JPH0844893A - Montage generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to perform an operation to expand possibility for expressing an image without requiring skill by deciding an occupied area for each of parts on a screen and deciding its display size so as to set the pattern of each of parts within the occupied area in a prescribed state. CONSTITUTION:Plotting processing is performed by acquiring an image update area on the screen (A10) first, and acquiring the occupied area for the whole montage (A20). Then, a bit map data generating area is acquired and initialized corresponding to the update area (A30). Then, the hair style on the side nearest to the back plane of plotting object parts is set (A40), and the occupied area of object parts is magnified/reduced to the whole area(A50). Then, it is judged whether or not a reduced occupied area overlaps on the update area (A60), and when the former overlaps on the latter, outline data is read out based on the selection of the object parts, and it is set on a work area (A70), and a point coordinate is changed by fitting a parts frame in the reduced occupied area. When the hair style is plotted in such a way, then, the contours of the ear and the face, etc., are plotted in the above sequence, then, a montage image can be completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a montage making device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 57-156952, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-338877 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-682.
No. 20, etc., hairstyle, eyebrows, eyes, nose, ears,
A plurality of patterns of parts of a person's face such as a mouth, ... Are stored in a memory, and a desired pattern is selected from these patterns and displayed on the display.
There is known a montage creating device that creates a human face.

In these conventional montage making devices,
If you select the pattern of individual parts, they will be displayed as they are at the pre-assigned height position on the display (hereinafter, position fixing method), or after selecting the pattern of individual parts. There were things such as placing with a cursor (henceforth called the laughter method).

[0004]

In order to express various faces by the position fixing method, for example, many eyes having the same shape but having different height and width balances are prepared. It was necessary, and in the end, the types of faces that could be expressed were limited.

On the other hand, in the laughter method, the parts must be moved by the cursor while considering the balance between the height of the eyes and the nose, the balance between the height of the eyebrows and the eyes, which is extremely troublesome and requires skill. There was a problem of cost. Also,
Whichever method is used, for example, even if it is desired to use the same face shape and eyes as a child's face and an adult's face, it is necessary to separately facilitate these for children and adults. There is also a limit to the types of faces that can be expressed.

By the way, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-68220, it is possible to express one pattern in various ways by correcting the aspect ratio of the eye, for example, by extending the eye vertically and horizontally. However, in order to extend such a pattern, the four keys for extension need to be operated in the same manner as moving the cursor, and thus there is the same trouble as in the laughter method.
In addition, there is a problem that it is likely to overextend and requires skill to operate.

Therefore, the present invention has a skill in operation in expanding the possibility of expressing a montage image by arranging parts in a well-balanced manner and by changing the aspect ratio of the same pattern to be used in various ways. The purpose is to provide a montage making device that does not require the.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems, Actions and Effects] The montage creating device of the present invention comprises a storage means for storing a plurality of patterns for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and the like on the screen. Occupancy area determining means for determining the occupancy area of each part, selection means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the storage means, and a pattern of the selected part in a predetermined state in the occupancy area of the part. Display size determining means for determining the display size of the pattern so that the pattern fits;
Pattern display means for displaying a pattern in the occupied area defined for the part with the determined display size.

According to this montage creating apparatus, the occupancy area determining means defines the occupancy area of each part on the screen, and the selecting means determines each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, or mouth. When the pattern is selected, the display size determining means determines the display size for each pattern of each part so that the pattern fits in the occupied area in a predetermined state. Then, the pattern display means displays the pattern of each part on the screen based on this display size. In this way, a montage image is created.

Therefore, when determining the occupied area, for example, if it is a rectangular occupied area, one pattern can be displayed in various forms by changing the aspect ratio. Therefore, it is possible to create a montage image rich in variations without increasing the storage amount of patterns.

Further, since it is determined as the occupied area, for example, in the case of a rectangular occupied area, not much skill is required for determining the aspect ratio, and by defining the occupied area, the pattern display pattern can be uniquely determined. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a troublesome operation unlike the technique described in JP-A-6-68220.

Here, in this montage creating apparatus, it is preferable that the occupation area determining means includes a face type occupation area defining means that presets the balance of the occupation area of each part according to the face type. With this configuration, it is possible to immediately change the face of an adult to the face of a child simply by selecting the face type. That is, when the adult face type is first selected and the pattern of each part is selected, the display size is determined so that these patterns fit in the respective occupied areas in a predetermined state, and the adult face is displayed. However, if you switch to the child's face type as it is, the display is changed so that each pattern is applied to the occupied area for the child's face type without reselecting the pattern, and it is immediately changed to the child's face. You will be able to create montage images.

Therefore, it becomes possible to create an interesting montage image by predicting the face of an adult from the face of an adult from the face of an adult, and its application is further expanded to meet various needs of users. Will be possible. It should be noted that these montage creation devices further include an occupied area position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the occupied area of the part on the screen, or further adjust the size of the occupied area of the part on the screen. It is more preferable to include an occupied area size adjusting means for controlling the size.

With this configuration, the degree of freedom of expression is further increased, for example, by changing the height or interval of the eyes or expressing the eyes of the same type as large eyes or small eyes. Further, the operation of extending or contracting both vertically and horizontally can be performed by one operation of changing the occupied area, which is much easier than the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-68220. Is good.

The pattern applied to such an occupied area may be expressed in a bitmap format,
More preferably, the storage means stores the pattern of each part as outline data, and the display size determining means stores the pattern of the selected part in the outline area in a predetermined state in the occupied area. It may be configured to determine the display size so that it fits. This is because if the outline data is used, even if the aspect ratio or the like is changed, the bits are not jagged when they are finally displayed on the screen and look beautiful.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A montage making apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the montage creating device 1 of the embodiment is a personal computer 9 to which a keyboard 3, a mouse 5 and a display 7 are connected, and an application program for creating a montage and various data are installed.

The system of this embodiment is capable of VGA display and can display an image with a resolution of 640 × 480 dots at maximum. The application program is WINDOWS (registered trademark,
The same applies hereinafter) and has a function of displaying an image by a B-spline curve based on outline data.

As data, a plurality of patterns are given for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose and mouth. Each pattern is given as outline data. Figure 2
Is an example of outline data for the left eye. As shown in the figure, each outline data is defined by rasterized data by coordinate points in a frame (hereinafter referred to as “part frame”) PFeyeL. This rasterized data is
It is defined for B-spline curve drawing, and the large circle indicates the reference point for B-spline curve drawing.
The small circles also mean auxiliary points.

The parts frame PFeyeL includes hair, eyes, nose,
(Width) x (height) is set for each face part such as the mouth. For example, the parts frame is 1000 × 1 for hair.
000 dots, 1000 × 1000 dots for a face contour, and so on. With regard to the eyes and ears, right-left data, left-eye data, right-ear data, and left-ear data are assigned with the same pattern numbers. As a result, in the left-right interlocking mode, which will be described later, it is possible to select the pattern numbers for the left eye at the same time by designating the pattern numbers for the right eye.

In addition to the data of these patterns,
Data of "reference style of face" which defines the area and the positional relationship that each part should occupy as a montage image is also given. In the example, as the "reference style of face",
Four types of data, "standard", "thick", "thin", and "child" are given.

For example, in the reference style "child", as shown in FIG. 3, the area to be occupied by each part and the positional relationship are determined. Specifically, the entire display area of the montage image has coordinates (0,0) to (400,40).
0) 400 × 400 dots, the occupied areas PAh, PAf, ... Of each part are defined as shown in the table below. These can be determined by statistically analyzing the balance of the size and position of the parts on the face of the child.

[0022]

[Table 1]

Part occupation area PA for this "child"
h, PAf, etc. mean the area in which the part frame of each pattern data should fit. For example, the parts frame PFeyeL of the right eye of FIG. 2 is enlarged / reduced vertically and horizontally so as to fit in the PAeyeL in the above table and is displayed on the screen.

"Standard" defines each occupied area based on the result of the balance analysis of each part of a standard adult face. "Thick" and "thin" also mean "thick adult" , And the occupation area is determined based on the result of the balance analysis of each part in the face of "a thin adult".
Therefore, for example, in the case of "child", the occupied area of the right eye is (100, 198) to (187, 247), but in "standard", the occupied area of the right eye is narrower than this. This is because the area occupied by the eyes of an adult is smaller than that of the entire face. Therefore, even if the pattern of the right eye is exactly the same, it is displayed large when the reference style is “child” and small when it is “standard”.

FIG. 4 shows the display result depending on the difference in the reference style. As shown, "(A) Standard", "(B)
"Thick" and "(C) thin" compared to each other, "eyebrows",
Although the area of the occupied area of parts such as “eyes”, “nose”, “mouth”, and “ears” does not change, their positions are slightly deviated, and in particular, the distance between “eyes” and “ears” changes. I understand that. In addition, the width of the occupied area changes for "hairstyle", "bangs", and "face outline", and the image of the whole face changes subtly, such as standard, thick, and thin, as expressed by each standard style. I understand. Also,
Comparing "(A) Standard" and "(D) Children", despite the same pattern being selected for each part,
It can be seen that the adult atmosphere and the child atmosphere are expressed by the difference in the occupied area.

In this way, when each pattern is displayed by fitting the parts frame to the occupied area of each part,
Even if the exact same pattern is selected, it is possible to express faces with slightly different images. In this case, in particular, in the embodiment, since the outline data is used for each pattern, even if it is applied to occupied areas of different sizes, no jaggedness occurs. Finally, create bitmap data based on the image obtained by applying this outline data to the occupied area,
The bit map data is set in the frame buffer and is attached to the sample display field 21 or the drawing area 10 to draw a montage.

On the other hand, when the installed application program is activated, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the drawing area screen 10, a sample display column 21, a style selection display column 22, and a parts selection display are displayed on the display 7. Column 23, pattern value display column 24, left / right interlocking instruction column 25, O
The operation area screen 20 including a K column 26, a cancel column 27, and an initial setting column 28 is displayed.

On the drawing area screen 10, a drawing area in the range of 128 × 128 dots is set by default. This is to output the montage image created by the device of the present embodiment to a tape writer (the product name of the printing device used for creating a title such as a file by printing characters on a 24 mm width adhesive tape, the same applies hereinafter). The size of the image is assumed to be. If you use a narrower tape or output to A4 size paper as a laser printer output device, enlarge the drawing area.
It can also be reduced.

The sample display column 21 is a column for confirming the finished face, and a drawing area of 180 × 180 dots is secured. The style selection display field 22 is a field for displaying the selection result of the reference style of the face.
In the embodiment, as described above, the reference style of the face can be selected from “standard”, “thick”, “thin”, and “child”. In the figure, "child" is selected as the reference style of the face. Therefore, the montage image is created so that the entire face looks like a child. In addition, when the mouse 5 is moved to bring the mouse cursor into this field 22 and the right button provided on the mouse 5 is pressed (hereinafter, this operation is referred to as right click),
"Standard" → "Thick" → "Thin" → "Child" →
If you press the left button on the mouse 5 ("Standard") ... (This operation will be referred to as "left click" hereinafter), "Child" → "Thin" → "Thick" → "Standard" → "children"
→ ..., so that the style selection state can be changed. If the right cursor key 3R is operated together with the Shift key 3S, the style selection state is changed in the forward direction similarly to the right click of the mouse 5, and if the left cursor key 3L is operated together with the Shift key 3S, the left click of the mouse 5 is performed. Similarly, the style selection state can be changed in the opposite direction.

The parts selection display field 23 includes hair, eyes, nose,
This is a column that displays the part that is currently selected among the parts of the face such as the mouth. In the figure, "face outline" is selected as the part. Therefore, the “face contour” can be changed. Also for this column 23, if you place the mouse cursor and right-click,
"Hairstyle" → "face contour" → "eyebrows" → "eyes" → ... in the forward direction, and when left-clicked, the selection target part can be changed in the opposite direction. In key input, by operating the up and down cursor keys 3U and 3D, the type of parts can be changed in the forward direction and the reverse direction.

The pattern value display field 24 is a field for displaying, by numerical values and a scroll bar, a value corresponding to the number of the pattern that is actually selected from among a plurality of patterns of the parts that are currently selected. is there. The figure shows that the 23rd pattern is selected from the 37 patterns 1 to 37 as the contour pattern of the face. For this field 24, when the mouse cursor is aligned and the left click button of the mouse 5 is pressed and dragged left or right, the scroll bar moves left and right to change the pattern number, and when the pattern is released at the desired pattern number, the pattern is selected. Is configured so that it can be changed. For key input, use the right cursor key 3
By operating R, the selection number can be changed to forward feed, and by operating the left cursor key 3L, the selection number can be changed to reverse feed.

The left / right interlocking instruction field 25 is used to create a montage image in a "left / right interlocking mode" in which left and right parts such as eyes and ears are paired with each other in the left and right directions, or the pattern and the layout are arranged. This is a column for instructing whether or not to create a montage image in the “left / right non-interlocking mode” which is not a right / left target. By setting the column 25 to the check state (the state shown in the drawing), the “right / left interlocking mode” is selected. It is possible to switch between the "left and right interlocking mode" and the "left and right non-interlocking mode" by moving the mouse cursor to this field 25 and clicking the left or right. For key input, interlock key 3
By pressing X, the mode is switched cyclically.

The OK column 26 and the cancel column 27 indicate "O
This is a switch for inputting an instruction of "K" and "cancel". The initial setting field 28 is a switch for starting the initial setting mode. Both of these are columns 2
It functions as a switch by placing the mouse cursor on 6 to 28 and left-clicking or right-clicking. In the case of key input, the OK key 3Y or the cancel key 3Z is operated.

Next, the contents of the application program will be described. The application program is a program based on the main routine as shown in FIGS. The main routine first executes the acquisition and setting of the previous montage data (S5). This is also a kind of resume function, and it is often easier to start work by referring to the result of the previous montage creation rather than always creating a montage from the state of zero. The previous montage data is registered in the storage device (backup memory, hard disk, etc.) built in or externally attached to the personal computer 9 by the montage determination process (S95) shown at the end of the main routine.

In this way, the previous montage data is read from the backup memory or the hard disk, and the RAM is read.
When the work area is set, the montage image is drawn based on this data (S10). Drawing based on the previous montage data is performed on the sample display field 21 of the display 7, as shown in FIG. In the following processing, montage drawing until “OK” is input in S90 is also performed on the sample display field 21.

After the drawing of the previously created montage image is completed, the montage creation process is finally started. In creating the montage, inputs from the mouse and keyboard are taken in (S15), initial setting change processing (S20: YES, S25), style selection processing (S30: YES, S35), parts selection processing (S4).
0: YES, S45), parts size changing process (S5
0: YES, S55), left-right interlocking mode setting process (S6
0: YES, S65), pattern selection processing (S70: Y
ES, S75), parts movement processing (S80: YES, S
85), montage determination processing (S90: YES, S9)
5) Any of the output image drawing process (S100), the enlargement / reduction process (S110: NO, S120), and the output data registration process (S110: YES, S130) is executed. In addition, until it finishes the montage decision process,
The "initial setting changing process" to the "part moving process" can be repeatedly executed, and every time these processes are executed, the montage drawing process (S10) is repeated and the latest montage image is displayed in the sample display field 21. It is configured like. In the “output image drawing process” after the montage determination process, the montage drawing is performed on the drawing area screen 10.

Next, the details of each process will be described. The montage drawing process is configured as shown in FIGS. In this process, first, the area where the image should be updated is obtained on the screen (A10). "Area to update the image"
Is the entire area of the sample display column 21 when the previous montage data is first drawn, the eye area when the eye pattern is changed, and the eye before the movement when the eye is moved. The area is both the position and the position of the eye after the movement.

Next, the occupied area of the entire montage is obtained (A20). The occupied area of the entire montage is the entire area of the sample display field 21, and is 180 in this embodiment.
× 180 dots. Note that the display 7 has a higher resolution (for example, SVG of 800 × 600 dots).
A larger occupancy area is obtained when using the A compatible one).

Next, the bitmap data creation area is acquired and initialized according to the update area (A30). When drawing the “previous montage data”, 180 × 180 dots are acquired and initialized as the bitmap creation area. On the other hand, if you want to change the "eye" pattern,
"Bitmap data creation area" of only the area corresponding to the area occupied by the eyes when the entire area is 180 x 180 dots
Is acquired and initialized.

Next, as the drawing target part, the hairstyle which is the part that should be located on the rearmost side is set (A4).
0). Next, the original occupied area of the set drawing target part is enlarged / reduced to the size with respect to the entire area acquired in A10 (A50). In the example, 4
Since the area occupied by each part is defined with 00 × 400 dots as the entire area, it is specifically reduced to 0.45 times. For example, standard style = "child" parts =
The original occupied area PAh of "hairstyle" is (10,15)
.About. (389,399), which is (4.5,6.
75) to (175.05, 179.55). In the case of the right eye, the original occupied area PAeyeR is (100, 198) to (187, 247) to (45, 89.1) to (84.15, 111.15).
Will be reduced to.

Next, it is judged whether or not the occupied area reduced by A50 has a portion overlapping with the update area (A
60). In the case of drawing based on "previous montage data", the occupied area of all parts overlaps with the updated area, and it is always determined to be "YES". But,
When the montage drawing process is performed to change only the pattern of "eyes", for example, the occupied area for "ears" does not overlap the update area, so "NO".
When it is judged that it comes out.

If "YES" is determined, the outline data is read out based on the pattern number selected for the drawing target part and set in the work area (A70). Then, the coordinates of each reference point and auxiliary point forming the outline data are converted so that the parts frame is applied to the occupied area reduced by A50 (A80).

Next, it is judged whether or not the drawing target part is the contour of the face or the ear (A90). If "YES" is determined, data for background removal is created based on the outline data coordinate-converted in A80 (A10).
0). Next, outline data obtained in A80 and A1
Bitmap data is formed in the "bitmap data creation area" initialized in A30 based on the background removal data obtained in 00 (A110).

Then, the drawing target part is changed to a part on the front side, and the processes of A50 and below are repeated until there are no remaining parts (A120, A130). A60
If it is judged "NO" in A, A70 to A110 are passed, and if it is judged "NO" in A90, A10 is passed.
0 is passed.

When the bit map data conversion is completed for all parts in this way, the final bit map data created in the "bit map data creation area" is transferred to the frame buffer for montage drawing (A14).
0). As a result, the montage image is drawn in the sample display field 21.

In order to make the processing during this period clearer, FIG. 10 shows the progress of conversion into bitmap data in the bitmap creation area when the entire face is drawn. As shown, the hairstyle is first drawn (A), then the ears are drawn (B), the outline of the face is drawn (C), the bangs are drawn (D), the eyebrows are drawn (E), The eyes are drawn (F),
The nose is drawn (G), the mouth is drawn (H), and the montage image is completed in the “bitmap data creation area”. The montage image is drawn so that the final bitmap data (H) of this “bitmap data creation area” is attached to the sample display field 21. Therefore, the face is displayed in the sample display field in an instant, and the user does not feel "irritated" while using the outline data.

FIG. 11 shows the progress of bit map data conversion in the “bit map data creation area” when the mouth pattern is changed. As shown in the figure, first, the hairstyle is drawn (A), the outline of the face is drawn (B), the mouth is drawn (C), and the montage image of the updated portion is completed in the “bitmap data creation area”. The montage image is drawn so that the bitmap data is attached to the mouth display area of the sample display field 21. In the case of the mouth, the bangs, ears, eyes, nose, etc. do not cover the update area, and thus are not subject to bitmap conversion.

Next, the initial setting changing process will be described. The initial setting changing process is configured as shown in FIGS. First, the initial setting screen 30 as shown in FIG. 14 is displayed (B10). The initial setting screen 30 includes a reference example setting field 31, a hairstyle setting field 32, and a face contour setting field 3
3, an eyebrow setting field 34, an eye setting field 35, an OK field 36, a cancel field 37, and a style selection display field 38.

The reference example setting fields 31 are "female idol", "OL", "mother", "salary man",
This is a column for selecting a character from a large number of characters such as “male student”, “female student”, and displaying the selection result. To select a character, place the mouse cursor on the reference example setting field 31 and right-click, or
It is executed by inputting numbers 1, 2, 3, ... And character numbers with the number keys 3NM. A method is also available in which the character list 39 is displayed by pressing the button on the left side of the mouse 5 twice in a short time (hereinafter, this operation is referred to as left double-click), and the character list 39 is selected from among them (( (Fig. 15).

When a specific character is selected in the reference example setting field 31, the attributes for the hairstyle, face outline, eyebrows, and eyes are automatically selected for each character. In the embodiment, three types of hairstyle attributes, "short", "semi-long", and "long" are defined, and each of the hairstyle patterns has these three types.
Numbers are associated with one of the attributes of the type. Specifically, Nos. 1 to n are hairstyle patterns corresponding to "short", subsequent n + 1 to k (> n) are hairstyle patterns corresponding to "semi-long", and subsequent k + 1 to Numbering is performed according to the attribute such that the l (> k) number is a hairstyle pattern corresponding to “long”. For the outline of the face, there are three types of attributes, "round face", "square", and "(home) base type".
For eyebrows, the attributes are “thick” and “thin”.
As for the types, three types of "large", "small", and "thin" are defined as the attributes of the eyes.

The hairstyle setting field 32, the face contour setting field 33, the eyebrow setting field 34, and the eye setting field 35 are irrelevant to the character selected as the reference example by directly placing the mouse cursor and right-clicking. You can also change each attribute. However, if the character in the reference example setting field 31 is changed again after the attributes are set in these setting fields 32 to 35, each attribute set as the default for the character is reset again. Will end up. That is, these setting fields 32 to 35 are used for finely adjusting the attributes of each part after setting the character as a reference example. When setting attributes in the setting fields 32 to 35 by key operation, the up / down cursor keys 3U, 3D can be used to specify the selection / display field, and the left / right cursor keys 3L, 3R can be used to select attributes. It has become.

The OK column 36 and the cancel column 37 indicate "O
This is a switch for inputting an instruction of "K" and "cancel". The style selection display field 38 is a field having the same function as the style selection display field 22 on the operation area screen 20, and is configured so that the face reference style can be selected even in the initial setting change process. is there.

After displaying the initial setting screen 30 having such a configuration, the input from the mouse and the keyboard is fetched (B20), and the reference example setting process (B30: YES, B3).
5), hairstyle attribute change processing (B40: YES, B4
5), face contour attribute changing process (B50: YES, B5
5), eyebrow attribute changing process (B60: YES, B6)
5) Any one of the eye attribute changing processes (B70: YES, B75) is executed. With respect to these processes, whether cancellation is instructed to exit this routine (B80: YE
S), OK can be repeatedly executed until it is instructed and the process goes to the initial setting determination process (B90: YES → B100).

In the initial setting determination process of B100, the hairstyle,
Based on the attributes set for the contour of the face, the eyebrows, and the eyes, the number of the pattern to be preferentially selected from each part is determined, and these patterns are actually selected. And
A montage drawing process (B110) having exactly the same structure as the montage drawing process described above is executed. As a result, a new montage image is drawn in the sample display field 21 based on the change in the initial settings.

When the montage image is drawn by changing the initial setting, it is confirmed whether or not it is OK (B120). When the cancellation is instructed, the next candidate hairstyle, face contour, eyebrows, and eye combination based on the initial settings are selected again (B130), and the montage is drawn again (B1).
Execute 10). Then, when OK is instructed, the initial setting screen 30 is erased (B140), and the present routine is exited.

Here, in order to deepen the understanding of the processing contents of B100 and below, the reason why such processing is provided will be described with a specific example. For example, assume that “female idol” is selected as the character in the reference example setting process.
By the way, there are various idols even if they are called "female idols", such as the singer "Nakamori A" and the actress "Yakushimaru H". And if the person who is going to make the montage is similar to "Nakamori A", you can set "Nakamori A" as the initial setting and fine-tune each part from there, but "Yakushimaru H" If it's similar to, I'd like to start with "Yakushimaru H". In this embodiment, the initial setting is made possible in order to meet such a request.
If a large number of characters such as “A”, “Yakushimaru H”, and “Kikuchi M”, etc. can be selected, the number of selection branches becomes too large in setting the reference example, which deteriorates the operability.

Therefore, in consideration of the fact that the operability is not deteriorated while responding to such a request, the attribute of the initial setting is determined in B100, and the next and subsequent candidates satisfying the condition of the initial setting are further selected. The display was changed one after another, so that the above request could be met. As a result, the operator, for example, by setting “female idol”, first candidate = “Nakamori A”, next candidate =
“Yakushimaru H”, one after another = “Kikuchi M”, ... Can be easily selected as a start condition for a portrait of a person prepared in advance. In addition, the cancellation column 37
By left-clicking or pressing the Cancel key 3Z together with the Shift key 3S, B130 is configured to reselect the previous candidate instead of the next candidate.

Next, the style selection process (S35) will be described. The style selection can be executed during the initial setting change processing as described above, but the style selection processing (S35) here is processing for selecting a style on the operation area screen 20 as shown in FIG. This process is shown in FIG.
It is configured as shown in (1), captures input from the mouse and keyboard (C10), and selects a style (C2).
0), the style is determined when OK is instructed (C30, C40).

Next, the part selection process (S45) will be described. This process is configured as shown in FIGS. First, when the parts selection process is started, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, it is determined whether the parts are selected by the key input or the mouse (D10), and in the case of the key input, the parts are selected according to the instructions of the up / down cursor keys 3U and 3D as described above. (D20). On the other hand, in the case of mouse input, it is judged whether it was a double click (press the button of the mouse 5 twice in a short time) or a single click (press the button of the mouse 5 once) (D30). In the case of a single click, the process proceeds to the single click process (D100), and in the case of a double click, the process proceeds to the double click process (D200).

In the single-click process, as shown in FIG. 18, first, the coordinate data on the display of the click point of the mouse cursor (the position of the mouse cursor at the time of clicking. The same applies below) is loaded (D110).
Then, similarly to A20 in the montage drawing process, the occupied area of the entire montage, that is, the entire area of the sample display field 21 is obtained (D120).

Next, the part corresponding to the frontmost side of the face is set as the part to be selected (D130). In addition,
When the spectacles are used as parts, the eyes are set on the front side rather than the spectacles. Next, the original occupied area of the selected parts set in D130 is set to D
The coordinate data when the size is reduced to the size of the entire area acquired in 120 is calculated (D140). This D14
The process of 0 is the same as the process of A50 of the montage drawing process.

Next, the coordinate data on the display when the occupied area of the selection target part reduced in D140 is displayed in the sample display field 21 is calculated (D150). Then, it is determined whether or not the coordinate data obtained at D150 and the coordinate data of the mouse click point captured at D110 overlap (D160). If it is determined that they do not overlap, it is determined whether or not there is a part located on the back side of the currently set part (D1
70), if there is, the part to be selected is reset to the part located on the back side and the process returns to D140 (D18).
0). In this way, the processing from D140 onward is repeated until the parts determined to be “YES” in D160 appear (D1
80). On the other hand, if "YES" is determined in D160, the name of the part to be selected is displayed in the part selection display field 23 of the operation area screen 20, and the pattern selectable state is set for the part (D190). .

On the other hand, in the double-click processing, as shown in FIG. 19, first, the same processing as D110 to D180 is executed (D210 to D290). Then, next to D290, as a feature of the double-click processing, for example, a pattern list table 40 as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed in an overlapping manner on the operation area screen 20 (D300). This figure is a list when bangs are selected as a part.

Next, the part size changing process (S55) will be described. This process is configured as shown in FIG. First, the operation of the mouse is read to identify what is specified as the part to be moved (E1
0). This specification is made by grasping the overlapping relationship between the mouse click point and the area occupied by the parts, as in D110 to D180. When the parts to be moved can be specified in this way, the original occupied area of the parts to be moved is acquired (E20). If the child's left eye is designated, PAeyeL = (212,198) to (299,
The rectangular area 247) is acquired.

Next, the parts size change processing menu 50 as shown in FIG. 22A is displayed (E30). At this time, the current occupied area is compared with the original occupied area, the current state is checked (E40), and the menu 50 is displayed.
Mark the current state with a check mark (E5
0). FIG. 22A exemplifies a state in which the size has already been changed to an eye that is slightly larger than the original occupied area.

Next, it is judged which state is selected and confirmed in the menu 50 from the mouse and key operation states (E60 to E100), and the occupied area is changed to each size (E110 to E150). ). Specifically, the occupied area is returned to the rectangle of the original occupied area in "standard" (E110), and expanded to 1.2 times the original occupied area in "slightly large" (E120).
In "Slightly small", the original occupied area is reduced to a rectangle that is 0.8 times the height and width (E130), and in "Portrait", the length of the original occupied area is 1.2 times and the width is 0.9 times the rectangle ( E140), "horizontally long", the original occupied area is multiplied by 0.9 in length and 1.2 in width to form a rectangle (E150).

When the occupied area is changed in this way, the occupied area is updated with the area center of the current occupied area and the changed area center of the occupied area matched (E160).
Then, the parts size change processing menu 50 is closed (E180). If the cancel operation is performed before any state such as "standard" is confirmed, the menu 50 is closed without updating the occupied area (E17).
0 = YES).

When the part size changing process is executed in this manner, the montage drawing process (S10) is executed as shown in the main routine (FIG. 6). FIG. 22 (B)
Shows a drawing example in which the left eye is selected as a part to be resized and both eyes are originally "slightly large", but only the left eye is changed to "slightly small".

Next, the left-right interlocking mode setting process (S65)
Will be described. This process is configured as shown in FIG. First, it is determined whether a mode change instruction has been issued (F10). F10 becomes "YES" every time the left / right interlocking mode display field is clicked by the mouse or the left / right interlocking key 3X is pressed, and subsequently it is determined whether or not the previous mode was interlocking (F20). . If the previous time was "interlocking", the mode is changed to "non-interlocking" (F30), and the check mark in the left / right interlocking instruction field 25 is erased (F40). On the other hand, if the previous time was "non-interlocking", the mode is changed to "interlocking" (F50), and a check mark is added to the left / right interlocking instruction field 25 (F60). In conjunction with the addition (F60) or deletion (F40) of this check mark, data indicating that is stored in the RAM.

Next, the pattern selection process (S75) will be described. This process is configured as shown in FIG. First, it is determined whether the target parts for pattern selection are left and right "eyes" or "ears" (G10).
When it is determined to be "YES", it is further determined whether the left-right interlocking mode is set based on the data stored in the RAM (G20: YES). Then, if the left-right interlocking mode is set, the paired parts are also forcibly set as the pattern selection target parts (G30). That is, when the interlocking mode is turned on, for example, if the "right eye" is set as the selection target part of the pattern, the "left eye" is forcibly set as the selection target part, and the following processing is performed. Of.
On the other hand, the left / right non-interlocking mode is set (G20:
NO), “eyes”, and “ears” are selected (G10: NO), G is selected for the selected parts.
Process 40 or less.

In the subsequent process, it is first determined whether the pattern is selected by key input or mouse (G4
0), in the case of key input, as described above, a pattern is selected according to the instructions of the left and right cursor keys 3L and 3R (G5
0). On the other hand, in the case of mouse input, it is judged whether the part selection which is the premise of this processing is made by double-clicking or single-clicking (G60), and in the case of single-clicking, processing at the time of single-clicking (G100). If it is a double-click, the process proceeds to the double-click process (G200).

In the processing at the time of single click, as shown in FIG. 25, first, it is confirmed whether or not the mouse cursor for pattern selection is moved to the pattern value display field 24 (G110). While moving to the pattern value display field 24, the scroll bar is moved in response to the click / drag operation of the mouse (G120), the scroll bar is stopped at the time of the release operation, and the pattern value is fixed (G130).

On the other hand, when the mouse cursor is not moved to the pattern value display field 24, it is judged whether or not the mouse is right-clicked or left-clicked (G140).
If right click, the pattern value is incremented (G1
50) If the left click, the pattern value is decremented (G160). Note that in G150 and G160, the position of the slider in the pattern value display field 24 is updated in accordance with these increments or decrements. Here, when the pattern value reaches the maximum value by increment, the next right click shifts to the minimum value and increments again from there. The same applies to decrement. This way G130, G150 or G
Every time the pattern value is determined in 160, this routine is exited,
The montage drawing process of S10 is executed to redraw the currently selected pattern on the sample screen.

In the double-click processing, as shown in FIG. 26, first, it is determined whether or not the mouse cursor is clicked outside the pattern list 40 (G210). If it is clicked outside the pattern list 40, the list 40 is erased and the process exits (G260).

On the other hand, the mouse cursor moves to the pattern list 4
If you click in 0, whether the click point is on the pattern or on the scrollbar,
It is determined whether it is on the OK or cancel switch (G220, G230, G240, G250). When it is on a pattern, the pattern value of the pattern is set as a selection candidate (G225). When it is on the scroll bar, the contents of the list are scrolled (G235). O
If it is on the K switch, the pattern value selected as a candidate is adopted, the pattern value and the slider position in the display field 24 are updated (G245), the list is erased (G260), and this routine is exited. . When it is on the cancel switch, the pattern value is not updated,
The list is erased as it is (G260), and this routine is exited.

As described above, in the pattern selection process, the left and right parts can be set to the interlocking mode and the non-interlocking mode, so that the following effects can be obtained. For example, in FIG.
If a non-interlocking mode is set and the pattern of the left eye is changed to one with the eyes closed when a face of a girl with wide open eyes is created as shown in (A), the same figure (B). You can have a winked face as shown in. On the other hand, if the interlocking mode is set and the left eye is closed from the state shown in (A), the girl becomes a girl with both eyes closed as shown in (C). Both the face of (B) and the face of (C) were selected only with the same eyes closed as the pattern of the left eye, but they were completely different due to the difference between the left-right interlocking mode and the non-interlocking mode. It can be an expression. It is sufficient to have a closed eye pattern for the face having a completely different expression, and the amount of patterns to be stored is not increased.

Here, it is possible to create a winking face without increasing the amount of patterns even if only the non-interlocking mode is set. However, from the facial expression of (A) to the facial expression of (C). If you change to, the amount of operation will increase. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, since it is possible to switch to the interlocking mode, it is possible to easily change from the facial expression of (A) to the facial expression of (C) without causing such an increase in the operation amount. Can be changed.

As described above, in the embodiment, the interlocked mode and the non-interlocked mode can be switched, so that it is possible to create a face with many expressions without increasing the memory amount of the pattern, and the left and right eyes. There is no increase in the amount of operation when changing the facial expression while unifying the ears.

Further, in the part selection process and the pattern selection process, the pattern can be selected by directly specifying the part on the sample screen by clicking the mouse, so that the operator should change the pattern without moving the eyes. You can specify parts.
In the processing at the time of single-clicking, the pattern is changed and displayed simply by repeatedly clicking the mouse without moving the line of sight, so that the image drawn by the operator in his head is not destroyed and the operability is improved.

On the other hand, since the pattern list 40 can be displayed by double-clicking, it is possible to directly compare the subtle differences of each pattern and select the pattern, which greatly improves the operability. In some cases, For example, the image is solid to some extent,
In addition, it is effective when you want to make subtle differences in facial expressions.

Next, the parts moving process (S85) will be described. This process is configured as shown in FIG. In the parts moving process, since restrictions are set depending on what the moving target part is, first, what is the moving target part is grasped (H10). The process of H10 is performed in the same manner as to grasp which part is selected in the part selection process.

When the movement target part thus grasped is the "hairstyle" or the "face contour" (H20: YE
S), exit this routine as it is. When the part to be moved is "eyebrows", "nose", "mouth" or "bangs" (H30: YES), the drag operation amount of the mouse is taken in (H32), and the drag operation amount in the horizontal direction is forced. It is regarded as 0 (H34), and it is determined whether or not the amount of drag operation in the vertical direction is outside the outline of the face (H3).
6) When the vehicle is outside, the routine is regarded as 0 and the routine directly exits, and the vertical movement amount is calculated only when the vehicle is outside (H38).

Parts to be moved are left and right "eyes" or "ears"
If it is (H40: YES), first, it is determined whether the left-right interlocking mode is set (H42). If the left-right interlocking mode is off, that is, the left-right non-interlocking mode is set, the amount of drag operation of the mouse cursor in the vertical and horizontal directions is calculated as the amount of movement of the part (H
44).

On the other hand, if the left-right interlocking mode is on (set), the pair of parts are set as the parts to be moved to the left-right symmetrical position (H50). That is, when the interlocking mode is turned on, for example, if the "right eye" is set as the movement target part, the "left eye" is forcibly set as the movement target part and moved to the symmetrical position. It is composed of. In the subsequent processing, the movement amount of both left and right parts is calculated (H52). Specifically, the value of the amount of drag operation of the mouse cursor in the vertical / horizontal direction is calculated as the amount of movement of the part designated by the operator, and the value obtained by inverting the sign of the amount of horizontal operation is forced with H50. It is calculated as the part movement amount of the one specified as the movement target part.

As described above, in the part moving process, the movable range is limited according to the type of the part. As a result, even if an operator with a low degree of skill inadvertently drags the mouse while moving the parts, the arrangement will not be distorted.

Explaining in a concrete example, when the operator wants to move the nose position a little further upward from the initial face shown in FIG. 29A, as shown in FIG. Even if the mouse is dragged diagonally as indicated by arrow a, the occupied area PAn of the nose moves only upward as indicated by arrow b. As a result, the operator can move his or her nose with peace of mind, and even an unskilled person can change the layout smoothly.

Also, in the process of moving the parts,
As for the eyes and ears, the left and right interlocking modes and the non-interlocking mode can be switched, so that the following effects are obtained. As a concrete example of the effect of the interlocking mode, when the face in FIG. 30 (A) is changed to a face with narrow eyes as shown in FIG. 30 (C), as shown in FIG. It only requires a single operation to move, which is very easy. Moreover, the positions are accurate because they are arranged at the left and right symmetrical positions.

On the other hand, the effect of being able to take the non-interlocking mode is easy to understand in the concrete example of FIG. In this example, when creating a face with only one ear, as shown in FIG.
It is enough to move only the right ear behind the face so that the face with only one ear can be easily displayed. In this case, as with the case of creating a winking facial expression, it goes without saying that there is a memory amount reducing effect that many facial expressions can be created without increasing the pattern memory amount.

Next, the montage determination process (S95) to the output data registration process (S130) will be described. In the montage determination process (S95), as described above, starting from the previous montage data or the montage data changed by changing the initial setting, the style selection,
After the operation of pattern selection, moving parts, changing part size, etc., finally when it becomes a face montage that you want, click the OK field 26 of the operation area screen 20 or press the OK key 3Y. It is executed by In this montage determination process, the pattern value of each part selected at that time and the size and arrangement of the occupied area of each part are stored in the storage device. This is,
At the next execution, it will be acquired and set as the previous montage data by S5 of the main routine.

As shown in FIG. 32, the output image drawing process (S100) is similar to the montage drawing process (S10). First, the default value of the drawing area (128 × 128 dots in the embodiment) is used. ) Is read (J
10) Obtain and initialize a bitmap data creation area corresponding to the drawing area (J20). Below, the drawing area and the original area of the montage image (400 x 400
(J30), hairstyle, ears,
Parts are set in order from the back side, such as the contour of the face (J40), and the outline data is converted into bitmap data while the size is enlarged or reduced according to the ratio calculated in J30 (J50). When the bitmap data of all the parts is completed (J60), the final bitmap data of the entire face is transferred to the frame buffer for drawing and drawn on the drawing area screen 10 (J70). As a result, the montage image is first drawn on the drawing area screen 10 taken in the lower half of the display with the dot roughness for tape writer output.

The enlargement / reduction processing (S120) enlarges / reduces the montage image of the drawing area screen 10 in a similar manner. For details, as shown in FIG. 33, first,
It is determined whether or not an instruction for enlargement is made by right-clicking the mouse or pressing the right cursor key 3R (K10), and if not, it is determined whether or not an instruction for reduction is made by left-clicking or pressing the left cursor key 3L. (K20), otherwise, exit the process. If "YES" is determined in K10, the vertical and horizontal predetermined dots are added to the current drawing area to enlarge the drawing area (K30), and the process ends. K
When 20 is "YES", the drawing area is reduced by subtracting vertical and horizontal predetermined dots from the current drawing area (K40), and the process is exited.

After the drawing area is enlarged / reduced in this way, the above-described output image drawing process (S100) is executed, and the enlarged / reduced image is drawn on the drawing area screen 10.
In this way, if the montage image can be enlarged or reduced to a size suitable for the output medium intended by the operator, if OK is input, the process proceeds to the output data registration process (S130), and the output bitmap data is stored in the storage device. Stored. If this bitmap data is transferred to an output device such as a tape writer or a laser printer, a montage image can be output on an adhesive tape or paper.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the montage image can be scaled up / down according to the medium to be finally output. And the enlargement / reduction in this case is also
Since the method of enlarging / reducing the outline data and converting it into bitmap data is adopted, it is possible to obtain a high quality montage image without conspicuous dots due to enlargement.

Finally, some of the technical ideas included in this embodiment will be illustrated. [Example 1] In order to expand the possibilities of expressing montage images by arranging parts in a well-balanced manner and by changing the aspect ratio of the same pattern in various ways,
As a montage creation device that does not require skill in operation, a storage means for storing a plurality of patterns for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc., and an occupancy that defines an occupied area of each part on the screen Area determining means, selecting means for selecting a desired pattern of the desired part from the storage means, and a display size of the pattern so that the pattern of the selected part fits in a predetermined state in the area occupied by the part. And a pattern display means for displaying a pattern in the occupied area defined for the part with the determined display size.

According to this montage creating apparatus, the occupancy area determining means defines the occupancy area of each part on the screen, and the selecting means determines each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose and mouth. When the pattern is selected, the display size determining means determines the display size for each pattern of each part so that the pattern fits in the occupied area in a predetermined state. Then, the pattern display means displays the pattern of each part on the screen based on this display size. In this way, a montage image is created.

Therefore, when determining the occupied area, for example, in the case of a rectangular occupied area, one pattern can be displayed in various forms by changing the aspect ratio. Therefore, it is possible to create a montage image rich in variations without increasing the storage amount of patterns.

Further, since it is determined as the occupied area, for example, in the case of a rectangular occupied area, it is not necessary to have much skill in determining the aspect ratio, and by defining the occupied area, the pattern display form can be uniquely determined. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a troublesome operation unlike the technique described in JP-A-6-68220.

Here, in this montage creating apparatus, it is preferable that the occupation area determining means includes face type-specific occupation area defining means that presets the balance of the occupation area of each part according to the face type. With this configuration, it is possible to immediately change the face of an adult to the face of a child simply by selecting the face type. That is, when the adult face type is first selected and the pattern of each part is selected, the display size is determined so that these patterns fit in the respective occupied areas in a predetermined state, and the adult face is displayed. However, when switching to the child's face type as it is, the display is changed so as to fit each pattern to the occupied area for the child's face type without newly selecting a pattern, and it is immediately changed to the child's face. You will be able to create montage images.

Therefore, it becomes possible to create an interesting montage image, such as predicting a person's childhood face from an adult's face, so that its application can be further expanded and various user needs can be met. Will be possible. It should be noted that these montage creation devices further include an occupied area position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the occupied area of the part on the screen, or further adjust the size of the occupied area of the part on the screen. It is more preferable to include an occupied area size adjusting means for controlling the size.

With such a configuration, the degree of freedom of expression is further increased, for example, by changing the height or interval of the eyes or expressing the eyes of the same type as large eyes or small eyes. Further, the operation of extending or contracting both vertically and horizontally can be performed by one operation of changing the occupied area, which is much easier than the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-68220. Is good.

The pattern applied to such an occupied area may be expressed in the bitmap format,
More preferably, the storage means stores the pattern of each part as outline data, and the display size determining means stores the pattern of the selected part in the outline area in a predetermined state in the occupied area. It may be configured to determine the display size so that it fits. This is because if the outline data is used, even if the aspect ratio or the like is changed, the bits are not jagged when they are finally displayed on the screen and look beautiful.

From the examples, the above technical idea can be understood. [Example 2] As a montage creating device capable of expressing various faces even if the volume of a part pattern is reduced without impairing display quality even when enlarging / reducing hair,
Storage means for storing a plurality of patterns represented by outline data for each part of the face such as eyes, nose, mouth, and the like; selecting means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the storage means; A montage image display means for displaying a montage image on the screen based on the outline data of the selected pattern is included.

According to this montage creating apparatus, since the montage image is displayed on the screen based on the outline data of the pattern, the edges of the dots are not conspicuous even if the entire image is enlarged. On the contrary, even if it is reduced, it is difficult for details to collapse. This montage creating apparatus may further include an enlarging / reducing means for enlarging / reducing the pattern of the selected part in the state of outline data. In this case, for example, even if only a certain part is magnified, the edge of the dot in that display is the same as that of the other parts displayed at the standard magnification, and the conspicuousness of the edge of the dot in the entire image is constant. Become.

In these montage creating apparatuses, the montage image display means temporarily converts the outline data of the pattern of the selected part into image display information in a bit map representation, and It is more preferable to include a bitmap display means for displaying a montage image based on the image display information represented by the bitmap expression.

For example, when trying to display the outline data as it is on the screen, as is experienced in CAD,
Since the lines are drawn in order, the lines are drawn from the beginning when the display is enlarged, reduced, moved, etc. give. On the other hand, according to the above-described configuration, since the bit map is displayed when it is displayed on the screen, the line is not redrawn, and the display is changed so that the screen is switched at once. Therefore, there is an effect that the viewer is not irritated.

In this case, when the operation of changing the display such as changing, enlarging, reducing or moving the pattern is performed, the bit map converting means changes the image in the entire image before and after the change. The bit map display means is provided with image change range extraction means for extracting a power range and partial bit map forming means for forming image display information by a bit map representation of the change or the like only with respect to the extracted range. It is even better to provide partial display changing means for changing the display of the montage image in the extracted range based on the partial image display information formed by the partial bitmap forming means. .

When only the eye pattern is changed or moved, it is not necessary to re-bitmap even the part that does not overlap with the eyes such as the mouth and nose, and the processing time for switching the display is short. It will be done. The above technical idea can be understood from the examples.

[Exemplary 3] A plurality of patterns are stored for each face part such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc. as a montage creating device in which the balance and position of the parts in the face are not excessively disturbed. Storage means, selection means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the storage means, montage image display means for displaying a montage image on a screen based on the selected pattern, and the montage image display means In the montage creating device including display position changing means for changing the display position of the part displayed on the screen by the display position changing means, the display position changing means determines the degree of freedom of position change according to the type of the part. Those including a means for determining the degree of freedom of position change are also included.

According to this montage making device,
After displaying the montage image on the screen based on the pattern selected for each part of the face such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.,
It is possible to change the display position of individual parts. At the time of changing the display position, the position change degree-of-freedom determining means is activated to allow the position change only within the range of the degree of freedom of position change according to the type of the part. In other words, the position change exceeding the degree of freedom is restricted.

As the means for determining the degree of freedom of position change, specifically, for parts such as eyes and ears that form a pair on the left and right,
By changing the position of one of the parts in the pair, it is possible to limit the degree of freedom so that the other part moves to the symmetrical position. As a result, it is possible to prevent the height of the right eye and the left eye from being unbalanced, and the right eye from moving toward the center.

As another specific example, the position change degree-of-freedom determining means can freely change the positions of parts such as the nose and mouth to be arranged on the center line of the face only in the vertical direction. You can limit the degree. This prevents the nose from shifting to the left or right and the mouth from shifting to the left or right.

Further, the position change degree of freedom determining means is
The degree of freedom may be limited so that the positions of parts that should be the base of the face such as the outline of the face and the hair cannot be changed. In this case, the basic parts such as the hair and the outline of the face do not move by mistake.

Alternatively, the position change degree-of-freedom determining means limits the degree of freedom of the parts such as eyes, nose, and mouth that should fit inside the face so that the position cannot be changed outside the contour of the face. You can also In this case, even if the operator accidentally moves the eyes or the like by a large amount, the operator does not stick out of the face.

As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of freedom of movement is limited depending on the parts forming the face. The relationship is not broken and it is easy to correct. Therefore, even an unskilled person can freely change the arrangement of the parts in the face within an optimum range, and the operation becomes easy.

From the examples, the above technical idea can be understood. [Example 4] A montage creating device that can express a wink or the like without increasing the memory capacity, and that does not bother moving and changing paired parts,
Storage means for storing a plurality of patterns for each part of the face such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc., selection means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the storage means, and based on the selected pattern In a montage creating device comprising a montage image display means for displaying a montage image on a screen, the selection means is an independent selection mode for independently selecting only one of the pair of parts such as eyes and ears to be paired left and right. And a simultaneous selection mode for simultaneously selecting both of the pairs are included.

According to this montage creating apparatus, the selection means is switched to the independent selection mode so that the selection means
Since you can select only one pattern of pair with one ear,
It is not necessary to provide a winking state of both eyes patterns for expressing a winking state. On the other hand, by switching to the simultaneous selection mode, the left and right eyes, ears, etc. can be selected at the same time, and at the time of normal part selection, a pair of parts can be selected at the same time by one selection operation as in the conventional case, which is not troublesome.

Further, another montage creating apparatus of the present invention is a storage means for storing a plurality of types of patterns for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose and mouth, and a desired part desired from the storage means. Selection means for selecting a pattern, a montage image display means for displaying a montage image on the screen based on the selected pattern, and a part displayed on the screen by the montage image display means. In the montage creating device including display position changing means for changing the position, the display position changing means has an independent movement mode in which only one of the pair is moved independently for left and right paired parts such as eyes and ears. It is characterized in that it can be switched to a simultaneous movement mode in which both pairs are moved simultaneously.

According to this montage creating apparatus, by switching to the independent movement mode, it is possible to make rich expressions such as moving only one eye to the center or changing the appearance of the left and right ears, and for that purpose Does not have to be increased. On the other hand, if you switch to the simultaneous movement mode, you can change the height of the left and right eyes, ears, etc. at the same time, and you can change the distance between the eyes while keeping the left and right objects, so there is no trouble during normal part movement. .

From the examples, the above technical idea can be understood. [Exemplary 5] As a montage creating device capable of selecting an initial image from a certain number of variations without fixing the initial image, a plurality of face parts such as hair, eyes, nose, and mouth are provided for each part. And a storage unit that stores the pattern in association with the feature information in the montage expression, and the feature information in the montage expression including the pattern to be preferentially selected when the pattern of each part is selected from the storage unit. Based on the priority condition setting means and the setting content of the priority condition setting means, a first candidate pattern for at least a part of the parts is selected, and a montage image of the selected pattern is displayed on the screen as an initial image. In a montage creating apparatus including initial image display means, initial image change instruction means for instructing a change of an initial image, and the initial image change When the change of the initial image is instructed by the indicating means, a pattern as a next candidate satisfying the setting condition of the priority condition setting means is reselected for the at least some parts, and the initial image on the screen is selected. An initial image changing means for changing the montage image of the next candidate by the redone pattern is included.

According to this montage creating apparatus, when the characteristic information of a certain type of face is set by the priority condition setting means, the initial image display means makes the setting contents based on the setting contents.
The first candidate pattern for at least some of the parts is selected and the face as the initial image is displayed. At this time,
If the image of the initial image is different, the initial image change instruction means gives an instruction to change the initial image. Then, the initial image changing unit reselects the pattern as the next candidate satisfying the setting condition of the priority condition setting unit for at least some of the parts, and changes the initial image by the next candidate.
After displaying the initial image closest to the image in this way, it is necessary to change the individual parts. As a result, it becomes possible to select the initial image with some flexibility, and it becomes possible to quickly create a montage image that matches one's own image.

Here, in this montage creating apparatus, the initial image change instructing means can be instructed to return to the initial image displayed immediately before, and an instruction to return to the immediately previous display is instructed. At this time, it is more preferable to include initial image returning means for returning to the immediately preceding montage image.

Since whether or not the image is the closest to the image is relative, it is possible to immediately return not only to the next candidate but also to the previous candidate, whereby the operability is further improved. As described above, according to the montage creating apparatus of the present invention, not only the feature information for preferentially selecting each part can be set, but also the initial image itself can be selected to some extent flexibly, so Compared with the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-338877, which only determines the priority order, the start condition for creating a montage can be easily brought closer to one's own image, and the operability is remarkably high. As a result, even an unskilled person can quickly reach a target montage image.

From the examples, the above technical idea can be understood. [Example 6] As a montage creating apparatus capable of selecting a pattern without dividing the image of the operator, a storage unit that stores a plurality of patterns for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, and mouth, In the montage creating device, comprising: selecting means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the storage means; and montage image displaying means for displaying a montage image on the screen based on the selected pattern, wherein the selecting means is , An arbitrary point designating means for designating an arbitrary point on the screen displaying the montage image, and a correspondence relationship between the point designated by the arbitrary point designating means and the display position of each part constituting the montage image. A part discriminating means for discriminating a part corresponding to the designated point, and a part discriminated by the part discriminating means. For it, it contains those characterized in that a selection start means for the selection of the pattern state capable of starting from the storage means.

According to this montage creating apparatus, when an arbitrary point on the screen is designated by the arbitrary point designating means, the parts are based on the correspondence between the designated point and the display position of each part constituting the montage image. The discriminating means discriminates the part corresponding to the designated point. Then, the selection initiation means sets a state in which the selection of the pattern can be started from the storage means for the part based on the result of the part determination.

Therefore, the operator can specify the part whose pattern should be changed without shifting the line of sight from the screen, and can select the optimum pattern without dividing the image. Furthermore, as a montage creating device that allows relative comparison when selecting patterns, in the above montage creating device, the selection initiation means displays a list of patterns of parts that can start selecting patterns as an image. List display means, second arbitrary point designation means for designating an arbitrary point on the image displayed by the list display means, and points designated by the second arbitrary point designation means are displayed in a list. A pattern discriminating means for discriminating a pattern corresponding to the designated point based on the correspondence with the display position of each pattern, and changing the display of the montage image based on the pattern discriminated by the pattern discriminating means. And a pattern changing unit.

According to this montage creating apparatus, with respect to the parts for which the pattern selection can be started by designating an arbitrary point on the screen, the patterns belonging to the parts are displayed as a list as an image. Then, by designating an arbitrary point on this image, based on the correspondence relationship between the designated point and the display position of each pattern displayed in a list, the pattern corresponding to the designated point is determined, Change the display of montage images.

As a result, the operator can select the optimum one while comparing the patterns with each other as an image, and can easily select a pattern closer to his or her preference. These are also technical ideas that can be understood from the examples. [Exemplary Example 7] From Example, at least these Exemplary Examples 1 to
Although the technical idea of Exemplified Example 6 can be grasped, it is clear from the fact that the technical ideas of Exemplified Examples 1 to 6 are further combined arbitrarily, and it is clear from the fact that they are summarized as one embodiment. Of course, all of them are included.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, the occupied area of parts and the part frame may be represented by a circle instead of a rectangle. However, it can be carried out in various modes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a montage device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of outline data according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a face reference style according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a change in image in each reference style in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an initial screen when an application program is started in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a main routine in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a main routine in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of montage drawing processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a montage drawing process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the progress of bitmap data conversion of the entire face in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing the progress of bit map data conversion for only the eyes in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an initial setting changing process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an initial setting changing process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an initial setting screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an initial setting screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a style selection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a part selection process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a part selection process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart of a part selection process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during a parts selection process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a part size changing process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during the part size changing process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a left-right interlocking mode setting process in the embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of a pattern selection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of a process at the time of a single click during the pattern selection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart of a process at the time of double-clicking during the pattern selection process in the embodiment.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during pattern selection processing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart of a parts moving process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during the parts movement process in the embodiment.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during the parts movement process in the embodiment.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram of a screen during the parts moving process in the embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart of an output image drawing process in the embodiment.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart of enlargement / reduction processing in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ... Montage creating device, 3 ... Keyboard,
3L ... Left cursor key, 3NM ... Numeric key, 3
R ... right cursor key, 3S ... Shift key, 3
U: Up cursor key, 3D: Down cursor key,
3X ... Left / right interlocking key, 3Y ... OK key, 3Z
..Cancel key, 5 ... Mouse, 7 ... Display, 9 ... Personal computer, 10 ...
Drawing area screen, 20 ... Operation area screen, 21 ... Sample display field, 22 ... Style selection display field, 23 ...
..Parts display column, 24 ... Pattern value display column,
25 ... right / left interlocking instruction field, 26 ... OK field, 27 ...
..Cancel column, 28 ... Initial setting column, 30 ...
Initial setting screen, 31 ... Reference example setting field, 32 ... Hairstyle setting field, 33 ... Face contour setting field, 34 ... Eyebrow setting field, 35 ... Eye setting field, 36 ...・ OK column, 37
... Cancel column, 38 ... Style selection display column,
40 ... Pattern list, PAh, PAf, ...
Area occupied by parts, PFeyeL ... Parts frame.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G06T 3/40 G06F 15/62 465 K 15/66 355 E 9061-5H 15/70 455 B

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a plurality of patterns for each part of the face such as hair, eyes, nose, mouth, etc., and an occupied area determination means for defining an occupied area of each part on the screen, said storage. Selecting means for selecting a desired pattern of a desired part from the means, and display size determining means for deciding the display size of the pattern so that the pattern of the selected part fits in the area occupied by the part in a predetermined state. And a pattern display unit for displaying a pattern in the occupied area defined for the part with the determined display size. 2. The montage creating device according to claim 1, wherein the occupation area determining means includes face area-specific occupation area defining means that presets a balance of the occupation areas of the parts according to the face type. A montage making device. 3. The montage creating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an occupancy area position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the occupying area of the part on the screen. 4. The montage creating device according to claim 1, further comprising an occupied area size adjusting means for adjusting the size of the occupied area of the part on the screen. Montage making device. 5. The montage creating device according to claim 1, wherein a pattern of each part is stored as outline data in the storage unit, and the display size determining unit is selected. A montage making device, characterized in that the pattern size of the parts is determined so that the display size is determined so that the pattern can fit in the occupied area in a predetermined state in the state of outline data.