JPH08272352A - Method for controlling movement of image object - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a method for controlling movement of an image object easily controlling and operating it between different co-ordinate axes or different image objects when the specified movement of the image object is executed repeatedly. CONSTITUTION: In the method constituted so that related to the position of the image object, position control areas of an X axis, a Y axis and a Z axis respectively constituted of an X axis co-ordinate axis, a Y axis co-ordinate axis and a Z axis co-ordinate axis and a time axis corresponding to respective co-ordinate axes are displayed on a display screen, and movement X, Y and Z control graphs showing the positions of X, Y and Z co-ordinates for the time co-ordinate of the image object are displayed respectively on the position control areas of the X axis, Y axis and Z axis, and the movement of the image object is controlled along the curves of the X, Y and Z control graphs, when a part of any one curve among the X, Y and Z control graphs is selected, a selected curve part 20 is displayed repeatedly along the time axis on the display screen (control curves 22, 24, 26), and the movement of the image object corresponding to the selected curve part is performed repeatedly. Further, a cursor 28 is also displayed, and convenience for comparison is also provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a motion control method for image objects suitable for animation production.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The production of animation using computer graphics technology has become popular. There is known a method of controlling the movement of an image object of an animation by performing a control display as shown in FIG. 4 on the display screen of such a computer system. In order to move the image object three-dimensionally, a motion control area consisting of three coordinate axes and a time axis is displayed, and a motion control curve is displayed for each area. Since the position of the image object changes along the movement control curve of each coordinate axis with the passage of time, the movement of the image object can be freely controlled by changing the movement control curve of each coordinate axis.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a work of editing a motion control curve for controlling the motion of an image object. Here, an example of motion control of the X coordinate axis is shown as an example, but the same applies to other coordinate axes. When selecting a part of the curve on this control curve and wanting to repeatedly execute the movement of that part, the operator selects the desired curve part (the part of the curve between two black dots) with a mouse, trackball or the like. It is possible to repeatedly perform the movement of the curved portion of the period Trpt shown in FIG. 4 by designating with the coordinate input device. Of course, the number of times of repeating the movement of the image object in a predetermined period can be arbitrarily specified by controlling the software.

[0004]

However, in the control by the display example as shown in FIG. 5, the display of the control curve does not match the actual passage of time and the movement of the image object. That is, when a part of the X-axis motion control curve (movement during the Trpt period) is repeatedly executed, the other Y-axis and Z-axis control curves continuously follow the control curve of the image object. When controlling the motion, it becomes unclear which point on the X-axis of one image object corresponds to the other Y-axis and Z-axis, so that the motion of each image object along each coordinate axis is unknown. There was a problem that the control adjustment became troublesome. Also, when it is desired to control the movements of different image objects in harmony with each other, if a part of the control curve of one of the coordinate axes of one image object is repeatedly executed, the movement of that coordinate axis and the other coordinate axes are It is difficult to determine the correspondence with the movement of the image object, and it is also difficult to determine the time correspondence with the control curve for controlling the movement of another image object.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a motion control method for an image object, which is easy to control between different coordinate axes or between different image objects when a specific motion of the image object is repeatedly executed.

[0006]

With respect to the position of an image object, an X-axis and a Y-axis are respectively constituted by an X-axis coordinate axis, a Y-axis coordinate axis, a Z-axis coordinate axis, and a time axis corresponding to each coordinate axis.
A position control area of the axis and the Z axis is displayed on the display screen, and a motion indicating the position of the X, Y and Z coordinates with respect to the time coordinate of the image object is displayed on the position control area of the X axis, the Y axis and the Z axis. A method of displaying X, Y and Z control graphs respectively and controlling the movement of the image object along the curves of the X, Y and Z control graphs,
When a part of the curve of one of the Y and Z control graphs is selected, the selected curve part is repeatedly displayed along the time axis on the display screen and corresponds to the selected curve part. It is characterized in that the movement of the image object is repeated.

Further, the motion control method of the image object of the present invention is the above X displayed on the display screen.
The X, Y and Z control graphs of the position control areas of the axes, Y and Z are displayed with respect to a common time axis, and the X and Y axes are displayed.
It is characterized in that a cursor indicating the same time position is displayed on the position control area of the axis and the Z axis.

Further, for each of the first and second image objects, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis position control areas are displayed on the display screen, and for each of the first and second image objects, The X, Y, and Z control graphs are displayed on a common time axis, and the first and second control graphs are displayed.
A cursor indicating the same time position is displayed on the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis position control areas for the image object.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a computer system suitable for implementing the present invention. μP
This is a system centered on a (computer) 10, which has a keyboard 12, a coordinate input device 13, a ROM and an R.
A system memory 14 including an AM, an external memory 16 such as a magnetic disk, and a display 18 having a CRT or other display screen are connected. The coordinate input device 13
A known device such as a mouse, a trackball, or a digitizer may be used. Depending on the input from this coordinate input device 13, μP
10 can update the motion control curve displayed on the display screen of the display 18 and control the motion of the image object. The animation produced in this way is stored in the external storage device 16 and is the target of post-editing.

FIG. 2 is a display example showing the state of the motion control method of the image object according to the present invention. In this example,
Although the case where a part of the control curve of the X coordinate axis is repeated is shown, the repeating operation can be executed in the same manner on other coordinate axes. It is also possible to repeat the desired control curve portion of not only one coordinate axis but two coordinate axes or three coordinate axes. As shown in the figure, a part 20 (curve part between two dots) of the control curve displayed in the position control area of the X coordinate axis is designated, and the control curve part 20 of the repeating period (Trpt) is repeatedly displayed. (Curved portions 22, 24 and 26). As a result, the motion of the image object about the X coordinate axis is
Since it is completely displayed along the time axis, it is easy to compare with other coordinate axes that are not performing repeated operations. In FIG. 1, since the cursor 28 is displayed so as to extend over the position control areas of the three coordinate axes, the coordinates at the common time position can be clearly recognized as the intersection of the curve and the cursor 28.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the present invention in the case of FIG. First, in step 100, it is determined whether or not a part of the control curve is selected, and if it is selected, in step 102, a part of the selected control curve is repeatedly displayed along the time axis. . In the next step 104, the position of the coordinate axis of the image object is moved based on these repetitively displayed control curves, and the repetitive operation is executed. As a result, the display of the control curve on the display screen and the actual movement of the image object coincide with each other, so that the control efficiency is significantly improved.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of another embodiment of the present invention, showing a case where the movements of two different image objects are controlled while mutually referring to each other. Upper 3
Two coordinate axes are for controlling the first image object,
The lower three coordinate axes are for controlling the second image object. In this example, a part 30 (control curve in the Trpt period) of the control curve of the Y coordinate axis of the first image object is designated, and the repetitive control curves 32, 34 and 36 are displayed in order to repeatedly execute the movement of this part. ing. Then, the vertical cursor 38 is displayed so that the temporal correspondence between the control curves of the coordinate axes can be grasped at a glance. As a result, the operator arbitrarily moves the position of the vertical cursor 38, compares the coordinate values of the coordinate axes at the same time, and appropriately controls the movement of the image object while coordinating the movement between the coordinate axes and between the image objects. It will be easier.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0014]

By displaying the curve of an arbitrary part of the motion control curve repeatedly, it becomes possible to easily control the coordinated motion between the coordinate axes or between the image objects. Further, it is more convenient to display a cursor indicating the same time position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a control method corresponding to the procedure of FIG. 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of another control method of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer system suitable for applying the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a conventional motion control curve.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Computer 12 Keyboard 13 Coordinate Input Device 14 System Memory 16 External Storage Device 18 Display 20 Selected Control Curve Part 22, 24, 26 Repeated Control Curve 28 Cursor 38 Cursor

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A position control area for an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis, which is composed of an X-axis coordinate axis, a Y-axis coordinate axis, a Z-axis coordinate axis, and a time axis corresponding to each coordinate axis, is displayed with respect to the position of an image object. Displayed on the screen, the above X axis,
On the Y-axis and Z-axis position control areas, movement X, Y and Z control graphs representing the positions of the X, Y and Z coordinates with respect to the time coordinates of the image object are displayed respectively, and the X, Y and Z control graphs are displayed. In the method of controlling the movement of the image object along the curved line, if a part of the control curve of any one of the X, Y and Z control graphs is selected, the selected control curve part is displayed on the display screen. A motion control method for an image object, characterized in that the image object is repeatedly displayed along the time axis and the motion of the image object corresponding to the selected control curve portion is repeatedly performed. 2. The X, Y and Z of the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis position control areas displayed on the display screen.
2. The image object according to claim 1, wherein the control graph is displayed with respect to a common time axis, and a cursor indicating the same time position is displayed on the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis position control areas. Motion control method. 3. The X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis on the display screen for each of the first and second image objects.
An axis position control area is displayed, the X, Y and Z control graphs are displayed for a common time axis for each of the first and second image objects, and the X for the first and second image objects is displayed.
The cursor for indicating the same time position is displayed on the position control area of the axis, the Y axis, and the Z axis.
A method for controlling the movement of an image object described.