WO2011050809A1

WO2011050809A1 - Method for creating a 3d presentation

Info

Publication number: WO2011050809A1
Application number: PCT/DK2010/050286
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anne Steen; Janne Damborg
Original assignee: Worth Keeping Aps
Priority date: 2009-10-27
Filing date: 2010-10-27
Publication date: 2011-05-05
Also published as: EP2494785A1

Abstract

Method of creating a three dimensional presentation presented in a flat shape, from a two dimensional presentation, comprising the following steps: -acquiring a presentation in the shape of a drawing, picture or the like, where the presentation has an extend in a first plane defining X and Y axis; -digitizing the presentation; -digitally isolating different items in the presentation; -digitally defining a plurality of areas of each item; -digitally arranging each area in separate planes parallel to the first plane, but at different depths along a Z axis, said Z axis being orthogonal to said first plane; -optionally adjusting the color of each area; -printing or reproducing the multi-plane presentation; -arranging a transparent layer onto the printed presentation, or printing the presentation directly onto a transparent layer, where said transparent layer com- prises a plurality of lenticular lenses.

Description

Method for creating a 3D presentation

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to generally to a method for manipulating one or more 2D image(s) into a 3D image. In particular the invention relates generally to the production of three-dimensional (3-D) lenticular images using a single lenticular lens sheet.

Background of the Invention

Lenticular images provide the user with an illusory effect of movement and three dimensional depth in an image. The effect is created by a combination of lenticular lenses (a series of lenticules), formed as a sheet, and an underlying lenticular image. The lenticular image is typically a computer generated segmented image. The segmented image can be a series of images that are stripped and interlaced. A viewer looks through the lenticular lens sheet and an image is assembled from the segmented interlaced images thus constructing a single image which has depth and/or appears to move depending on the visual angle. The lenticules may be a variety of shapes such as, cylindrical, pyramidal, trapezoidal or parabolic. Lenticular lens sheets are generally well known and commercially available.

A lenticular image is generated through the use of two components, a printed interlaced image and a lenticular lens screen through which the image is viewed. The first step is to prepare two or more images and then use a program to interlace them. Since a lenticular image displays one image after another as the angle of view is changed, the lenticular image may be used to create animations much like an old fashioned flipbook.

This technology is known from US2009/0168165, which is especially directed to enhancement of lenticular images used as full (but very short) video representations. Conventionally, an interlacing software program is used to take selected images and cut them into very narrow strips. The interlacing software then interlaces these strips like a perfectly shuffled deck of cards. For example, if two flips are being created, the first band is a strip from image 1, the second band is a strip from image 2, the third from image 1, and so on. The interlacing software is used to save the interlaced image in a file ready for printing.

The second step is mounting a printed interlaced image behind the lenticular lens screen or more preferably printing the interlaced image directly onto the lenticular lens screen. The lenticular lens screen is conventionally a sheet of plastic on which a series of cylindrical lenses are molded in parallel rib-like rows. Each of these lenses is called len- ticules. Each lenticule typically has a focal length equal to the thickness of the clear plastic sheet on which it is molded. Each lenticule magnifies a very narrow strip of the image placed behind it. If you change your angle of view, the strip that is being magnified also changes. Because people have two eyes that each view objects, including lenticular cards, at slightly different angles (often referred to as parallax), a 3-D image may be created using a lenticular lens screen. Three-dimensional images are conventionally created by taking pictures of the same object or scene from different angles. When the images are interlaced, and mounted to a lenticular lens screen, one eye sees one image and the second eye sees a second image which was taken at a different angle, thus the image will appear to have 3-D depth. Alternatively, a series of images may be created by computer generating apparent different angles through computer processes, or by using images from a 3-D graphics computer model which may be rotated on a display. The images are then captured in a sequential manner, and interlaced.

Conventionally, to produce 3-D lenticular image effects, a lenticular lens sheet having lenticules with a relatively narrow viewing angle is used. Although, it may be possible to use lenticular lens sheets with moderate and wide viewing angles, the 3-D image effect will be less effective and may lack a sense of depth.

A limitation of 3-D lenticular images which are produced using a narrow angle lenticular lens sheet is that the 3-D image may be viewed over a relatively small viewing angle while providing a good depth effect. Accordingly there is also a need for a system and method of producing 3-D lenticular image displays having a relatively wide viewing angle while retaining a good 3-D depth effect.

Furthermore traditional 3D lenticular images, although displaying the image in 3D do not provide a natural and "a close to real" experience. There is therefore a need to provide more close to real images.

Description of the Invention

The invention addresses the above-mentioned needs by providing a method of creating a three-dimensional representation presented in a flat shape, from a two dimensional presentation, comprising the following steps:

acquiring a presentation in the shape of a drawing, picture or the like, where the presentation has an extend in a first plane defining X and Y axis;

digitizing the presentation;

digitally isolating different items in the presentation;

- digitally defining a plurality of areas of each item;

digitally arranging each area in separate planes parallel to the first plane, but at different depths along a Z axis, said Z axis being orthogonal to said first plane; optionally adjusting the color of each area;

printing or reproducing the multi-plane presentation;

- arranging a transparent layer onto the printed presentation, or printing the presentation directly onto a transparent layer, where said transparent layer comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses.

The step of subdividing each item into a plurality of areas where the areas are arranged depth-wise in appropriate distances to each other the depth and thereby the 3D illusion is further enhanced. The areas are furthermore provided with different focus such that depending on which item the viewer is looking at the more or less in focus area will provide for extra depth for that specific item of the overall presentation. In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the presentation is divided into between 20 and 90 different separate planes, each separate plane containing at least one specific area. By dividing into so many separate planes it becomes possible to manipulate the presentation in combination with adjusting colors and focus to such an extent that the 3D- effect may be further enhanced. For example layers may overlap each other and be made from different parts of the original two-dimensional presentation such that it may appear from one viewing angle that one item is behind another item whereas when viewed from another viewing angle the opposite may be the case. By creating graduation between the layers by manipulating each item and each area of each item by adjusting the color and the focus it becomes possible to provide the illusion that it is possible to look in between objects in the presentation. For example, if the presentation illustrates two or three animals positioned in various planes and layers, it appears as if it is possible to look in behind one or two of the animals placed in front of the rearmost animal. In the same manner, by arranging the background and providing it out of focus, the foreground will appear to be more in focus, but still not completely in focus such that the depth- feeling to the viewer is exaggerated. Typically leaves or other objects will be placed in the foreground, but out of focus. Just as looking at a real view focusing the eyes on an object a short distance away, the items in the foreground (a window- frame or the like) will be out of focus, as will the background, whereas the eyes has focused on the desired object. This may further be enhanced by arranging certain ob- jects, especially in the middle part (depth-wise) of the presentation to be almost or really in focus whereby the creation of a relatively deep image is provided By further overlapping objects in different layers, this illusion is further enhanced.

In a further advantageous embodiment each specific area is color adjusted relative to adjacent areas both in the same plane and in relative displaced planes.

With this feature it becomes possible to enhance shadows and sunlight in order to further create the illusion that the flat object is a real 3D presentation. This in combination with the in or out of focus of each area of each object provides tools for adjusting the depth of the presentation.

In this connection it is also important to realize that the various objects presented in the presentation will be placed more or less to the right-hand side or left-hand side of the presentation in accordance with the desired relative depth-perception of the item to the viewer. In this manner it becomes possible to for example place an item a little bit to the right relative to an object being further back in the picture which should be placed a little bit to the left such that the over-all depth-perception of the image is further en- hanced.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention the transparent layer comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses, where the lenses are arranged in lines and between 10 and 150 lens lines per inch.

The overall degree of sharpness of the presentation also depends on the number of the lenticular lenses provided on the surface of the presentation. By providing an appropriate number of lenes per inch it is possible to provide a presentation which to the viewer appears to be very lifelike. Having too few lpi may create a rather grainy and rough image where a slight movement of the plane of the presentation as such will make the objects in the presentation jump. This effect is caused by the viewer slightly tilting or deforming the presentation whereby from the viewer's point of view the object will be viewed through a neighboring lens, and during the transformation from one lense to the neighboring lens in the lenticular lenses arranged in lines on the presentation the light will break differently in the fringe areas of each particular lens such that a jump will be perceived by the viewer.

In a further advantageous embodiment the lenticular lens from the manufacturer has a predetermined depth in the Z axis direction, where when the design is manipulated in a software application the depth is extended by 30 %.

The effect of this manipulation whereby the depth is extended by 30% will be explained below with reference to the detailed example.

Description of the Drawing

Detailed description of the Invention

With reference to the figures the process of preparing a 3D presentation will now be explained with reference to an example illustrating a duckling swimming in a pond. Basically, the method comprises a number of steps. Firstly, one or more pictures are selected. For example with the duckling in figure 1 a number of pictures are used in order to compose the picture. For example the duckling on a water surface, the water droplets in the foreground, the background illustrating a hill on an island, the weeds behind the duckling, the weeds in the foreground and the bulrush in the right-hand foreground are all separate pictures. In order to obtain the correct depth in the picture it is important that each separate picture is taken in the right light and at the right angle. After having collected the pictures these are arranged in the desired design. Typi- cally a picture as depicted in figure 1 will contain 5-10 pictures.

After having selected the necessary pictures in order to create the presentation the pictures are divided into areas. In each area a further subdivision may be implemented as will be explained below.

Returning to the illustration of the duckling and the pond illustrated in figure 1, the approximately 10 pictures that were used from the beginning were split up into 26 areas, and additionally some of these areas were subdivided such that all in all there are 36 different layers/areas in the illustration.

As the pictures are split up into areas from which some of the areas are further subdivided, the next step in the process is to determine the relative position in the X-Y plane as well as the depth-wise relative position in the Z direction. In this connection X-Y plane is the width and height of the finished presentation whereas the Z plane is the depth-wise direction (as perceived by a viewer) orthogonal to the X-Y plane.

In figure 2 is illustrated the picture of figure 1 where the different items and areas of the presentation have been loaded into a software programme using the software programme's standard values relating to relative placement of objects in various layers depth-wise as well as placing of the objects in the X-Y plane. As is apparent from the picture it is very difficult to recognize the duckling on a pond as illustrated in figure 1. According to the invention the different parts of the presentation, i.e. the layers, objects and items, are arranged in a very particular relationship as is evident from the input to the system. In figure 2 the input indicated by the arrow 1 are the standard values which the system suggests. The presentation of the duckling on the pond created by assem- bling 10 different distinct pictures and separating these into areas as already explained above gives the result as illustrated in figure 2. However, by manipulating the presentation according to the present invention the picture illustrated in figure 1 is obtained. The values inserted in the system are illustrated in figure 1 indicated by the number 2 A further feature which is also important in order to obtain the exceptional sharpness and depth perception with the present invention is the fact that the displacement factor is approximately 30-40% higher than what is advised by the software as well as the lenticular lens manufacturer. According to the perception this would lead to less sharpness and fragmentation of the resulting picture. However, by arranging the areas of the different items according to strict rules followed by the invention it is possible against the advice of the lenticular lens manufacturer and the software instructions to increase the depth perception and the sharpness of the various items in the presentation. Therefore, in the example with the duckling in the pond the displacement should correctly have been inserted as 2.5, but is here set as 3.5 as indicated by the arrow 3 in figure 3.

In order to further enhance the sharpness, depth perception and 3D concept, items which have a three-dimensional shape have been split up into various areas where each area is positioned relative to adjacent areas such that the depth perception is enhanced. For example as illustrated with reference to figure 4 and 5 the head of the duckling has been split up into a number of areas such that the area in the foreground is the beak which traditionally has been given a lighter colour. The beak is placed at a layer depth in this instance equal to 55. The head part has been given a darker shade corresponding to the roundness of the head such that it will appear that the foremost part of the head is lighter than the rearmost part whereby when the entire area of the duckling's head including the beak is positioned in the presentation, the difference in colour will provide shadows and depth perception. The duckling's head or the various makings of the duckling's head will typically in this example be arranged in areas having relative depths between 45 and 55. In figure 5 is illustrated the chest of the duckling which also has been manipulated both with respect to colours, sharpness and relative depth of the various areas making up the chest of the duckling. In this instance the chest has been given darker colours along the side edges in order to enhance the part of the chest which has to be further back in the finished presentation. In this example the chest has been arranged in layers between 42 and 47. In order to achieve a coherent picture in the presentation as illustrated in figures 1 and 3 it is necessary for adjacent parts of the duckling to be placed more or less in exactly the same layers. With reference to figure 2 it is evident that some of the lay- ers are arranged in relative layers which do not result in an acceptable presentation.

In figure 6 is illustrated a cartoon comprising 19 apparently identical presentations of the duckling on the pond. However, the creative presentation described above has been split up into, in this example 19 frames, each representing a separate picture, for practi- cal purposes a tiff-file. In order to enhance the depth perception of the finished presentation items which are to "come out of the picture and move slightly to the right, whereas items which are to be perceived as further back in the presentation are moved slightly to the left. In order to create a fluid transformation between the items in this example it was decided to create 19 different frames which after the relative move- ments of the items, either right or left, have been carried out, will be assembled into a single presentation file which by means of an interlacing process create the finished presentation which is suitable to be printed onto the lenticular lens sheet.

When printing and interlacing it is important to calibrate the interlacing to that particular pitch which the lenticular lens has. Interlacing is a process where the various indi- vidual pictures of the 19 frames illustrated in figure 6 are digitally cut up and squeezed such that once they are assembled under the appropriate lens taking into account the pitch of the lens and the depth perception desired the file is ready to be printed on the lenticular lens. In practice, the lenticular lens has a principal backside, and it is therefore necessary to mirror image the presentation before it is printed on the lens.

The resulting presentation using the steps mentioned above results in a clearer, deeper and sharper presentation than what was possible before the present invention. The corner stones of the present invention are therefore the splitting up of the presentation of items into a number of areas and sub-areas in order to create the maximum depth. Furthermore, by pushing the material of the lenticular lens such that the depth factor is placed at 30-40% more than advised by the manufacturer in combination with shading and bringing parts of areas in or out of focus, extra depth perception without sacrificing sharpness and clearness is achieved. The illusion of distance in the presentation is created by on purpose making certain items depending on their position in the presentation out of focus in that the natural eye will when looking at the central object, for example the duckling, perceive the surroundings as out of focus. By designing the presentation in this manner a very lifelike and clear presentation is achieved. Therefore, in the foreground the closer an element is to the viewer having for example the layer value 100, the more blurred it should be. The layers making up the foreground of the picture can have various depth levels but should all be closer to the value 100. The depth values relates to the layers, items or areas relative positioning along a Z axis.

The middle part of the picture depth-wise will have areas varying between almost in focus, in focus and out of focus again, depending on their relative position relative to a median layer. This median layer positioned in layers having a value between 38 and 64 should look very crisp and sharp.

The background, however, should be constructed such that the further away an item or an area is placed, i.e. having values closer to zero, the more blurred it should appear. As was the case with both the foreground and the middle the background may also be split into several parallel layers in different levels in order to enhance the depth perception.

The invention has now been described with reference to an example depicting a duckling in a pond, but obviously the presentation may be of any object where it is desirable to depict it in a three-dimensional manner.

Claims

1. Method of creating a three dimensional presentation presented in a flat shape, from a two dimensional presentation, comprising the following steps:

- acquiring a presentation in the shape of a drawing, picture or the like, where the presentation has an extend in a first plane defining X and Y axis;

digitizing the presentation;

digitally isolating different items in the presentation;

digitally defining a plurality of areas of each item;

- digitally arranging each area in separate planes parallel to the first plane, but at different depths along a Z axis, said Z axis being orthogonal to said first plane; optionally adjusting the color of each area;

printing or reproducing the multi-plane presentation;

arranging a transparent layer onto the printed presentation, or printing the pres- entation directly onto a transparent layer, where said transparent layer comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses and

where one or more areas of the same item are intentionally more or less out of focus.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the presentation is divided into between 20 and 90 different separate planes, each separate plane containing at least one specific area.

3. Method according to claim 1 wherein each specific area is color adjusted relative to adjacent areas both in the same plane and in relative displaced planes.

4. Method according to claim 1 wherein the transparent layer comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses, where the lenses are arranged in lines and between 10-150 lens lines per inch (lpi).

5. Method according to claim 4 where the lenticular lens from the manufacturer has a predetermined depth in the Z axis direction, where when the design is manipulated in a software application the depth is extended by 30 %.

6. Three-dimensional presentation, comprising an interlaced presentation comprising between 20 and 90 layers, where each layer represents at least one item, where each item is constituted by a plurality of areas, where said areas digitally are arranged in different depths relative to a surface, and arranging a transparent layer onto the presentation, or printing the presentation directly onto a transparent layer, where said transparent layer comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses.