WO2004051576A1

WO2004051576A1 - Method for manufacturing and supplying animation composed with real picture

Info

Publication number: WO2004051576A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/002628
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong Wook Shin; Hyo Tae Kim; Jeong Soo Seo
Original assignee: Good N Joy Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2002-12-03
Filing date: 2003-12-03
Publication date: 2004-06-17
Also published as: AU2003284705A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture, wherein an animation is created based on a predetermined time chart and the created animation is composed with a real picture, whereby the time and costs can be significantly reduced and a customized animation composed with a real picture can also be created. The method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to the present invention comprising the steps of roughly cutting the real picture in accordance with a predetermined time chart; capturing the roughly cut picture; arranging the captured picture in accordance with the predetermined time chart; and creating an animation composed with a real picture by composing an animation and the arranged picture.

Description

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLYING ANIMATION COMPOSED WITH REAL PICTURE

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for creating and supplying . an animation composed with a real picture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture, wherein an animation is created based on a predetermined time chart and the created animation is composed with a real picture, whereby the time and costs can be significantly reduced and a customized animation composed with a real picture can also be created.

Background Art

The origin of an animation can trace back to "Fantasmagorie" by Emil Cohl (France) around 1909 or "Gertie, the Trained Dinosaur" by Windsor McCay (U.S.A.).

Animations of those days were created by a primitive method in which all the pictures were drawn directly on respective papers and then photographed one by one.

An animation originated in this way has been commercially created for use in showing at cinema or broadcasting on televisions and also been utilized in various fields such as education, publicity and the like, thanks to its entertainment and advantages that it appeals easily to the general public.

Though such an initial primitive creating method is not exactly the one being used, it is usual that the animation represents its movements in such a manner that a plurality of still pictures are created and shown consecutively and rapidly. A method for creating still pictures corresponding to the amount of about 24 frames per second is usually employed so that these movements look natural. According to this method, the number of frames that are required to create a piece of animation with runtime of 20 minutes is about 30,000. Thus, the creation of animation would inevitably become large-scale works. Further, a number of frames should be created and the connection between the respective frames should also be natural. Therefore, the animation must be created in accordance with careful planning. Accordingly, since it takes a lot of costs and time to create an animation, only a large animation production can generally create the animation.

To reduce the costs and time taken to create an animation, a cell animation scheme has emerged and been widely used. Further, a scheme for creating an animation called "a limited animation" has been developed in Japan. The limited animation that has been developed by a writer, Osamu Tezuka, and a director, Taro Rin, is a scheme for moving the background or using a backlight effect for representing extreme movements (very fast or completely stopped pictures) over a simple background, in order to reduce the number of frames (i.e., 24 frames per second) in Asian regions where there are no abundant production costs, thereby inducing illusion that looks as if a character moves by using an optical illusion phenomenon of the human eyes.

Even with the emergence of those schemes, it still takes tens of thousands dollars to several million dollars to create an animations. Thus, only the large production having large funds can create these animations. For this reason, customized animations for individuals have been considered to be very far away.

Recently, there is increasing a desire to try to manufacture music records, books, photograph albums and the like to express oneself or manufacture a specific remembrance, not for the purpose of selling them but for oneself. In this regard, considering the aforementioned familiarity and entertainment of the media such as animations, the creation of animations for individuals will also be popular among the people as a means or resemblance for expressing oneself.

If an individual intend to create an animation in which he/she may be a protagonist not for the public showing but for the satisfaction of expression desire or in commemoration of specific events, however, not a common animation but an animation composed with his/her own real pictures is generally required.

Furthermore, it takes a lot of costs and time to create an animation itself, but it is more difficult to create an animation composed with a real picture. This is because in addition to the creation of a background animation, the processes of photographing their own real pictures and composing the created background animation with the photographed real pictures should be added. In addition, the animation and real pictures should be created and photographed, respectively, under the careful planning so that movements of animation and real pictures are naturally composed with each other. Further, a desired composition technique for allowing the background animation and real pictures to be in harmony with each other is also required. Consequently, more advanced techniques are required in creating an animation composed with a real picture.

Therefore, the animation composed with the real picture is suitable for expressing themselves or their own resemblances in view of its nature, but it is still difficult to be popular among the general people in view of its costs and time.

Accordingly, an animation composed with real pictures for individuals, i.e. a customized animation has not yet been created so far.

In particular, although a customized animation has been created with consumption of a lot of time and costs, an individual is unlikely to create several pieces of customized animations due to the burdens of time and costs.

However, if an animation can be created at a specific time according to the growth of children, for example, when they are infants and elementary school students, or every engagement or wedding anniversary in the same manner as the conventional photograph albums, it will be popular among the general people.

Meanwhile, even if there were any services for creating customized animations for individuals, there would be inconvenience in that the customers should visit a relevant company in person to have their own real pictures taken and then revisit the company to take their own finished customized animations.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is conceived to solve the aforementioned problems in the prior art. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture, wherein a customized animation composed with a real picture can be created and supplied within a short time of several tens of minutes with very low expenses compared to a conventional animation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture, wherein a plurality of animations composed with real pictures containing a variety of contents can be created and supplied using only a single real picture.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture in which common people, in particular children can become a protagonist for use in the non-commercial showing of the animation. If an animation composed with a real picture looks natural, a performance skill is needed to a certain extent for the persons appearing on a real picture depending on a background animation. However, it is difficult to expect the desired performance skill from the children in lower grades of the elementary school, who belong to an age group to willingly watch animations. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for creating and supplying an animation composed with a real picture, wherein content of the animation is natural even when infants one or two years old from whom no performance skill can be expected as well as children corresponding to kindergarteners or lower grades of the elementary school who lack the desired performance skill become protagonists.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for supplying an animation composed with a real picture, by which the animation composed with the real picture can be supplied in the form of a recording medium with the animation recorded therein or via a communication network.

For achieving the objects and solving the problems in the prior art, there is provided a method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to the present invention, which comprises the steps of roughly cutting a real picture in accordance with a predetermined time chart, capturing the roughly cut picture, arranging the captured picture in accordance with the predetermined time chart, and composing the arranged picture with an animation to produce the animation composed with the real picture.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the animation may be created in accordance with the time chart and selected from a plurality of animations created in accordance with the same time chart.

The method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to another aspect of the present invention may further comprise the steps of rendering the animation composed with the real picture, and adding sound to the composed animation. Further, according to a further aspect of the present invention, the real picture may be received via a communication network and the completed animation composed With the real picture may be transmitted to the customer via the communication network. Further, there is provided a method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention, which comprises the steps of producing a background image, adding a flash animation to the background image to produce a background animation, and composing the background animation and the real picture.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the background animation may be one or more animations selected by a customer from a plurality of background animations in an on-line mode.

There is provided a method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention, which comprises the steps of receiving a real picture from a customer via a communication network, composing the real picture with an animation to create the animation composed with the real picture, and transmitting the animation composed with the real picture to the customer via the communication network.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to an embodiment of the present invention. -

FIG. 2 shows an example illustrating how to photograph a real picture employed in the present invention.

FIGS. 3a to 3d show examples of time charts employed in the present invention. FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate a method of photographing a real picture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the steps of creating an animation and composing the animation with a real picture to create the animation composed with the real picture in a method of creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example illustrating how to compose an animation selected from a plurality of animations with a single real picture in the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention.

FIG. 7a is a flowchart illustrating the sequence for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7b is a diagram illustrating the process of receiving the animation composed with the real picture according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary scene of the animation composed with the real picture that has been completed by the method illustrated in FIG. 9.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be first described. FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A method (100) for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to the present invention comprises the steps of roughly cutting a real picture in accordance with a time chart (step 101), capturing the roughly cut real picture (step 102), arranging the captured picture in accordance with the time chart (step 103), composing the arranged picture with an animation (step 104), rendering the animation composed with the real picture (step 105), and adding sound to the composed picture (step 106).

Hereinafter, the aforementioned respective steps of the present invention will be specifically explained.

The method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention comprises the step of roughly cutting the real picture in accordance with the time chart (step 101).

The real picture is obtained by directly photographing a person and the like. Although the real picture can be photographed in various manners for subsequent composition, it is prepared using a "chroma key method" in this embodiment of the present invention. The chroma key method will be briefly described. According to a Munsell system corresponding to a typical method of specifying color which was invented by Albert H. Munsell, an image is composed of luminance, chrominance and hue. The Munsell system is a color system that has been adopted as Korean Industrial Standards and as educational use, wherein the chrominance (or referred to as "chroma") indicates saturation. That is, a chroma signal corresponds to a signal including color information necessary for forming a color image. If the chroma component does not exist in the signal, the relevant image becomes a black and white image.

According to the chroma key method, an image is divided into a desired portion (a portion in which an actor is photographed) and the other portion (a background color portion) to produce a chroma key signal. The two images are then composed on the basis of the key signal.

In other words, according to the chroma key method, a real picture is photographed using a specific color as a background color. Then, when composing the picture, the chroma key signal for the background color is removed so that a picture to be composed becomes the background of the picture photographed by the chroma key method.

A blue key signal has been used most frequently as the chroma key signal.. In this case, a real picture is photographed using a blue screen and a blue color is removed when composing the picture. A green color is sometimes used, because there are many blue-eyed people among Westerners. That is, it should be noted that the background color is not specifically determined. The reason that the blue screen is most widely used in the chroma key method is that the blue color is the most opposite to a human's skin tone and has higher reflectivity than any other colors. Since an actor is located in front of the blue screen background, the reflectivity is the most important factor in removing a color key value.

In the chroma key method, it is important how to naturally compose the real picture with the background picture. At this time, a boundary line between the actor portion photographed by the chroma key method and the background image should not be significantly distinguished and no influence of the background image should be exerted on the real picture after the composition.

As shown in FIG. 2, to compose a more natural image, a blue background screen is configured so that the bottom and wall portions thereof are smoothly connected. In other words, since the cross section of the blue screen takes the shape of an arc, there is no shadow in the blue screen due to the lighting. Thus, the chroma key signal for the blue color can be further perfectly removed. In the chroma key method in which a screen of a specific color such as blue is used as the background and a key value corresponding to the specific color such as blue is removed from the photographed image, however, one or more lighting units are employed to obtain desired brightness and effects at a studio etc. where the real picture is photographed. Accordingly, it is common that the specific color is not uniformly photographed in the picture due to shadows or highlights caused by the lighting units.

In other words, portions on which more lighting is illuminated and shaded portions due to persons etc. positioned in front of the screen are photographed with slightly different colors from original ones. Further, in the process of removing the chroma key corresponding to the specific color such as blue, portions that should be removed may not be removed due to such a subtle difference in color.

To avoid such a phenomenon in the prior art, therefore, the process of changing locations of the lighting, adding the lighting, or removing the already installed lighting and then performing the photographing works again should be repeated until- the photographed real picture with a desired background color is obtained. As a result, there is a problem in that the costs and time taken to photograph the real picture are increased.

To solve this problem, in another embodiment of the present invention, the real picture may be photographed in a different method from the existing method. This embodiment is the same as the related art in that a real picture is photographed using a specific color screen as the background and the specific color is removed from the photographed real picture. However, it is different from the related art in that the lighting is not adjusted in a state where the color of the background screen is fixed, but the color of the background screen is determined on the basis of the lighting set such that a desired lighting effect can be obtained. According to this embodiment, the lighting setting in a studio is first completed depending on photographing concepts and a specific color that can be easily removed by the chroma key method is then selected based on the set lighting. That is, the color of the background screen is not a previously selected color but a color that will be selected in accordance with the lighting installed to obtain a desired lighting effect. According to this method, since it is not necessary to add or remove the lighting once it is set, it is possible to significantly reduce the time and costs related to the addition or removal of the lighting.

As described above, the reason that the time and costs can be significantly reduced by selecting the color of the background screen in accordance with the lighting effect is that the set lighting can be continuously used, because the present invention aims to create animations composed with real pictures equal in number to a plurality of users by composing the real pictures on the same animation, as will be described later, rather than to create a piece of animation composed with a real picture.

Further, although this embodiment employs the chroma key method, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto but intended to include cases where a real picture is photographed in the other manners. If the real picture is prepared by the aforementioned method, the real picture is roughly cut according to a time chart. Herein, the "time chart" refers to a chart used to arrange respective scenes of an animation in the order of time and to determine a location where the real picture is composed and content of the relevant real picture. •

FIGS. 3a to 3d show examples of time charts employed in the present invention and illustrate a case where an animation composed with a real picture, of which run time is 6 minutes and 54 seconds, is created.

As can be seen from seconds (TIME) shown in FIGS. 3a to 3d, the time chart is elaborately written in second and determines the scenes of animation at respective instants, frames where the animation and real pictures are composed with each other, contents of the relevant real pictures at the frames, and the like. In other words, the time chart can be referred to as a planning chart in which contents of the animation composed with real pictures according to this embodiment of the present invention are determined in second as a whole.

Meanwhile, an animation that will be the background of the animation composed with a real picture may be created without using the time chart. However, it is preferred that the background animation be created in accordance with the time chart so that it can be naturally and elaborately composed with the real picture. Further, if an animation that is not created according to the time chart is to be used as the background of the animation composed with real picture, the time chart for preparing the real picture may be constructed in compliance with the plot of animation, whereby a natural and elaborate animation can be produced even though only the real picture is prepared according to the time chart. It should be noted that such a modification also falls within the scope of the present invention.

For better understanding, FIGS. 3a to 3d sequentially show real pictures, animations, and animations composed with the real pictures for each frame where the real pictures and background animations are composed. Since a time chart is written in a planning stage before the animations or real pictures are prepared, however, these real pictures, animations, and animations composed with the real pictures may not be directly included in a general time chart employed in this embodiment of the present invention. That is, an actual time chart may be constructed in the form of a simple sketch or memo according to time. The real pictures photographed by the chroma key method are roughly cut in accordance with to the time chart. The term "rough cut" used in this embodiment is similar to a related art rough cut in view of a cut performed before the editing, but it is quite different from the related art one in that i) the rough cut of the present invention is performed on the basis of the time chart, and ii) the rough cut is performed before the capture process (which will be described later on) of transferring the real picture photographed by a camera to an editing device.

Since the contents of the animations and the frames of the animations composed with the real pictures are already determined based on the time chart, it is possible to easily select a desired one of the photographed real pictures. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3a to 3d, only desired real pictures, such as "full shot - sitting figure", "bust shot" or "marking time", necessary from the time chart, are selected by the rough cut.

In general, the "marking time" corresponding to a portion of the real picture needed from the time chart is a motion that children can easily perform, the animation prepared as the background can be created to be in harmony with simple motions, and the real pictures and the animations can also be excellently composed by the time chart to produce a natural picture. Therefore, the animation composed with the real picture that is created by the method (100) for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to this embodiment of the present invention can provide an advantage that everyone can become a protagonist without distinction of age and sex.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture can provide another method of conveniently photographing the real picture in connection with the time chart. According to this embodiment, an image line corresponding to a desired real picture is stored in a computer system such as PC based on the time chart. That is, since real pictures with various sizes and shapes are necessary according to the operation and contents of an animation based on the time chart, the image line that can be utilized as a guideline for photographing the real picture is stored in the computer system.

FIGS. 4a and 4b are views illustrating the image line. Reference numeral 411 designates an input window for selecting the type of animation, and reference numeral 412 designates an input window for selecting a scene associated with each animation selected in the input window 411. Specifically, FIG. 4a shows that an animation "EpisodeOl" has been selected and a scene corresponding to "ep01sc22" has been selected from the animation "EpisodeOl". Referring to FIG. 4a, an image line corresponding to the scene "ep01sc22" of the animation "EpisodeOl" is denoted by reference numeral 413. This scene corresponds to a standing user, as shown in this figure. A real picture photographed by a camera of an operator is input to the computer system and is displayed on a display unit of the computer system. In such a case, in the prior art, only the photographed real picture is displayed on the display unit. However, according to this embodiment, an image line 421 selected through an interface shown in FIG. 4a is displayed together with a real picture 422 that has been photographed and input to the computer system, as shown in FIG. 4b.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4b, since the operator can control the camera in accordance with the image line 421 and photograph the user at a desired location and with a desired size according to the time chart, the operator can photograph the user more rapidly and simply compared to the prior art. Next, the aforementioned step (step 102) of capturing the roughly cut image will be explained.

Capture means a series of works for storing still pictures or moving pictures in an editing device such as a computer hard disk. Generally, the capture corresponds to a process of inputting pictures from an output terminal of a camera to a capture board of an editing device such as a computer. If the picture is an analog image, the capture step further includes a process of digitalizing the image. Since this capture is generally performed together with reproduction of the picture, however, the time taken to capture a predetermined picture is the same as the time taken to photograph or reproduce the picture. Accordingly, if it takes long time to photograph or reproduce the picture or a plurality of pictures should be captured, the time needed for capturing the picture becomes an important factor in determining the total time taken to create an animation composed with a real picture.

To reduce this capture time, the method (100) for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to this embodiment employs a process of roughly cutting only desired real pictures selectively and capturing the roughly cut pictures, as described above. Although this process does not shorten the time required in the capture itself, it can significantly reduce the time required in the capture by not capturing unnecessary pictures, thereby reducing the total time taken to create an animation composed with a real picture. Of course, the reduction in the capture time through the rough cut can be made because the contents of the entire animation composed with the real picture has been previously determined on the basis of the aforementioned time chart.

Recently, as the technology related to equipment such as a digital camera and digital editing device has developed, it is unnecessary to store pictures photographed by a camera in a magnetic tape etc. and then retrieve and edit them. Thus, when the digital equipment such as a digital camera and digital editing device are used, photographed pictures can be immediately stored in the computer system and can be edited using an editing program etc. in a state where they are stored in the computer system. Accordingly, the time consumed in the picture capture step (step 102) can be further reduced as described above.

The method for creating the composed animation according to this embodiment aims to provide a customized animation composed with different real pictures unique to respective users (generally, children) rather than to create a single same animation. Thus, the aforementioned picture capture step (step 102) is repeated several times in proportion to the number of the users. Consequently, if the method for creating the composed animation according to this embodiment is performed using the above digital equipment, the time to be consumed can be significantly reduced.

Next, the step (step 103) of arranging the captured pictures according to the time chart will be described.

The step of arranging the captured picture can be clearly understood from the time chart shown in FIGS. 3a to 3d. Although a background animation consists of consecutive scenes from beginning to end, the real pictures are generally composed only at desired frames of the animation. Therefore, there is a need for a process of arranging the captured pictures in compliance with the background animation based on the time chart. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 a, a real picture corresponding to the sitting figure full shot (indicated by an arrow "C") is arranged at the frame of the animation (indicated by an arrow "B") to produce a scene at a frame of the animation composed with the real picture (indicated by an arrow "A"). Such an arrangement can be accomplished by using a computer program etc. provided in the editing apparatus.

An animation used in this embodiment may be created in the same manner as the real picture based on the time chart so as to perform more elaborate and natural real picture composition. Detailed descriptions on the animation will be discussed later-.

Then, the arranged picture is composed with the animation (step 104). Since the related art composition technique can be directly applied to the composition step of the present invention, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Although it can be said that the composed animation with the real picture is completed, this embodiment may further comprise the step of rendering the animation composed with the real picture (step 105) to produce a more natural picture. The reason is that the animation composed with the real picture cannot be natural due to heterogeneity at the boundary line between the real pictures and the background animation or a difference in texture between the animation and the real pictures when the real pictures and the animation are composed with each other.

Rendering means a process of allowing an animation to look much more realistic by representing specular and diffuse reflection of light, shadows and the like thereon.

If the rendering is properly used, an animation can be represented three-dimensionally on a plane or a texture that it is hard to represent in a common animation can also be represented.

Various algorithms for the rendering have been developed. Its basic concept is a process of determining how to remove invisible lines among a plurality of lines constituting the edges of a three-dimensional shape and what color visible faces of the three-dimensional shape have (more specifically, how the light is seen) when intending to represent the three-dimensional shape. To implement such a process, many schemes such as Z-Buffer algorithm, A-Buffer algorithm and Local Illumination Model have been known in the art.

Since such a rendering process has been widely performed by using tools such a computer program, it can be performed in the present invention by using any one of the various rendering programs.

To enhance sound effects in the animation composed with the real picture, the step (step 106) of adding sound to the composed animation with the real picture is performed. Thus, the animation composed with the real picture according to this embodiment is finally obtained. Similar to the rendering step (step 105), the step (step 106) of adding the sound can also use a conventional method.

Next, a process of creating an animation employed in the method (100) for creating the animation composed with the real picture will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the whole steps of photographing the real picture and composing the photographed real picture with the animation to create an animation composed with the real picture as well as creating an animation. Since the step of photographing the real picture and composing the photographed real picture with the animation has been already explained, only the process of creating the animation itself will be described. Animations can be created in various methods as many expression forms as they have. The method for creating the animation is classified into a drawn animation, a model animation, a computer animation^' and the like. The drawn animation is subdivided into a cell animation, a paper animation, a glass animation, a. sand animation, a scratch animation, a pin-screen animation, xerography, optical printing and the like. Although any one of the above animations can be used in the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention, it is described that the cell animation is used in this embodiment. Hereinafter, the method for creating the cell animation used in this embodiment will be described.

The cell animation method is a method in which a variety of background images are drawn in detail and only moving characters are specialized on the background images to produce moving pictures. Since the background images do not have to be repeatedly drawn every frame, the division of labor and mass production can be made. Therefore, most of TV series animations and full-length cinema animations are generally created on the basis of the production system of a cell animation.

The cell animation is generally created through the processes of (1) planning and organization (scenario decision), (2) character design, (3) background setting, (4) color designation, (5) story board (continuity) production, (6) layout completion, (7) works for key animation and in-between animation, (8) painting, (9) combination of the key animation, the in-between animation and the background, and (10) background illustration.

The scenario is a script of an animation written by a writer, in which a story of the animation is written in such a format of directing the order of scenes, lines, motions, background, screen connection and the like..

Generally, the continuity is used to specifically explain or indicate elements needed for creating an animation, by consecutively listing relevant figures or letters. on a paper. For example, the continuity is a process of representing an animation in the form of a figure and recording voice, sound effects or other peculiar portions. In the method (100) for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to this embodiment, though the time chart has similarities with the continuity, it is significantly different from the continuity in that it can be used as a basis of respective steps of creating an animation composed with a real picture, including the rough cut step, the capture step and the arrangement step, rather than simply deciding only the contents of the animation.

If the character and the continuity are decided, the layout work is performed. The layout means a kind of basic sketch that plans in advance for the compositions of frame and angle with reference to the assumed background, situation and history based on the set character and product modeling.

If the layout work is completed, a key animation is drawn accordingly. The key animation specifies locations of main characters and clearly states the expressions and directions of the characters, flow of motions, and the like. That is, the key animation is a step of mainly drawing the motions corresponding to the start and end of movement. An in-between animation is a step of drawing intermediate motions for each frame so that the start and end of movement can flow smoothly around the key animation. Then, respective characters and properties are painted. After the combination of the background and the key and in-between animations and the background illustration work have been finished, the animation is finally produced.

The method for creating the animation composed with the real picture (100) according to the present invention is different from the general method for creating an animation in that the step of adding sound according to the present invention is performed after the real pictures are composed with the animation.

The animations so created can be produced in the plural number to have different contents according to the same time chart. If the time chart is employed, the same real picture can be arranged on and composed with the plurality of different animations in the same second (TIME) and composed with them, as shown in FIG. 6. Since the plurality of the animations use the same time chart, their contents and respective scenes are in harmony with their stories even though the same real picture is composed with the plurality of the different animations. Although only four animations are shown in -FIG 6, the number of the animations created based on the same time chart is not limited thereto. Of course, the animations may be created in the desired number.

According to said configuration, using the method (100) for creating the animation composed with the real picture of this embodiment, a provider who creates an animation composed with a real picture can repeatedly use the predetermined number of animations, which have been beforehand created, without the need to create a new animation whenever he/she produces an animation composed with a real picture. Thus, the costs and time can be significantly reduced. Accordingly, a customer can obtain the desire animation composed with the real picture at a significantly lower price than the conventional animation.

Further, since the customer can select a desired animation from the plurality of animations, there is an advantage in that a variety of selections by the customer can be made as the number of prepared animations becomes greater. Since it is difficult for children to perform well, an animation can be selected depending on their countenance or behavior when photographing a real picture. For example, if the countenance of the children is bright and lively, it is preferable to select an animation including a scene where the children attend a party or play with their friends. If the children cry or frowns, it is preferable to select an animation including a fearful scene. Therefore, it is possible to complete a natural animation composed with a real picture.

Furthermore, an operator of the present invention can produce an album using the animation composed with the real picture created according to each embodiment and then supply the album to the customer. In addition to the animation, a still photograph album corresponding to the main and favorite scenes among the animation composed with the real picture can also be provided to the customer.

In a case where the album is provided to the customer in this manner, the cost for producing the album can be reduced because the already created animation composed with the real picture can be directly utilized, animations and photographs have different values since they use different medium (for example, the customer can easily view the album without additional reproducing devices), and the value of the album is higher because a high-level animation is used as the background. Accordingly, it is possible to provide customers with high quality services.

Next, a method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7a is a flowchart illustrating the sequence for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The method (700) for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to this embodiment comprises the steps of receiving a real picture via a communication network (step 701), roughly cutting the received real picture in accordance with a time chart (step 702), capturing the roughly cut real picture (step 703), arranging the captured real picture in accordance with the time chart (step 704), composing the arranged picture with an animation (step 705), rendering the animation composed with the real picture (step 706), adding sound to the composed animation (step 707), and transmitting the animation composed with the real picture via the communication network (step 708).

The method (700) for creating the animation composed with the real picture according the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the method (100) according to the first embodiment of the present invention, except that it further includes the steps of receiving the real picture via the communication network and transmitting the animation composed with the real picture via the communication network (steps 701 and 708). Therefore, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. Since the method of receiving the real picture or transmitting the animation composed with the real picture via the communication network is employed in the present invention, respective branch offices that supply the animation composed with the real picture need not have all the equipment for creating the animation composed with the real picture. That is, each of the branch offices can photograph a real picture of a customer and then sends the photographed picture to a head office via the communication network, or the head office can create an animation composed with a real picture and then returns the created animation to each branch office via the communication network. Considering that the editing device, the composition device and the like are expensive, the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture (700) can significantly reduce the production costs because only the head office that substantially creates the animation composed with the real picture can have the main equipment. Further, the customer can feel convenient because the customer can make a request for the production of an animation composed with a real picture at the nearest branch office and receive the composed animation from the branch office without visiting the head office.

The second embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7b. As shown in FIG. 7b, it is assumed that there are one or more head offices (of which number is smaller than that of branch offices) and a plurality of branch offices associated with the head offices. In such a case, a customer who wishes to obtain a customized animation composed with a real picture visits the nearest branch office and then has his/her real picture taken. Each branch office transmits the photographed real picture to the head office via the communication network. Thus, each branch office can have only the equipment capable of photographing a real picture using a chroma key etc. and of using the communication network. The head office composes the received real picture with an animation and creates an animation composed with the real picture. Then, the head office transmits the animation composed with the real picture to a relevant branch office or an electronic mail address of the customer via the communication network. If the animation composed with the real picture is recorded in a recording medium such as a magnetic tape, the head office can forward the recording medium such as the magnetic tape to the branch office or customer. If the recording medium is forwarded to the relevant branch office, the customer may directly pick up the recording medium at the branch office or receive it by mail.

Next, a method for supplying the animation composed with the real picture that has been produced by the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the present invention will be described. If the animation composed with the real picture has been produced according to the method of creating the animation composed with the real picture as described above, the produced animation composed with the real picture is still stored in the computer etc. Since the animation composed with the real picture cannot be provided to a customer in such a state, the composed animation is stored in a portable recording medium and then supplied to the customer. Such a recording medium may include a magnetic tape (usually, a VHS tape), DVD, CD, diskette, and the like.

Further, as can be clearly seen from the second embodiment of the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture, the produced animation composed with the real picture may be forwarded directly (not via the relevant branch office) to the electronic mail address of the customer in the form of data over the communication network without a need to record the composed animation in a recording medium.

Next, a method for creating an animation composed with a real picture according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the sequence fro creating the animation composed with the real picture according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The method for creating the animation composed with the real picture (800) comprises the steps of creating a background image (step 801), adding a flash animation to the background image to create a background animation (step 802), composing a real picture with the background animation (step 803), and adding sound to the animation composed with the real picture (step 804).

According to the method (800) for creating the animation composed with the real picture, an infant one or two years old can also become a protagonist. Hereinafter, each of the steps of the method according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be explained.

A background image can be produced in a variety of methods including computer graphics, handmade illustration and the like. This method for creating the animation composed with the real picture is different from the aforementioned method (100 or 700) for creating the animation composed with the real picture in that the background image is not an animation but a still picture in this embodiment. Thus, to create a single animation composed with a real picture, only a few (it may be one) background images are needed. For example, it is preferable to prepare a kindly and friendly background image in that the animation composed with the real picture is created mainly for the infant.

Then, a flash animation is prepared. Briefly speaking, the flash animation is an animation that has been created by using software called "Flash" available from Macromedia Co., Ltd. The flash animation has several advantages in that it operates in most environments such as a PC, Macintosh, Linux and Unix due to its good compatibility, it has a high compression ratio as a representative broadband content, its production costs are cheap and it is a streaming media. Therefore, there is an increasing interest in the flash animation. This embodiment may fully utilize these advantages of the flash animation since the real picture is produced using the flash animation in this embodiment.

The flash animation is created suitably in accordance with the prepared background image. For example, figures representing that a flock of chicks are walking, smoke rises from a chimney of a house drawn on the background image, and clouds are drifting may be produced using the flash animation.

The flash animation prepared thus is added to the aforementioned background image to create a background animation. In this case, since a plurality of the background animations can be created in advance, a customer can select a desired background animation from the plurality of the background animations. Further, desired expressions can be inserted into the selected background animation by means of the flash animation. These expressions may include children's verse or refined wordings that the parents wish to read to their children. In addition, a variety of effects that the expressions emerge on the screen through the use of the flash animation can be obtained. In other words, the flash animation may be added even after it is composed with the background image. Then, the real picture and the background animation are composed, and sound effects etc. are added to the animation composed with the real picture. These sound effects may include voices of the parents.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture (800) according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 shows an exemplary scene of the completed animation composed with the real picture 9. Although it is not clearly shown, FIG. 10 shows a flash animation representing that the clouds and the smoke from the chimney are moving and an infant who is a protagonist is toddling out from a house drawn as the background image. As can be seen from FIG. 10, the significant advantage of all the animations composed with the real pictures is that the degree of perfection is high since the contents and respective scenes of the completed animation composed with a real picture is very natural even though children or infants having no performance skill become a protagonist.

The animation composed with the real picture so produced can be stored in a recording medium such as a videotape and DVD, and it can be supplied to customers.

In addition, as described in the second embodiment, the method for creating the animation composed with the real picture (800) according to this embodiment may further comprise the step of receiving the real picture or transmitting the completed animation composed with the real picture via the communication network. Since this step is the same as that described above, descriptions thereof will be omitted.

In particular, in a case where the real picture is received via the communication network and the animation composed with the real picture is then transmitted via the communication network, a customer can easily give an order for the animation composed with the real picture without visiting the branch offices as well as the head offices. In other words, the customer can transmit a real picture of his/her child through the communication network at home, select a desired background animation from the plurality of background animations in on-line mode, and then receive the created animation composed with the real picture via the communication network. Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention, an animation composed with a real picture can be created and supplied in a short time of tens of minutes at much lower costs compared to the related art animation. In particular, since an animation to be composed with a real picture can be selected from a plurality of animations, a variety of animations composed with real pictures can be created. Moreover, several pieces of animations composed with real pictures can also be created using only a single real picture.

Further, according to the present invention, more perfect and natural animation composed with a real picture can be created and supplied even though children or infants who lack the performance skill become a protagonist.

Furthermore, a created animation composed with a real picture can be supplied to customers in the form of a recording medium in which it is recorded. Alternatively, the customers can easily make a request for the creation of an animation and receive the created animation composed with the real picture via a communication network.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for creating an animation composed with a real picture, comprising the steps of: storing a real picture in a predetermined storage unit; roughly cutting the stored real picture in accordance with a predetermined time chart; capturing the roughly cut picture; arranging the captured picture in accordance with the predetermined time chart; and producing an animation composed with a real picture by composing an animation created in connection with the predetermined time chart and the arranged picture wherein the time chart arranges respective scenes of the animation in the order of time, and determines a location of the scenes where the real picture is composed and content of the real picture at the location.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the animation is selected from a plurality of animations created in accordance with the same time chart.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of storing a real picture comprises the steps of: storing an image line corresponding to a desired real picture based on the predetermined time chart; displaying the image line on a predetermined display unit; receiving a real picture; displaying the real picture and the image line on the display unit; selecting a predetermined real picture from the received real picture based on the image line; and storing the selected real picture in the storage unit.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the step of receiving the real picture comprises the steps of: selecting a color that can be easily removed by a chroma key method, based on lighting set in a studio; photographing a real picture using a screen with the selected color as the background; and receiving the photographed real picture, and wherein the step of producing an animation composed with a real picture comprises the step of removing the selected color from the real picture.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one of the steps of: rendering the animation composed with the real picture; and adding sound to the animation composed with the real picture.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of: receiving the real picture from a customer via a communication network; and transmitting the animation composed with the real picture to the customer via a communication network.

7. A method for creating an animation composed with a real picture, comprising the steps of: creating a background image; creating a plurality of background animations by adding a flash animation to the background image; receiving a selection of a background animation from a user via a communication network; receiving a real picture from the user via a communication network; composing the selected background animation and the real picture; adding sound to the animation composed with the real picture; and transmitting the animation composed with the real picture to the user via a communication network.

8. A recording medium in which an animation composed with a real picture created by a method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is recorded.

9. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for implementing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is recorded.