Character display method, information recording medium and entertainment apparatus

Abstract

To smoothly the facial expressions of a character from a first facial expression to a second facial expression, an entertainment system executes the following processing. Reading the image data of the first facial expression in which plural control points are set, the image data of the second facial expression in which plural control points are set, and the image data of a third facial expression. Setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the first facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression, generating a sequence of image data of inbetween facial expressions between the image data of the first facial expression and the image data of the third facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the first facial expression and the control points of the image data of the third facial expression (first morphing). Setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the second facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression, and generating a sequence of inbetween image data of facial expressions between the image data of the third facial expression and the image data of the second facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the third facial expression and the control points of the image data of the second facial expression (second morphing).

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A character display method for making an entertainment apparatus perform the display processing of varying the facial expression of a character displayed on a display screen from a first facial expression to a second facial expression, comprising: 
 a read step of reading image data of the first facial expression in which plural control points are set, image data of the second facial expression in which plural control points are set, and image data of a third facial expression used when the facial expression of the character is varied;    a first setting step of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the first facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression;    a first morphing step of generating image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the first facial expression and the image data of the third facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the first facial expression and the control points of the image data of the third facial expression after the first setting processing;    a second setting step of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the second facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression after the first morphing step; and    a second morphing step of generating the image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the third facial expression and the image data of the second facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the third facial expression and the control points of the image data of the second facial expression after the second setting processing.    
     
     
         2 . A character display method as claimed in    claim 1   , further comprising: 
 a step of making the entertainment system hold first information indicating the current facial expression of the character;    a step of making the entertainment system read second information indicating the facial expression of the character after an action on the character occurs;    a step of making the entertainment system execute the first setting step, the first morphing step, the second setting step and the second morphing step, while setting the facial expression indicated by the first information as the first facial expression and the facial expression indicated by the second information as the second facial expression, if the facial expression indicated by the first information is different from the facial expression indicated by the second information when the action on the character occurs.    
     
     
         3 . An information recording medium having a program recorded therein, the program enabling a program-executable system to execute the processing of varying the facial expression of a character displayed on a display screen from a first facial expression to a second facial expression, the recording medium recording therein: image data of the first facial expression in which plural control points are set, image data of the second facial expression in which plural control points are set and image data of a third facial expression used when the facial expression of the character is varied, wherein 
 the program comprises, as processing to be executed by the system: 
 processing of reading the image data of the first facial expression, the image data of the second facial expression and the image data of the third facial expression;  
 first setting processing of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the first facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression;  
 first morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the first facial expression and the image data of the third facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the first facial expression and the control points of the image data of the third facial expression after the first setting step;  
 second setting processing of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the second facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression after the first morphing processing; and  
 second morphing processing of generating the image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the third facial expression and the image data of the second facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the third facial expression and the control points of the image data of the second facial expression after the second setting processing is executed.  
   
     
     
         4 . A recording medium as claimed in    claim 3   , storing therein second information indicating the facial expression of the character after an action on the character occurs, the program comprising: 
 processing of making the system hold first information indicating the current facial expression of the character, and    processing of making the system execute the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing, while setting the facial expression indicated by the first information as the first facial expression and the facial expression indicated by the second information as the second facial expression, if the facial expression indicated by the first information is different from the facial expression indicated by the second information when the action on the character occurs.    
     
     
         5 . An entertainment system for providing with a video game in which characters are displayed, comprising: 
 storage means for storing image data of plural facial expressions each containing control points associated with plural sites for every character, and also storing the reference image data of a facial expression serving as a reference when the facial expression of the character is varied; and    executing means which allocates the same number of control points as control points allocated to the image data before the variation to the reference image data, executing morphing processing of setting the image data before the variation and the reference image data as the first frame and the last frame respectively and then generating a sequence of frames between the first frame and the last frame on the basis of the control points, thereby obtaining and animated image data of scene in which the facial expression is varied from the first frame to the last frame, allocating to the reference image data control points whose number is equal to that of control points allocated to image data after the variation, and executing morphing processing of generating a sequence of frames from the first frame to the last frame on the basis of the control points, while newly setting the reference image data and the image data after the variation as the first frame and the last frame respectively, thereby obtaining animated image data of scene in which the facial expression is varied from the first frame to the last frame.    
     
     
         6 . An entertainment system as claimed in    claim 5   , wherein the storage means stores information indicating the current facial expression, and stores information indicating a facial expression in association with each action on the character, and when an action is made on the character, the executing means varies the facial expression of the character from the current facial expression to the facial expression corresponding to the action if the former facial expression is different from the latter facial expression.  
     
     
         7 . A program for making a program-executable system to execute processing of varying facial expression of a character displayed on a display screen from a first facial expression to a second facial expression, the program comprising, as processing to be executed by the system: 
 processing of reading image data of the first facial expression in which plural control points are set, image data of the second facial expression in which plural control points are set, and image data of a third facial expression used when the facial expression of the character is varied;    first setting processing of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the first facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression;    first morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the first facial expression and the image data of the third facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the first facial expression and the control points of the image data of the third facial information after the first setting processing is executed;    second setting processing of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the second facial expression to the image data of the third facial expression after the first morphing processing is executed; and    second morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of facial expressions appearing between the image data of the third facial expression and the image data of the second facial expression on the basis of the control points of the image data of the third facial expression and the control points of the image data of the second facial expression after the second setting processing is executed.    
     
     
         8 . A program as claimed in    claim 7   , further comprising, as the processing to be executed by the system: 
 processing of holding first information indicating the current facial expression of the character; and    processing of reading second information indicating the facial expression of the character after an action on the character occurs;    wherein if the facial expression indicated by the first information is different from the facial expression indicated by the second information when the action on the character occurs, the facial expression indicated by the first information is set as the first facial expression and the facial expression indicated by the second information is set as the second facial expression, and makes the system execute the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing.    
     
     
         9 . A program for enabling a program-executable system to execute processing of varying shape of a pattern displayed on a display screen from a first shape to a second shape, comprising, as processing to be executed by the system: 
 read processing of reading image data representing the pattern having the first shape in which plural control points are set, image data representing the pattern having the second shape in which plural control points are set, and image data representing the pattern having a third shape used when the shape of the pattern is varied;    first setting processing of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the first shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape;    first morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the image data of the pattern having the third shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first setting processing is executed;    second setting processing of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the second shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first morphing processing is executed; and    second morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the image data of the pattern having the second shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the second shape after the second setting processing is executed.    
     
     
         10 . A program as claimed in    claim 9   , further comprising, as the processing to be executed by the system: 
 processing of holding first information indicating the current shape of the pattern on the display screen; and    processing of reading second information indicating the shape after the variation of the pattern;    wherein if the shape indicated by the first information is different from the shape indicated by the second information when an event providing a start timing to vary the shape of the pattern occurs, the shape indicated by the first information is set as the first shape, the shape indicated by the second information is set as the second shape, and makes the system execute the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing.    
     
     
         11 . A recording medium having a program recorded therein, the program making a program-executable system execute processing of varying the shape of a pattern displayed on a display screen from a first shape to a second shape, the recording medium recording therein; image data representing the pattern having the first shape in which plural control points are set, image data representing the pattern having the second shape in which plural control points are set and image data representing the pattern having a third shape used when the shape of the pattern is varied, wherein 
 the program comprises, as the processing to be executed by the system: 
 read processing of reading the image data of the pattern having the first shape, the image data of the pattern having the second shape and the image data of the pattern having the third shape;  
 first setting processing of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the first shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape;  
 first morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the image data of the pattern having the third shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first setting processing is executed;  
 second setting processing of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the second shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first morphing processing is executed; and  
 second morphing processing of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the image data of the pattern having the second shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the second shape after the second setting processing is executed.  
   
     
     
         12 . A recording medium as claimed in    claim 11   , which stores therein second information indicating the shape into which the pattern is varied, the program further comprising: 
 processing of making the system hold first information representing the current shape of the pattern on the display screen; and    processing of executing the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing, while setting the shape indicated by the first information as the first shape and the shape indicated by the second information as the second shape, if the shape indicated by the first information is different from the shape indicated by the second information when an event providing a start timing to vary the shape of the pattern occurs.    
     
     
         13 . An entertainment system for displaying a pattern on a display screen, comprising: 
 storage means which stores image data representing the pattern having a first shape to which plural control points are set, image data representing the pattern having a second shape in which plural control points are set, and image data representing the pattern having a third shape used when the shape of the pattern on the display screen is varied; and    executing means for setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the first shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape, generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the image data of the pattern having the third pattern on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape, newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the second shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape, and then generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the image data of the pattern having the second shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the second shape.    
     
     
         14 . An entertainment system as claimed in    claim 13   , wherein the storing means stores first information representing the current shape of the pattern on the display screen, and second information representing the shape into which the pattern is varied, and 
 the executing means, while setting the shape indicated by the first information and the shape indicated by the second information as the first shape and the second shape respectively, executes the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing, if the shape indicated by the first information is different from the shape indicated by the second information when an event providing a start timing to vary the shape of the pattern occurs.    
     
     
         15 . A pattern display method for making an entertainment system execute processing to vary the shape of a pattern displayed on a display screen from a first shape to a second shape, comprising: 
 a read step of reading image data representing the pattern having the first shape in which plural control points are set, image data representing the pattern having the second shape in which plural control points are set, and image data representing the pattern having a third shape used when the shape of the pattern on the display screen is varied;    a first setting step of setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the first shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape;    a first morphing step of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the image data of the pattern having the third shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the first shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first setting step is executed;    a second setting step of newly setting the same number of control points as those of the image data of the pattern having the second shape to the image data of the pattern having the third shape after the first morphing step is executed; and    a second morphing step of generating image data of a sequence of pattern shapes appearing between the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the image data of the pattern having the second shape on the basis of the control points of the image data of the pattern having the third shape and the control points of the image data of the pattern having the second shape after the second setting processing is executed.    
     
     
         16 . A pattern display method as claimed in    claim 15   , further comprising: 
 a step of making the entertainment system hold first information representing the current shape of the pattern on the display screen;    a step of making the entertainment system read second information representing the shape of the pattern into which the pattern is varied; and    a step of making the entertainment system carry out the first setting processing, the first morphing processing, the second setting processing and the second morphing processing while setting the shape indicated by the first information as the first shape and the shape indicated by the second information as the second shape, if the shape indicated by the first information is different from the shape indicated by the second information when an event providing a start timing to vary the shape of the pattern occurs.