Method and apparatus for generating image

• US 5,611,037 A
• Filed: 03/16/1995
• Issued: 03/11/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Hayashi, Tetsuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Jankus, Almis R.
• Application Number:
  US08/405,521
• Time in Patent Office: 726 Days
• Field of Search: 395/142, 395/118, 395/129, 395/133-135, 395/141, 395/125, 395/155, 395/159-161, 395/131, 348/584, 382/276
• US Class Current: 345/442
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation

Abstract

A stored plurality of closed curved line data define a plurality of closed curved lines that represent parts of a face image. From the stored data, all coordinates of the closed curved lines on a raster grid plane are computed. A stored plurality of color data each designate a color of a different one of the image objects surrounded by the closed curved lines. Each coordinate on the plane is painted with a color designated by the stored color data of the image object having the highest priority in the image objects that include the coordinate, thus making a colored face image. The face expression of the image may be changed by transforming the closed curved lines with stored transforming data. An animation of an image sequence with a continuously changing face expression may be made by successively transforming the closed curved lines with a stored sequence of transforming data. Bit map data may be applied to represent part of the face image.

Claims

1. A method for generating an image, comprising the steps of:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines;

(C) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(D) designating an area on said predetermined plane including said computed coordinates, and transforming said computed coordinates included in said designated area based on transforming data;

(E) determining a color of coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates according to said stored color data corresponding to said closed curved line, and determining a color of coordinates of an overlapped area in common with a plurality of areas enclosed by a plurality of overlapping curved lines, by selecting said stored color data corresponding to one of said overlapping closed curved lines; and

(F) painting coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates, and coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of said closed curved line with said determined color.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step (D) comprises the steps of:

providing a plurality of area designating data and a plurality of transforming data;

selecting one of said plurality of area designating data and one of said plurality of transforming data; and

designating an area on said predetermined plane according to said selected area designating data, and transforming said computed coordinates of a closed curved line included in said designated area according to said selected transforming data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said designated area defines a rectangle area which is divided into a plurality of triangles, and wherein said step (D) involves transforming coordinates of a closed line included in said rectangle area by transforming each of said triangles from a first triangle to a second triangle.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said first triangle is a right triangle.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein vertexes of said right triangle before transforming are represented by coordinates (T1x, T1y), (T2x, T2y) and (T3x, T3y), an internal point of said right triangle before transforming is represented by coordinates (Px, Py) and said vertexes after transforming are represented by coordinates (T1'"'"'x, T1'"'"'y), (T2'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y) and (T3'"'"'x, T3'"'"'y) whereas said internal point after transforming is represented by coordinates (P'"'"'x, P'"'"'y) in which

6. The method of claim 4 wherein vertexes of said right triangle before transforming are represented by coordinates (T1x, T1y), (T2x, T2y) and (T3x, T3y), an internal point of said right triangle before transforming is represented by coordinates (Px, Py) and said vertexes after transforming are represented by coordinates (T1'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y), (T2'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y) and (T3x, T3y) whereas said internal point after transforming is represented by coordinates (P'"'"'x, P'"'"'y) in which

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of closed curved lines represent parts of a face image.

8. An apparatus for generating an image, comprising:

storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define s plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said closed curved line data stored in said storage means to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

transforming means for designating an area on said predetermined plane including said computed coordinates and for transforming said computed coordinates included in said designated area based on transforming data;

overlap determining means for determining whether an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates is overlapped with an area enclosed by coordinates of a different closed curved line or lines; and

painting means for painting coordinates of an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates such that those coordinates of an area which is not found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to said closed curved line whereas those coordinates of an area which is found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to one of overlapping closed curved lines.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising display means for displaying said plurality of closed curved lines painted by said painting means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said display means includes means for displaying said designated area.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising printing means for printing said plurality of closed curved lines painted by said painting means.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said transforming means comprises:

means for storing area designating data and transforming data; and

means for designating an area on said predetermined plane based on said stored area designating data and for transforming coordinates of a closed curved line included in said designated area based on said stored transforming data.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said transforming means comprises:

means for storing a plurality of area designating data and a plurality of transforming data; and

means for selecting one of said stored plurality of area designating data to thereby designate an area, for selecting one of said stored plurality of transforming data and for transforming coordinates of a closed curved line included in said designated area based on said selected transforming data.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said designated area is defined by a rectangle area which is divided into a plurality of triangles, and wherein said transforming means comprises means for transforming coordinates of a closed line included in said rectangle area by transforming each of said triangles from a first triangle to a second triangle.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said first triangle is defined by a right triangle.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein vertexes of said right triangle before transforming are represented by coordinates (T1x, T1y), (T2x, T2y) and (T3x, T3y), an internal point of said right triangle before transforming is represented by coordinates (Px, Py) and vertexes after transforming are represented by coordinates (T1'"'"'x, T1'"'"'y), (T2'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y) and (T3x, T3y) whereas said internal point after transforming is represented by coordinates (P'"'"'x, P'"'"'y) in which:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P'"'"'x=(T1x'"'"'/T1x)Px+{(T2'"'"'x-T1'"'"'x)/T2y}Py, and

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">P'"'"'y=(T1y'"'"'/T1x)Px+{(T2'"'"'y-T1'"'"'y)/T2y}Py.

17.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein vertexes of said right triangle before transforming are represented by coordinates (T1x, T1y), (T2x, T2y) and (T3x, T3y), an internal point of said right triangle before transforming is represented by coordinates (Px, Py) and said vertexes after transforming are represented by coordinates (T1'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y), (T2'"'"'x, T2'"'"'y) and (T3x, T3y) whereas said internal point after transforming is represented by coordinates (P'"'"'x, P'"'"'y) in which

18. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said plurality of closed curved lines represent parts of a face image.

19. A method for generating an image, comprising the steps of:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines;

(C) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(D) successively providing a plurality of transformation data;

(E) transforming said computed coordinates of a closed curved line included in an area on said predetermined plane based on said successively provided transformation data;

(F) determining a color of coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates according to said stored color data corresponding to said closed curved line, and determining a color of coordinates of an overlapped area in common with a plurality of areas enclosed by a plurality of overlapping closed curved lines by selecting said stored color data corresponding to one of said overlapping closed curved lines; and

(G) painting coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates, and coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of said closed curved line with said determined color.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said step (D) comprises the steps of:

providing a plurality of sequence data each constructed by a plurality of transformation data;

selecting one of said plurality of sequence data; and

successively providing a plurality of transformation data constructing said selected sequence data.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein said step (D) comprises the steps of:

providing a plurality of short sequence data each constructed by a limited number of transformation data;

selecting and combining a plurality of said short sequence data to thereby make sequence data; and

successively providing a plurality of said transformation data constructing said made sequence data.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein said plurality of closed curved lines represent parts of a face image.

23. An apparatus for generating an image, comprising:

storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of curved lines;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said closed curved line data stored in said storage means to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

transformation data providing means for successively providing s plurality of transformation data;

transforming means for transforming said computed coordinates of a closed line included in an area on said predetermined plane based on said successively provided transformation data;

overlap determining means for determining whether an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates is overlapped with an area enclosed by coordinates of a different closed curved line or lines; and

painting means for painting coordinates of an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates such that those coordinates of an area which is not found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to said closed curved line whereas those coordinates of an area which is found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to one of overlapping closed curved lines.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said transformation data providing means comprises:

means for storing a plurality of sequence data each constructed by a plurality of transformation data;

means for selecting one of said plurality of sequence data; and

means for successively reading out a plurality of transformation data constructing said selected sequence data.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said transformation data providing means comprises:

means for storing a plurality of short sequence data each constructed by a limited number of transformation data;

means for selecting and combining a plurality of said short sequence data to thereby make sequence data; and

means for successively providing a plurality of transformation data constructing said made sequence data.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said plurality of closed curved lines represent parts of a face image.

27. A method for generating an image, comprising the steps of:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines;

(C) storing all coordinates of an image object on said predetermined plane, said coordinates referred to as dot coordinates, and storing color data each assigned to a different one of said dot coordinates;

(D) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(E) determining color of each coordinate on said predetermined plane such that (a) if the coordinate is included in an area enclosed by one of said drawn closed curved lines and locates outside of an area enclosed by any other of said drawn closed curved lines and outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to said one of said drawn closed curved lines, (b) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and locates outside of an area enclosed by any of said drawn closed curved lines, color thereof is determined by stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates, (c) if the coordinate is included in an overlapped area in common with a plurality of said drawn closed curved lines, referred to as overlapping closed curved lines, and locates outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to a selected one of said overlapping closed curved lines, and (d) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and is included in an area enclosed by at least one of said drawn closed curved line, referred to as overlapping closed curved line(s), color thereof is determined by a one selected from among stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates and stored color data corresponding to said overlapping closed curved line(s); and

(F) painting each coordinate on said predetermined plane with said determined color.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said plurality of closed curves represent parts of a face image.

29. An apparatus for generating an image comprising:

first storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines;

second storage means for storing all coordinates of an image object on said predetermined plane, said coordinates referred to as dot coordinates and for storing color data each assigned to a different one of said dot coordinates;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

color determining means for determining color of each coordinate on said predetermined plane such that (a) if the coordinate is included in an area enclosed by one of said drawn closed curved lines and locates outside of an area enclosed by any other of said drawn closed curved lines and outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to said one of said drawn closed curved lines, (b) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and locates outside of an area enclosed by any of said drawn closed curved lines, color thereof is determined by stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates, (c) if the coordinate is included in an overlapped area in common with a plurality of said drawn closed curved lines, referred to as overlapping closed curved lines, and locates outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to a selected one of said overlapping closed curved lines, and (d) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and is included in an area enclosed by at least one of said drawn closed curved line, referred to as overlapping closed curved line(s), color thereof is determined by a one selected from among stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates and stored color data corresponding to said overlapping closed curved line(s); and

painting means for painting each coordinate on said predetermined plane with said determined color.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein said plurality of closed line curves represent parts of a face image.

31. A method for generating a face image, comprising the steps of:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

(C) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(D) designating an area on said predetermined plane including said computed coordinates, and transforming said computed coordinates included in said designated area based on transforming data;

(E) determining a color of coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates according to said stored color data corresponding to said closed curved line, and determining a color of coordinates of an overlapped area in common with a plurality of areas enclosed by a plurality of overlapping curved lines, by selecting said stored color data corresponding to one of said overlapping closed curved lines; and

(F) painting coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates, and coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of said closed curved line with said determined color.

32. An apparatus for generating a face image, comprising:

storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said closed curved line data stored in said storage means to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

transforming means for designating an area on said predetermined plane including said computed coordinates and for transforming said computed coordinates included in said designated area based on transforming data;

overlap determining means for determining whether an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates is overlapped with an area enclosed by coordinates of a different closed curved line or lines; and

painting means for painting coordinates of an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates such that those coordinates of an area which is not found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to said closed curved line whereas those coordinates of an area which is found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to one of overlapping closed curved lines.

33. A method for generating a face image, comprising:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

(C) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(D) successively providing a plurality of transformation data;

(E) transforming said computed coordinates of a closed curved line included in an area on said predetermined plane based on said successively provided transformation data;

(F) determining a color of coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates according to said stored color data corresponding to said closed curved line, and determining a color of coordinates of an overlapped area in common with a plurality of areas enclosed by a plurality of overlapping closed curved lines by selecting said stored color data corresponding to one of said overlapping closed curved lines; and

(G) painting coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates, and coordinates of an area enclosed by said coordinates of said closed curved line with said determined color.

34. An apparatus for generating a face image, comprising:

storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said closed curved line data stored in said storage means to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

transformation data providing means for successively providing a plurality of transformation data;

transforming means for transforming said computed coordinates of a closed line included in an area on said predetermined plane based on said successively provided transformation data;

overlap determining means for determining whether an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates is overlapped with an area enclosed by coordinates of a different closed curved line or lines; and

painting means for painting coordinates of an area enclosed by coordinates of a closed curved line including said transformed coordinates such that those coordinates of an area which is not found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to said closed curved line whereas those coordinates of an area which is found to be overlapped by said overlap determining means are painted with color data stored in said storage means and corresponding to one of overlapping closed curved lines.

35. A method for generating a face image, comprising the steps of:

(A) storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image;

(B) storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

(C) storing all coordinates of an image object on said predetermined plane, said coordinates referred to as dot coordinates, and storing color data each assigned to a different one of said dot coordinates;

(D) computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

(E) determining color of each coordinate on said predetermined plane such that (a) if the coordinate is included in an area enclosed by one of said drawn closed curved lines and locates outside of an area enclosed by any other of said drawn closed curved lines and outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to said one of said drawn closed curved lines, (b) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and locates outside of an area enclosed by any of said drawn closed curved lines, color thereof is determined by stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates, (c) if the coordinate is included in an overlapped area in common with a plurality of said drawn closed curved lines, referred to as overlapping closed curved lines, and locates outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to a selected one of said overlapping closed curved lines, and (d) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and is included in an area enclosed by at least one of said drawn closed curved line, referred to as overlapping closed curved line(s), color thereof is determined by a one selected from among stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates and stored color data corresponding to said overlapping closed curved line(s); and

(F) painting each coordinate on said predetermined plane with said determined color.

36. An apparatus for generating a face image comprising:

first storage means for storing a plurality of closed curved line data which define a plurality of closed curved lines on a predetermined plane each representing a part of the face image and for storing a plurality of color data each corresponding to a different one of said plurality of closed curved lines and representing a color of a corresponding part of the face image;

second storage means for storing all coordinates of an image object on said predetermined plane, said coordinates referred to as dot coordinates and for storing color data each assigned to a different one of said dot coordinates;

drawing means for computing coordinates of each closed curved line on said predetermined plane based on said stored closed curved line data to thereby draw said plurality of closed curved lines;

color determining means for determining color of each coordinate on said predetermined plane such that (a) if the coordinate is included in an area enclosed by one of said drawn closed curved lines and locates outside of an area enclosed by any other of said drawn closed curved lines and outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to said one of said drawn closed curved lines, (b) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and locates outside of an area enclosed by any of said drawn closed curved lines, color thereof is determined by stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates, (c) if the coordinate is included in an overlapped area in common with a plurality of said drawn closed curved lines, referred to as overlapping closed curved lines, and locates outside of said image object, color thereof is determined by stored color data corresponding to a selected one of said overlapping closed curved lines, and (d) if the coordinate is one of said dot coordinates and is included in an area enclosed by at least one of said drawn closed curved line, referred to as overlapping closed curved line(s), color thereof is determined by a one selected from among stored color data assigned to said one of said dot coordinates and stored color data corresponding to said overlapping closed curved line(s); and

painting means for painting each coordinate on said predetermined plane with said determined color.