FI90712C - Method and apparatus for combining video and audio signals - Google Patents

Description

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Method and apparatus for combining video and audio signals 5

The invention relates to methods for combining video and audio signals according to the preambles of claims 1, 3, 5 and 7. The invention also relates to a device 10 according to the preambles of claims 9 and 11 for combining video and audio signals.

The method and device according to the invention are intended to be used primarily in the so-called in the context of karaoke-type performances in which an enthusiast sings on a pre-recorded background. Typical karaoke equipment 15 consists not only of audio amplifiers but also of a monitor which displays the words of the song to be performed in sync with the background music, so that the performer does not need to memorize the words of the song. Karaoke equipment has originally only been available in restaurants and similar public places, 20 but now there is also commercially available karaoke equipment for home use that can be used to practice performing at home. These devices comprise a special device with a microphone, which is connected between the VCR and the stereo system, 25 and which combines the music background and the sound from the karaoke cassette rotating the pre-recorded video recorder on the VCR. The karaoke cassette rotating on the video recorder contains not only the said musical background, but also the lyrics of the song and the video background, which is usually made as neutral as possible so as not to interfere with following the words at the bottom of the screen.

In the present invention, the karaoke idea described above is generalized to music videos as well.

By means of the method and the device 35 according to the present invention, a person skilled in the art can make a deo performance of a music video, in which he himself is starring. For this purpose, pre-recorded video discs or cassettes are used, which contain the words of the music in question, the video background and possibly as separate information.

5 The video background can be arbitrary or adapted to the rhythm or content of the song, for example. The performer is imaged with a video camera against a monochrome (e.g., blue) background, and the video camera image signal and the background video signal are combined so that the resulting combined video signal 10 can be viewed on a monitor and / or recorded on a conventional video recorder. The video signal representing the performer can also be recorded before merging, in which case the merging takes place from a tape.

In order for the combined result to be variable, the connecting device includes a video effect unit that allows the image from the camera to be manipulated before the video signals are combined. Such effects may include, for example, zooming, multiple images, mirror images, mosaic images, color space, temporal effects, etc. The music background 20 and the performer's sound are also combined with a special connecting device that allows the performer's sound to be processed before it is combined with the music background. Various audio effects such as echo, frequency response transformations, etc. can be applied to the Performer's Maneen.

25 Music videos such as those described above aim to achieve the most personal and professional result possible. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus by which an ordinary person skilled in the art can fast to such a result even at home. This is achieved by the methods according to the invention, which are characterized by what is described in the characterizing parts of the appended claims 1, 3, 5 and 7. The devices according to the invention, in turn, are characterized by what is described in the characterizing parts of the appended claims 9 and 11.

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The basic idea according to the invention is to combine the video and audio signals in such a way that the moment of action and the duration of the effects to be used are determined by the background video signal and / or the background audio signal. This enhances the visual and musical rhythm of the combined video signal and the combined audio signal and provides the most audiovisual effect.

To achieve these goals, the background recording (video or audio background) may include a special keying-10 data track, by means of which the effects are keyed according to a certain menu (e.g. depending on the content of the background recording). When the background video signal is recorded on a video tape and my background is recorded in hi-fi format on a video track, longitudinal analog audio tracks 15 can be used to store the keying information. This keying information can be in the form of analog pulses or, alternatively, also as digital data, in which case, in addition to the effect moment information, information on the applicable effects can be placed in it. The digital keying data 20 can also be placed in the background video signal on the off-line lines located at the beginning of the video field. Effects can also be keyed to rhythm alone. This menu may be preselected according to the data included in the background video, or it may be user-programmable or randomly changeable.

In the following, the invention and its preferred embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the examples according to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a device implementing the method according to the invention in its typical operating environment, Fig. 2a is a block diagram showing a device implementing the method according to the invention. in this respect, Fig. 2b shows a block diagram of an apparatus implementing the method 35 according to the invention for combining audio signals. C 71 2 in this regard, and Figs. 3a-3d show the generation of an input signal to be input to the video effect generator.

Figure 1 shows a device 100 implementing the method 5 according to the invention in its typical operating environment, i.e. in an environment where a karaoke-type video presentation is made. In connection with the method, eslm. video discs or cassettes 101 that include pre-recorded audio and video backgrounds, and possibly also the words of a separate S10 song, obtained on a visible monitor 107 or another separate monitor (not shown). The lyrics of the song can also be located in the video background, e.g. at the bottom. The background video signal from the video disc 101 is denoted by reference numeral 7, and the background audio signal from the video disc 15 is denoted by reference numeral 27. Performer 102 is photographed against a single (e.g., blue) background 103 by video camera 104, and performer Sani is recorded by a separate microphone 105.

The resulting video and audio signals 20 can be recorded on a video recorder 106 and shown on a monitor 107 and speakers 108. It should also be noted that the words of the song can be blacked out of the video signal going to the video recorder 106 if desired.

The background recording on the video disc 101 further includes various control signals, which will be described in more detail in connection with Figures 2a and 2b.

Figures 2a and 2b show a block diagram of a device 100 which performs the method according to the invention. Reference is first made to Figure 2a, which shows the device 30 for combining video signals. The video signal 1 representing the performer 102 imported from the video camera 104 to the input of the device is first connected to an analog / digital converter 2, which converts the analog video signal into a digital format. Connected to the rear of the analog / digital converter 3 is a video memory 3 which stores successive video images.

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A video effect generator 4 is connected to the rear of the video memory 3, by means of which the video signal coming from the camera is manipulated e.g. by zooming, forming multiple images, mirror images or mosaic images, 5 or e.g. by means of hazards, temporal effects, etc. The output of the video effect generator is connected to a digital / analog converter 5 which converts the video signal back to analog format. Connected to the rear of the D / A converter 5 is a summing circuit 6 which combines the signals input to its inputs 6a and 10b, i.e. the video signal from the camera (possibly manipulated by the video effect generator 4) 1a and the background video signal 7 obtained pre-recorded from a suitable data carrier 101 (Figure 1). A combined video signal 8 is obtained from the output of the summing circuit 6. The combination of the above-mentioned signals is controlled by a control signal 9, which is fed from the video effect generator 4 to the control input 6c of the summing circuit 6. Control signal 9 maå-raM of when the performer's image is combined with the background video-20 but. The summing circuit can be, for example, a circuit of the "chro-ma-key" type known per se, but other ways of combining video signals can also be considered. (In the chroma-key method, the background image and the foreground are combined so that the foreground is arranged in a blue signal everywhere. Therefore, the pre-intyjS is shot against a blue background. The blue color is chosen because its share in the skin, for example, is small.)

The effect realized by the video effect generator 4 is determined on the basis of the parameters 21 input to it. The parameters corresponding to each of the 30 effects are stored in a fixed parameter memory 22, from which the parameters corresponding to the currently selected effect are selected by switch 20, through which they are applied to the video effect generator 4. Among the stored effects is myds "zero effect". video signal from the camera Γ “6 90712 4 of the video effect generator blade unchanged. The effect selection includes both momentary effects and effective effects. The starting point of each effect is determined by the keying signal 13 input to the video effect generator 5 so that the pulse of the signal 13 always starts the effect corresponding to the parameters obtained from the switch 20. The effect of the force and other effects ends when a new effect is started.

The keying signal 10 13 controlling the video effect generator 4 is obtained from the two-position switch 12 by selecting one of the signals 10 or 11 to be input to the switch. The signal 10 (selected in the figure) is a separate control signal stored in the video background) that determines when the effect starts. The generation of signal 10 is described in more detail below.

The effect selector switch 20 is controlled by a two-position selector switch 18. In the simplest position (shown) of the selector switch 18 the effect selection control signal comes from a separate programming circuit 16 and in the second position the control signal is an effect selection signal 19 pre-stored in the background recording (e.g. video background). The programming circuit 16 is connected to a counter circuit 15 (separated from the rhythm of the music background) pulses up to a certain number N, after which it starts again from zero. The user of the device can assign this number N to the counter circuit 15 via its input 14. Likewise, the user of the device can set each output number of the counter to correspond to any video effect in the fixed memory 22 via the input 17 of the programming circuit 30 16, whereby the effect selection switch 20 selects that effect whenever the programming circuit receives that number at its input.

Figure 2b shows a device 100 for combining audio signals 799 71. The audio signal from the microphone 105, represented by the performer 102, is denoted by the reference number 23. This signal is connected via the input amplifier 24 to the first audio effects device 25, by which various effects can be produced on the performer. The output of the audio effects device is connected to the first input of the summing circuit 26. The background audio signal 27 from the video disc 101 is in turn connected via an input amplifier 28 to a second audio effect device 29, with which various effects can be provided on the background audio signal 10. The output of the second audio effects device is connected to the second input of the summing circuit 26. In the summing circuit 26, the above-mentioned audio signals are summed, and the combined audio signal 34 applied to the speakers 108 (Fig. 15 1) is obtained from the output of the summing circuit. Reference numeral 30 denotes a control unit for audio effect devices, which is controlled either by a control signal 31 in the background recording (e.g. background video) or by a separate, manually selectable control signal 32. The control signal is selected by means of the selector switch 20. The audio effect devices 25 and 29 also include a volume output controlled by the control circuit 30 so that the background audio signal and the performer's sound can each be muted separately if necessary.

If stereo signals are used as audio signals,; 25 both channels (left and right) are as shown above.

With respect to audio signals, the device 100 may operate e.g. The first audio effect device 25 may include, for example, an effect in which the performer has added the same sound. 30 delayed and slightly shifted in frequency, giving the impression of two almost identical performers-tM. This effect can be selected manually by selecting the control signal 32 whenever desired when the switch 33 is in the corresponding "manual control position". When the switch 33 35 is in the "background control position" (pattern position), the control signal 31 in the background flight (e.g. in the video background) can determine the effect of the above-mentioned effect, for example, always during the chorus. Accordingly, the control signal 31 may synchronize the audio effects to the background video signal. In general, it can be seen that the keying of effects on an audio signal is typically considerably slower than the keying of effects on a video signal.

As stated above, all the control signals from the background recording described above (control signal-10 liters 11 and 21 and the effect selection signal 19) may be included in the key recording information track of the background recording, which may be stored in digital form for the striped lines at the beginning of the background video signal video field.

Figures 3a-3d still show how, for example, the signal 10 acting as a keying signal described above can be generated. Fig. 3a shows a background audio signal 27. First, the signal A2 according to Fig. 3b is generated by low-pass filtering. The signal A2 consists of low-frequency components provided by, for example, rum-20 mut and bass. By rectifying and filtering, the signal A2 is further formed into a signal A3 according to Fig. 3c, on the threshold of which a pulse signal A4 according to Fig. 3d is obtained, in which the leading edges Ta of the pulses represent the beginning of the rhythmic attack. The signal A4 can be used as the keying signal 10 described above.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to the example according to the accompanying drawing, it is clear that the invention is not limited thereto, but can be modified in many ways within the scope of the inventive idea set forth in the appended claims. For example, it is possible to use either only video effects or only audio effects in the same device. However, the most effective impression is obtained with the device according to the example above, in which both video and audio effects are applied. 35 For example, you can add various videos to the background recording. 9 9 3 7 1 2 or audio backgrounds tax related other parameters from which the user can select the desired one in each case.

Claims (11)

A method of combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), the audio signal is used for the purpose of background video and background audio recording, and as the second video and audio signal, a video and audio signal (1, 23) is used which produces a performance, in which the video signal (1) produces the performances (102). paired video effects and said two video and audio signals are combined such that the video signal (I) producing appearances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a convention video recorder (106) and viewed in a convention video monitor (107), characterized in that the video effects are synchronized with the actions in the background video 20 according to a particular method. new. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synchronization is effected by means of a control signal (II) connected to the background recording. 25 A method of combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), wherein as the first video and audio signal a background video and background audio recording is used for the purpose, and as the second video and audio signal, a video and audio signal (1, 23) is used to produce a performance, in which method in the video signal (1) producing the performance (102) paired video effects and said two - 35 video and audio signals are combined such that the video signal is 9 Γ- 7 1 2 (1) that produces performances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a convention, videocassette player (106) and seen in a convention video monitor (107), characterized in that the video effects are synchronized with the audio background (27) according to a special menu. 4. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the synchronization is effected by means of pulses (A4) separated from the rhythm of the audio background (A1). Method for combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), whereby it understands video and video signals. the audio signal is used for the purpose of background video and background audio recording and as the second video and audio signal is used a video and audio signal (1, 23) which produces an appearance, in which method of the audio signal producing the appearance (102) the audio effects of the two video and audio signals are combined so that the video signal (1) producing performances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a conventional video tape recorder (106) and viewed in a conventional video monitor (107), characterized in that the audio effects are synchronized with the audio background (27) according to a special menu. 6. A method according to claim 5, characterized in that the synchronization is performed by means of a control signal (31) connected to the background recording. A method of combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), wherein the first video and audio signal is used for purpose-made background video and background audio recording, and as the second video and audio signal, a video and audio signal (1, 23) is used which produces an appearance, in which method in the audio signal producing the performance the (102) audio effects are applied and said two video and audio signals are combined such that the video signal (1) producing appearances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), wherein the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a conventional videotape. column (106) and seen in a conventional video monitor (107), characterized in that the audio effects are synchronized with the video background (7) according to a special menu. 8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the synchronization is carried out by means of a control signal 20 (31) connected to the background recording. An apparatus for combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), being the first video and video signals. the audio signal is used for purpose-made background video and background audio recording, and as the second video and audio signal, a video and audio signal (1, 23) is used which produces an act which comprises first means (6, 26) for combining said video and audio signals so that the video signal (1) producing the performances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a convention video tape recorder (106) and viewed in a convention video monitor 35 (107 ), and other means (4) for applying video effects to 17 9 0 712 in video signals! which produces behaviors, characterized in that it further comprises third means (12; 15, 16, 18, 20, 22) fGer to switch a control signal (10, 11, 5 19) obtained from the background recording to control the means (4) which produce video effects. 10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the third means comprise selection means (20), by which the power which the control signal (10, 19) obtained from the background recording indicates in each case is selected from a memory (22). An apparatus for combining at least two video signals (1, 7) and those corresponding to at least two audio signals (23, 27) to a video signal (8) and one corresponding audio signal (34), whereby it understands video and video signals. the audio signal is used for a first purpose background video and background audio recording and as the second video and audio signal is used a video and audio signal (1, 23) producing a performance comprising the first means (6, 26) for combining 20 said video - and audio signals so that the video signal (1) producing appearances is synchronized with the background video signal (7), wherein the thus combined video and audio signal can be stored with a conventional video tape recorder (106) and viewed in a conventional video monitor 25 (107). ), and other organs (4) for applying audio effects to the audio signal producing performances, so as not to include third bodies (30, 33) f Controls to control a control signal (31) obtained from the background recording to control means (25) which produce the audio effects.