JPH06348860A - Picture synthesizing device and game device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a real time display type picture synthesizing device in which the surface with projecting and recessing parts of a three-dimensional object can be simplified and expressed by the combination of a few polygons, and the picture of a high picture quality with a stereoscopic sensation can be synthesized. CONSTITUTION:In a real time display type picture synthesizing device, a three- dimensional object expressed by combining the polygons in a vertual three-dimensional space is transformed in perspective projection on the projcting surface of a view point coordinate system, and a display picture is synthesized. This device is equipped with a texture information storage means 42 which preliminarily stores the picture of each polygon obtained when the three-dimensional object is viewed from a prescribed angle in an oblique direction as texture information. Then, a picture forming part 44 operates the mapping of the corresponding texture information stored in the texture information storage means 42, forms the display picture, and displays it on a display 46 for the polygon of the three-dimensional object. Thus, the picture obtained when the three-dimensional object is viewed from the oblique direction can be expressed by a few polygons.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a real-time display type image synthesizing apparatus using a texture mapping method and a game apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a real-time display type image synthesizing device for synthesizing a pseudo three-dimensional image by using a computer graphics technique has been known. Widely used.

FIG. 10 shows a principle diagram of such an image synthesizing apparatus. Image information about the three-dimensional object 310 in the virtual three-dimensional space 300 is stored in advance in this image synthesizing device. The image information regarding the three-dimensional object 300 is expressed as a polyhedron divided into polygons, that is, a polyhedron divided into polygons (1) to (6) (polygons 4 to 6 are not shown) and stored in advance in a memory. Has been done.

Taking the drive game as an example, the three-dimensional object 310 is a racing car, and various other three-dimensional objects representing the background of roads, houses, etc. are arranged in the virtual three-dimensional space 300. There is.

Then, when the player 312 performs an operation such as rotation or translation with a handle or the like provided on the operation panel 314, the device rotates or translates the three-dimensional object 310, which is a racing car, based on the operation signal. Calculate information in real time. Then, the three-dimensional object 300 and other three-dimensional objects are
Perspective projection conversion is performed on the perspective projection plane 316 of the viewpoint coordinate system,
It is displayed as a pseudo three-dimensional image 318. As a result, the player 312 rotates the three-dimensional object 300, which is a racing car, in real time by its own operation.
It is possible to translate, and it is possible to virtually simulate a pseudo three-dimensional space.

[0006]

In such a real-time display type image synthesizing apparatus, it is desired to synthesize a high quality image while reducing the load on the hardware.

However, the conventional image synthesizing apparatus has a problem that the amount of data processed by the hardware increases and the number of display objects per screen is restricted when an attempt is made to improve the image quality of an image.

For example, in a drive game,
A building (three-dimensional object 310) as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on both sides or one side of the road. This building 310
Is composed of a combination of a plurality of surfaces 350-1, 350-2, 350-3. In computer graphics techniques, each of these faces 350-1, 350-2, 3
Only when there is no unevenness in 50-3, these can be displayed as quadrangular polygons.

However, in order to enhance the reality of the building, the windows 352 are formed on the side surfaces 350-1 and 350-2 of the building.
, The dent that represents the entrance 354, and the entrance 3
It is necessary to provide a convex portion or the like representing the border 356 on 54.

In computer graphics, a figure with a hole is dealt with by dividing it into a plurality of polygons without a hole, and a convex portion such as the ridge 356 divides it into a plurality of polygons. To deal with. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, in order to express the building 310 with windows, entrances, and shelters in a realistic manner, the side surfaces 350-1 and 350-3 are used.
50-2 must be divided into a larger number of polygons. For example, in the case of expressing a three-dimensional object as shown in FIG. 11, the two surfaces 350-1 and 350-2 have about 1
It will be represented by 00 polygons.

However, in the computer graphics technology, the calculation of polygons is a calculation that puts a heavy load on the hardware. As the number of polygons for constructing a three-dimensional object per piece increases, the number of hardware calculations increases and the number of objects that can be displayed per field becomes limited.

For example, one field (6
When the number of computer polygons that can be processed within one-half second) is 3000, the number of buildings shown in FIG. 11 is 3000 ÷ 200 = 15, and only 15 can be displayed at maximum per screen. However, on the actual game screen, multiple objects such as roads and other cars must appear in addition to buildings, so the number of buildings that can be displayed in the drive game will be about 4 to 5 at most. However, there was a problem that the game screen changed little.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its object is to simply express the uneven surface of a three-dimensional object with a combination of a small number of polygons, and to give a stereoscopic effect. An object of the present invention is to provide a real-time display type image synthesizing device capable of synthesizing high quality images and a game device using the same.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a perspective projection of a three-dimensional object represented by combining polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space onto a projection plane of a viewpoint coordinate system. In a real-time display type image synthesizing device for converting and synthesizing a display image, a texture information storage unit in which an image on each polygon when the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a predetermined angle is previously stored as texture information; To the polygon of the object,
An image forming means for mapping the corresponding texture information stored in the texture information storage means to form the display image, and forming an image of a three-dimensional object viewed from an oblique direction with a small number of polygons. It is characterized by that.

Further, according to the present invention, a three-dimensional object represented by combining polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space is
In a real-time display type image synthesizing device that performs perspective projection conversion on a projection plane of a moving viewpoint coordinate system and synthesizes a display image, the three-dimensional object is slanted from a plurality of typical angles along a moving path of the viewpoint coordinate system. Texture information storage means in which an image on each polygon viewed in the direction is stored in advance as texture information, and the polygon of the three-dimensional object is provided with texture information according to the relative position between the viewpoint coordinate system and the three-dimensional object. And an image forming unit that forms the display image by reading from the information storage unit and performing mapping, and an image obtained by viewing the three-dimensional object in an oblique direction is formed by a small number of polygons.

Further, in the game device of the present invention, a polygon is created in the virtual three-dimensional game space based on the player operating means operated by the player, the input signal from the player operating means, and the game program stored in advance. A game space calculation means for performing a predetermined game operation in which a three-dimensional object represented by combining the three-dimensional objects appears, and for perspective-projecting and outputting the three-dimensional object on a projection plane of a moving viewpoint coordinate system; Texture information storage means in which an image on each polygon obtained by viewing the three-dimensional object in an oblique direction from a representative angle along the movement path of the coordinate system is stored in advance as texture information, and a polygon of the three-dimensional object, The corresponding texture information is read from the texture information storage means and mapped. Ri includes an image forming means for displaying on the substrates to form a display image display, and an image viewed three-dimensional object from an oblique direction, and forming a game screen representing a small polygons.

In the game device, the texture information storage means stores in advance, as texture information, an image on each polygon in which the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a plurality of typical angles along the movement path of the viewpoint coordinate system. The image forming means may store the texture information corresponding to the relative position of the viewpoint coordinate system and the three-dimensional object in the polygon of the three-dimensional object, and read and map the texture information from the texture information storage means. it can.

[0018]

According to the invention of claim 1, an image of a polygon when a three-dimensional object represented by a combination of a plurality of polygons is viewed obliquely from a predetermined viewpoint is stored in advance as texture information. . As described above, an image of a three-dimensional object viewed obliquely from a predetermined angle has a stereoscopic effect.

Therefore, by mapping the texture information to corresponding polygons, it is possible to synthesize a high-quality image having a feeling of unevenness without dividing each polygon into a plurality of parts according to the unevenness thereof.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to synthesize a high-quality image having a stereoscopic effect while reducing the load on the hardware.

In particular, when the present invention is applied to a real-time display type image synthesizing device, the uneven surface of the three-dimensional object is made up of a large number of polygons as long as the three-dimensional object is viewed at or near the supposed viewpoint. The image can be displayed in real time as a complicated and precise image having a stereoscopic effect similar to the case.

Further, according to the invention of claim 1, even when non-real-time image composition is performed, the uneven surface of the three-dimensional object can be formed by using one piece of texture information. The time required for can be greatly reduced.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, an image of each polygon in which the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a plurality of representative angles along the movement path of the viewpoint coordinate system is stored in advance as texture information. Has been done. Therefore, by mapping the texture information according to the relative position between the viewpoint coordinate system and the three-dimensional object to each polygon of the three-dimensional object, a high-quality image that is more realistic for a plurality of viewpoint positions can be obtained in real time. Can be synthesized with.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, since it is possible to reduce the load of the hardware required for displaying one three-dimensional object and to synthesize a high quality image, a large number of images can be displayed on the game screen. Introduce Objet,
A highly realistic game screen that is rich in variety can be synthesized in real time.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the real-time display type image synthesizing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition,
The members corresponding to the above-mentioned prior art are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

In the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment, a three-dimensional object 310 represented by combining a plurality of polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space 300 is converted into a predetermined perspective projection plane 3 in the viewpoint coordinate system.
16 is used for perspective projection conversion to synthesize the display image 318.

At the time of this image composition, the image composition apparatus of the embodiment uses a technique called texture mapping. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the three-dimensional object 3
The image information of 10 is applied to each of the polygons 320-1, 320-2, 320-3 forming the three-dimensional object 310.
Of the polygons 320-1, 320-2, 32 when the image information and the graphic information (hereinafter referred to as texture information) to be attached to each polygon are separately stored and output.
Image composition is performed by pasting corresponding texture information 340 and 342 to 0-3.

According to this texture mapping method, the pattern, color, etc. of a figure can be made finer without increasing the number of polygons to be processed.

However, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, when a three-dimensional object 310 having a concave portion or a convex portion is expressed, each surface 350-1 forming the object 310,
The fact that 350-2 and 350-3 must be divided into a large number of polygons in accordance with the unevenness is the same as when using texture mapping.

As described above, when performing real-time display using a three-dimensional computer graphics system, there is a certain limit on the number of polygons that can be displayed per second. A feature of the present embodiment is that in a real-time computer graphics system with a limited number of displayed polygons, a complicated and precise image can be synthesized with the smallest possible number of polygons without impairing the stereoscopic effect.

FIG. 4 shows the image composition principle of the present invention.

First, when representing a house 110 as shown in FIG. 4A as a three-dimensional object 310, data is created carefully by using many polygons by another computer graphics system which is not real time. To do. In this case, the window, window frame, and entrance forming the recess are each expressed as a combination of a plurality of polygons. Furthermore, the ridge forming the convex portion is also expressed as a combination of a plurality of polygons.

The house 110 (three-dimensional object 310) constructed in this manner is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), a figure viewed in an oblique direction is created by rendering. Again, the rendering process is done by another computer graphics system that is not real-time. Then, the perspective distortion is removed from the rendered image, and the 3D object 3
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the respective side surfaces 50-1 and 50-2 of FIG.
Texture information 360 as shown in (C) and (D)
1 and 360-2, and are stored in advance in the texture information storage unit 42 described later.

Further, in the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment, FIG.
Each side surface 10 of the three-dimensional object 110 shown in FIG.
Each of 0 and 200 is simply represented by one polygon as shown in FIG.

Then, in each polygon shown in FIG.
By performing so-called texture mapping in which the texture information shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D is pasted, an image having the same quality as that shown in FIG. 4B can be formed.

That is, the real-time computer graphics system of the present invention which employs such a simplified method has a large number of polygons on the uneven surface as long as the three-dimensional object 310 is viewed near the assumed viewpoint. It can be expressed as an image with a stereoscopic effect that is the same as when it was created.

In particular, in the concrete example shown in FIG.
A three-dimensional object represented by one polygon can be represented by two polygons. Therefore, for example, when a real-time display computer graphics system in which the number of polygons that can be displayed in one second is 3000 is used, it is possible to represent 1500 objects which could be represented only by 30 in the conventional technique. It is possible to display 50 times more polygons per screen even with simple calculation.

FIG. 4F shows an image of computer graphics which is displayed in real time on the display using such a texture mapping method. As shown in FIG. The image synthesizing apparatus can express a complex and varied image with high reality by using many objects.

In addition to the above, the texture information may be created by parallelly projecting a figure of each surface of the house in FIG. 4A viewed from a predetermined angle and then removing the distortion. Alternatively, it may be created for each dot in the same manner as drawing a picture.

Further, the model or the real object is photographed in an oblique direction from a predetermined angle, the image of a necessary portion is taken in as dot image information by a scanner or the like, the distortion in the perspective is removed, and the texture information is obtained. You can also

That is, the texture information is roughly classified into a method of using a three-dimensional object created by using polygons, a method of creating an image for each dot in the manner of drawing a picture, and image information from a photograph. There is a method of taking in and creating. As a method using a three-dimensional polygon, as described above, a rendering of each surface of the three-dimensional object 310 shown in FIG. 4A viewed obliquely from a predetermined viewpoint is created and rendered. A method of removing texture distortion by removing the perspective distortion from a figure, and removing the distortion after parallel projection of a figure in which each surface of the three-dimensional object 310 in FIG. There is a method of creating texture information. The texture information may be created by appropriately selecting these methods.

Further, FIG. 5 shows an example of an image of a three-dimensional object obtained by using the method of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows an example of an image of a three-dimensional object obtained by using another method.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the image shown in FIG. 5 is rendered in a state in which a three-dimensional object is viewed from an oblique direction, and texture information of each side having irregularities is created in advance. Then, the texture information obtained in this way is pasted to the polygons on each side forming the three-dimensional object to perform image composition of the object as shown in FIG. 5 (B).

On the other hand, in the method shown in FIG. 6A, texture information is created by rendering each side surface of the three-dimensional object having irregularities from the front side.
Then, the texture information is pasted on each side surface of the three-dimensional object to synthesize an image. When an image in which each side of the three-dimensional object 310 is rendered from the front is used for texture mapping, the image of the object thus obtained has a window frame that should not be seen, as shown in FIG. Or, the direction of the shelter may go wrong, and the unevenness becomes unnatural.

When looking at a three-dimensional object from a moving viewpoint coordinate system, it is overwhelmingly more likely to see it from an oblique direction than to see it from the front. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, by creating the texture information of each surface of the three-dimensional object as viewed from an oblique direction,
It is possible to easily compose a highly realistic image with a stereoscopic effect.

7 and 8 show how a display image of a building 110 formed by using the method of the present invention is displayed while moving the viewpoint coordinate system.

First, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that a racing car 120 operated by a player, a road 130 on which the racing car 120 runs, and a building 110 installed facing the road 130 exist as three-dimensional objects in the three-dimensional virtual space 300. To do. Here, the building 110 is image-synthesized by the texture mapping method shown in FIG. The texture information shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D is obtained by rendering the building 110 as viewed from the viewpoint position of 120A in FIG.

When the image viewed from the racing car 100 is displayed on the display in the virtual three-dimensional space 300 formed in this way, the viewpoint coordinate system of the viewpoint is in the virtual three-dimensional space 300 together with the racing car 100. Moving.

In particular, in a driving game or the like, the racing car 120 moves along the road 130,
The movement path of this viewpoint coordinate system is also predetermined.

Assuming that the viewpoint coordinate system is in the area A, the area B, and the area C for the building 110, the building 110 is displayed on the display as shown in FIG. Become.

As described above, the image viewed from an oblique direction has a high reality without losing the stereoscopic effect even if the image is deviated to some extent from the viewpoint position 120A set when the texture information is created.

In particular, in the areas B and A where the racing car 100 approaches the building 110, the effect of the present invention becomes remarkable.

In the present invention, various three-dimensional objects other than the building 110 described above can be expressed with a small number of polygons by using the same texture mapping technique as described above.

For example, in the case of expressing a high-rise building as shown in FIG. 12A, texture information in which the side surface is viewed obliquely may be formed in advance as shown in FIG. 12B. Also, when expressing a high-rise building as shown in FIG. 13, a similar method may be used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, when the road peripheral facility is image-synthesized, as shown in FIG. 14B, for example, if a block for soil retention is stored as texture information by a similar method. Good.

Further, when synthesizing the scenery in the tunnel as shown in FIG. 15A and the image of the guardrail as shown in FIG. 16, as shown in FIG. By similarly forming each of the parts and each part of the guardrail as shown in FIG. 16B as texture information, it is possible to synthesize an image having a stereoscopic effect with a small number of polygons.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a game machine image synthesizing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

The image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment includes a player operating section 10, a game space computing section 20, a sorting processing section 30, and an image synthesizing section 40, and displays a synthesized display image on the display 46. Has been formed.

The player operation section 10 is provided on the above-mentioned operation panel 314 or the like, and is formed so that the player 312 can input various operation signals. For example, taking a drive game as an example, the player operation unit 10
Is composed of an operation panel 314 and a handle, a brake, an accelerator and the like provided in the vicinity thereof.

The game space calculation unit 20 is a combination of polygons expressed in the virtual three-dimensional game space 300 based on an input signal from the player operation unit 10 and a game program stored in advance. The game in which the three-dimensional object 310 appears is calculated. Then, the three-dimensional object 310 is perspective-projected onto the perspective projection plane 316 of the moving viewpoint coordinate system, and the information is output to the sorting processing unit 30.

In order to perform such a calculation, the game calculation section 20 of the embodiment has a main CPU 22 and a three-dimensional calculation section 2.
4 and a three-dimensional information memory 26.

2 and 4, the image information about the three-dimensional object 310 is a polyhedron divided into polygons, for example, the polygons 320-1 and 320- in FIG.
2, 320-3, ... 320-6 (polygon 320-4 to
320-6 is represented as a polyhedron divided into (not shown), and the vertex coordinates of each polygon, various image information for each vertex, and associated data are stored in advance in the three-dimensional information memory 26.

Further, in the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment, the rotation, translation, coordinate conversion such as perspective projection conversion and clipping processing of the three-dimensional object 310 are performed for each polygon constituting each surface (specifically, for each polygon). Every vertex)
The texture information is divided into polygon processing and then divided. The texture information itself in this case is stored in the texture information storage unit 42 described later. Then, the designation of the texture information corresponds to the vertex texture coordinates VTX, corresponding to each vertex of each polygon.
This is done by giving image information consisting of VTY. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, for each vertex of the polygon 320-1, (VTX0, VTY0), (VTX1, VTY1),
The vertex texture coordinates of (VTX2, VTY2) and (VTX3, VTY3) are given. These vertex texture coordinates are stored in the three-dimensional information memory 26.

The configuration of the game space calculation unit 20 of the embodiment will be described in more detail by taking a game machine for playing a driving game as an example. Image information of a three-dimensional object 310 representing a racing car, a road, a building, etc., which are elements that constitute the game, is stored in the three-dimensional information memory 26. In the apparatus of the embodiment, the image information of the three-dimensional object is subjected to various kinds of image calculation processing such as coordinate conversion, rotation and translation to form the driving game space 300.

The main CPU 22 performs various game calculations based on a predetermined game program and an input signal from the player operation unit 10. For example, in order to form the driving game space 300, various three-dimensional objects 310 such as a racing car, roads and buildings, which are elements that constitute the driving game, are displayed on the virtual three-dimensional game space 300 as shown in FIG. Must be in place. Therefore, an object number and position information indicating which three-dimensional object is to be arranged and where are required. The object number and position information are calculated by the main CPU 22 and output to the three-dimensional calculation unit 24.

The three-dimensional operation unit 24 reads the image information of the corresponding three-dimensional object from the three-dimensional information memory 26 by using the above-mentioned object number as an address. For example, building 1 whose object number is shown in FIG.
When 10 is designated, the image information of the building 110 is read from the three-dimensional information memory 26. Three
In the dimension information memory 26, image information such as a building is expressed and stored as a set of a plurality of polygons (the building 110 shown in FIG. 4 is a set of two polygons). The three-dimensional information calculation unit 24 forms data called object data and polygon data from the data read from the three-dimensional information memory 26.

Here, the object data refers to data composed of positional information of a building or the like, which is a three-dimensional object, rotation information and other accompanying data. Further, the polygon data is data obtained by dividing the image information of the building or the like into polygons, and is composed of polygon vertex coordinates, vertex texture coordinates, brightness information and other accompanying data. These data are formed as data of a predetermined format.

Then, the three-dimensional calculation unit 24
Based on the player viewpoint information input from U22 and the object data, various coordinate conversions are performed on the polygon data. That is, the polygon data is rotated to the local coordinate system, translated to the world coordinate system, and rotated to the viewpoint coordinate system.

Then, clipping processing is performed on the polygon data for which the coordinate conversion has been completed, and the data for which the clipping processing has been completed is output to the sorting processing unit 30 in the next stage.

The sorting processing section 30 determines the order of the image information of polygons to be processed in the image synthesizing section 40 at the next stage by using the data thus input and the data for sorting processing, and the like. According to the order, the image information of each polygon is output to the image synthesizing unit 40.

The image composition section 40 includes a texture information storage section 4 in which texture information for each polygon is stored.
2 and an image forming unit 44 that forms a display image by mapping the corresponding texture information stored in the texture information storage unit 42 onto the polygon of the three-dimensional object that has been perspective projection converted.

FIG. 9 shows the texture information storage section 42.
The texture memory plane of is schematically shown. The texture storage plane of the embodiment is divided into a plurality of blocks, and each block is divided into 256 × 256 characters. Each character is divided into pixels of 16 × 16 dots, and each character stores picture elements for forming a texture storage plane.

The texturing for each polygon is performed by the coordinate T of each texture information to be attached to the polygon.
This is done by specifying X and TY. However, it is not possible to specify polygons that span blocks.

The texture information storage unit 42 thus constructed stores the three-dimensional object from the normal texture information formed by viewing the polygon from the front and the representative angle along the movement path of the viewpoint coordinate system. The texture information of each polygon formed in the diagonal direction is stored. The latter texture information is, for example, as shown in FIG.
There is texture information as shown in (C) and (D).

Then, in the image forming section 44, the contour line of the polygon and the internal image information are calculated from the vertex image information of the polygon input from the three-dimensional calculating section 24 via the sorting processing section 30. That is, the above-mentioned 3
In the dimension calculation unit 24 and the sorting processing unit 30, rotation,
Coordinate conversion such as translation, perspective projection conversion, clipping processing,
Since complicated calculation processing such as sorting processing must be performed, all of these processings are performed for each polygon and each vertex in order to reduce the load on the hardware. Then, the image forming unit 44 forms the outlines of the polygons necessary for actually displaying an image and the image information inside the polygons.

At this time, in the image forming section 44, from the vertex texture coordinates VTX, VTY of the input polygon, the texture coordinates TX used as the texture information read address for all the dots in the polygon,
Find TY. And the texture coordinates TX, TY
Is used as an address to read the corresponding texture information from the texture information storage unit 42, and the three-dimensional object to which the texture information is mapped is image-synthesized and displayed on the display 46. Details of such an image synthesizing technique of texture mapping have already been proposed by the present applicant as Japanese Patent Application No. 4-252139.

In the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), an image of the three-dimensional object 310 seen from an oblique direction is simply represented by a small number of polygons (two polygons in this case), and the image is shown in FIG. 4 (C) and (D) can be displayed by mapping the texture information, so that the amount of data and the amount of calculation required to display each three-dimensional object can be significantly reduced.
A large number of high-quality three-dimensional objects can be displayed on one screen.

Further, according to the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment,
For example, by storing texture information in which the three-dimensional objects shown in FIGS. 13 to 16 are formed at a predetermined angle in the texture information storage unit 42 in advance, the three-dimensional objects shown in FIGS. The game screen can be displayed in a digitized form, and the quality of the game screen can be significantly improved as compared with the conventional game machine.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the image synthesizing device for a game has been described as an example.
The present invention is not limited to this, various applications other than this, for example,
It can be used for various simulators for three-dimensional image generation and other applications.

Further, the mapping of the texture information to the polygon is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various mapping methods can be used if necessary.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The texture information to be attached to each polygon forming the three-dimensional object 120 is converted into the viewpoint (racing car 120
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and, for example, a plurality of types of texture information of each polygon are prepared by changing the viewpoint position, and according to a predetermined position for each polygon. Alternatively, the optimum texture information may be selected and mapped. As a result, a more realistic image can be formed.

In addition, the racing car 120 is the building 110.
When approaching a building like 120B or entering a parking space near the building 110, the building 1
Instead of forming the simple polygon 10 shown in FIG. 4B, the polygon 10 may be switched to a detailed polygon shown in FIG. Even in this case, until the racing car 120 approaches the building 110, the building 110 can be displayed by a simple calculation with a small number of polygons, so that many three-dimensional objects can be displayed accordingly.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is an effect that it is possible to provide an image synthesizing device and a game device using the image synthesizing device, which can express an uneven surface of a three-dimensional object with a combination of a small number of polygons and can synthesize an image with high image quality and a stereoscopic effect. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of an image synthesizing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing the principle of the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of texture mapping of the image synthesizing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an image synthesis principle of the present invention performed using a texture mapping method.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of texture information used in the present invention and an image of a three-dimensional object formed using the texture information.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of texture information formed by using a normal method and a display image of a three-dimensional object formed by using the texture information.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a relationship between a three-dimensional object set in a virtual three-dimensional space and a moving viewpoint coordinate system.

8 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an image of a three-dimensional object viewed from the moving viewpoint coordinate system shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

9 is an explanatory diagram of a texture information storage unit of the circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of a general image synthesizing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of polygons conventionally used to display a three-dimensional object.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram when an image of a high-rise building is image-synthesized by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram when another skyscraper is image-synthesized by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a case where a road peripheral facility is image-synthesized by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram in the case of image-synthesizing a scene in a tunnel by the method of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram when an image of a guardrail is combined by the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Player Operation Section 20 Game Space Operation Section 22 Main CPU 24 3D Operation Section 26 3D Information Storage Section 30 Sorting Processing Section 40 Image Composition Section 42 Texture Information Storage Section 44 Image Forming Section 46 Display 110 Building 300 Virtual 3D Space 310 3D object 312 player 316 perspective projection plane

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A real-time display type image synthesizing device for synthesizing a display image by performing perspective projection conversion of a three-dimensional object represented by combining polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space onto a projection plane of a viewpoint coordinate system, An image on each polygon in which the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a predetermined angle is stored as texture information in advance, and the polygon of the three-dimensional object is stored in the texture information storage unit. An image synthesizing device for mapping the texture information to form the display image, and forming an image of a three-dimensional object viewed obliquely with a small number of polygons. 2. A real-time display type image synthesizing device for synthesizing a display image by performing perspective projection conversion of a three-dimensional object represented by combining polygons in a virtual three-dimensional space onto a projection plane of a moving viewpoint coordinate system. In the texture information storage means, an image on each polygon in which the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a plurality of representative angles along the movement path of the viewpoint coordinate system is stored in advance as texture information, Image forming means for forming the display image by reading texture information corresponding to the relative position between the viewpoint coordinate system and the three-dimensional object from the texture information storage means and mapping the polygon on the object. Formed to represent an image of a three-dimensional object viewed from an oblique direction with a small number of polygons Real-time display type image synthesizing device. 3. A polygon is combined and expressed in a virtual three-dimensional game space based on a player operating means operated by a player, an input signal from the player operating means, and a game program stored in advance. A game space calculation means for performing a predetermined game calculation in which a three-dimensional object appears and outputting the three-dimensional object by perspective projection conversion on a projection plane of a moving viewpoint coordinate system, and along a moving path of the viewpoint coordinate system. The texture information storage means stores in advance, as texture information, an image on each polygon in which the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a representative angle, and texture information corresponding to the polygon of the three-dimensional object is stored in the texture. The display image is formed by reading out from the information storage means and mapping the display image. An image forming means for displaying on a ray, and forming a game screen by expressing an image of a three-dimensional object viewed obliquely with a small number of polygons. 4. The texture information storage unit according to claim 3, wherein the texture information is an image on each polygon when the three-dimensional object is viewed obliquely from a plurality of representative angles along a movement path of a viewpoint coordinate system. The image forming unit is formed so as to read texture information corresponding to the relative position of the viewpoint coordinate system and the three-dimensional object from the texture information storage unit and map the polygon on the polygon of the three-dimensional object. A game device characterized by the above.