JP3515502B2 - Synthetic image forming device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a composite image forming apparatus, and more particularly to a composite image forming apparatus for converting a coordinate system and creating a special effect composite image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG.
When a car 22 is running on a road 21 where 3 is located and the photograph is taken so that the car 22 is in focus, it is common to increase the shutter speed so that the image is not blurred.

In order to obtain a special effect image in which the automobile is focused and the background is flowing by such a photographing method, the shutter speed of the camera is slowed down,
As shown in FIG. 4, while the shutter is open, the vehicle 1 is photographed while moving the camera 1 so that the vehicle 22 continues to be located at the exact same position in the field of view of the camera 1. At this time, the camera 1 is stationary on the coordinate system of the automobile 22.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, while the shutter is open, the camera 1 may be rotated while the camera 1 is rotated so that the automobile 22 continues to be positioned at substantially the same position in the field of view of the camera 1. At this time, when the rotation angle θ of the camera 1 is small, the same effect as that when the camera 1 is stationary on the coordinate system of the automobile 22 is obtained.

[0005]

In the conventional method, in practice, while the shutter is open, the camera is moved or rotated so that the vehicle remains in the exact same position in the field of view. It is impossible to do.

Further, since such photographing cannot be performed, it is impossible to obtain a special effect image in which the subject is focused and the background is flowing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a composite image forming apparatus capable of easily forming an image having a special effect.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention stores means for inputting an image, storage means for storing continuous images of moving objects, and the storage means. A conversion means for extracting a subject from the image and converting it so that the positions of the subject in the respective images all match, and a means for synthesizing the images converted by this conversion means. .

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the converted images are combined by changing the density of each image.

As described above, according to the present invention, a subject is extracted by image processing in a continuous image or a moving image in which a moving object is photographed, and processing is performed so that all the positions of the subject in each image match. By performing the above, the coordinate system of the image is converted, and the coordinate system of the moving subject (automobile) substantially matches.

By combining the converted images, it is possible to easily create a special effect photograph equivalent to a photograph of a moving subject with a slow shutter speed, which cannot be produced by a normal photographing method.

Further, by synthesizing the images converted by the coordinate system conversion of the present invention by changing the darkness of each image, it is possible to change the appearance of the background flow in the special effect photograph. It is effective when used for posters.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a composite image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A subject is imaged by a camera 1 including a camera or a camcorder having an image pickup device such as a CCD,
The captured image is given to the image processing circuit 2. The image processing circuit 2 includes analog processing circuits such as a CDS clamp circuit and a gain adjustment circuit, as well as digital processing circuits such as an A / D converter and a brightness correction circuit.

The image processing circuit 2 appropriately processes the image signal from the camera 1 to generate image data representing a subject image. The image data from the image processing circuit 2 is given to the image memory 3. The image memory 3 is composed of a plurality of frame memories 31 to 3n, and time-series image data given from the image processing unit 2 is sequentially stored in each frame memory 31 ...

The camera 1 is photographed, for example, in a state as shown in FIG. 3, and like the conventional example described above, the camera 1 is photographed while moving as shown in FIG. The difference from the conventional example is that the shutter speed is a speed at which all the subjects are not blurred, and is continuous image data of a plurality of sheets. Such continuous image data may be replaced with a moving image captured by a camcorder. The continuous image data thus captured is sequentially stored in each frame memory 31 of the image memory 3.

Then, the image data is supplied from the frame memories 31 ... Of the image memory 3 to the reference subject extracting section 4. The reference subject extraction unit 4 is a subject to be extracted by a control circuit (not shown), that is, the automobile 2 in this embodiment.
When the area 2 is designated, a predetermined subject is extracted from the image data transferred from the frame memory 31 ... And the extracted data is given to the matching processing unit 5. The matching processing unit 5 calculates a conversion function based on the position and the angle so that all the positions of the subject (automobile) match the captured images obtained from the respective frame memories 31 ... . The calculated result is given to the image conversion processing unit 6.

The image conversion processing unit 6 performs a correction calculation on the image data from each frame memory 31 of the image memory 3 based on the calculated conversion function, and when all the images are superposed, the position of the automobile is determined. Adjust the position and angle so that they all match. Furthermore, the image data is created by extracting the area in which all the images are shown. In this way, the image conversion processing unit 6 converts the coordinate system of the image so that it substantially matches the coordinate system of the automobile, and the continuous image data equivalent to that captured from the same coordinate system as the automobile is stored in the image memory 7. It is sent and stored in each of the frame memories 71 to 7n of the image memory 7.

The image data stored in the image memory 7 is given to the image synthesizing processing unit 7, and the image synthesizing processing unit 7
An output unit 9 such as a printer for forming composite image data for one sheet
Give to. The output unit 9 is based on the given synthetic data,
Output a composite photo with a special effect.

In the above-described embodiment, the reference subject extraction unit 4, the matching processing unit 5, and the image conversion processing unit 6 are respectively configured by different circuits, but software is used by using a microcomputer, RAM, and ROM. May be configured to perform the above operation.

Next, the above image composition will be further described with reference to FIG.

11a, 11b and 11c are photographed in the state shown in FIG. 3, and as shown in FIG.
4 shows an image taken when moving the.

The continuous photograph thus obtained is 12 in FIG.
As shown in, image processing is performed. Here, when the reference subject extraction unit 4 extracts the automobile, which is the subject, from all the images, and when the matching processing unit 5 and the image conversion processing unit 6 overlap all the images, the positions of the automobiles all match. The position and angle are adjusted so that Further, the area 122 in which all the images are shown is extracted.

In this way, the coordinate system of the image is converted so as to substantially match the coordinate system of the automobile, and as shown at 13a in the figure, a continuous photograph equivalent to that taken from the same coordinate system as the automobile is output. Obtained from Part 9.

In this embodiment, the image is taken while moving the camera 1, but the image may be taken while rotating the camera 24 as shown in FIG. At this time, if the rotation angle θ of the camera is small, the difference in the appearance of the car due to the shooting angle can be ignored. Therefore, the same processing is performed so that the coordinate system of the image is converted so that it almost matches the coordinate system of the car. Is
You can get a series of photographs that are equivalent to those taken from the same coordinate system as the car.

In the above embodiment, as an example, three images of the continuous photograph are shown, but in reality, more images than this are prepared, and the images obtained by processing as described above. By superimposing and synthesizing, a special effect photograph similar to a photograph of a moving automobile with a slow shutter speed can be obtained as in 13a.

In this combination, the density of each image may be changed and combined. For example, the background flow can be more emphasized by making the image that is earliest in time darker and the images that are later in time darker. The image thus obtained is effectively used for a poster or the like.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a continuous photograph or a moving image of a moving object,
By extracting a subject by image processing and performing processing so that the positions of the subject in each image are all matched, the coordinate system of the image is converted and can be made to substantially match the coordinate system of the automobile.

Further, by synthesizing the images converted by the conversion of the coordinate system of the present invention, a special effect photograph equivalent to a photograph of a moving subject with a slow shutter speed, which cannot be created by a normal photographing method. Can be created easily.

Also, by synthesizing the images transformed by the transformation of the coordinate system of the present invention by changing the darkness of each image, the appearance of the background flow of the special effect photograph can be changed. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a composite image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a method of performing image combination.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a subject.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a method of photographing the subject shown in FIG.

5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing another example of the method of photographing the subject shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 camera 2 Image processing unit 3 image memory 4 Reference subject extraction unit 5 Matching processing unit 6 Image converter 7 Image memory 8 Image composition processing unit 9 Output section

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI H04N 1/387 H04N 1/387 5/232 5/232 Z 7/18 7/18 V (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl . ^7, DB name) H04N 5/222 - 5/28 G06T 3/00 300 H04N 1/38 - 1/393 H04N 7/18

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A means for inputting an image, a storage means for storing successive images of moving objects, a subject extracted from the images stored in the storage means, and a position of the subject in each image. A composite image forming apparatus, comprising: a conversion unit for converting so that all of the two match, and a unit for combining the images converted by the conversion unit. 2. The combined image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the converted images are combined by changing the darkness of each image.