Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-08
2001-12-18
Nguyen, Phu K. (Department: 2772)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Three-dimension
Reexamination Certificate
active
06331851
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an apparatus displaying computer graphics (hereafter referred to as “CG”). Specifically, this invention relates to a graphic display apparatus that is used during communication between a server and a terminal to synchronously reproduce audio and video data at the terminal, and to an AV synchronous reproduction apparatus in an independent apparatus.
BACKGROUND ART
CG is commonly used in fields such as movies and television games.
For example, in three-dimensional CG, three-dimensional characters often have a skeleton model consisting of bones and joints.
FIG. 40
shows an example of a skeleton model of a human body.
As is well known, a three-dimensional character is displayed by adding to the periphery of the skeleton model, sites of the character such as arms and legs which are composed of polygons and sticking texture to the surface of the polygons. Each site composed of a polygon and the texture are collectively referred to as shape data herein.
The three-dimensional character is moved by providing to a microcomputer an instruction (that is, motion data) to move any joint of the skeleton model.
Due to the recent spread of Internet, CG animations are commonly distributed via the network. “Virtual Reality Modeling Language” (hereafter referred to as “VRML”) is popular as a language representing CG animations using Internet.
Displaying CG animations requires shape data required to display three-dimensional three-dimensional characters and motion data required to display them as animations. In VRML, shape and motion data is transferred from a server to a terminal using Internet.
The terminal displays the received data using a VRML browser. Since, however, shape and motion data is transferred from the server to the terminal, this method increases the amount of data transferred and thus the time required to transfer the data.
CG is commonly used in fields such as movies and television games. Many CG works now reproduce not only images but also matching music. A technique for associating CG with sounds is shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 8-212388 as a three-dimensional image processing apparatus.
This image processing apparatus reproduces CG and audio data for which starting and ending times are defined, after associating the data with each other. The starting and end times of the CG data are designated as Cs and Ce, respectively. The starting and end times of the audio data are denoted as As and Ae, respectively. The reproduction time (Ae−As) for the sound is compared with the reproduction time (Ce−Cs) for the CG. If they are not equal, a tempo used to reproduce the sound is calculated as follows and the sound is reproduced based on the result of the calculation.
Tempo=Original tempo×(Ae−As)/(Ce−Cs)
In this manner, the tempo of sound is adjusted by relative comparison with the reproduction time of CG so as to reproduce CG and sound having different reproduction times while mutually synchronizing them.
This conventional technique, however, can reproduce audio data having a constant tempo but cannot synchronize CG with music data having a tempo changed in the middle of the music. Furthermore, if the tempo of Karaoke music is suddenly changed using a pitch control operation before that music ends, the synchronization may fail. Furthermore, the synchronization may also fail when special reproduction such as fast forwarding or rewinding is executed.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In view of these problems, it is an object of this invention to provide a graphic display apparatus that reduces the amount of data transferred when CG data is transferred from a server through a network and that allows three-dimensional characters displayed on a terminal to move smoothly.
It is another object of this invention to provide an AV synchronous reproduction apparatus that can synchronize, prior to reproduction, an image with music having its tempo changed in its middle and that can synchronize, prior to reproduction, music with an image even if the tempo of the music is suddenly changed or during special reproduction.
A graphic display apparatus of this invention is characterized in that a server comprises a data transmission means for transmitting scenario data describing a combination order of motions, to a terminal through a network, and in that a terminal comprises a data reception means for receiving scenario data transmitted by said data transmission means, a shape database required to display a three-dimensional character or characters, a motion database required to move the three-dimensional character or characters, a motion switching and drawing means for switching the motions of the three-dimensional character or characters in the order described in the scenario data received from said data reception means, and an automatic motion correcting means operative, when the switching and drawing means switches motions, to correct the current and subsequent motions in order to smoothly display the motions. Therefore, even if each motion does not have a home position, the motions can be connected naturally to display CG animations.
A graphic display apparatus of this invention is characterized in that, the server includes a correction data transmission means for transmitting through a network, motion correction data that corrects the connections between the motions described in the scenario data transmitted by the data transmission means, and in that the terminal includes, instead of the automatic motion correcting means, a correction data reception means for receiving the correction data transmitted by the correction data transmission means, and a motion correcting means for correcting the current and subsequent motions based on the motion correction data received from the correction data reception means in order to smoothly display the motions while the switching and drawing means switches the motions, so that calculated correction data can be transmitted by the server to save the computer resources of the terminal.
A graphic display apparatus of this invention is characterized in that, the server includes a motion database and a correction scenario calculating means for calculating motion correction data used to correct the connections between the motions described in the scenario data transmitted by the data transmission means from the motion database and transmitting the calculated data through the network using the correction data transmission means, so that the correction data can be calculated in real time to save the memory resources of the server.
A graphic display method set forth in claim
4
of this invention is characterized in that when a server instructs a terminal to graphically display three-dimensional characters, the terminal provides a plurality of motion patterns describing the patterns of the three-dimensional characters' motions, in that the server then transmits to the terminal, scenario data describing the order of combining the motion patterns with a time series, and in that the terminal, which detects the scenario data from the server and executes graphical display based on the scenario data, switches the scene by combining the motion patterns with the time series with such a timing that a home position previously provided for a motion pattern being displayed and a home position previously provided for a motion pattern to be displayed next are common or substantially common to each other.
This configuration enables it to execute natural graphic display using a small amount of data transmitted from the server to the terminal while smoothly switching scenes.
A graphic display apparatus of this invention is characterized in that the apparatus has motion groups describing a plurality of patterns of motions, a scenario database describing which pattern of the motion group a three-dimensional character is based for motions, in such a way that the motions correspond to scenes, and a character pose control means for controlling the three-dimensional character's motio
Imamura Tetsuya
Ohkubo Haruyo
Shirai Yutaka
Suzuki Seiichi
Tokunaga Masashi
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Nguyen Phu K.
Parkhurst & Wendel L.L.P.
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