Image processing apparatus, object data generation apparatus, image processing method, object data generation method, and object model data structure

An object data generation method for use with an object data generation apparatus for generating data related to an object and used to generate a display image, the object data generation method comprising:

• arranging a plurality of light sources in different directions relative to the object in a virtual space and repeating a predetermined number of times a sampling process that traces a ray from a virtual camera observing the object and finds a light source at which the ray has arrived, thereby obtaining a distribution of contribution ratios of the light sources representing sizes of effects thereof on a color of a figure of the object;
• and
• storing the distribution of the light source contribution ratios in association with a combination of an incident position and an incident direction of the ray on a surface of the object in a memory of the object data generation apparatus.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program for causing a computer to perform a method for generating data related to an object and used to generate a display image, the method comprising:

• arranging a plurality of light sources in different directions relative to the object in a virtual space and repeating a predetermined number of times a sampling process that traces a ray from a virtual camera observing the object and finds a light source at which the ray has arrived, thereby obtaining a distribution of contribution ratios of the light sources representing sizes of effects thereof on a color of an image of the object;
• and
• storing the distribution of the light source contribution ratios in association with a combination of an incident position and an incident direction of the ray on a surface of the object in a storage part of the computer.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a data structure of an object model used by an image processing apparatus in generating a display image including an object, the data structure associating with each other:

• data used by the image processing apparatus to represent a shape of the object arranged in a space of a display target;
• and
• a distribution of contribution ratios of a plurality of light sources representing sizes of effects thereof on a color of an image of the object, the plurality of light sources being in different directions relative to the object, the distribution of the light source contribution ratios being used by the image processing apparatus upon rendering of a figure of the object to determine a pixel value of the figure of the object by calculating a weighted sum of luminance values of light reflected from the object after emanating from intra-scene light sources established in the space, the calculation being made using as a weight the light source contribution ratios obtained with respect to the directions corresponding to the intra-scene light sources.