초록 ▼

A method for rendering stereoscopic images with non-linear depth variation. The method includes storing content in memory that is ready for rendering, e.g., computer animated images including animated objects or models. A processor is operated to position stereo or horizontally offset cameras and to

A method for rendering stereoscopic images with non-linear depth variation. The method includes storing content in memory that is ready for rendering, e.g., computer animated images including animated objects or models. A processor is operated to position stereo or horizontally offset cameras and to render the images based on a non-linear relationship between disparity assigned to one or more of the animated objects and a distance between the cameras and the objects. The non-linear relationship is defined by a function or algorithm callable by the processor such as a function that defines a curved depth variation for the computer animated scene. In other cases, the non-linear relationship is defined by stored table, and the rendering includes using the distance between the cameras and an object to retrieve the disparity value to assign to that object. More than one non-linear relationship may be used to render objects with differing depth variations.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A computer-based method for rendering stereoscopic images, comprising: storing in memory a set of images comprising computer animated models;operating a processor to position a pair of offset, virtual cameras for imaging the set of images; andrendering the set of images with the processor based o

1. A computer-based method for rendering stereoscopic images, comprising: storing in memory a set of images comprising computer animated models;operating a processor to position a pair of offset, virtual cameras for imaging the set of images; andrendering the set of images with the processor based on a non-linear relationship between a disparity value assigned to at least one of the animated models and a distance between the cameras and the at least one of the animated models, wherein the disparity value defines a horizontal offset between a left eye image and a right eye image at the distance for the at least one of the animated models. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-linear relationship is defined by a transfer function callable by the processor. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the transfer function defines a curve. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-linear relationship is defined in a table stored in the memory and the rendering comprises using the distance to retrieve the disparity value from the table. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the rendering is performed by the processor based on an additional non-linear relationship between a disparity value assigned to another one of the animated models and a distance between the cameras and the another one of the animated models. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the rendering includes performing rendering of at least one of the animated models using a linear relationship between another one of the animated models and a distance between the cameras and the another one of the animated models, whereby differing relationships between disparity and distance from a camera are used during the rendering for differing ones of the animated models. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-linear relationship is adapted to select the disparity value such that the distance between the cameras and the at least one of the animated models is reduced, whereby the disparity value is smaller than a disparity value calculated for the at least one of the animated models based on a linear relationship. 8. A non-transitory computer readable medium for rendering computer generated images, comprising: computer readable program code devices configured to cause a computer to effect retrieving a set of digitized content from memory;computer readable program code devices configured to cause the computer to effect rendering the digitized content from a pair of offset cameras to generate left eye and right eye images with non-linear depth variation; andcomputer readable program code devices configured to cause the computer to effect storing the generated left and right eye images in the memory,wherein the non-linear depth variation comprises assigning disparity values, defining horizontal offset in pixels between pairs of the left and right eye images, to objects in the digitized content that are not linearly related to distances of the objects from the cameras. 9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the disparity values are retrieved from a look up table relating horizontal offsets between the left and right eye images to the distances of the objects from the cameras. 10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the disparity values are derived using a transfer function defining a curved variation in depth in the left and right eye images. 11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the digitized content comprises animated objects and wherein the depth variation differs among at least two of the animated objects, whereby disparity is linked to particular ones of the animated objects. 12. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising computer readable program code devices configured to cause the computer to effect displaying on a monitor a plurality of non-linear depth functions and to effect receiving via an input device a user selected one of the non-linear depth functions, wherein the non-linear depth variation comprises assigning a disparity value to animated elements within the digitized content based on the user selected one of the non-linear depth functions. 13. A non-linear depth rendering method, comprising: with a computer processor, retrieving computer animated images from memory;establishing a first non-linear relationship between pixel disparity for a first object in the animated images and a distance from the first object to a pair of virtual cameras;operating the processor to render left and right eye images including the first object based on a position of the pair of virtual cameras using the first non-linear relationship for the first object; andestablishing a second non-linear relationship between pixel disparity for a second object in the animated images and a distance from the second object to the pair of virtual cameras, wherein the second non-linear relationship differs from the first non-linear relationship established for the first object. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the establishing of the non-linear relationship comprises storing a look up table in the memory providing a pixel disparity for number of distances between the object and the pair of virtual cameras and wherein the operating of the processor to render includes accessing the look up table with the distance from the object to the pair of virtual cameras to retrieve the pixel disparity. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the establishing of the non-linear relationship includes defining a function defining a non-linear depth variation in the computer animated images and providing the function in the memory. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the function defines a curve. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the function has two or more sections comprising differing curves. 18. The method of claim 13, further comprising processing the left and right eye images to form stereoscopic images and displaying the stereoscopic images on a 3D capable device.