SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR TRANSFORMING TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES INTO THREE-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES

• US 20110050864A1
• Filed: 09/01/2010
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prime Focus Creative Services Canada Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Prime Focus Vfx Services II Inc.
• Inventors: Bond, Chris
• Granted Patent: US 8,922,628 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/579 from motion
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/261 with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/395 with depth sampling, i.e. the volume being constructed from a stack or sequence of 2D image planes

Abstract

A system and process is provided for the conversion of a stream of two-dimensional images into a pair of streams of images for providing the perception of a stream of three-dimensional images. Each complimentary image in the image stream undergoes the application of a selection and remapping process to independently alter portions of the image, so that the remappings shift the image elements in a manner which produces a stereo depth effect when the images are viewed through the appropriate viewing device.

Claims

1. A process for creating a perception of a three-dimensional image from a two-dimensional image, comprising:

displacing a portion of a working image by distortion of the working image to create a modified working image, a magnitude of the displacement being relative to a perceived depth of the portion, the distortion operating to interpolate image information over a range of the displacement; and

replacing a selected image in a stereo pair of images with the modified working image.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying on a video display the modified working image as part of the pair of stereo images.

3. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

creating an image mask associated with characteristics of the working image and associated with at least a portion of the working image; and

assigning a depth value to each pixel location of the working image that is associated with the image mask, the depth value being chosen from a specified range of values,

wherein the magnitude of the displacement being relative to a perceived depth of the portion includes a maximum magnitude of displacement being assigned to each pixel location having a first selected depth value and a minimum magnitude of displacement being assigned to each pixel location having a second selected depth value and an intermediate magnitude of displacement being assigned to a pixel location having a third selected depth value, the third selected depth value selected from a range between the first and second depth values.

4. The process of claim 3, further comprising:

creating a boundary on at least one part of the image mask so as to preclude assigning the depth values to non-selected pixel locations outside the boundary.

5. The process of claim 3, wherein assigning a depth value to each pixel location of the working image includes assigning the depth value to each pixel location of the image mask and then applying the image mask to the working image to assign each depth value to a corresponding pixel location in the working image to displace the portion of the working image.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein creating an image mask associated with characteristics of the working image includes:

selecting an image characteristic from a group consisting of hue, luminance, saturation, and color; and

generating an image representation of a weighted distribution of the image characteristic in the working image,

wherein the depth values are assigned to each pixel location in accordance with the weighted distribution.

7. The process of claim 5, further comprising:

comparing a portion of an image feature present in the working image with a portion of the image mask and a selected range of depth values; and

changing the depth value at a selected pixel of the image mask based on a location of the selected pixel relative to the image feature.

8. The process of claim 5, further comprising:

applying the image mask to a second image to assign each depth value to a corresponding pixel location in the second image;

displacing by distortion of the second image a portion of the second image in a direction opposite the displacement of the working image; and

replacing a selected image in a stereo pair of images with the second image.

9. The process of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a second image associated with the working image;

displacing a portion of the second image by a distortion of the second image to create a modified second image, a magnitude of the displacement of the second image being relative to a perceived depth of the portion of the second image, the distortion of the second image operating to interpolate image information over a range of the displacement of the second image; and

replacing the second image in a stereo pair of images with the modified second image.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein the perception of the three-dimensional image is created when the modified working image and the modified second image are viewed as a pair of stereo images through a stereoscopic viewing device.

11. The process of claim 9, wherein the displacement of the second image is in a direction opposite the displacement of the working image.

12. The process of claim 11, wherein the magnitude of the displacement of the second image is substantially equal to the magnitude of the displacement of the working image.

13. A system for creating a perception of a three-dimensional image from a two-dimensional digitized image, comprising:

a video monitor configured to display a stereo pair of images in response to a video signal;

an input device configured to generate input signals, and configured to select a working image from a group of images, and configured to select characteristics of the working image;

a control configured to generate control signals, and configured to assign a value to a characteristic selected by the input device; and

a processor in operable communication with the monitor, the input device and the control, the processor configured to displace a portion of the working image by distortion of the working image to create a modified working image, a magnitude of the displacement being relative to a value received by the control, the distortion operating to interpolate image information over a range of the displacement, the processor, in response to a first input signal, further configured to replace a selected image in a stereo pair of images with the modified working image,

wherein the video monitor, in response to a second input signal, displays the modified working image as part of the stereo pair of images.

14. A system of claim 13, further comprising:

the processor further configured to create an image mask associated with characteristics of the working image and associated with at least a portion of the working image in response to a second input signal, and to

assign a depth value to each pixel location of the working image that is associated with the image mask, the depth value being chosen from a specified range of values,

wherein the magnitude of the displacement being relative to a value received by the control includes a control value received by the control multiplied by a scaling factor determinable at each pixel location according to the depth value assigned to each pixel location.

15. A system of claim 14, further comprising:

the processor further configured to, in response to a second input signal, apply the image mask to a second image to assign each depth value to a corresponding pixel location in the second image;

the processor further configured to displace in a direction opposite the displacement of the working image a portion of the second image by distortion of the second image; and

the processor further configured to replace a selected image in a stereo pair of images with the second image.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

the processor being further configured, on receiving a command from the input device, to distort at least part of a selected image from the stereo pair of images by applying a distortion to the selected image.

17. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

the processor being further configured, on receiving a command from the input device, to remove a distortion from at least part of a selected image from the stereo pair of images by applying a distortion to the selected image.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured, on receiving first commands from the input device, to select a first and second portion of the working image as candidates for displacement, and to assign the first and second portions to first and second controls, wherein the first control is operational to displace the first portion and the second control is operational to displace the second portion.

19. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a stereoscopic viewing device; and

an image storage for storing an image stream of multiple working images,

wherein the processor is configured to, in response to a second input signal, receive the image stream from the storage and display the image stream on the video monitor to generate the perception of a three-dimensional motion picture when viewed through the stereoscopic viewing device.

20. A process for generating a three-dimensional media from a two-dimensional media, comprising:

creating an image mask of pixel locations associated with characteristics of a working image and associated with at least a portion of the working image; and

assigning a depth value to each pixel location of the image mask;

applying the image mask to the working image to assign each of the depth values to a corresponding pixel location in the working image,

assigning a maximum magnitude of displacement to a pixel location having a first selected depth value;

assigning a minimum magnitude of displacement to a pixel location having a second selected depth value;

assigning an intermediate magnitude of displacement being to a pixel location having a third selected depth value, the third selected depth value selected from a range between the first and second depth values;

displacing a portion of a working image by distortion of the working image in accordance with the assigned depth values and maximum, minimum, and intermediate magnitudes to create a modified working image, the distortion operating to interpolate image information over a range of the displacement;

replacing a selected image in a stereo pair of images with the modified working image; and

displaying on a video display the modified working image as part of the pair of stereo images.

21. A process for generating a three-dimensional media from a two-dimensional media, comprising:

providing a working image selected from a stereo image pair of images consisting of a left eye image and a right eye image;

assigning a depth selection value to each pixel location of the working image in a group of pixels associated with a portion of the working image, the depth selection value being chosen from a specified range of values;

displacing each pixel at each pixel location having a depth selection value in accordance with a vector, a magnitude of the vector being determined by the depth selection value, to create a modified working image; and

replacing the working image with the modified working image.