JPH08171657A - Image information generation method and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify processings at the time of processing object shape data and generating image data to be displayed on a display by generating the object shape data composed of plural basid shape data arranged so as to let the same kind be continued. CONSTITUTION: Whether or not the kind of a packet at present is the same as a packet type at present is judged 9. When it is judged as the same, after the packet at present is recorded in an external recording medium, whether or not the next packet is inputted, is judged 11. When it is judged that it has not been inputted, the packet type at present is excluded 13 from the set of the entire packet types. Then, whether or not the packet type is still present in the set of the packet types is judged 14, and when it is present, the nect packet type in the set of the entire packet types is defined as the packet type at present. When it is not present, the processing ends. That is, the kinds of the plural basic shape data corresponding to polygonal shapes to be units for expressing three-dimensional images are checked and the object shape data composed of the plural basic shape data arranged so as to let the same kind be continued are generated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information generating method for generating image information by information processing and a recording medium on which the image information is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a home game machine, a personal computer device, a graphic computer device, or the like, a television receiver, a monitor receiver, or a C receiver.
Most of the images output and displayed on the RT display device or the like are two-dimensional. Basically, basically, a two-dimensional character or the like is appropriately arranged on a two-dimensional planar background and moved or changed. The image is displayed in such a form that the image is displayed.

However, in the above-described two-dimensional image display and video, there are restrictions on the background and characters that can be expressed, and their movements, and it is difficult to enhance the sense of presence in a game, for example.

Therefore, for example, a pseudo three-dimensional image or video is created by the following method. That is, as the character, images viewed from several directions are prepared, and one of these images is selected and displayed in accordance with a change in the viewpoint on the display screen, or a two-dimensional image is displayed. There is a method of expressing a pseudo three-dimensional image by superimposing the images in the depth direction.
Also, when generating or creating image data, a texture mapping method that attaches an image of a so-called texture (texture, background pattern) to a desired surface such as a polyhedron, or a so-called color lookup table for the color data of the image is used. A method of changing the display color by converting is adopted.

Here, FIG. 24 shows an example of a schematic configuration of a conventional home-use game machine. In FIG. 24, a CPU 391 composed of a microprocessor or the like takes out operation information of an input device 394 such as an input pad or a joystick via an interface 393 and a main bus 399. Simultaneously with the extraction of this operation information, the data of the three-dimensional image stored in the main memory 392 is transferred to and stored in the source video memory 395 by the video processor 396.

Further, the CPU 391 sends to the video processor 396 the read order of the image data for superimposing and displaying the images stored in the source video memory 395. The video processor 396 reads the image data from the source video memory 395 according to the order of reading the image data, and displays the images in a superimposed manner.

At the same time as displaying the image as described above, the audio processor 397 outputs the audio data corresponding to the displayed image stored in the audio memory 398 according to the audio information in the extracted operation information. To do.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a procedure for outputting a three-dimensional image by using the data of the two-dimensional image in the home-use game machine having the configuration shown in FIG. In FIG. 25,
A case where a cylindrical object is displayed as a three-dimensional image on a checkered background image will be described.

In the source video memory 395 of FIG. 25, a checkered background image 200 and the background image 200 are shown.
A rectangular image representing the cross-section of the upper cylindrical object in the depth direction,
Data of so-called sprites 201, 202, 203, 204 are stored. This rectangular image 201, 20
Portions other than the image of the cylindrical cross section on 2, 203, and 204 are drawn in a transparent color.

The sync generator 400 in the video processor 396 generates a read address signal that matches the sync signal of the image to be displayed. Further, the sync generator 400 sends the read address signal to the read address table 401 provided from the CPU 391 of FIG. 24 via the main bus 399. Further, the sync generator 400 reads the image data in the source video memory 395 according to the information from the read address table 401.

The read image data is the CP
Based on the superposition order of the images in the priority table 402 given by the U 391 via the main bus 399, the superposition processing unit 403 sequentially superposes the images. In this case, the background image 200 has the lowest rank, and the rectangular images 201, 202, 203, and 20.
Since the rank is higher in the order of 4, the images are sequentially superposed from the background image 200.

Next, in the transparent color processing unit 404, the images 201, 202, 203, 20 of the cross-sections of the cylinders that have been superimposed are displayed in order to display a portion other than the cylinders as a background image.
A process for making a portion other than the cylinder displayed by 4 transparent is performed.

By the above processing, the data of the two-dimensional image of the cylindrical object is output as the image data of the three-dimensional image VD ₀ shown in FIG.

[0014]

The object shape data, which is the data of the three-dimensional image to be stored in the main memory 392 or the source video memory 395 of FIG. 24, is supplied from, for example, an external recording medium. A polygon that is a basic shape for constructing a three-dimensional object displayed on a display or the like (a polygon such as a triangle or a quadrangle as a minimum unit of a figure handled by a drawing device)
Each polygon consists of a polygon type (triangle or quadrangle, etc.), polygon attributes (opaque or semi-transparent, etc.), polygon color, three-dimensional coordinates representing the position of vertices,
It is composed of information such as a three-dimensional vector representing the normal line at the vertex and two-dimensional coordinates representing the storage location of the texture to be attached.

As described above, the object shape data stored in the main memory 392 or the source video memory 395 is composed of a plurality of basic shape data having different types of polygons, for example. Therefore, for example, the CP
In U391 and the video processor 396, in order to generate the image data to be displayed on the display by processing each basic shape data in the object shape data as described above, the branch processing is performed for each basic shape data. In addition, processing unique to each basic shape data must be performed, which complicates processing and hinders speeding up of processing.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the image information generation for generating the image information which can simplify the process when the object shape data is processed to generate the image data to be displayed on the display, and can also speed up the process. A method and a recording medium having image information recorded therein are provided.

[0017]

According to the image information generation method of the present invention, a plurality of types of basic shape data corresponding to a polygonal shape which is a unit representing a three-dimensional image is examined and arranged so that the same kind is continuous. The object described above is solved by generating object shape data composed of a plurality of basic shape data.

The recording medium of the present invention records object shape data generated by arranging basic shape data corresponding to a polygonal shape, which is a unit representing a three-dimensional image, so that the same kind is continuous. Is.

[0019]

According to the present invention, if the object shape data consisting of a plurality of basic shape data arranged so that the same type is continuously arranged is used, branch processing and processing unique to each basic shape data are performed in the subsequent image information processing. Will be able to minimize.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, prior to the explanation of the image information generating method of the present invention, a graphics data format of a specific example handled in this embodiment will be explained. There are two types of graphics handled in the embodiments of the present invention, three-dimensional graphics and two-dimensional graphics that should be called basic.
The three-dimensional graphics data includes, for example, object shape data (modeling data, hereinafter referred to as TMD data) representing the shape of a realistic object (the object to be drawn is referred to as an object), that is, the surface attribute of the object shape.
There is. The two-dimensional graphics data includes image data used as a material for sprite patterns and textures, background plane map data, BG map data for sprite animation, cell data, information data, and the like.

The object shape data, that is, the modeling data format (hereinafter referred to as the TMD format) of this embodiment is applied to, for example, a home game machine, a personal computer device, a graphic computer device, or the like. The data described by a file (hereinafter referred to as a TMD file) is a primitive such as a polygon or a straight line forming an object.
It is a collection of (PRIMITIVE). One TMD file can have multiple objects. Also, TMD
Regarding the coordinate values in the file, the positive direction of the x-axis is right, the y-axis is down, and the z-axis is the back of the screen. The coordinate value of the space of each object is a 16-bit signed integer value, and the possible coordinate value of each axis is -3276.
7 to +327687.

The TMD format used in the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 1, the TMD format of this embodiment has a table (OBJ TABLE) of three-dimensional objects of a TMD file and primitives (PJ
RIMITIVE), vertices (VERTEX), and normals (NORMAL) have three types of data entities and are composed of four blocks.

The header (HEADER) portion of the TMD format shown in FIG. 1 is 3-word (12-byte) data having information on the data structure as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, ID is data having a length of 32 bits (1 word) and represents the version of the TMD file.
FLAGS is 32-bit length (1 word) data and has configuration information of TMD format data. The least significant bit (LSB) is the FIXP bit described later, the remaining bits are reserved, and all the values are 0. The FIXP bit indicates whether the pointer value of the object structure is a real address. When the value is 1, it is the real address, and when it is 0, it is the offset from the beginning. Further NO
BJ is an integer value representing the number of objects.

Next, the object table (OBJ T
The ABLE) section is a table in which structures having pointer information indicating where the entity of each object is stored are arranged, as shown in FIG. One object structure has the following structure.

[0027] (Explanation of members) vert_top: VERTEX start address n_vert: VERTEX number normal _top: NORMAL start address n_normal: NORMAL number primitive_top: PRIMITIVE start address n_primitive: POLYGON number scale: Scaling factor Pointer value among the members of the above object structure ( ver
t_top, normal_top, primitive_top) are headers (HEADE
The meaning changes depending on the value of the FIXP bit in the (R) part. F
When IXP = 1, it is a real address, but FIXP = 0
In the case of, it indicates a relative address in which the head of the object (OBJECT) section is address 0.

The scaling factor is a long type with a sign, and its power of 2 is the scale value. That is, when the value of the scaling factor of the object structure is 0, the scaling factor is equal to 2, the scale value is 4 when the value is 2, and the scale value is 1/2 when the value is -1.

Next, in the primitive (PRIMITIVE) part of FIG. 1, drawing packets of the constituent elements (primitives) of the object are arranged, and as shown in FIG. 4, one packet represents one primitive. The primitive defined in the TMD format is then subjected to perspective conversion processing and converted into a drawing primitive. Each packet shown in FIG. 4 has a variable length, and its size / structure differs depending on the type of primitive.

Here, of the drawing packets in FIG. 4, mod
e is 8-bit information indicating the type and attribute of the primitive and has a bit configuration as shown in FIG. CO in Figure 5
DE (code) is a 3-bit code that represents the type of component, and represents 001 = polygon (triangle, quadrilateral), 010 = straight line, 011 = sprite (rectangle). Also, OPT
ION is an optional bit and changes depending on the value of CODE (code) (also described in the list of packet data configuration described later).

Also, of the drawing packets in FIG. 4, the flag is
Is 8-bit information indicating option information at the time of rendering, and has a bit configuration as shown in FIG. G in FIG.
OR is valid only for polygons with light source calculation and no texture.
Indicates a monochrome polygon. When FCE is 1, it is a double-sided polygon, and when it is 0, it is a single-sided polygon (valid only when the value of CODE is a polygon). When LGT is 1, light source calculation is not performed, and when LGT is 0, light source calculation is performed.

Further, ilen in FIG. 4 is 8-bit information indicating the word length of the packet data part, and
Is 8-bit information indicating the word length of the drawing primitive generated in the intermediate processing, and Packet data is various parameters such as vertices / normals and varies depending on the primitive type. The structure of this Packet data will be described later.

Next, the VERTEX portion of FIG. 1 is a sequence of structures representing vertices, and the format of one structure is as shown in FIG. In addition, VX, VY, VZ in FIG.
Is the x, y, z value (16-bit integer) of the vertex coordinates.

The NORMAL part in FIG. 1 is a column of structures representing normals, and the format of one structure is as shown in FIG. In addition, NX, NY, and NZ in FIG.
The y and z components (16-bit fixed decimal point). Also, N
The values of X, NY, and NZ are 16-bit fixed decimal points with a code that treats 4096 as 1.0. The format is as shown in FIG. 9, the code is 1 bit, the integer part is 3 bits, The decimal part consists of 12 bits.

Next, a list of each packet data structure for each primitive type (that is, each packet type) will be described. The parameters included in the packet data are Vertex (n), Normal (n), Un, Vn, Rn, Gn, B described below.
There are n, TBS and CBA.

First, Vertex (n) is the VERTEX (vertex)
A 16-bit length index value that points to, indicating the number of elements from the head of the VERTEX portion in FIG. 1 of the object to which the polygon belongs.

Normal (n) is a 16-bit length index value that points to NORMAL, and is the above-mentioned Vertex.
Is the same as

Un and Vn are x and y coordinate values in the texture source space of each vertex.

Rn, Gn, and Bn are R, G, and B values that represent the color of the polygon, and are 8-bit unsigned integer values. If the light source is not calculated, it is necessary to specify the brightness value calculated in advance.

The TBS has information on the texture / sprite pattern and has a format as shown in FIG. Note that TPAGE in FIG. 10 indicates a texture page number (0 to 31). Further, in the figure, ABR is a semi-transparent rate (mixing ratio), and is effective only when ABE is 1. When ABR is 00, 50% back + 50% polygon, 0
100% back + 100% polygon when 1 and 100 when 10
% Back ＋ 50% polygon, when 11 is 100% back−100% p
It will be olygon. Further, in the figure, TPF represents a color mode, where 00 is a color mode represented by 4 bits, 01 is a color mode represented by 8 bits, and 10 is a color mode represented by 16 bits. Represents

As shown in FIG. 11, CBA indicates a storage position in a memory of a color lookup table (hereinafter referred to as CLUT) described later. In FIG. 11, CLX indicates the upper 6 bits of the X coordinate value 10 bits of the CLUT on the memory, and CLY indicates the Y coordinate value 9 bits of the CLUT on the memory.

Next, a packet data configuration example will be described below.

First, as a packet data configuration example, a case of a triangular polygon without light source calculation will be described.

The bit configuration of the mode value of the primitive (PRIMITIVE) part at this time is as shown in FIG. IIP in FIG. 12 indicates a shading mode described later, and when 0, flat shading (Flat shading),
When it is 1, Gouraud shading, which will be described later,
ding). Further, in the figure, TME indicates texture designation, and is 0 when it is off and 1 when it is on. Further AB
E indicates a semi-transparent process, which is off when 0 and on when 1. TGE indicates brightness calculation at the time of texture mapping, and it is on when 0, and off (texture is drawn as it is) when 1 is set. These are the same for other polygons.

Further, the packet data structure at this time is as shown in FIG. FIG. 13A shows a case where the shading mode is flat shading and texture designation is OFF, and FIG. 13B is a case where the shading mode is Gouraud shading and texture designation is OFF, and FIG. 13 shows a case where the shading mode is flat shading and texture designation is on, and FIG. 13D shows a case where the shading mode is Gouraud shading and texture designation is on gradation.

As described above, the basic shape data (drawing packet shown in FIG. 4 of the primitive portion in FIG. 1) handled in this embodiment is a plurality of data of indefinite length, and a plurality of such basic types are used. When the object shape data is composed of a set of shape data, when generating the image data for displaying each basic shape data in the object shape data on the display as described above, the basic shape data is divided into Since processing and processing unique to each basic shape data must be performed, the processing becomes complicated and speeding up of the processing is hindered.

From the above, according to the image information generating method of the present invention, the object shape data in which the same type of basic shape data is continuous (packet type) is generated,
This makes it possible to perform high-speed drawing of the object shape data by simplifying and minimizing the branching processing and the processing unique to each basic shape data in the subsequent image information processing.

The image information generating method of the embodiment of the present invention for generating the object shape data in which the same type of basic shape data is continuous will be described below.

FIG. 14 shows the flow of generation processing in the image information generation method of the present invention.

First, in FIG. 14, in step S1, the current packet (the drawing packet of the primitive part shown in FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 4), the current packet type (type of primitive), and all packet types. Initialize the set of. In the next step S2, the type of the first input packet is set to the current packet type. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the current packet type is included in the set of all packet types. If it is determined that the current packet type is not included in the set of all packet types, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the current packet type is set in the all packet type set. In addition, the process proceeds to step S4. Step S3
In step S4, if it is determined that the current packet type is included in the set of all packet types, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the next packet has been input. When it is determined in step S4 that the next packet has been input, step S5
Then, the type of the next packet is set as the current packet type, and the process returns to step S3. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S4 that the next packet is not input,
Proceed to step S7. By the processing up to step S6, all packet types existing in the TMD data are known.

In the next step S7, the first packet type in the set of all packet types is set as the current packet type. In the next step S8, the first packet is set as the current packet, and then the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, it is determined whether the type of the current packet is the same as the type of the current packet. If the same is determined in step S9, step S1
0, where the current packet is recorded on the external recording medium (that is, the recording medium of the present invention), and then step S11
Proceed to. Also, if it is determined in step S9 that the type of the current packet is different from the current packet type, the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S11, it is determined whether or not the next packet is input. If it is determined that the next packet is input, the process proceeds to step S12, where the next packet is regarded as the current packet and the process returns to step S9. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S11 that the next packet is not input, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, the current packet type is removed from the set of all packet types, and in the next step S14, it is determined whether or not there is still a packet type in the set of all packet types. If it is determined in step S14 that there is still a packet type in the set of all packet types, the process proceeds to step S15, in which the next packet type in the set of all packet types is set to the current packet type. Step S
Return to 8. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that there is no packet type in the set of all packet types, the process ends.

After the object shape data in which the same type of basic shape data is continuous is generated as described above, the flow of the processing when the information processing for displaying the object shape data on the display is performed is as follows. The result is as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 15, in step S21, the object shape data is reproduced and supplied from the external recording medium in which the object shape data in which basic shape data of the same type are arranged in succession is recorded. In the next step S22, the number of packets of each packet type of the object shape data is counted, and in step S23, the first packet type is set to the current packet type.

In the next step S24, a processing pointer is set to the first packet of the current packet type, and in step S25, the packet size of the current packet type is obtained.
It proceeds to step S26. In this step S26, it is determined whether or not drawing has been performed by the number of packets of the current packet type. When it is determined in step S26 that the packet is not drawn, the process proceeds to step S27, where the packet pointed by the pointer is drawn, and then the pointer is advanced by the packet size in step S28, and step S2
Return to 6. The processing in step S27 can be further speeded up by using, for example, a cache memory. Further, in step S28, it is not necessary to obtain the size one by one. If it is determined in step S26 that the drawing is performed, the process proceeds to step S29.

In step S29, it is determined whether or not there is a packet type. If it is determined in step S29 that there is still a packet type, the process proceeds to step S30, where the next packet type is set as the current packet type, and the process returns to step S25. On the other hand, step S29
If it is determined that there is no packet type in step S23, the process proceeds to step S31, where drawing of one frame is completed and the process proceeds to drawing of the next frame.
Return to

Next, using the image data (object shape data: modeling data) generated by the image information generating method of the embodiment of the present invention, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. An image processing system for generating and displaying will be described. The image processing system of this embodiment is applied to, for example, a home game machine, a personal computer device, a graphic computer device, or the like, and the example of FIG. 16 shows an example applied to a home game device.

The image processing system according to the present embodiment uses, for example, an optical disk (for example, a CD-ROM) which is a recording medium of the present invention in which the data generated by the above-described image information generating method of the present invention is recorded. By reading and executing data (for example, a game program), a game is played according to an instruction from a user.
It has a structure as shown in FIG.

The image processing system of the present embodiment includes a control system 50 including a central processing unit (CPU 51) and its peripheral devices (peripheral device controller 52, etc.), and a graphics processing unit (drawing on a frame buffer 63). A graphic system 60 including a GPU 62) and the like, a sound system 70 including a sound processing unit (SPU 71) that generates a musical sound, a sound effect, and the like, and control of an optical disk (CD-ROM disk) drive 81 that is an auxiliary storage device. Input / output is controlled from an optical disk control unit 80 for decoding reproduction information, an instruction input from a controller 92 for inputting an instruction from a user, and an auxiliary memory (memory card 93) for storing game settings and the like. A communication control unit 90,
A main bus B, etc., to which the control system 50 to the communication control unit 90 are connected, is provided.

The control system 50 includes a CPU 51, a peripheral device controller 52 for controlling interrupt control, time control, memory control, direct memory access (DMA) transfer, and the like, and a main storage device (RAM) of, for example, 2 megabytes ( Main memory) 53,
The main memory 53 and the graphic system 6
0, a ROM 54 of, for example, 512 kilobytes in which programs such as a so-called operating system for managing the sound system 70 and the like are stored.

The CPU 51 uses, for example, a 32-bit RIS.
C (reduced instruction set computor) CPU,
The entire device is controlled by executing the operating system stored in the ROM 54. The CP
The U51 is equipped with an instruction cache and a scratchpad memory, and also manages the real memory.

The graphic system 60 includes a geometry transfer engine (GTE) 61 including a coordinate calculation coprocessor for performing processing such as coordinate conversion, and a CPU.
A graphics processing unit (GPU) 62 for drawing in accordance with a drawing instruction from the GPU 51;
For example, a 1-megabyte frame buffer 63 for storing the image drawn by 2 and an image decoder (hereinafter referred to as MDEC) 6 for decoding image data compressed and encoded by orthogonal transform such as so-called discrete cosine transform
4 and.

The GTE 61 has, for example, a parallel operation mechanism for executing a plurality of operations in parallel. As a coprocessor of the CPU 51, the GTE 61 performs coordinate conversion, light source calculation, for example, fixed point format matrix or vector conversion in accordance with an operation request from the CPU 51. The operation can be performed at high speed.

Specifically, the GTE 61 can perform coordinate calculation of up to about 1.5 million polygons per second in the case of performing flat shading for drawing in the same color on one triangular polygon. Therefore, in this image processing system, the CP
It is possible to reduce the load on the U51 and perform high-speed coordinate calculation.

The GPU 62 operates in accordance with a polygon drawing command from the CPU 51, and draws a polygon (polygon) on the frame buffer 63. This GPU62
Is capable of drawing up to about 360,000 polygons per second. In addition, this GPU62
Has a two-dimensional address space independent of the CPU 51, and the frame buffer 63 is mapped therein.

The frame buffer 63 is composed of a so-called dual port RAM, and is capable of performing drawing from the GPU 62 or transfer from the main memory 53 and reading for display at the same time.

The frame buffer 63 has a capacity of, for example, 1 megabyte, and each has a horizontal width of 16 bits.
4 is treated as a matrix of 512 vertical pixels.

A video output means 65 such as a display device is provided in an arbitrary area of the frame buffer 63.
It can be output to.

In addition to the display area output as a video output, the GPU 62 is also provided in the frame buffer 63.
A CLUT area that stores a color lookup table (CLUT) that is referred to when drawing a polygon or the like, and a material that is coordinate-converted at the time of drawing and is inserted (mapped) into the polygon or the like drawn by the GPU 62 ( A texture area for storing textures is provided. These CLUT area and texture area are dynamically changed according to the change of the display area and the like. That is, the frame buffer 63 can execute drawing access to the area being displayed, and can also perform high-speed DMA transfer with the main memory 53.

In addition to the flat shading described above, the GPU 62 pastes the Gouraud shading for interpolating from the colors of the vertices of the polygon to determine the color within the polygon and the texture stored in the texture area on the polygon. Texture mapping can be performed.

When performing these Gouraud shading or texture mapping, the GTE 61 is
A maximum of about 500,000 polygon coordinate operations can be performed per second.

Under control of the CPU 51, the MDEC 64 decodes image data of a still image or a moving image read from the CD-ROM disk and stored in the main memory 53, and stores it again in the main memory 53. Specifically, the MDEC64 can perform an inverse discrete cosine transform (inverse DCT) operation at a high speed, and a color still image compression standard (so-called JPEG) read from a disk or a storage media type moving image coding standard (so-called MPEG,
However, in the present embodiment, it is possible to decompress the compressed data (intra-frame compression only).

The reproduced image data is GP
By storing it in the frame buffer 63 via U62, it can be used as the background of the image drawn by the GPU 62.

The sound system 70 includes a CPU 51
A sound reproduction processor (SPU) 71 for generating a musical sound, a sound effect, etc. based on an instruction from the CD-RO
A sound buffer 72 of, for example, 512 kilobytes in which data such as voices and musical tones read from M and sound source data are stored, and a speaker 73 as a sound output means for outputting musical tones and sound effects generated by the SPU 71.
It has and.

The SPU 71 uses 16-bit audio data as a 4-bit differential signal by adaptive differential encoding (ADP).
CM) ADPCM decoding function for reproducing the voice data, a reproduction function for generating a sound effect by reproducing the sound source data stored in the sound buffer 72, and the voice data stored in the sound buffer 72. It has a modulation function and the like for modulating and reproducing the same. That is, the SPU 71 is an ADPC having functions such as looping and automatic change of operating parameters with time as a coefficient.
It has 24 voices of M sound source built in and operates by an operation from the CPU 51. Also, the SPU 71 is a sound buffer 7.
2 manages its own address space mapped to C,
The ADPCM data is transferred from the PU 51 to the sound buffer 72, and the data is reproduced by directly passing the key-on / key-off and the modulation information.

By having such a function, the sound system 70 can be used as a so-called sampling sound source for generating a musical sound, a sound effect, etc. based on the audio data recorded in the sound buffer 72 according to an instruction from the CPU 51. You can do it.

The optical disc controller 80 is a CD-R.
A disc drive device 81 for reproducing programs, data, etc. recorded on an optical disc which is an OM disc;
For example, a decoder 82 for decoding a program, data, etc. recorded with an error correction (ECC) code added
And a buffer 83 of, for example, 32 kilobytes that stores the data read from the disc by temporarily storing the reproduction data from the disc drive device 81.
It has and. That is, the optical disc controller 8
Reference numeral 0 is composed of components necessary for reading the disk, such as the drive device 81 and the decoder 82. In addition, here, as the disk format, C is used.
The data of D-DA and CD-ROM XA can be supported. The decoder 82 also constitutes part of the sound system 70.

Further, as the audio data recorded on the disc reproduced by the disc drive device 81, the above-mentioned ADPCM data (ADPC of the CD-ROM XA is used.
In addition to M data), there is so-called PCM data obtained by analog / digital converting a voice signal.

As ADPCM data, for example, audio data recorded by representing the difference of 16-bit digital data by 4 bits is subjected to error correction and decoding by the decoder 82, and then supplied to the above-mentioned SPU 71, and is sent to the SPU 71.
After processing such as digital / analog conversion at 71,
It is used to drive the speaker 73.

Audio data recorded as PCM data, for example, as 16-bit digital data is decoded by the decoder 82 and then used to drive the speaker 73. The audio output of the decoder 82 once enters the SPU 71, is mixed with the SPU output, and becomes the final audio output via the reverb unit.

Further, the communication control section 90 includes a communication control device 91 for controlling communication with the CPU 51 via the main bus B, and a controller 9 for inputting an instruction from a user.
2 and a memory card 93 for storing game settings and the like.

The controller 92 is an interface for transmitting the intention of the user to the application, and has, for example, 16 instruction keys for inputting an instruction from the user, and according to the instruction from the communication control device 91, The state of this instruction key is transmitted to the communication control device 91 about 60 times per second by synchronous communication. Then, the communication control device 91 transmits the state of the instruction key of the controller 92 to the CPU 51. The controller 92 has two connectors on the main body, and in addition, it is possible to connect a large number of controllers using a multi-tap.

As a result, the instruction from the user is sent to the CPU 5
1 is input to the CPU 51, and the CPU 51 performs processing according to an instruction from the user based on the game program or the like being executed.

When it is necessary to store the settings of the game being executed, the CPU 51 sends the stored data to the communication control device 91, and the communication control device 91 sends the data from the CPU 51 to the memory card. Store in 93.

Since the memory card 93 is separated from the main bus B, it can be attached and detached while the power is on. As a result, game settings and the like can be stored in the plurality of memory cards 93.

Further, the system of this embodiment has a main bus B
A 16-bit parallel input / output (I / O) port 101 and an asynchronous serial input / output (I / O) port 102 which are connected to each other.

Then, it is possible to connect to peripheral devices through the parallel I / O port 101, and to communicate with other video game devices through the serial I / O port 102. To be able to do.

By the way, the main memory 53, the GPU
A large amount of image data needs to be transferred at high speed between the 62, the MDEC 64, the decoder 82, and the like when reading a program, displaying an image, drawing, or the like.

Therefore, in this image processing system, as described above, the main memory 53, GP is controlled by the control from the peripheral device controller 52 without the intervention of the CPU 51.
It is possible to perform so-called DMA transfer for directly transferring data between the U62, MDEC 64, the decoder 82 and the like.

As a result, the CPU 51 by data transfer
It is possible to reduce the load and to perform high-speed data transfer.

In this video game device, when the power is turned on, the CPU 51 executes the operating system stored in the ROM 54.

When executed by this operating system, the CPU 51 controls the graphic system 60, the sound system 70 and the like.

When the operating system is executed, the CPU 51 initializes the entire apparatus such as checking the operation, and then controls the optical disk control section 80 to execute the game etc. recorded on the optical disk. Run the program.

By executing the program such as this game,
The CPU 51 controls the graphic system 60, the sound system 70, etc. according to an input from the user to control the display of images, the generation of sound effects, and the generation of musical sounds.

Next, the display on the display in the image processing system of this embodiment will be described.

The GPU 62 has a frame buffer 63.
The content of the arbitrary rectangular area in 4 is displayed as it is on the display of the video output means 65, such as a CRT. This area is hereinafter referred to as a display area. The relationship between the rectangular area and the display on the display screen is as shown in FIG.

Further, the GPU 62 supports the following 10 screen modes.

[Mode] [Standard resolution] Remark Mode 0 256 (H) × 240 (V) Non-interlace mode 1 320 (H) × 240 (V) Non-interlace mode 2 512 (H) × 240 (V) Non-interlace mode 3 640 (H) × 240 (V) Non-interlace mode 4 256 (H) × 480 (V) Interless mode 5 320 (H) × 480 (V) Interless mode 6 512 (H) × 480 (V) Interless mode 7 640 (H) × 480 (V) Interless mode 8 384 (H) × 240 (V) Non-interlace mode 9 384 (H) × 480 (V) Interless screen size or display The number of pixels on the screen is variable, and as shown in FIG. 18, the display start position (coordinates (DTX, DTY)) and the display end position (coordinates (DBX, DBY)) can be specified independently in the horizontal and vertical directions. You can

The relationship between the value that can be designated for each coordinate and the screen mode is as follows. The coordinate values DTX and DBX must be set to be a multiple of 4. Therefore, the minimum screen size is 4 pixels wide,
2 pixels vertically (when non-interlaced) or 4 pixels (when interlaced).

[Specifiable Range of X Coordinate] [Mode] [DTX] [DBX] 0,40 to 276 4 to 280 1,50 0 to 348 4 to 352 2,6 0 to 556 4 to 560 3,7 0 to 700 4 to 704 8,9 0 to 396 4 to 400 [Specifiable range of Y coordinate] [Mode] [DTY] [DBY] 0 to 3, 8 0 to 241 2 to 243 4 to 7, 90 0 480 4 to 484 Next, the GPU 62 sets, as a mode relating to the number of display colors,
16-bit direct mode (32768 colors), 24
It supports two bit direct modes (full color). 16-bit direct mode (1 below)
The 6-bit mode) is a 32768 color display mode. In the 16-bit mode, the number of display colors is limited as compared with the 24-bit direct mode (hereinafter referred to as the 24-bit mode), but the color calculation inside the GPU 62 at the time of drawing is performed by 24 bits, and the so-called dither function is also used. Since it is also equipped with, it is possible to display pseudo full color (24-bit color). The 24-bit mode is a mode for displaying 16777216 colors (full color). However, only the image data transferred in the frame buffer 63 can be displayed (bitmap display),
The drawing function of the GPU 62 cannot be executed. Here, the bit length of one pixel is 24 bits, but the values of coordinates and display position on the frame buffer 63 must be specified with 16 bits as a reference. That is, 640
The x480 24-bit image data is handled as 960x480 in the frame buffer 63. Further, it is necessary to set the coordinate value DBX to be a multiple of 8. Therefore, the minimum screen size in this 24-bit mode is 8 horizontal pixels × 2 vertical pixels.

The GPU 62 has the following drawing function.

First, for a sprite of 1 × 1 dot to 256 × 256 dots, a 4-bit CLUT (4-bit mode, 16 colors / sprite) or 8-bit CLUT (8
Bit mode, 256 colors / sprite), 16-bit C
A sprite drawing function capable of LUT (16-bit mode, 32768 colors / sprite), etc. and drawing is performed by designating the coordinates of each vertex of a polygon (polygon such as triangle or quadrangle) on the screen, and Polygon drawing function that performs flat shading that fills with the same color, Gouraud shading that specifies different colors for each vertex and gradation inside, and texture mapping that prepares and pastes two-dimensional image data (texture pattern) on the polygon surface. And a linear drawing function capable of gradation, and the CPU 51 to the frame buffer 6
3, transfer from the frame buffer 63 to the CPU 51, transfer from the frame buffer 63 to the frame buffer 63
Image transfer function such as transfer to the other, and other functions that take the average of each pixel and make it semi-transparent (called the α blending function because the pixel data of each pixel is mixed at a predetermined ratio α), color There is a dither function that blurs noise on the boundary of, a drawing clipping function that does not display the portion beyond the drawing area, an offset specification function that moves the drawing origin according to the drawing area, and so on.

The coordinate system for drawing is 11 with a sign.
Bit is used as a unit, and X- and Y-1024
It takes a value of +1023. In addition, as shown in FIG.
The size of the frame buffer 63 in this embodiment is 1024.
Since it is × 512, the protruding portion is folded back. The origin of the drawing coordinates can be freely changed in the frame buffer 63 by the function of arbitrarily setting the offset value of the coordinate value. Also, the drawing is
The drawing clipping function is performed only on an arbitrary rectangular area in the frame buffer 63.

Further, the GPU 62 has a maximum of 256 × 25.
It supports 6-dot sprites, and the vertical and horizontal values can be set freely.

The image data (sprite pattern) attached to the sprite is arranged in the non-display area of the frame buffer 63, as shown in FIG. The sprite pattern is transferred to the frame buffer 63 prior to executing the drawing command. The sprite pattern is 25
As many pages as 6 × 256 pixels can be placed on the frame buffer 63 as long as the memory allows.
This 256 × 256 area is called a texture page. The location of one texture page is determined by designating the page number as a parameter for designating the position (address) of the texture page called TSB of the drawing command.

The sprite pattern has a 4-bit CLU.
T (4 bit mode), 8 bit CLUT (8 bit mode), 16 bit CLUT (16 bit mode) 3
There are different color modes. In the 4-bit CLUT and 8-bit CLUT color modes, the CLUT is used.

This CLUT means, as shown in FIG.
The R, G, B values of the three primary colors that represent the final displayed color are 1
6 to 256 pieces are arranged on the frame buffer 63. Each R, G, B value is numbered in order from the left on the frame buffer 63, and the sprite pattern represents the color of each pixel by this number. Further, the CLUT can be selected for each sprite, and it is possible to have an independent CLUT for all sprites. Also, FIG.
1 has the same structure as one pixel in 16-bit mode, and therefore one set of CLUT is 1 × 16 (in 4-bit mode), 1 × 25.
It is equal to 5 (in 8-bit mode) image data. The storage position of the CLUT in the frame buffer 63 is the CLUT used as a parameter for specifying the position (address) of the CLUT called CBA in the drawing command.
It is determined by specifying the coordinates of the left edge of.

Further, the concept of sprite drawing can be schematically shown as shown in FIG. Note that FIG.
The drawing commands U and V in the drawing are parameters for specifying which position on the texture page in horizontal (U) and vertical (V), and X and Y are parameters for specifying the position of the drawing area.

Further, the GPU 62 uses a method called frame double buffering as a moving image display method. As shown in FIG. 23, this frame double buffering means that two frames are stored on the frame buffer 63.
One rectangular area is prepared, the other side is displayed while drawing in one area, and the two areas are exchanged with each other when drawing is completed. This makes it possible to avoid displaying the rewriting state. The buffer switching operation is performed within the vertical blanking period. Further, in the GPU 62, since the rectangular area to be drawn and the origin of the coordinate system can be freely set, it is possible to realize a plurality of buffers by moving these two.

[0113]

As is clear from the above description, in the present invention, if the object shape data consisting of a plurality of basic shape data arranged so that the same kind is continuously arranged is used, it is possible to perform the subsequent image information processing. The branching process and the process unique to each basic shape data can be simplified and the speed can be increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a TMD format.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a header (HEADER) section of a TMD format.

[Fig. 3] TMD format object table (O
It is a figure which shows the structure of a (BJTABLE) part.

Fig. 4 TMD format primitives (PRIMITIV
It is a figure which shows the structure of the drawing packet of E part.

[Fig. 5] Drawing packet of primitive (PRIMITIVE) part
It is a figure which shows the structure of mode.

[Figure 6] Drawing packet of the primitive (PRIMITIVE) part
It is a figure which shows the structure of flag. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a VERTEX section in TMD format.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a NORMAL unit of TMD format.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fixed decimal point format.

FIG. 10: TBS among parameters included in packet data (packet data) of a primitive (PRIMITIVE) part
It is a figure which shows the structure of.

FIG. 11: CBA of parameters included in packet data (packet data) of a primitive (PRIMITIVE) part
It is a figure which shows the structure of.

[Fig. 12] Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating a bit configuration example of a mode value of packet data of a primitive (PRIMITIVE) part.

[Fig. 13] Fig. 13 is a diagram for describing a configuration of packet data (packet data) in the case of no polygon polygon / light source calculation as a configuration example of packet data (packet data) of a primitive (PRIMITIVE) part.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of processing of the image information generating method of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of image information processing for processing image information generated by the image information generating method of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block circuit diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image processing system of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining display on a display.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for describing display settings on the display.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the function of drawing clipping.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a texture page.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining a CLUT structure.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the concept of sprite drawing.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining frame double buffering.

FIG. 24 is a block circuit diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional image creating apparatus (home game machine).

FIG. 25 is a diagram used for explaining an image creating method by a conventional image creating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 51 CPU 52 Peripheral Device Controller 53 Main Memory 54 ROM 60 Graphic System 61 Geometry Transfer Engine (GTE) 62 Graphics Processing Unit 63 Frame Buffer 64 Image Decoder (MDEC) 65 Video Output Means (Display Device) 70 Sound System 71 Sound Processing Unit (SPU) 72 Sound buffer 73 Speaker 80 Optical disk controller 81 Disk drive device 82 Decoder 83 Buffer 90 Communication controller 91 Communication controller 92 Controller 93 Memory card 101 Parallel I / O port 102 Serial I / O port

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A type of a plurality of basic shape data corresponding to a polygonal shape serving as a unit representing a three-dimensional image is examined, and object shape data composed of a plurality of basic shape data arranged so that the same type is continuous is generated. An image information generation method characterized by the above. 2. A recording medium characterized by recording object shape data generated by arranging basic shape data corresponding to a polygonal shape, which is a unit representing a three-dimensional image, so that the same kind is continuous.