JP2007235253A - Edition tool, and edition and operation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an edition tool and an edition and operation method for facilitating a user to view and handle the correspondence on the screen when a material such as a still image having no time attribute is edited in combination for a tool which edits only a material having time attribute such as a video image, sound, and the like. <P>SOLUTION: The edition tool handling a video image and sound in association is principally characterized by a tool employing time line, and an edition method employing that tool. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an editing tool and an editing and operation method, and in particular, an editing tool and editing and operation related to a video editing technique using an editing tool mainly handling video and audio, and a user interface technique mainly using a timeline. Regarding the method.

  Conventionally, an invention of an editing system as seen in a gazette such as Patent Document 1 is known. In this system, on the screen of the tool that edits video and audio, it switches between the timeline mode that displays in proportion to the time of each segment of video and audio, and the picture mode that handles thumbnails of the same size. I use it. When handling media such as slides that do not have temporal attributes at the same time as video and audio with temporal attributes, the timeline is assumed to have a length of time that follows the video and audio. It is common to display above.

  As a tool for editing video and audio, the target content is generally generated by executing operations such as "cut", "insert", and "superimpose" at the position desired by the user. In addition, as with multimedia contents that have become widespread in recent years, not only video and audio but also tools for creating more complex contents by combining materials such as still images are known.

  For example, Patent Document 2 describes an invention of a content structure editing apparatus, which is structured not on a video stream itself but on a logical “content”, and for that content, a video stream is required as necessary. Allocating a part, in other words, a video stream stored under a condition where the storage capacity is physically limited or a condition where the storage capacity is restricted according to specifications, such as a file size, is a unit physical stream The invention for creating and editing the structure of one content from a plurality of physical streams is described.

In Patent Document 3, content description is performed on video information so that a desired video can be selected and viewed from video data, and video search is performed based on the description information. In such a system, In order to select the desired video data, it is necessary to divide the structure into a semantic base in advance for the video data and to describe information on the structure. Therefore, in order to edit the video data, the video is played back and rewound. However, it is described that it is necessary to detect a scene that is cut off semantically and to input content that matches the video.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-16496 JP 2003-68058 A JP 2003-178076 A

  The present invention provides a user interface for designing a user interface for editing a combination of materials such as still images that do not have a time attribute with respect to a tool that edits only materials having a time attribute such as video and audio. It is an object of the present invention to provide an editing tool and an editing and operation method that make it easy to show the correspondence on the screen and make it easier to handle.

  The invention described in claim 1 is an editing tool that handles video and audio in association with each other, and uses a timeline.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the editing tool according to the first aspect is used to display a still image or an image of an instantaneous still state of a moving image as an image having no time parameter on a user interface in association with sound. And

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operation method according to the second aspect, the timeline mode and the thumbnail mode can be switched.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to the third aspect of the present invention, the still image that is an image having no time parameter or the instantaneously stationary image of the moving image is a slide, and is parallel to the timeline. The track of the slide is arranged to reveal the correspondence between the timeline and the slide.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the temporal relationship between the audio / video track and the slide is revealed by connecting with stripes.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to the fifth aspect, when the user clicks on the timeline of the video / audio, the slide moves in synchronization with the clicked position, and the corresponding slide becomes apparent. It is characterized by becoming.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to the sixth aspect, when the track of the slide is clicked, the start of the video / audio segment moves and synchronizes, thereby revealing the corresponding video / audio segment. It is characterized by doing.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects, when the timeline of the video and audio is scrolled, the slides are displayed one by one along with the segments that are removed. It is characterized by disappearing.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the fifth to eighth aspects, when the track of the slide is scrolled, the scrolled slide becomes out of display (out of display). Accordingly, the corresponding audio / video segment is also excluded from the display.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the third to ninth aspects, a thumbnail is added to a slide track in the timeline mode or the thumbnail mode to distinguish the slide segments. In addition, when it is impossible to display all the slide tracks of the added thumbnail, the thumbnail is not required, or a display other than the thumbnail is added to identify the other (slide).

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the third to tenth aspects, when the thumbnail in the timeline mode has a margin for display, when one slide cannot be displayed at the left end. The display position of the thumbnail is moved so that it can be displayed on one screen.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the third to eleventh aspects, the timeline is enlarged or reduced to change the number of segments displayed on the screen. The number of slides displayed is also changed.

  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the editing and operating method according to any one of the second to eleventh aspects, the still image that is an image that does not have the time parameter or the instantaneous still state image of the moving image is an element of time. It is information other than the slide which does not have.

  According to the present invention, it is easy to edit image information and sound in association with each other, and this association enables clear editing. In addition, it is possible to clearly visualize the association by designating either the display mode of the timeline mode or the thumbnail mode and visually displaying it in association with image processing or slide image information.

  The video editing method of the present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments. The video editing method of the present invention includes a material having time as a parameter (image information having time as a parameter: for example, a slide (including a group of image information that can be displayed as one slide on the slide)), and a time parameter. Are arranged in parallel and displayed while maintaining the correspondence between the segments. At that time, switching is performed between a timeline mode in which display is performed in proportion to the length of time and a thumbnail mode in which display is performed at the same size regardless of time.

  In the timeline mode shown in FIG. 1, the lower slide (the portion where “slide” is displayed at the bottom) is proportional to the segment size in the video and audio timeline in the middle (just below the ruler). Each segment is present at a matching position and length.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, in the thumbnail mode, the slide segments are displayed in the same size, and the video and audio segments in the middle stage can be identified by the same size slide and stripe. Is displayed.

  The temporal relationship between the video / audio track and the slide is shown by being connected with stripes (FIG. 3).

  Clicking on the timeline of the video / audio moves the slide in synchronization with the clicked slide position, thereby identifying the corresponding slide (slide center or head) (FIG. 4).

  Also, as shown in FIG. 5, when the slide track is clicked, the head of the video / audio segment is moved and synchronized. As a result, the corresponding video / audio segment is known (FIG. 5).

  When the video / audio timeline is scrolled, the slides go out of the screen one by one with the segment off the screen and disappear from the display (FIG. 6). Alternatively, when the slide track is scrolled, the corresponding video / audio segment also goes out of the screen as the slide goes out of the screen (see FIG. 6).

  In both timeline mode and thumbnail mode, a thumbnail is added to the slide track (FIG. 7). This makes it possible to distinguish slide segments. Thumbnails do not require thumbnails to be cut when they cannot be displayed, or in the case of materials that do not have thumbnails, a serial number or the like can be displayed for easy identification. As described above, in the present invention, an identifier having an order function (number, alphabetical character order, Iloha order, etc.) can be used as an identifier for identification.

  The thumbnail is moved (in the timeline mode) to move the display position of the thumbnail so that the left end when there is a margin in the display and the screen slides out when one slide is long (such as the left end in FIG. 7). When the number of segments that can be accommodated in the screen changes by changing the enlargement / reduction ratio of the timeline, the number of slides simultaneously displayed changes accordingly.

  As described above, the slide has been described as a main example. However, the present invention includes not only the slide but also all materials having no concept of time.

  FIG. 8 shows a module configuration diagram. Since the present invention relates to a user interface, it includes an “operation input unit”, a “display unit”, and an “arithmetic unit” that calculates their input / output. In FIG. 8, an “operation input unit” represents a pointing device such as a mouse, and a “display unit” represents a graphic display (CRT, LCD, PDP, EL (OEL: organic EL element), etc.). The user interface drawn on the display unit is the main element of the present invention.

  FIG. 9 shows a system configuration diagram. As shown in FIG. 9, the user interface includes a computing element such as a CPU, a memory (ROM, RAM, cache memory, etc.), an external storage device, an input device, various I / Fs, and a display device. It is connected and configured.

  FIG. 10 shows a flowchart for changing the display mode of the graphic user interface (GUI). Among them, “timeline display processing” (step S1002) is a conventionally known technique. The other “thumbnail display process” (step S1003) is a process added in the present invention.

  FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of thumbnail display processing. When the display mode of the user interface is timeline display (step S1001 / YES), first, the video segment is displayed on the timeline (steps S1002 and S1101). Next, slides are displayed in parallel with the timeline. At this time, slides are displayed as thumbnails as long as they fit in the screen (steps S1102 and S1103). Finally, as shown in FIG. 3, a line is inserted between the corresponding segment and the slide so as to show the relationship between the video segment and the slide (step S1104).

  FIG. 1 shows a display example of a multimedia content editing tool screen using the timeline mode. FIG. 2 shows a display example of a screen in the thumbnail mode of the multimedia content editing tool. These two display methods can be switched arbitrarily.

  In the timeline mode of FIG. 1, it can be seen that the slide segments in the lower stage are present at the same position and length in proportion to the segments in the video and audio timelines in the middle stage. In the thumbnail mode of FIG. 2, the slide segments are displayed with the same size, and the video and audio segments in the middle row are displayed so as to show the correspondence with stripes.

<Operation example>
This will be described as an example using software for recording a presentation. For example, you can shoot presentation materials using slide-type image information such as Microsoft PowerPoint and Apple Keynote, and the video of the presenter with a video camera, etc., in synchronization with the timing of turning the slide. Assume that software is used that automatically creates and records content. The content generated by this software is composed of a combination of video and audio divided as logical segments based on the timing (time) of turning a slide and each page of the corresponding slide.

  If you want to edit the generated content later, for example, if you want to change the timing of turning a certain slide one second ago, you can preview the video and audio segment from the long content to find the desired location, There is a first method for finding a location, and a second method for finding a desired location by previewing a slide. Which of these methods is used is flexible, and it is possible to find a desired part in a user-friendly way depending on the user's preference and circumstances, and to enable efficient operation. it can.

  Timeline mode is convenient when searching for a desired location from video and audio. As shown in FIG. 1, it is easier to see and understand the slide located at the same position on the timeline as shown in FIG. Thumbnail mode is convenient when searching for a desired location from a slide. For example, if you know "how many slides", you don't have to follow a long slide segment that matches the audio / video segment, as shown in Fig. 2. It is also a place to provide a good working environment by preventing working for a long time under the so-called electromagnetic field area.

It is a figure showing the example of a display of the screen of the multimedia content editing tool using timeline mode. It is a figure showing the example of a display of the screen in the thumbnail mode mode of a multimedia content editing tool. It is a figure which shows the example which puts a line between a corresponding segment and a slide, and displays it as a stripe so that the relationship between a video segment and a slide can be understood. When clicking on the timeline of the video / audio, the slide is moved in synchronization with the clicked position so that the corresponding slide can be seen. It is a figure which shows that the head of a video / audio segment moves and synchronizes and the corresponding video / audio segment is known by clicking a slide track. Scroll through the video / audio timeline, and slides go out of the screen one by one with segments that are off the screen, disappear from the display, or as the slide moves off the screen by scrolling the slide track It is the figure which showed going out of the screen audio-video segment to perform. In both the timeline mode and the thumbnail mode, the slide track is added with a thumbnail, and the slide segment can be distinguished. It is a figure which shows a module structure. It is a figure which shows the structure of a system. It is a flowchart which changes the display mode of a graphic user interface (GUI). It is a flowchart of a thumbnail display process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Arithmetic unit 102 Database 103 Operation input unit 104 Display unit 201 CPU (Central Processing Unit)
202 Memory (RAM, ROM (including CD ROM, DVD ROM))
203 Display Device 204 External Storage Device 205 I / F
206 Input device (image input device)

Claims (13)

An editing tool that handles video and audio in association with each other.
An editing tool characterized by using a timeline.   An editing and operation method, comprising: using an editing tool according to claim 1 and displaying a still image or an image of an instantaneous still state of a moving image, which is an image having no time parameter, on a user interface in association with sound.   3. The editing and operation method according to claim 2, wherein a timeline mode and a thumbnail mode can be switched.   The still image or the image of the momentary still state of the moving image that is an image having no time parameter is a slide, and the slide track is arranged in parallel with the time line to reveal the correspondence between the time line and the slide. The editing and operation method according to claim 3, wherein:   5. The editing and operation method according to claim 4, wherein the temporal relationship between the video / audio track and the slide is revealed by connecting with a stripe.   6. The editing and operating method according to claim 5, wherein when the user clicks on the timeline of the video and audio, the slide moves in synchronization with the clicked position, and the corresponding slide becomes apparent.   7. The editing and operation method according to claim 6, wherein when the slide track is clicked, the start of the video / audio segment moves and synchronizes to thereby reveal the corresponding video / audio segment.   8. The editing and operating method according to claim 5, wherein when the video / audio timeline is scrolled, the slides disappear from the display one by one in accordance with the detached segment.   9. The editing and recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the slide track is scrolled, the corresponding video / audio segment is also removed from the display as the scrolled slide is removed from the display. Method of operation.   When a thumbnail is added to the slide track in the timeline mode or the thumbnail mode to distinguish the segment of the slide, and when it is impossible to display all of the slide track of the added thumbnail, the thumbnail is not required, or 10. The editing and operation method according to claim 3, wherein a display other than a thumbnail is added to identify the other.   4. The display position of the thumbnail is moved so that it can be displayed on the left end when the thumbnail in the timeline mode has a margin, and can be displayed on one screen when one slide cannot be displayed. The editing and operation method according to any one of 1 to 10.   The editing and operation according to any one of claims 3 to 11, wherein the number of slides displayed is changed in accordance with a change in the number of segments displayed in the screen by changing an enlargement or reduction ratio of the timeline. Method.   12. The still image that is an image having no time parameter or an image in a momentary still state of a moving image is information other than a slide that does not have a time element. Editing and operation method.

Images