JP4626761B2 - 3D image special effect device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a television image special effect device, and more particularly to rendering processing means for rendering an image signal into a three-dimensional special effect shape.

Conventionally, as a studio device used for program production in the television broadcasting industry, etc., it is possible to change the shape of the image, such as enlargement / reduction and rotation of images such as moving images by real-time operation with a fader lever etc., or image switching by these The accompanying two-dimensional special effects device is used.
Here, normally, the signal processing time of the studio apparatus for writing / reading the input image signal to / from the frame memory or the like is 2 fields (interlaced) type image signal due to the system phase. 1 frame).

Now, there is a demand for a special effect device for a three-dimensional image that can be operated in real time with a change in shape and enlargement / reduction of the image such as a moving image to a polyhedron such as a cube or a sphere.
However, this conventional apparatus is based on a special effect processing means of CG (computer graphic), and the rendering (drawing) means using the frame memory is usually a two-field process for writing to and reading from the frame memory. Time is required, and the entire apparatus has a processing time of 4 fields, that is, a delay time.

An example of such a conventional means is shown in FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of a main part of the special effect device of the conventional example, a schematic diagram illustrating the shape calculation of the special effect device of FIG. 3, and the shape calculation of the special effect device of FIG. A schematic diagram for explaining the calculation of the read address parameter in FIG. 5 will be described.
In the figure, 1 is a terminal, 2 is an input circuit, 3 is a filter circuit, 4 is an image signal circuit, 5 is a texture memory, 6 is a control circuit, 7 is a terminal, 8 is a rendering means, 9 is an output circuit, and 10 is a terminal. , 12 are frame memories.

In FIG. 2, an image signal such as a moving image input to the terminal 1 and subjected to signal processing such as quantization in the input circuit 2 is processed by the image signal circuit 4 via the filter circuit 3 and output. Each screen is written in the texture memory 5 for image material using a memory or the like.
Here, when the image signal is an interlace scanning method, the input circuit 2 or the image signal circuit 4 is provided with conversion means for converting the image signal into a progressive scanning method in order to prevent deterioration in image quality due to the signal processing. . Moreover, the control circuit 6 has a calculation means, and controls the filter circuit 3 based on the shape calculation concerning a three-dimensional special effect shape.
The processing described above requires processing time corresponding to the two fields.

In FIG. 3, the shape calculation described above is performed, for example, by dividing the rectangular special effect shape of FIG. 3a seen from the front viewpoint, which is in front, into triangular or quadrangular surfaces as shown in FIG. 3b. The coordinates shown by the points in the figure are calculated.
In FIG. 2, the filter 3 is controlled in accordance with the reduction ratio of each of the divided surfaces based on the shape calculation to control the pass frequency of the image signal. The control circuit 6 also performs calculations related to the rendering area, the hidden surface removal, and the read address parameter, which are image planes to be rendered, and also controls the texture memory 5 and the rendering means 8.
The control by these control circuits 6 can be controlled by connecting to the terminal 7 an operation panel for operating special effects or the like or means for controlling from the outside.

Next, the calculation of the rendering area is performed on the three-dimensional area (image plane) based on the horizontal scanning, the vertical scanning, and the viewpoint distance of the special effect shape, that is, the rendering associated with each divided plane indicated by the solid line and the dotted line in FIG. Calculate the area.
The calculation of hidden surface removal relates to a region (image surface) seen from the viewpoint of the three-dimensional region, and is shown by a dotted region in FIG. This is for determining and erasing the hidden surface area as shown in FIG. 3c.
Here, FIG. 3c shows an example of the divided surface subjected to hidden surface removal in the case of the rectangular parallelepiped in FIG. 3a.

Next, an example of calculation of the read address parameter will be described with reference to FIG.
Now, assume that the image signal written in the texture memory is in an area including the image character F shown in FIG. Then, an address parameter for reading out from the texture memory as an image signal to be rendered like the area of the division plane including the character F shown in the rectangular shape of the special effect shape as viewed from the front viewpoint as shown in FIG. Is calculated.

Further, in the rendering process by the rendering means 8 of FIG. 2, the image signal data for each screen read from the texture memory 5 based on the calculation of the address parameter is written in the frame memory 12 for rendering. As a result, an image signal that has been rendered into a desired special effect shape is generated by the output circuit 9 and output via the terminal 10.
In this case, the writing of the image signal to the frame memory 12 normally requires a processing time corresponding to one field, and the reading of the image signal also requires a processing time of one field.
As described above, the delay time of the image signal of the entire apparatus is normally equivalent to 4 fields.

Here, the above-described writing process to the frame memory 12 may greatly increase the amount of data to be processed depending on the complexity of the three-dimensional shape, and may exceed the rendering processing time.
When the delay time exceeds one field, the image signal is discontinuous in time series in field units, and the natural motion of the special effect image due to this is deteriorated.

As described above, in a program production system in the broadcasting industry or the like, the delay time of an image signal of such a studio apparatus provided with a frame memory is set to two fields.
However, the processing time for writing to the frame memory 12 in the above-described three-dimensional special effect device exceeds one field in a complex special effect shape, resulting in time-series discontinuity, and the natural movement of the image deteriorates. Therefore, real-time operation was difficult.
In addition, the delay time of the entire apparatus is 4 fields or more, which hinders system operation, and is difficult to use in the broadcasting industry. Further, the rendering process using the frame memory has a drawback that requires a large-scale circuit means.

The present invention has such a background, and does not perform rendering processing on the entire image of one frame, but sequentially performs processing in units of horizontal scanning. A means for surely rendering processing within the horizontal scan can be selected.
Therefore, the memory and circuit means required for the rendering process can be greatly reduced, and the delay time by the special effect device is set to 2 fields by making the rendering process within the processing time by the line memory of one line based on the horizontal scanning. Can do.

  As a result, the conventional apparatus is difficult to use in the production of programs in the television broadcasting industry, and eliminates the problem of requiring a large-scale circuit means. An object is to provide an effect device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention solves this problem by the following problem solving means.
Means for solving the problems of the special effect device for a three-dimensional image of the present invention includes an input circuit, and includes a control circuit for controlling a rendering process to a special effect shape of the three-dimensional image according to the digital image signal output, Each of which includes a filter circuit, an image signal circuit, a texture memory, an output circuit, a rendering unit, and a line memory of at least one line used therefor, which are controlled by the control circuit, wherein the control circuit has an arithmetic unit. Then, the control is performed based on the calculation of the special effect shape and the calculation related to the rendering area, hidden surface removal, and the read address parameter, respectively, and the texture is passed through the filter circuit in which the pass frequency is limited based on the reduction rate by the shape calculation. The image signal written in the memory is read with the read address parameter, and the renderer 3-dimensional image special effect apparatus, characterized in that means for an image signal obtained by rendering the special effects shape by writing to the line memory 1 per line each scan line output via the output circuit (claim 1).

  As a result, it cannot be used for program production in the broadcasting industry or the like, and it can be used in real-time operation by eliminating the problem of requiring a large-scale circuit means.

The second problem-solving means of the present invention is characterized in that the delay time of the image signal by this apparatus is two fields (claim 2).
Thereby, it can be used for a program production system in the broadcasting industry.

  Furthermore, in the third problem solving means of the present invention, the calculation of the rendering area is a two-dimensional calculation of the intersection coordinates of the dividing plane and the projective transformation parameter for rendering for each scanning line. ). Thus, the rendering processing time does not change due to the complexity of the three-dimensional shape.

Furthermore, in the fourth problem solving means of the present invention, the calculation related to the hidden surface removal is based on a two-dimensional rendering process for each scanning line.
Thereby, it is possible to efficiently calculate the rendering area.
In the fifth problem solving means of the present invention, it is desirable that the input circuit or the image signal circuit includes a means for converting the image signal from an interlaced scanning system to a sequential scanning system.

  According to the present invention, the prior art cannot be used for program production in the broadcasting industry and the like, and the problem of requiring a large-scale circuit means is eliminated, and the 3D image special effect that can be used in real time operation in the broadcasting industry or the like. Equipment can be provided.

  Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the main part of a special effect device for a three-dimensional image according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining calculation of a rendering area according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a terminal, 2 is an input circuit, 3 is a filter circuit, 4 is an image signal circuit, 5 is a texture memory, 6 is a control circuit, 7 is a terminal, 8 is a rendering means, 9 is an output circuit, 10 Is a terminal, and 11 is a line memory.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the three-dimensional image special effect device according to the present embodiment includes an input circuit 2 and controls a rendering process to a special effect shape of a three-dimensional image related to the digital image signal output. 6, and a filter circuit 3, an image signal circuit 4, a texture memory 5, an output circuit 9, a rendering unit 8, and at least one line memory 11 used for the filter circuit 3 controlled by the control circuit, respectively. The control circuit 6 has a calculation means, and performs the control based on the calculation of the special effect shape and the calculation related to the rendering area, hidden surface removal, and the read address parameter, respectively, and the pass frequency based on the reduction ratio by the shape calculation. Read out the image signal written to the texture memory 5 through the filter circuit 3 with limited read address parameter. Rendering means 8 and outputs through an output circuit 9 image signals rendered in the special effects shape by writing to the line memory 11 for each one scanning line.

  In the above configuration, the description of the process in which an image signal such as a moving image input to the input circuit 2 via the terminal 1 is written to the texture memory 5 via the filter circuit 3 and the image signal circuit 4 with a delay time of 2 fields is shown in FIG. It is the same as that of description of the prior art example mentioned above with reference to FIGS.

  Also, the shape calculation calculated by the control circuit 6 described with reference to FIG. 3, the control of the filter circuit 3 based on this shape calculation, and the image signal from the texture memory 5 may be read based on the calculation of the read address parameter. The same as described above.

Here, the calculation based on the three-dimensional area related to the rendering area and the hidden surface removal by the control circuit 6 of the conventional example is a calculation in the two-dimensional area in the embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, the calculation of the two-dimensional rendering area in the control circuit 6 is as follows, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, in each figure in the case of the rectangular body of FIG. 5 f or the sphere of FIG. Scan lines are indicated by solid lines and dotted lines.
Then, the coordinates of the intersection point indicated by a point between one scanning line indicated by a solid line and the divided plane are calculated, and projective transformation parameters for rendering are calculated. Further, the hidden surface removal process is performed on the rendering area for each scanning line.

In this manner, an output signal generated by the output circuit 9 based on the image signal that has been subjected to the rendering processing to the special effect shape is output via the terminal 10. These controls by the control circuit 6 can be controlled by connecting an operation panel for operating special effects or the like, or means for external control to the terminal 7, and the control circuit 6 or the operation panel can be controlled. Can be operated with a fader lever.
Furthermore, the output circuit 9 can generate a key signal based on a shape change or the like due to a special effect and output it through the terminal 10. By using this key signal, the image signal output whose shape has been changed and the other image signal can be combined with an image combining means.
In general, this device is used together with an image switching device (video switcher), and an image signal selected by switching is input to the terminal 1 or an image signal output from the terminal 10 is input to the image switching device. Many.

The embodiment according to the second problem solving means described above is characterized in that the delay time of the image signal by this apparatus is two fields.
That is, by using the line memory 11 as a rendering memory, rendering processing is sequentially performed for each horizontal scanning line without performing rendering processing on the entire image of one frame unlike the conventional apparatus. This is because the condition determination as to whether or not rendering ends within the horizontal scanning period can be easily determined as compared with the case of the frame memory as in the conventional example, and means for reliably rendering within the horizontal scanning period is selected. be able to.
As a result, the rendering time is only the writing and reading to the line memory 11, and the delay time of the image signal input to this apparatus is written to the texture memory 5 for the image material for each screen as described above. Only a delay corresponding to two fields is sufficient.

Furthermore, in the embodiments according to the second and third problem solving means described above, the calculation of the rendering area is performed by calculating the two-dimensional intersection coordinates of the dividing plane and projective transformation parameters for rendering for each scanning line. It is a calculation.
The calculation related to the hidden surface removal is based on a two-dimensional rendering process for each scanning line.

  Preferably, the input circuit or the image signal circuit is provided with a means for converting the image signal from an interlaced scanning system to a sequential scanning system.

The principal part block diagram of the three-dimensional image special effect apparatus of this invention Example. The principal part block diagram of the special effect apparatus of a prior art example. The schematic diagram explaining the shape calculation of a special effect apparatus. The schematic diagram explaining the shape calculation of a special effect apparatus. The schematic diagram explaining calculation of a read address parameter. The schematic diagram explaining calculation of the rendering area | region of an Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 terminal 2 input circuit 3 filter circuit 4 image signal circuit 5 texture memory 6 control circuit 7 terminal 8 rendering means 9 output circuit 10 terminal 11 line memory 12 frame memory

Claims (5)

A control circuit for controlling rendering processing to a special effect shape of a three-dimensional image according to an output of the digital image signal, and a filter circuit, an image signal circuit, and a texture memory controlled by the control circuit, respectively And an output circuit, rendering means, and at least one line memory used therefor,
The control circuit has arithmetic means, and performs the control based on the calculation of the special effect shape and the calculation related to the rendering area, hidden surface removal, and read address parameter, respectively.
Read out the image signal written in the texture memory through the filter circuit whose pass frequency is limited based on the reduction ratio by the shape calculation with the read address parameter,
3. The three-dimensional image special effect device according to claim 1, wherein the rendering means outputs an image signal written to the line memory for each scanning line and rendered in the special effect shape via the output circuit.   3. The three-dimensional image special effect device according to claim 1, wherein the delay time of the image signal by this device is two fields.   3. The 3D image special feature according to claim 1, wherein the calculation of the rendering area is a two-dimensional calculation of an intersection coordinate of the division plane and a projective transformation parameter for rendering for each scanning line. Effect device.   The three-dimensional image special effect device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation related to the hidden surface removal is based on a two-dimensional rendering process for each scanning line.   5. The three-dimensional image special effect device according to claim 1, wherein the input circuit or the image signal circuit includes means for converting the image signal from an interlaced scanning method to a sequential scanning method. 6. .

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