JPH06176130A - Interactive polygon selection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit an operator to judge a polygon identification number and to select an arbitrary polygon constituting a form without manually inputting the number in CG. CONSTITUTION:A three-dimensional form constituted by the plural polygons is inputted to an interactive polygon selection device 12 from a form input device 10, and the selection device 12 selects the desired polygon. When the polygon is outputted to an external device 14 and an attribute operation is executed on the polygon, the selection device 12 gives the identification number to all the polygons constituting the three-dimensional form. The form is rendered in a first picture display area by a usual method using a surface color, and the same form is rendered in a second picture display area by the same projection condition as the first picture display area. The color corresponding to the identification number is given to the polygon of the form. Thus, the polygon is instructed by a pointer while the form of the first picture display area is viewed. Then, the polygon in the position is read by the color of the second picture display area and the polygon is selected by the identification number corresponding to the color.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an interactive polygon selection device, and particularly to interactively select a desired polygon from a plurality of polygons constituting the shape even when the three-dimensional shape is complicated. Interactive polygon selection device capable of

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer graphics (CG)
Image production, eg CG calendar, CG hologram,
In the production of CG animation, CG commercials, CG posters, high-definition CG still image programs, etc., when producing an image using a three-dimensional shape consisting of multiple polygons, select the specific polygons that make up the shape In some cases, it may be necessary to perform a predetermined process in.

For example, a complex curved surface of an object is approximated by polygons, and the polygons are subjected to smooth shading (smooth s).
In this case, the directions of the surfaces of the target polygons must be aligned in advance. Therefore, if the front and back of a polygon are reversed,
The direction must be changed in advance for each polygon, and therefore it becomes necessary to select a specific polygon.

Conventionally, the operation of selecting a specific polygon as described above has been performed by an operator who judges the identification number of the polygon which is given in advance and manually inputs and specifies it.

[0005]

However, when the operator judges the identification number and manually specifies it, the work load when selecting a specific polygon is large, especially when the three-dimensional shape is complicated. Has a problem that the workload is very heavy.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. When the shape of a polygon is complicated without the operator having to judge the identification number of each polygon one by one and manually input it. Even if it is, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interactive polygon selection device capable of easily and surely selecting an arbitrary polygon forming the shape.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an interactive polygon selection device for interactively selecting a polygon from a plurality of polygons forming a three-dimensional shape in computer graphics production. A function of inputting image data related to a three-dimensional shape to the first image display area and the second image display area of the same size under the same projection condition, and an identification number is automatically assigned to a plurality of polygons forming the input three-dimensional shape. And a function of displaying a three-dimensional shape in the first image display area and inputting coordinates on the image on which the shape is projected and displayed by instructing means.
The same function as rendering a plurality of polygons forming the three-dimensional shape input in the second image display area with a color corresponding to the identification number of each polygon and the coordinates input in the first image display area The above object is achieved by a configuration having a function of discriminating the identification number of the polygon at the coordinate position designated and input from the color of the polygon rendered in the second image display area of the coordinate. It is a thing.

According to the present invention, the interactive polygon selection device has a function of outputting the identification number of the determined polygon to an external device.

[0009]

In the present invention, the first image display is performed by designating the position (coordinates) on the screen by the pointing means such as a pointing device while looking at the shape displayed on the first image display area (display). In the second image display area input under the same projection condition as the area,
It becomes possible to automatically select the identification number of the polygon associated with the body 1 and output it to, for example, an external device.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to judge the polygon identification number required by the operator or manually input the polygon identification number, so that it is possible to greatly reduce the load of the computer graphics production work. Becomes

Further, in the present invention, when a function for outputting the identification number of the determined polygon to the external device is provided, it becomes possible to perform a desired operation on the selected polygon by the external device. .

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a system to which an interactive polygon selecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

The above system interactively selects a specific polygon using a pointing device for a shape consisting of a shape input device 10 for inputting an object shape and a plurality of polygons input from the shape input device 10. Then, when the interactive polygon selection device 12 having a function of outputting the identification number and the identification number of the polygon selected by the selection device 12 are input, the function of operating the attribute or the like in units of polygons for the polygon is provided. External device 14
It consists of and.

The shape input device 10 has a function of inputting the shape of an object composed of a plurality of polygons by the coordinate value of each vertex and the arrangement (column) of the vertices defining the polygon.

Specifically, each vertex of the object shape is, for example, P1 (x1, y1, z1), P2 (x
2, y 2, z 2), ..., and the polygon is defined as S1 (P1, P2, P3, P4), S2 using the vertices P1, P2, ... Specified by the xyz coordinate values. (P5,
P6, P2) ... And these data are instructed to be input using, for example, a keyboard or a mouse, so that the object shape can be input to the interactive polygon selection device 12.

The interactive polygon selection device 12 has the following functions for interactively selecting a specific one or more polygons from a plurality of polygons forming a three-dimensional shape.

Identification numbers are automatically assigned to all polygons forming the input three-dimensional shape, and the first image display area and the second image display area of the same size are
Image data regarding each three-dimensional shape is input under the same projection condition.

3 in the first image display area (on the display)
When the three-dimensional shape is displayed and the coordinates on the shape are designated by the pointing device, the first image display area is designated from the color of the same coordinate position rendered in the second image display area and rendered in the same shape. The identification number of the polygon corresponding to the coordinate value is determined.

The identification number of the polygon selected by the above discrimination is input to the next external device 14 and a predetermined operation is performed.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS.

First, the shape input device 10 inputs a shape consisting of a plurality of polygons and information such as a camera and a light position to the interactive polygon selection device 12 (step 11).
0), and then an identification number consisting of a serial number is automatically assigned to all polygons (step 112). The identification number does not necessarily have to be a serial number, and may be a duplicate number.

Next, the input three-dimensional shape is removed in each of the first image display area and the second image display area,
Rendering (hidden surface processing) is performed under the same projection condition with the same viewpoint position, line-of-sight direction, size, and angle. That is, in the first image display area, shading is performed by a normal reflection model so that each polygon can be visually recognized. On the other hand, in the second image display area, each polygon is drawn in the color corresponding to the identification number.

The shapes in the first image display area and the second image display area rendered in step 114 are conceptually shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.

Here, in order to facilitate understanding, a case where the shape is a rectangular parallelepiped is shown as an example. Figure 4
Is a first image display area A (specifically, a display), which can be visually recognized.
Further, the identification number S1 is assigned to all the polygons forming the shape,
S2, S3, etc. are given.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 shows the state of the second image display area B, and the same shape rendered under the same projection conditions as the first image display area is displayed except for the color. The polygons are color-coded by different colors C1, C2, C3, etc. corresponding to the identification numbers S1, S2, S3, etc. The background color of the second image area B is set to a unique color C0 that does not overlap with the polygon identifying colors C1, C2, and C3.

The second image display area B does not necessarily need to be visually recognizable, and an identification color (corresponding value) unique to each polygon with respect to the same shape as the first image display area. It suffices that the item with the mark is stored in the back buffer (memory) as data and can be associated with it.

As described above, after the three-dimensional shape is read in each of the first image display area A and the second image display area B and rendering is performed, an attempt is made while selecting the display screen of the first image display area A. When the position (x, y) on the image where the polygon is displayed is input with a pointing device such as a light pen (step 116), the color automatically displayed at the (x, y) coordinate position in the back buffer. C1 is read (step 118).

When the display color C1 is read, the color C
The polygon recognition number S1 corresponding to 1 is determined, the polygon S1 having the recognition number is selected and output to the external device (step 120), and one polygon selection process is completed.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, since each polygon is associated with a color, the operator only interactively points a desired point on the polygon in the shape displayed on the display. Then, it becomes possible to easily specify and select the polygon.

Further, since the same projection condition is applied to the first image display area and the second image display area, it is possible to reliably prevent erroneous selection of polygons.

Therefore, even when the shape is complicated, it is possible to greatly reduce the work for performing the attribute operation such as changing the normal direction of a specific polygon in units of polygons.

In addition, the polygon selecting technique described above can be applied to any hardware capable of rendering in color (hidden surface processing).
Another advantage is that it can be easily implemented without requiring special hardware.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, any desired polygon can be selected from a plurality of polygons forming a three-dimensional shape without the operator having to determine the polygon identification number and manually input it. Since it is possible to select, it is possible to significantly improve the efficiency of computer graphics production work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a polygon selection system to which an interactive polygon selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for selecting polygons.

FIG. 3 is another flowchart showing a procedure for selecting a polygon.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a shape displayed in a first image display area.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a shape stored in a second image display area.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Shape input device 12 ... Interactive polygon selection device 14 ... External device (polygon operation device)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An interactive polygon selection device for interactively selecting a polygon from a plurality of polygons forming a three-dimensional shape in computer graphics production, wherein image data relating to the three-dimensional shape is of the same size. The function of inputting the first image display area and the second image display area under the same projection condition, the function of automatically assigning identification numbers to a plurality of polygons forming the input three-dimensional shape, and the first image display A function of displaying a three-dimensional shape in a region and inputting coordinates by inputting coordinates on an image on which the shape is projected and displayed, and a plurality of polygons forming the three-dimensional shape input in the second image display region. In addition, there is a function of rendering with a color corresponding to the identification number of each polygon, and a second image display area with the same coordinates as the coordinates input in the first image display area. Interactive polygon selection device for the color of the polygon being rendered, a function to determine the identification number of polygons in the instruction input the coordinate position, characterized in that it comprises a. 2. The interactive polygon selection device according to claim 1, further comprising a function of outputting the identification number of the determined polygon to an external device.