JP2001218134A - Image forming device and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device with markedly enhanced user- friendliness. SOLUTION: This invention provides the image forming device that captures positional data obtained by determining the position of a photographing place of a video image and generated the image data of a position recognition image to allow an operator to recognize the photographing place based on the captured positional data and position related data stored in advance in a prescribed storage means and related to the photographing place. Thus, the image forming device can quickly generate a position recognition image with the considerably enhanced user-friendliness to allow the operator to recognize the photographing place even when the operator has not precisely grasped the photographing place of the video image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image generating apparatus and method, and is suitably applied to, for example, an image generating apparatus for generating a position recognition image for recognizing a news gathering place in a broadcasting station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a broadcasting station has grasped the location and situation of coverage by telephone communication from a photographer or reporter who went to report, or a memo created by the photographer or reporter, etc. In addition to selecting a video of a desired scene of the news material recorded in the above (hereinafter, referred to as a news video), at this time, a position recognition image for recognizing the coverage location on a map, for example, is generated. And produce news programs.

At the time of broadcasting a news program, a broadcasting station broadcasts a news image using a position recognition image as a background image, or a newscaster reads a manuscript using a position recognition image as a background image to provide viewers with the information. Along with the content of the news, the place where the event taken up as the news has occurred (that is, the location of the news gathering) can be accurately grasped.

Here, in a broadcasting station, an image generating apparatus is operated by an operator who has grasped a news gathering location (hereinafter referred to as an image generating worker) to select a predetermined area including the news gathering location. Thus, a position recognition image serving as a background image of the news program is generated.

[0005]

By the way, in such an image generating apparatus, events such as festivals held in various places, events related to government, and the like, which are scheduled in advance, are known. By performing an operation after sufficiently examining the location of the news gathering by the image generation operator, it is possible to generate a position recognition image that allows the viewer to easily grasp the news gathering location.

However, in an image generating apparatus, a position recognition image is generated by being operated by an image generating operator who has sufficiently grasped a reporting location, so that the image generating operator knows the reporting location and surrounding areas very well. If not,
There is a problem that it is difficult to quickly generate a position recognition image indicating a news gathering place, and therefore, it is extremely difficult to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to propose an image generating apparatus and a method thereof which can greatly improve the usability.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problems, position data indicating a shooting location obtained by measuring a shooting location of an image is fetched. The image data of the position recognition image for recognizing the shooting location is generated based on the location-related data related to the shooting location stored in the storage unit in advance.

Therefore, it is possible to quickly generate a position recognition image capable of recognizing the photographing place without the worker accurately grasping the photographing place.

[0010] Further, the transmitted position data is received by the receiving means, and a position recognition image is generated using the received position data, so that the time from the end of video shooting to the generation of the position recognition image is markedly reduced. It is possible to easily cope with the need for promptness in video.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image generating apparatus according to the present invention as a whole. A modem 3, a database server 4, a monitor 5 and a keyboard 6 are connected to a main body 2, and a mouse is connected via the keyboard 6. 7 are connected.

A plurality of materials for loading a video tape (hereinafter referred to as a material video tape) 8 on which video data of a news video (moving image) obtained by editing is recorded are provided in the main body 2. And a program video slot 2B for loading a video tape (hereinafter referred to as a program video tape) 9 for recording position-recognition image data, and a material video slot 2A. A material videotape 8 is removably mounted on the medium, and a program videotape 9 is removably mounted on the program video slot 2B.

The main body 2 is provided with a memory slot 2C for a portable external memory 10 which is randomly accessible and detachable, such as a memory stick (trademark of Sony Corporation). Slot 2
The portable external memory 10 is loaded in C.

The portable external memory 10 includes an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory (for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasabl) in a thin plastic case.
e Programmable Read-Only Memory) A flash memory card that stores and configures a type of flash memory device, and can write and read various data such as image data and audio data via a 10-pin terminal. .

The portable external memory 10 can be removably loaded into a video camera (not shown) used for news gathering. When recording news material on a video tape at the news gathering location, Various data including image data related to news material is recorded at the timing designated by the video camera.

In practice, as shown in FIG. 2, at the timing when the shutter button of the video camera is pressed, one of the images constituting the news material is stored in the portable external memory 10.
An index image composed of still images for a frame is recorded as index image data, and audio data for a predetermined time in audio constituting the news material is recorded.

The portable external memory 10 stores a news material shooting location (ie, news coverage location) using a plurality of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites when the shutter button of the video camera is pressed. Positional data represented by latitude, longitude and altitude obtained by positioning are recorded, as well as identification information for news material, shooting date and time (that is, coverage date and coverage time), index image time code and shot number, A unique identifier (hereinafter, referred to as a tape ID) previously assigned to a video tape used for recording news material and a unique identifier (hereinafter, referred to as a tape ID) assigned to a video camera used for recording the newstape. This is the camera ID
) Are recorded as attribute data.

In the portable external memory 10, these attribute data, position data, audio data and index image data (hereinafter collectively referred to as memory recording data) are stored in JEIDA (Japan Electronic I / O).
For example, according to the camera file system method and the image file format method for a digital still camera specified in the Industry Development Association standard, the information is recorded in a memory map organized for each news material.

That is, the portable external memory 10 has 1
Attribute data related to the first news material is recorded from address 0 to address K according to the data amount, and position data is recorded from address (K + 1) to address L according to the data amount. After the audio data is recorded from address (L + 1) to address M according to the data amount, and the index image data is recorded from address (M + 1) to address N according to the data amount. ,
Similarly, memory recording data related to the second and subsequent news materials is similarly recorded in the subsequent address (N + 1) and thereafter.

Incidentally, the recording capacity of the portable external memory 10 is selected so that memory recording data relating to a large number of news materials can be recorded.

In FIG. 1, when the portable external memory 10 is loaded in the memory slot 2C, an operation command corresponding to the operation of the keyboard 6 is input to the main body 2 or the mouse 7 is operated. When a corresponding predetermined operation command is input via the keyboard 6, based on the input operation command, the memory recording data stored in the portable external memory 10 is read.

Based on the position data contained in the read memory recording data, the main body 2 transmits the corresponding position-related data among the position-related data stored in a database in advance from the database server 4. It reads out, generates position recognition image data for recognizing a news gathering location based on the read position related data and the position data, and sends the generated position recognition image data to the monitor 5 so that the monitor 5 is based on the position recognition image data. Display the position recognition image.

The modem 3 transmits the memory recording data recorded in the portable external memory 10 at the news gathering location from, for example, a personal computer via an optical fiber or a wired network such as a telephone line, or When memory recording data recorded in the portable external memory 10 at the news gathering location is transmitted from, for example, a mobile phone via a wireless network using a satellite or the like, the data is received, and the received memory recording data is transmitted to the main body. Send it to unit 2.

When the memory recording data is given from the modem 3, the main body 2 receives the data via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7 in the same manner as when the portable external memory 10 is loaded in the memory slot 2C. In response to the operation command, the corresponding position-related data is read from the database server 4 based on the position data included in the memory recording data, and position-recognition image data is generated based on the read relevant image data and the position data. Then, the data is transmitted to the monitor 5, and the monitor 5 is caused to display a position recognition image based on the position recognition image data.

In this manner, the main body 2 generates a position recognition image for recognizing the report location based on the position data indicating the report location, and displays the position recognition image on the monitor 5. Thereby, this can be visually confirmed.

By the way, after generating the position recognition image data in this way, when the recording command is inputted through the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7, the main unit 2 converts the position recognition image data into the video tape 9 for a program. Thus, the position-recognition image data can be used for a news program by the program video tape 9.

Here, as shown in FIG. 3, in the image generating apparatus 1, a CPU (Ce) provided inside the main body 2 is provided.
The control unit 11, which is an ntral processing unit, fetches an operation command input via the keyboard 6 and the mouse 7 via the interface 12 and controls various circuit blocks to be described later based on the operation command. It has been done.

Actually, the control unit 11 controls the memory slot 2C
When the portable external memory 10 is loaded in (FIG. 1), the memory recording data D1 is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7.
When a read command is input, a predetermined memory driver (not shown) is controlled based on the read command to read the memory record data D1 recorded in the portable external memory 10 from the portable external memory 10 and read the internal data. It is stored in the memory 13.

By the way, the database server 4 includes:
As the position-related data, a map search database 14 in which a plurality of types of domestic and foreign map data D2 of different scales generated according to the latitude and longitude are stored in the internal hard disk in advance, and the hard disk has a latitude And point information data D such as a name such as an address for specifying each point on the map according to the longitude and a telephone number.
3 is stored in advance as an information search database 15.

Then, the control unit 11 stores the memory recording data D1 in the internal memory 13 and
Alternatively, when a position recognition image generation command is input via the mouse 7, the map search database 14 is searched based on the position data included in the memory record data D1, and the map data of a predetermined area corresponding to the position data is searched. D2 is read out and stored in the internal memory 13.

At this time, the control unit 11 searches the information search database 15 based on the position data,
Point information data D3 such as a place name corresponding to the position data
Is read out and stored in the internal memory 13.

Then, the control unit 11 reads out the map data D2, the point information data D3, and the position data stored in the internal memory 13 as image generation data D5, and sends the read image generation data D5 to the arithmetic processing unit 16. Send out.

The arithmetic processing section 16 generates map data D2 based on the image generation data D5 given from the control section 11.
After the point information data D3 is subjected to the combining process, predetermined processing is performed based on the position data, and the obtained position recognition image data D6 is transmitted to the monitor 5 via the control unit 11.

As a result, the control section 11 causes the monitor 5 to display a position recognition image 20 as shown in FIG. 4 based on the position recognition image data D6.

Here, in the position recognition image 20 (FIG. 4), various names for specifying each point such as an address and a station are displayed on a map 21 including the news gathering place, and a predetermined name indicating the news gathering place is displayed. Mark 22 is displayed.

Thus, even if the cameraman, reporter, or image generation worker does not know the reporting location or the surrounding area very well, the control unit 11 uses the GPS satellite at the time of reporting (at the time of shooting news material). The position recognition image 20 indicating the location of the news gathering on the map 21 can be easily generated based on the position data obtained by the positioning.

When a scale change command is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7 while the position recognition image 20 is displayed on the monitor 5, the control unit 11 responds to the scale change command by using the database. The map data D2 and the point information data D3 read from the server 4 are changed to generate the position recognition image data D6, thereby changing the scale of the map constituting the position recognition image 20.

Thus, the control unit 11 can easily generate the scale-recognized position-recognition image 20 that allows the viewer to easily recognize the location where the event to be reported has occurred.

On the other hand, in FIG. 3, when the memory recording data D 1 received from the modem 3 via the wired line network 25 or the wireless line network 26 is given from the modem 3, the control unit 11 stores the data in the internal memory 13.

When a position recognition image generation command is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7, the control unit 11 stores the memory record data D stored in the internal memory 13.
1. Based on the position data included in 1, position recognition image data D 6 is generated in the same manner as when the position recognition image 20 (FIG. 4) is generated using the portable external memory 10 described above, and this is Then, the position recognition image 20 is displayed on the monitor 5.

Thus, the control unit 11 uses the memory record data D1 transmitted from the news gathering location to generate the position recognition image 2
By generating 0, the position recognition image 20 can be generated in a short time after the end of coverage, compared to the case where the portable external memory 10 is brought in from the coverage location. It can be easily handled.

The control unit 11 controls the keyboard 6 while the position recognition image 20 is displayed on the monitor 5.
Alternatively, when an index image display command is input via the mouse 7, the image generation data D5 is read from the internal memory 13.
At the same time, the index image data D7 and the attribute data D8 included in the memory recording data D1 are sent to the arithmetic processing unit 16.

After generating the position recognition image data D6 based on the image generation data D5 provided from the control unit 11, the arithmetic processing unit 16 adds the index image data D7 and the attribute data D8 to the generated position recognition image data D6.
And sends the obtained news image data D9 to the monitor 5.

Thus, the control unit 11 causes the monitor 5 to
A news image 30 as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed based on the news image data D9.

Here, in the news image 30, an image data display area 31 and an attribute data display area 32 are provided on the position recognition image 20, and an index image based on the index image data D7 is provided in the image data display area 31. 33 is displayed, and the attribute data display area 3
2, a coverage date 34 and a coverage time 35 are displayed based on the attribute data D8.

As a result, even if the news image 30 displays the index image 33 indicating the content of the news material as an index on the position recognition image 20, whether the position recognition image 20 can clearly grasp the news gathering place. Can be visually confirmed.

By the way, in the news image 30, an arrow 36 is displayed between the mark 22 indicating the news gathering place and the image data display area 31 in which the index image 33 is displayed. It is made possible to clearly recognize the actual event that occurred at the place where the news was taken in correspondence.

In FIG. 3, when character data D10 explaining the content of news is input via keyboard 6 at this time, control unit 11 transmits the character data D1.
By transmitting 0 to the arithmetic processing unit 16, the arithmetic processing unit 16 synthesizes the news image data D 9 with the character data D 10 and sends it to the monitor 5.

Thus, the control unit 11 further writes a description 37 on the news image 30 displayed on the monitor 5 to explain the content of the news based on the character data D10.
Is displayed. Thus, the event that occurred at the news gathering place is added to the index image 33, and a description 3 including a character string is displayed.
7, so that it can be grasped.

Further, when a display command of a news image is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7 in a state where the position recognition image 20 is displayed on the monitor 5, the control unit 11 By sending the attribute data D8 included in the memory recording data D1 together with the data D5 to the arithmetic processing unit 16, and controlling a predetermined reproducing circuit (not shown), the material video tape 8
And reproduces the video data D11 of the corresponding news video, and sends it to the arithmetic processing unit 16.

The arithmetic processing unit 16 generates the position recognition image data D6 based on the image generation data D5 given from the control unit 11, and then adds the attribute data D8 and the video data D11 to the generated position recognition image data D6. The synthesizing process is performed and the obtained news image data D12 is transmitted to the monitor 5.

Thus, the control unit 11 causes the monitor 5 to display a news image substantially equivalent to the news image 30 described above with reference to FIG. 5 on the basis of the news image data D12. A news video (moving image) based on the video data D11 can also be displayed.

By the way, the control section 11 can also display the explanatory note 37 explaining the content of the news material in the news image in which the news video is displayed, similarly to the news image 30 described above with reference to FIG.

When a display command for a news image is input while the news image 30 described above with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG.
A news video (moving image) in the image data display area 31 in the news image 30 instead of the index image 33
Is displayed, and the reverse process can be executed.

When a recording command is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7 in a state where the position recognition image 20 is displayed on the monitor 5, the control unit 11 outputs the position recognition image data D 6 from the arithmetic processing unit 16. Is transmitted to a predetermined recording circuit (not shown) to record the position recognition image data D6 on the video tape 9 for a program.

When a recording command is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7 while the news image 30 is displayed on the monitor 5, the control unit 11 sends the news image data D 9 and D 12 from the arithmetic processing unit 16. (Including character data D10 when sent to monitor 5)
Is sent to the recording circuit, and the news image data D9 and D12 are recorded on the video tape 9 for a program.

Thus, the control unit 11 can use the program video tape 9 to use the position recognition image 20 as a background image of the news program and to use the news image 30 as it is for reporting in the news program. It has been done.

Here, in practice, when the portable external memory 10 is loaded into the memory slot 2C, the control section 11
Enters the first position-recognition image generation procedure RT1 shown in (1) from step SP1, and in the following step SP2, based on a read command input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7, the portable memory 10 stores the memory recording data D1.
Is read out and stored in the internal memory 13 in step SP3.
Proceed to.

At step SP3, the control unit 11
It waits for a position recognition image generation command to be input via the keyboard 6 and, when the position recognition image generation command is input, searches the map search database 14 based on the position data included in the memory recording data D1, Map data D2 of a predetermined area including the reporting location indicated by the position data
Is read and stored in the internal memory 13, and the information search database 15 is searched to read out the point information data D3 corresponding to the map data D2 and stored in the internal memory 13, and the process proceeds to the subsequent step SP4.

At step SP4, the control section 11
The map data D2, the point information data D3, and the position data stored in the internal memory 13 are read out as image generation data D5 and sent to the arithmetic processing unit 16, and the arithmetic processing unit 1
In step 6, position recognition image data D6 is generated based on the image generation data D5, sent to the monitor 5, and proceeds to step SP5.

Thus, in step SP5, the control unit 11 displays the position recognition image 20 consisting of the map 21 of the predetermined area indicating the coverage location by the mark 22 described above with reference to the monitor 5 on the monitor 5 based on the position recognition image data D6. Then, the process proceeds to step SP6, where the first position recognition image generation processing procedure RT1 is completed.

On the other hand, when the memory record data D1 is received by the modem 3, the control unit 11 performs the second position recognition image generation processing procedure in FIG. Enter RT2 from step SP10,
In the following step SP11, the memory recording data D1 given from the modem 3 is stored in the internal memory 13, and the process proceeds to step SP3.

Thereafter, the control section 11 sequentially executes the processing from step SP3 to step SP6 described above with reference to FIG. 7, thus generating the position recognition image 20.

Thus, the control unit 11 easily generates the position recognition image 20 composed of the map 21 that accurately indicates the reporting location based on the position data obtained by positioning the reporting location using the GPS satellites. can do.

When the control unit 11 displays the position recognition image 20 on the monitor 5, the control unit 11 enters the news image generation processing procedure RT3 shown in FIG. 9 from step SP20, and in the subsequent step SP21, via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7. The image generation data D5, the index image data D7, and the attribute data D8 are read from the internal memory 13 based on the input index image display command and sent to the arithmetic processing unit 16, and the process proceeds to step SP22.

At step SP22, the control unit 11
After the position recognition image data D6 is generated based on the image generation data D5 by the arithmetic processing unit 16, the generated position recognition image data D6 is combined with the index image data D7 and the attribute data D8 to obtain the position recognition image data D6. The obtained news image data D9 is sent to the monitor 5.

As a result, in step SP23,
The control unit 11 controls the monitor 5 to display the image data display area 31 described above with reference to FIG.
Image 30 with index image 33 displayed on
Is displayed, and thereafter, the process proceeds to step SP24 to end the news image generation processing procedure RT3.

By the way, in step SP21 of the news image generation processing procedure RT3, when a display command of a news video is input via the keyboard 6 or the mouse 7, the control section 11 replaces the index image data D7 with the material. Processing unit 1 converts video data D11 of a news video reproduced from the video tape 8 for a display corresponding to a display command.
6 to generate news video data D12 using the video data D11 in the subsequent step SP22.

In this manner, the control unit 11 can easily generate the index image 33 representing the content of the news material or the news image 30 for the news program for displaying the news video on the position recognition image 20.

In the above configuration, in the image generating apparatus 1, when a video material is recorded on a video tape by a video camera, the index image data, audio data, position data and attribute data relating to the news material are recorded by the video camera. When the portable external memory 10 in which random access is separately recorded is loaded when the position recognition image 20 is generated, the index image data, the audio data, the position data, and the attribute data are recorded from the portable external memory 10 in the memory. It is stored in the internal memory 13 as data D1.

The image generating apparatus 1 reads out the corresponding map data D2 from the map search database 14 based on the position data stored in the internal memory 13, and also reads out the corresponding point information data D3 from the information search database 15. Based on the read map data D2 and point information data D3 and the position data stored in the internal memory 13, position recognition image data D6 is generated and transmitted to the monitor 5, so that the monitor 5 5 is a position recognition image 20 composed of a map 21 showing a coverage place.
Is displayed.

Therefore, in the image generating apparatus 1, a photographer or a reporter who went on to report a sudden event does not know much about the area where the event occurred, or a moving photographer or a reporter knows well. In cases where it is not possible to accurately communicate the location of coverage to the image generation worker due to encountering an event such as an incident or accident in a land that is not available, or that the image generation worker does not know the location of coverage of an unexpected event very well Even in such a case, it is possible to easily and quickly generate the position recognition image 20 in which the coverage location is accurately shown on the map 21 based on the position data without checking the location.

Further, in the image generating apparatus 1, when the memory recording data D1 is transmitted from the news gathering place or the surrounding area, it can be received and used for generating the position recognition image 20, so that it is brought in from the news gathering place. As compared with the case where the position recognition image 20 is generated using the portable external memory 10, the time from the end of coverage to the generation of the position recognition image 20 can be significantly shortened, and thus an earthquake or fire In addition, it is possible to easily cope with an event that requires promptness, such as an unexpected event such as an airplane crash.

According to the above configuration, based on the position data obtained by measuring the location of the news gathering using the GPS satellites, the news gathering location is displayed on the map 21 from the corresponding map data D2 and point information data D3. Position recognition image 20 shown
By generating the position recognition image data D6, the position recognition image 20 in which the report location is accurately shown on the map 21 can be easily generated without the image generation operator accurately recognizing the report location. In addition, it is possible to realize an image generating apparatus which can generate the image quickly and thus can greatly improve the usability.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described where a still image of one frame at an arbitrary timing in the video of the news material is used as the index image 33 of the news material. The present invention is not limited to this, and a moving image of a plurality of continuous frames may be used as an index image at an arbitrary timing of a video of a news material.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the main unit 2 takes in the index image data D7, audio data, position data, and attribute data D8 through the portable external memory 10 and communication.
The present invention is not limited to this.
Since it is sufficient if 0 can be generated, at least the position data may be fetched.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the position recognition image data D6 is generated based on the position data using the map data D2 and the point information data D3 stored in the database server 4. Although the case has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and the database server 4 stores, as position-related data, photographs of various landscapes according to latitude and longitude, landscape data such as illustrations depicting various landscapes, In addition, various data related to the position such as character data of a comment indicating various places according to the latitude and longitude and three-dimensional map data are stored, and based on the position data, these corresponding position-related data are stored. The position recognition image indicating the reporting location may be generated by using this.

In the embodiment described above, the position recognition image 20 is generated by using the two-dimensional map 21 as shown in FIG. 4, but the position recognition image is generated by using the three-dimensional map. Then, a position recognition image that can be more easily recognized by a viewer can be provided depending on a coverage location such as a riverbed or a mountain slope.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the present invention is applied to the image generating apparatus 1 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to news materials. The present invention can be widely applied to various other image generating apparatuses such as an image generating apparatus integrated with an editing apparatus for selecting a news video from a personal computer, a personal computer, and the like.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case is described in which the internal memory 13 is applied as a fetching means for fetching position data indicating the shooting location obtained by measuring the shooting location of the video. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various other capturing means can be widely applied as long as position data indicating the capturing location obtained by measuring the capturing location of the video can be captured.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which the database server 4 is applied as storage means for storing position-related data relating to the shooting location, but the present invention is not limited to this. If you can store location-related data related to the shooting location,
In addition, various storage means can be widely applied.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 11 and the arithmetic unit 11 serve as image data generating means for generating image data of a position recognition image for recognizing a photographing place based on position data and position related data. Processing unit 1
6 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and if it is possible to generate image data of a position recognition image for recognizing a shooting location based on position data and position-related data. In addition, various other image data generating means can be widely applied.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described where the modem 3 is applied as the receiving means for receiving the position data transmitted from the outside. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is not limited to this. If various kinds of receiving means can be received as long as it can receive the position data transmitted from the.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described where the portable external memory 10 is applied as portable external recording means in which position data is recorded, but the present invention is not limited to this. If it is possible to record position data obtained by measuring the shooting location when shooting video, a tape-shaped recording medium or CD-R (Compact Disc-R)
ecordable) and DVD-RW (Digital Video Disc-R)
Various other portable external recording media such as a disc-shaped recording medium such as e-Writable) can be widely applied.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position data indicating the shooting location obtained by measuring the shooting location of the video is fetched, and the fetched position data is stored in a predetermined storage means in advance. By generating the image data of the position recognition image for recognizing the shooting location, based on the position-related data related to the shooting location,
It is possible to quickly generate a position recognition image that allows the operator to recognize the shooting location without accurately grasping the shooting location of the video, and thus greatly improve the usability of the image generation device. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the entire configuration of an image generating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic conceptual diagram showing a memory map of a portable external memory.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the image generating apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a position recognition image.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a news image.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a news image on which a description is displayed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a first position recognition image generation processing procedure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a second position recognition image generation processing procedure;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a news image generation processing procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 1 denotes an image generation device, 2 ... a main body, 3 ... a modem, 4
...... Database server, 5 Monitor, 8 Video tape for material, 9 Video tape for program, 10 ......
Portable external memory, 11 ... Control unit, 14 ... Map search database, 15 ... Information search database, 16 ...
... arithmetic processing unit, 20 ... position recognition image, 21 ... map,
22 mark, 30 news image, 31 image data display area, 32 attribute data display area, 33
... index image, 34 ... coverage date, 35 ... coverage time, 36 ... arrow, 37 ... description, D1 ... memory recording data, D2 ... map data, D3 ... point information data, D5 ... Image generation data, D6: Position-recognition image data, D9, D12: News image data, D10
... character data, RT1 ... first position recognition image generation processing procedure, RT2 ... second position recognition image generation processing procedure,
RT3... News image generation processing procedure.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 5/225 H04N 5/782 K 5J062 9A001 F term (Reference) 2C032 HB22 HD04 5B050 BA17 5C018 FA01 FA03 FB03 FB04 5C022 AA01 AC01 AC42 CA02 5C052 AA01 AB04 AB05 AC08 DD04 EE02 EE03 EE08 5J062 BB01 CC07 HH05 9A001 HH23 JJ11 JJ78 KK42

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A capturing means for capturing position data indicating a shooting location obtained by measuring a shooting location of an image, a storage means for storing position-related data related to the shooting location, An image generating apparatus, comprising: image data generating means for generating image data of a position recognition image for recognizing the shooting location based on the position related data. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said capturing means reads and captures the position data from a portable external recording medium on which the position data is recorded when capturing the video supplied from outside. The image generation device according to any one of the preceding claims. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising receiving means for receiving the position data transmitted from the outside, wherein the capturing means captures the position data received by the receiving means. Image generation device. 4. The capturing means, together with the position data,
Incorporating index image data of an index image which is a part of the video, the image data generating means, based on the position data, the position related data and the index image data, the index image on the position recognition image The image generating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising generating image data to be superimposed and displayed. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the capturing means includes:
Fetching attribute data of attribute information including a shooting date and time of the video, the image data generating unit superimposes the attribute information on the position recognition image based on the position data, the position related data, and the attribute data. The image generation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the apparatus generates image data to be displayed. 6. An input means for inputting a description for the video, wherein the image data generating means is configured to output the position recognition image based on the position data, the position related data, and the character data of the description. The image generating apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the image generating section generates image data on which the explanation is superimposed and displayed. 7. The image generating apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the position-related data includes map data corresponding to the shooting location and point information data for specifying each point on the map. 8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the position-related data is landscape data corresponding to the shooting location. 9. A fetching step of fetching position data indicating the image-capturing location obtained by locating the image-capturing location; and relating the position data and the image-capturing location stored in a predetermined storage means in advance. An image data generating step of generating image data of a position recognition image for recognizing the photographing place based on the position-related data. 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, in the capturing step, the position data is read from a portable external recording medium on which the position data is recorded when the image supplied from the outside is photographed. The described image generation method. 11. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a receiving step of receiving the position data transmitted from outside, wherein the capturing step captures the position data received in the receiving step. Image generation method. 12. The capturing step captures index image data of an index image, which is a part of the video, together with the position data. The image data generating step includes the step of generating the position data, the position-related data, and the index. The image generation method according to claim 9, wherein image data for displaying the index image superimposed on the position recognition image is generated based on the image data. 13. The capturing step captures attribute data of attribute information including the shooting date and time of the video together with the position data. The image data generating step includes the step of generating the position data, the position-related data, and the attribute data. 13. The image generation method according to claim 12, wherein image data for displaying the attribute information superimposed on the position recognition image is generated based on the image data. 14. An input step for inputting a description for the video, wherein in the image data generating step, the position recognition image is generated based on the position data, the position related data, and the character data of the description. 14. The image generation method according to claim 13, wherein image data for displaying the explanatory text superimposed thereon is generated. 15. In the image data generating step, map data corresponding to the photographing location and point information data for specifying each point on the map are read from the storage means as the position-related data. Item 15. The image generation method according to Item 14. 16. The image generating method according to claim 14, wherein in the image data generating step, scenery data corresponding to the shooting location is read from the storage unit as the position-related data.