Storage medium storing animation image generating program

• US 7,477,253 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2003
• Issued: 01/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SEGA Corporation (SEGA Sammy Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Morishima, Shigeo, Nakamura, Kazunori, Kudoh, Hirokazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung; Kee M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hajnik; Daniel F
• Application Number:
  US10/441,194
• Publication Number:
  US 20040085320A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,065 Days
• Field of Search: 345/475
• US Class Current: 345/473
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/00 Animation
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/44 Morphing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/956 Language driven animation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/957 Actor

Abstract

An animation image generating program is provided which allows animation images to be readily generated by CG without complicated setups, and more particularly the animation image generating program is suited to generate a plurality of types of face animation images by CG. The animation image generating program includes the steps of controlling selection of specific vertices of a standard model and a user model, providing control such that first target vertices are associated with second target vertices where the first target vertices are the selected specific vertices of the standard model and the second target vertices are the selected specific vertices of the user model, providing control by arithmetic means such that coordinates of the first target vertices approximate to those of the second target vertices, to generate fitting information, and animating the user model based on animation data of the standard model and on the fitting information.

Claims

1. A machine implemented method of displaying an animation image of a user model using fitting information, said method comprising preparing an animation program which when executed, causes a processor to perform displaying an animation image of a standard model;

fitting the standard model to a user model by affine-transformation of three-dimensional coordinates at first target vertices of the standard model to three-dimensional coordinates at corresponding second target vertices of the user model to generate fitting information; and

executing the animation program prepared for the standard model, by using data of the standard model fitted to the user model based on the generated fitting information to display on a display device an animation image of the user model,

the step of fitting the standard model to the user model including;

specifying pairs of the first target vertices of the standard model and second target vertices of the user model;

dividing a distance between the first and second target vertices of each of the specified pairs into a predetermined number of divided distances;

gradually bringing coordinates of the first target vertices of the standard model closer to coordinates of the second target vertices of the user model by affine transformation of each of said divided distances individually;

casting a ray from a protruding vertex having a normal vector, of the standard model to the user model in the direction of the normal vector to set an intersection of the ray and the user model as a new vertex of the standard model; and

generating fitting information based on the first target vertices, of the standard model, brought closer to the specified second target vertices of the user model, including the new vertex of the standard model.

2. The method of displaying an animation image of a user model according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating the fitting information further includes defining deformations in the fitting information corresponding to text or voice data inputs.

3. The method of displaying an animation image of a user model according to claim 1, wherein the second target vertices of the user model are specified by a wire frame having the first target vertices.