internally divides the side where the newly defined vertex is cut coincides with the basic posture.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the polygon and the vertex generated by cutting are in a basic posture. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the vertex 431 internally divides the side connecting the vertices 233 and 236, but the internal ratio is common to the basic posture and after deformation. The vertex 432 internally divides the side connecting the vertices 235 and 236, but the internal ratio is common to the basic posture and after deformation. The vertex 433 internally divides the side connecting the vertices 235 and 237, and the internal ratio is common to the basic posture and after deformation.

  Since the vertices 431, 432, and 433 are on one plane (the plane that forms the dividing surface 301), they are arranged in a straight line in FIG. 8, but in FIG. 9 showing the basic posture, they are arranged in a straight line. Is not limited.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the polygon and the vertex in the basic posture after the division of the object. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

As shown in this figure,
(A) Polygons 244 and 245 intersecting with the dividing plane are deleted,
(B) New control points 431, 432, and 433 are added. (C) Polygons 441, 442, 443, and 444 having new control points 431, 432, and 433 as part of the vertices are added. Yes.

  In FIG. 4, the polygons 241 to 247 form one group and are united. However, by cutting, the polygons 241, 242, 243, 441, and 443 change the first group and the polygon in FIG. 10. 442, 444, 246, and 247 form the second group, respectively.

  In the first group, the polygons 241 and 242 have a common side 231-234, the polygons 242 and 243 have a common side 233-234, and the polygons 243 and 441 have a common side 233-. 235 and polygons 441 and 443 have common sides 235-432.

  In the second group, polygons 442 and 444 have a common side 236-432, polygons 444 and 246 have a common side 236-237, and polygons 246 and 247 have a common side 237-. 238.

  Both groups are in contact with each other through sides 431-432 and 432-433 newly generated by cutting.

  That is, a group can be defined by following adjacent polygons one after the other by the side connecting existing vertices or the side connecting existing vertices and new vertices.

  In addition, polygons that are adjacent by a side connecting new vertices are polygons that confront each other via the dividing plane, and belong to different groups due to cutting.

  The situation in which the polygons of each group are deformed is determined by the bones 211, 212, and 213 as in the conventional case. That is, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to divide the bone. This is useful for minimizing the update of the area for storing information for forming the object and suppressing the memory usage.

  On the other hand, if the position and orientation in the virtual space are assigned to each group, the polygons belonging to a certain group move together, and the groups can move independently.

  Now, the positions of the new vertices 431, 432, and 433 and the positions of the control points relative to these are determined so as to overlap in the basic posture. Accordingly, if it is determined what weight the control point depends on which bone, it is not necessary to distinguish the existing control point from the new control point.

  For example, the vertex 431 internally divides the vertex 233 and the vertex 236. The control point 223 for the vertex 233 depends on the bones 211 and 212, and the control point 226 for the vertex 236 depends on the bones 212 and 213. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the control point for the vertex 431 depends on the bones 211, 212, and 213.

  In other words, the weight of each bone with respect to the control point of the vertex generated by the division is obtained by dividing the weight of each bone with respect to the control point of the vertex of the divided side by the internal ratio at the time of division.

  For example, the weights of the control point 223 for the bones 211 and 212 are w11 and w12, and the weights of the control point 226 for the bones 212 and 213 are w22 and w23. Since the control point 223 does not depend on the bone 213, the weight of the control point 223 with respect to the bone 213 is zero. Similarly, the weight of the control point 226 with respect to the bone 211 is also zero.

  Then, it is assumed that the vertex 431 internally divides between the vertex 233 (control point 223) and the vertex 236 (control point 223) into A to B.

Then, the weight of the control point for the vertex 431 (a) the bone 211 is [B × w11 + A × 0] / [A + B],
(B) The weight for the bone 212 is [B × w12 + A × w22] / [A + B],
(C) The weight for the bone 213 is [B × 0 + A × w23] / [A + B].

  In this way, by defining new vertices, control points, and weights without dividing the bone, the shape of the polygon after dividing the object can be maintained naturally.

  FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are explanatory diagrams showing a state when the groups are arranged at different positions and orientations in the virtual space. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the state of the object 201 when the relative positions of the bones 211, 212, and 213 are the same as those in FIGS. 2, 4, and 10, and the basic positions of the groups are different. .

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the state of the object 201 when the relative positions of the bones 211, 212, and 213 are the same as those in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, and the basic positions of the groups are different. .

  As shown in these figures, polygons 241, 242, 243, 441, 443 are the first group, and polygons 442, 244, 246, 247 are the second polygons that form the outline of the object 201 for each group. Group, and each is united.

  As described above, the information on the relative positions and orientations of the bones does not change before and after the cutting, and is processed while being integrated. However, the polygon is determined in each group. Is one of the features.

  Details of the image processing apparatus to which the above technique is applied will be described below.

  FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of control of image processing executed by the image processing apparatus. Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to these drawings.

  The image processing apparatus 801 of this embodiment includes a storage unit 802, a bone moving unit 803, a control point moving unit 804, an arrangement unit 805, a selecting unit 806, a dividing unit 807, a generating unit 808, and a group moving unit 809. This is realized by causing the apparatus 100 to execute a program.

  Here, the storage unit 802 is configured by the RAM 103 and the like, and information on bones, control points, vertices, and polygons is stored.

  The bone moving unit 803 performs a function of moving the bone.

  On the other hand, the control point moving unit 804 moves the control point in conjunction with the movement of the bone.

  Furthermore, the arrangement unit 805 determines the position of the vertex of the polygon from the position of the moved control point.

  Then, the selection unit 806 selects a polygon that intersects with the division plane in the virtual space.

  On the other hand, the dividing unit 807 updates the information stored in the storage unit 802 so as not to change, modify, add, delete, etc. as much as possible, thereby dividing the polygon based on the dividing plane, Perform grouping.

  A group moving unit 809 moves a reference position for determining the position of the polygon in units of groups.

  These bone moving unit 803, control point moving unit 804, placing unit 805, selecting unit 806, dividing unit 807, and group moving unit 809 refer to information stored in the RAM 103 or the like and refer to the CPU 101 or the image processing unit 107. Is realized by performing calculation.

  On the other hand, the generation unit 808 generates an image based on the position where the polygon is arranged in the virtual space, and is realized by the image processing unit 107 under the control of the CPU 101.

  Hereinafter, the flow of image processing control executed by the image processing apparatus 801 will be described in more detail.

  When this process is started, the CPU 100 initializes the RAM 103 (step S901). Here, the storage unit 802 realized by the RAM 103 stores the following information.

  (A) Initial positions and initial orientations of a plurality of bones connected to each other. That is, the position and orientation of multiple bones when the object is in a basic posture.

  Typically, a plurality of bones are managed in a hierarchy in a tree structure. Each bone is assigned to each node of the tree structure. Of the two connected bones, one bone is assigned to the parent node and the other bone is assigned to the child node.

  In this embodiment, the coordinates of the connection point at which the bone of the child node (hereinafter referred to as “child bone”) in the coordinate system fixed to the bone of the parent node (hereinafter referred to as “parent bone”) is connected to the parent bone. , And the Euler angle or quaternion representing the direction of the child bone, the initial position and the initial direction of the child bone are represented.

  In addition, a method of expressing the initial position and the initial orientation by a difference in positional relationship between the coordinate system fixed to the parent bone and the coordinate system fixed to the child bone may be employed.

  In addition, by expressing the position and orientation of each bone in the coordinate system fixed to the bone of the root node of the tree structure (hereinafter referred to as “root bone”), the initial position and initial orientation are expressed. You can also

  (B) Initial positions of a plurality of control points. This overlaps with the position of the vertex when the object is in the basic posture.

  (C) Dependency information representing a weight at which each of the plurality of control points depends on each of the plurality of bones.

  Conceptually, the dependency information can be considered as a vector in which the weights are arranged with the weight set to 0 for a bone on which the control point does not depend. However, in most cases this vector is a sparse vector. Therefore, if a vector subscript, that is, an array of pairs from numbers to weights for distinguishing each bone, or a structure such as a hash is adopted and stored, the use efficiency of the memory is improved.

  (D) Vertex information indicating which of a plurality of control points each of a plurality of polygons has as a vertex.

  The shape of the polygon is defined, and can be expressed by an array of pairs of identification numbers of polygons and identification numbers of a predetermined number of control points. As will be described later, the calculation can be simplified by limiting the polygon to a triangle, or to a triangle and a quadrangle.

  (E) Group information indicating to which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs.

  That the polygons belong to the same group means that these polygons move together in the virtual space. That is, the polygons have not been cut yet.

  (F) The reference position and reference orientation in the virtual space for each of the groups.

  The position of the polygon belonging to each group is expressed by coordinates relative to the coordinate system fixed to the root bone. Thus, by setting the position and orientation of the root bone to the reference position and reference direction of the group to which the polygon belongs, the absolute position of the vertex of the polygon in the virtual space can be obtained.

  Since the reference position and reference direction are set for each group, polygons belonging to the same group move together.

  In addition, the RAM 103 also stores information such as the current position and orientation of each bone, the position and orientation of a control point that moves in conjunction with the movement of each bone, and the current position and orientation of each vertex.

  Next, the CPU 101 updates the current position and orientation of each bone stored in the RAM 103 based on an instruction given by the user operating the controller 105 or the like, a passage of time, a predetermined algorithm, a random number, or the like. (Step S902). The amount of change at this time is called “bone change amount”.

  As a method for determining the bone change amount for each bone, various modes such as the following methods can be adopted.

  (A) A forward kinematics method in which the amount of change in position and orientation propagates from the parent bone to the child bone in the tree structure.

  Forward kinematics is a technique often used when deforming an object using a predetermined algorithm or motion capture data. For example, it may be a case where a choreographic dance determined by a character is performed, or a determined pose of a special move or winning rider is taken.

  (B) Inverse kinematics method in which a bone of a leaf node (hereinafter referred to as “leaf bone”) is moved to a target position in a tree structure, and a change in position and orientation is propagated toward the root bone.

  Inverse kinematics is often used, for example, to let a character pick up some object. In such a case, since the target position changes dynamically, it is necessary to find out how to extend and contract the arm.

  There are various ways to express bone changes, and it may be expressed by the displacement from the initial position or initial direction, or the current coordinate system fixed to the bone relative to the coordinate system fixed to the root bone. You may express by a position and direction.

  Note that the deformation of the bone due to the bone change amount corresponds to a change in the relative position of the bones 211, 212, and 213 from FIG. 2 to FIG.

  Further, the CPU 101 repeats the following processing for each control point (steps S903 to S909).

  First, for each of the bones on which the control point depends, that is, each bone having a non-zero weight for the bone of the control point, the control point is moved so that the position of the control point relative to the bone does not change relatively. (Step S904). The amount of movement here is referred to as “linked change amount”.

  This corresponds to obtaining each of the X marks in the drawings from FIG. 2 to FIG. 3, and when the control point depends on a plurality of bones, there are a plurality of destinations.

  Next, the destination of the control point is averaged by assigning the weight of the bone that caused the movement to the control point (step S905). This result is the “control point change amount”.

  The process of obtaining the control point change amount corresponds to obtaining each of the circles in the drawings from FIG. 2 to FIG.

  For example, consider a situation where N control points and M bones are prepared. Let r [i, j] be the vector that represents the amount of change when the i-th control point is moved so that the relative position with respect to the j-th bone does not change when the j-th bone moves. . Also, let w [i, j] be the weight at which the i-th control point depends on the j-th bone.

  The amount of change

Then, the control point change amount of the i-th control point is
[Σ _{j = 1} ^M w [i, j]] / [Σ _{j = 1} ^M w [i, j]]
It can be calculated as follows.

  The control point change amount is a vector that represents a change in the position or orientation of the vertex associated with the control point.

  Note that when w [i, j] = 0, the i-th control point does not depend on the j-th bone, and in this case, it is not necessary to obtain r [i, j].

  Next, the CPU 101 checks the group to which the control point belongs (step S906), obtains the reference position and reference direction of the group (step S907), and the vertexes associated with the control point are absolute in the virtual space. A specific position is calculated (step S908).

Then, the position and orientation of the vertex in the virtual space is
(A) a reference position and a reference orientation;
(B) the initial position and orientation of the vertex;
(C) Control point change amount;
Can be obtained by converting the coordinates.

  In addition, there is also a method of matching the initial position and initial direction of the vertex with the initial position and initial direction of the root bone, that is, a method of expressing the control point change amount by the coordinate of the control point in the coordinate system fixed to the root bone. It is possible.

  In this case, simply by translating and rotating the control point change amount based on the reference position and the reference orientation, the position and orientation in the virtual space can be obtained.

One vertex is generally shared by a plurality of polygons. Further, polygons that share a certain vertex mostly belong to the same group. Therefore,
(A) Information on which group the position of the vertex was obtained as a reference;
(B) the position of the obtained vertex;
By associating and caching, the amount of calculation can be suppressed.

  Since the polygons constituting the object that is not cut belong to one group, the reference position and the reference orientation coincide with each other.

  On the other hand, when an object is cut, polygons constituting the object belong to one of a plurality of groups. Since the reference position and reference direction of each group are generally different, polygons belonging to the same group move together, but polygons belonging to different groups move separately.

  In this way, the process of obtaining the vertex positions from all the control points is repeated (˜step S909).

  When the positions of all the vertices are obtained, the CPU 101 drives the image processing unit 107 to display an image representing a state in which the polygons arranged in the virtual space are viewed from a predetermined viewpoint position in a predetermined visual line direction. It is generated by a dimensional graphics technique (step S910).

  That is, it is not necessary to add, delete, separate, or duplicate the information about the bone itself regardless of whether the object is divided or not. This is one of the features of the present invention.

  Next, the CPU 101 waits until a vertical synchronization interrupt occurs (step S911). When a vertical synchronization interrupt occurs, the CPU 101 controls the image processing unit 107 to display the generated image on the monitor screen (step S912). ).

  In the present embodiment, since the subsequent processing is executed and the process returns to step S902, the image displayed on the monitor screen is updated every vertical synchronization interrupt cycle. For this reason, when the object is deformed, the state is displayed as a moving image.

  During standby (step S911), other calculation processes can be executed in a coroutine manner in parallel, and subsequent calculations can be performed in advance.

  Further, the CPU 101 determines whether or not a divided surface is arranged in the virtual space (step S913). Various situations can be adopted as the situation in which the division plane is arranged, such as when the user designates cutting by operating the controller 105 or the like, or based on a predetermined algorithm. The arrangement of the divided surfaces may be performed during the above-described standby (step S911), or may be performed by monitoring the pressing operation status of the controller 105 or the like in step S913.

  Now, when the division surface is not arrange | positioned (step S913; No), it progresses to step S921. On the other hand, when the division plane is arranged (step S913; Yes), the CPU 101 selects a polygon that intersects with the division plane among all the polygons currently arranged in the virtual space (step S914).

  This process corresponds to the process of selecting the polygons 244 and 245 that intersect the dividing plane 301 in FIG.

  For example, consider a case where a player operates a sword with the controller 105 to cut an object of an enemy character that moves while changing the posture in the virtual space.

  In this case, the trajectory of the movement of the sword corresponds to the dividing surface, and the polygon that intersects the dividing surface corresponds to a portion of the skin that collides with the sword and is torn.

  If the shape of the dividing surface is a flat shape such as a circle, a fan shape, or a flat surface arranged in the virtual space, the calculation of the intersection determination can be facilitated.

  Next, in the selected polygon, the CPU 101 obtains an internal division ratio at which the intersection of the sides intersecting the division plane internally divides between the vertices of the side (step S915).

  In FIG. 8, this corresponds to processing for obtaining an internal division ratio in which the vertices 431, 432, and 433 internally divide the sides 232-236, 235-236, and 235-237.

  Further, the CPU 101 internally divides between the initial positions stored in the storage unit 802 for the control points that are the vertices of the side by the determined internal division ratio (hereinafter referred to as “internal division position”). ) Is obtained (step S916).

  This corresponds to the process of calculating the positions of the vertices 431, 432, and 433 in FIG.

  Next, the CPU 101 stores the obtained internal division position in the storage unit 802 as the initial position of a new control point.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, new vertices 431, 432, and 433 are adopted as control points for defining the skin of the object 202.

  Furthermore, the CPU 101 mixes the dependency information on the control point that is the vertex of the side, and stores the mixed result in the storage unit 802 as dependency information on the new control point.

  As described above, this corresponds to the processing in which the vertices 431, 432, and 433 calculate the weights depending on the bones 211, 212, and 213 by internal division.

  Then, the CPU 101 deletes the divided polygons by deleting the vertex information for the selected polygons from the storage unit 802 (step S917).

  By this processing, the polygons 244 and 245 shown in FIG. 2 are deleted.

  Further, the CPU 101 determines that the vertex of a new polygon obtained by dividing the selected polygon by the division plane is the control point that is the vertex of the side that is not divided by the division plane, and the intersection of the sides that are divided by the division plane By storing the vertex information as control points for the in the storage unit 802, a new polygon is generated (step S918).

  By this processing, polygons 441, 442, 443, and 444 shown in FIG. 10 are generated.

  Next, the CPU 101 stores group information for the group to which the polygon intersecting the division plane stored in the storage unit 802 belongs, on which side the vertex of the polygon is located with respect to the division plane, and the polygon is common. It is divided into a plurality of groups depending on whether they are connected by having a side to be connected (step S919).

  In the above example, the polygons 241, 242, 243, 441, and 443 belong to one group, and the polygons 442, 444, 246, and 247 belong to the other group.

  As described above, when cutting is determined based on the fact that polygons are connected via sides, an object deformed into a complicated posture is separated into many objects by one cutting. Even in this case, grouping can be performed correctly.

  Then, the CPU 101 initializes and sets the reference position and reference direction for the plurality of group information to the reference position and reference direction for the group information before the division (step S920).

  Immediately after cutting, the reference position and reference direction of the group after cutting coincide with each other, so that the groups immediately after cutting are in close contact with each other with the dividing plane as a boundary, as shown in FIGS.

  In addition, when time elapses after cutting, the reference position and reference direction of each group generally change. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the groups are separated, but the polygons in the group move together.

  FIGS. 15, 16, and 17 are explanatory diagrams showing a state in which an object having a complicated shape is cut. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the enemy character object is cut with a sword from the upper right to the lower left in a state where both hands are lowered. In this figure, each polygon is moved away from the dividing plane for easy understanding.

  As shown in the figure, the object is separated into three parts by one dividing plane. It can also be seen that the dividing surface is planar.

  FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a state corresponding to the basic posture of the object of FIG. Also in this figure, in order to facilitate understanding, each polygon is moved away from the dividing plane.

  From this figure, it can be seen that the divided surface in the basic posture has a complicated bent shape.

  FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram that highlights and displays the polygons cut by the dividing plane.

  From this figure, it can be seen that the number of polygons cut is considerably smaller than the number of polygons not cut.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, since the polygon is divided in the basic posture, the same data as before can be used as it is for the polygon that does not intersect the divided surface. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the rewriting of the storage unit 802 and improve the memory utilization efficiency.

  When the polygons are grouped in this way, the CPU 101 changes the reference position and reference direction of each group based on physical simulation calculation and user instruction input (step S921), and the process returns to step S902. .

  By this process, the polygon is again arranged in the virtual space, and the process of generating an image is repeated.

  When the physical simulation changes so that the deviation between the two becomes larger with time, the situation where the cut portions of the object are gradually separated can be reproduced.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, only information related to a part of polygons cut by the dividing plane is rewritten. Further, the information after rewriting can be further cut. For example, the present invention can be applied to a situation in which a player swings down a sword many times on an enemy character in the game and chops the enemy character.

  In addition, since image generation and image display are repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals, a moving image representing how the object is cut is presented.

  According to the present invention, based on the situation where the object is cut after moving / deforming, by dividing some polygons in the situation before being moved / deformed, and performing grouping of the whole polygon again, It is possible to suppress duplication / deletion / change of various information that determines the position and shape of the object as much as possible and to simulate the cutting of the object by simple calculation.

  In the above embodiment, when an internal dividing point that internally divides an edge is used as a new vertex, the weight assigned to the original vertex of the edge is internally divided by the internal ratio, thereby creating a new control point weight. Was going to get.

For example, in a situation where N control points and M bones are prepared, the weight that the i-th control point depends on the j-th bone is w [i, j], and the vertices of the internally divided edges are Assuming that the pth and qth respectively and the internal ratio is A: B, the weight that the new control point depends on the jth bone is
[B × w [p, j] + A × w [q, j]] / [A + B]
It can be calculated as follows.

  However, in general, the number of bones on which control points depend is often about 1 to 4. Here, if the upper limit of the number of bones on which the control point depends is L, there are many non-zero elements in w [p, 1], w [p, 2], ..., w [p, M]. There are only L pieces. Similarly for w [q, 1], w [q, 2],..., w [q, M], there are at most L non-zero elements.

For this reason, the weight of each bone for the new control point [B × w [p, 1] + A × w [q, 1]] / [A + B],
[B × w [p, 2] + A × w [q, 2]] / [A + B],
…,
[B × w [p, M] + A × w [q, M]] / [A + B]
Of these, there are at most 2L non-zero elements.

  Therefore, when the non-zero weights among the obtained weights exceed L, only the L weights are selected in descending order of the weights, and the other weights are cleared to zero.

  Then, the control point depends on the L bones having the selected weight, but does not depend on the other bones.

  This configuration approximates the dependence on the bone. In addition, in the existing three-dimensional graphics library and hardware, there is almost an upper limit on the number of bones on which control points depend. The present invention can effectively utilize such library hardware.

  The weights for bones are not implemented as a one-dimensional array having M elements, but are represented by an array including L pairs of non-zero weight indices and weights corresponding to the indices. As a result, the amount of memory used can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately suppress the number of bones on which control points depend, thereby reducing the amount of calculation and the amount of memory used.

  In the above-described embodiment, after the polygons are separated on the dividing plane, the separated polygons are used as they are. In this embodiment, only a triangle is adopted as the shape of the polygon.

  18 and 19 are explanatory diagrams showing what kind of separation can be considered when polygons are separated. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  In these figures, the polygon that intersects the dividing plane is a triangle ABC having points A, B, and C as vertices. By intersecting the dividing plane, the side AB is divided at the intersection D, and the side AC is divided at the intersection E.

  In order to make all the polygons triangular, it is necessary to divide the quadrangle DBCE by the diagonal line BE or the diagonal line CD.

  Here, when the triangular shape is elongated, unnatural constriction and collapse are likely to occur when an image is generated.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the angle between the sides sandwiching the vertex is used.

  That is, the sum of the corner EDC and the corner DCB (FIG. 18) is compared with the sum of the corner DEB and the corner EBC (FIG. 19). Then, the former is larger.

  Therefore, the new polygons are defined as a triangle ADE, a triangle DEC, and a triangle EDC based on FIG.

  According to the present embodiment, when a polygon is divided, it is possible to prevent the generated image from becoming unnatural as much as possible by appropriately selecting the shape of the polygon after the division.

  As described above, according to the present invention, an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing apparatus suitable for generating an image representing a state in which an object composed of a plurality of polygons arranged in a virtual space is divided on a certain division plane, In addition, it is possible to provide a program that realizes these on a computer.

100 Information processing apparatus 101 CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 Interface 105 Controller 106 External Memory 107 Image Processing Unit 108 DVD-ROM Drive 109 NIC
110 Audio processing unit 111 Microphone 121 HD
201 Object 211 Bone 212 Bone 213 Bone 221 Control point 222 Control point 223 Control point 224 Control point 225 Control point 226 Control point 227 Control point 228 Control point 229 Control point 231 Vertex 232 Vertex 233 Vertex 234 Vertex 236 Vertex 236 Vertex 237 Vertex 238 Vertex 239 Vertex 241 Polygon 242 Polygon 243 Polygon 244 Polygon 245 Polygon 246 Polygon 247 Polygon 431 Vertex 432 Vertex 433 Vertex 441 Polygon 442 Polygon 443 Polygon 444 Polygon 801 Image processor 802 Storage unit 803 Bone moving unit 804 Bone moving unit 804 806 selection unit 807 division unit 808 generation unit 809 group movement unit

Claims (8)

An initial position and an initial orientation of a plurality of bones connected to each other, an initial position of a plurality of control points, dependency information representing weights on which each of the plurality of control points depends on each of the plurality of bones, and a plurality of Vertex information indicating which of the plurality of control points each of the polygons has as a vertex, group information indicating which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs to, and a virtual space for each of the groups A storage unit for storing a reference position and a reference orientation;
When the relative direction in which the plurality of bones are connected to each other is changed, the initial position of each of the plurality of bones, the position from the initial direction, and the amount of change in the direction (hereinafter referred to as “bone change amount”). Bone moving part for
For each of the plurality of control points, the position of the control point is moved from the stored initial position in conjunction with the movement of each of the plurality of bones by the obtained change amount. A change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “linked change amount”) is obtained, and a weighted average is obtained by applying a weight that the control point depends on the bone to each of the obtained linked change amounts. A control point moving unit for obtaining a change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “control point change amount”),
For each of the plurality of polygons, the relative position of the vertex of the polygon relative to the reference position and the reference orientation with respect to the group to which the polygon belongs is set as the control point change amount obtained for the control point with respect to the vertex. An arrangement unit for arranging the polygon in the virtual space;
A selection unit that selects polygons whose sides of the polygons intersect with the division planes arranged in the virtual space, among the plurality of polygons belonging to the same group,
In the selected polygon, the intersection of the sides intersecting with the dividing plane is obtained as an internal ratio for internally dividing between the vertices of the side, and the control points that are the vertices of the side are stored in the storage unit. A position (hereinafter referred to as “internal division position”) that internally divides between the initial positions obtained by the obtained internal division ratio, and the obtained internal division position is set as the initial position of a new control point. Storing in the storage unit, mixing the dependency information for the control point to be the vertex of the side, storing the mixed result as dependency information for the new control point in the storage unit, and selecting the selected By deleting the vertex information for the selected polygon from the storage unit, the divided polygon is deleted, and the vertex of a new polygon obtained by dividing the selected polygon by the dividing surface is changed to the dividing surface. By storing in the storage unit vertex information as control points that are vertices of sides that are not further divided and intersection points of sides that are divided by the dividing plane, a new polygon is generated, and the storage unit The group information for the group to which the polygon intersecting the division plane stored in is connected by the side where the vertex of the polygon is on the division plane and the side having the common polygon. Or a division unit that divides the information into a plurality of pieces of group information and sets the reference position and reference direction for the plurality of group information as the reference position and reference direction for the group information before the division. Generator. The image generation apparatus according to claim 1,
A group moving unit that changes a reference position and a reference orientation for each of the group information stored in the storage unit, and re-arranges the plurality of polygons in the arrangement unit;
And a generation unit that generates an image representing a state in which the plurality of polygons arranged in the virtual space are viewed from the viewpoint arranged in the virtual space in the direction of the line of sight arranged in the virtual space. An image generating device. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The dividing unit mixes the dependency information by internally dividing the respective weights of the dependency information with respect to the vertices of the sides intersecting the dividing plane by the internal division ratio, and obtains the dependency information as a result of the internal division. An image generating apparatus characterized in that the information is dependent information on the new control point. The image generation device according to claim 3,
In each of the dependency information, there is an upper limit for the number of non-zero weights, and when the number of non-zero weights in the internally divided result dependency information exceeds the upper limit, the weights are in ascending order. The image generation apparatus, wherein the weight is corrected to 0 and the number of non-zero weights in the dependency information of the mixing result is set as the upper limit. The image generation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein:
Each of the plurality of polygons is a triangle,
The selected polygon is a triangle ABC having points A, B, and C as vertices, the side AB is divided at the intersection D, the side AC is divided at the intersection E, and the sum of the angles EDC and DCB is obtained. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the new polygon is a triangle ADE, a triangle DEB, or a triangle EBC when the angle is less than or equal to a sum of a corner DEB and a corner EBC. The image generation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The plurality of bones are hierarchized into a tree structure in which each bone is a node and one of the two connected bones is assigned as a parent node and the other bone as a child node. The coordinates of the connection point where the bone of the child node (hereinafter referred to as “child bone”) in the coordinate system fixed to the bone (hereinafter referred to as “parent bone”) is connected to the parent bone, and the direction of the child bone The initial position and orientation of the child bone are represented by Euler angles or quaternions representing
The bone moving unit changes the relative direction of the child bone with respect to the parent bone by changing an Euler angle or a quaternion representing the direction of the child bone. An initial position and an initial orientation of a plurality of bones connected to each other, an initial position of a plurality of control points, dependency information representing weights on which each of the plurality of control points depends on each of the plurality of bones, and a plurality of Vertex information indicating which of the plurality of control points each of the polygons has as a vertex, group information indicating which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs to, and a virtual space for each of the groups An image processing method executed by an image processing apparatus having a storage unit in which a reference position and a reference orientation are stored, a bone moving unit, a control point moving unit, an arrangement unit, a selecting unit, and a dividing unit,
When the bone moving unit changes the relative direction in which the plurality of bones are connected to each other, the initial position of each of the plurality of bones, the position from the initial direction, and the amount of change in the direction (hereinafter, “ Bone movement process to obtain the bone change amount)
The control point moving unit moves the position of the control point to the stored initial position in conjunction with the movement of each of the plurality of bones by the calculated change amount for each of the plurality of control points. The amount of change in the position of the control point when moving from the position (hereinafter referred to as “linked change amount”) is calculated, and the weight that the control point depends on the bone is applied to each of the calculated change amounts Then, by taking a weighted average, a control point moving step for obtaining a change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “control point change amount”);
For each of the plurality of polygons, the placement unit calculates a reference position with respect to a group to which the polygon belongs and a relative position of the vertex of the polygon with respect to a reference orientation, and the control point variation obtained for the control point with respect to the vertex. An arrangement step of arranging the polygon in the virtual space,
A selection step in which the selection unit selects, among the plurality of polygons, polygons belonging to the same group, polygons whose sides of the polygons intersect with a division plane arranged in the virtual space;
In the selected polygon, the dividing unit obtains an internal ratio by which the intersection of the sides intersecting the dividing plane internally divides between the vertices of the side, and the control points that are the vertices of the side A position (hereinafter referred to as an “internal division position”) that internally divides between the initial positions stored in the storage unit at the obtained internal division ratio is obtained, and the obtained internal division position is determined as a new control point. The initial position is stored in the storage unit, the dependency information on the control point that is the vertex of the side is mixed, and the mixed result is stored in the storage unit as dependency information on the new control point. And deleting the vertex information for the selected polygon from the storage unit, thereby deleting the divided polygon and dividing the selected polygon by the dividing plane to obtain a new polygon vertex. , By storing in the storage unit the control point that is the vertex of the side that is not divided by the division plane and the vertex information that is the control point for the intersection of the side that is divided by the division plane, thereby generating a new polygon , Group information for a group to which a polygon intersecting the division plane stored in the storage unit belongs, on which side the vertex of the polygon is located with respect to the division plane, and the polygon has a common side A division step of dividing the plurality of group information into a reference position and a reference orientation for the group information before the division. A featured image generation method. Computer
An initial position and an initial orientation of a plurality of bones connected to each other, an initial position of a plurality of control points, dependency information representing weights on which each of the plurality of control points depends on each of the plurality of bones, and a plurality of Vertex information indicating which of the plurality of control points each of the polygons has as a vertex, group information indicating which group each of the plurality of polygons belongs to, and a virtual space for each of the groups A storage unit for storing a reference position and a reference orientation;
When the relative direction in which the plurality of bones are connected to each other is changed, the initial position of each of the plurality of bones, the position from the initial direction, and the amount of change in the direction (hereinafter referred to as “bone change amount”). Bone moving part for
For each of the plurality of control points, the position of the control point is moved from the stored initial position in conjunction with the movement of each of the plurality of bones by the obtained change amount. A change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “linked change amount”) is obtained, and a weighted average is obtained by applying a weight that the control point depends on the bone to each of the obtained linked change amounts. A control point moving unit for obtaining a change amount of the position of the control point (hereinafter referred to as “control point change amount”),
For each of the plurality of polygons, the relative position of the vertex of the polygon relative to the reference position and the reference orientation with respect to the group to which the polygon belongs is set as the control point change amount obtained for the control point with respect to the vertex. An arrangement unit for arranging the polygon in the virtual space;
A selection unit that selects polygons whose sides of the polygons intersect with the division planes arranged in the virtual space, among the plurality of polygons belonging to the same group,
In the selected polygon, the intersection of the sides intersecting with the dividing plane is obtained as an internal ratio for internally dividing between the vertices of the side, and the control points that are the vertices of the side are stored in the storage unit. A position (hereinafter referred to as “internal division position”) that internally divides between the initial positions obtained by the obtained internal division ratio, and the obtained internal division position is set as the initial position of a new control point. Storing in the storage unit, mixing the dependency information for the control point to be the vertex of the side, storing the mixed result as dependency information for the new control point in the storage unit, and selecting the selected By deleting the vertex information for the selected polygon from the storage unit, the divided polygon is deleted, and the vertex of a new polygon obtained by dividing the selected polygon by the dividing surface is changed to the dividing surface. By storing in the storage unit vertex information as control points that are vertices of sides that are not further divided and intersection points of sides that are divided by the dividing plane, a new polygon is generated, and the storage unit The group information for the group to which the polygon intersecting the division plane stored in is connected by the side where the vertex of the polygon is on the division plane and the side having the common polygon. Is divided into a plurality of group information, and the reference position and reference direction for the plurality of group information are made to function as a dividing unit that sets the reference position and reference direction for the group information before the division. program.

Images