JP2007073130A - Material management system and material management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material management system in which a material stored in a portable storage medium taken out from a cart apparatus also can be retrieved simply. <P>SOLUTION: The cart apparatus 1 houses a plurality of optical disks apparatus 2 is provided with a communication means connected to a LAN 4, and indicates clearly a state information indicating whether the optical disk 10 exists in the cart apparatus 1 or not on the LAN 4 so as to be referred, along with information of the material stored in the optical disk 10. Thereby, even if the optical disk 10 is taken out from the cart apparatus 1, information of the material can be continuously managed on the LAN 4, while it can be confirmed at a glance whether the material exists actually in the cart apparatus 1 or not, and the target material can be retrieved simply. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a material management system and a material management method, and more particularly to a material management system and a material management method for managing a large amount of video or audio material stored in a plurality of optical disks and the like.

  In a broadcasting station that handles a large amount of AV material, it is necessary to quickly search for a necessary material for editing from among a large amount of stored material when producing a program. Therefore, conventionally, information on recorded materials (program data, code numbers, etc.) is made into a database, and the necessary materials are searched by referring to the information on a computer screen, for example, when searching. There is also a search system that records a part of still images and moving images of the material separately when recording the material, and can determine whether the material is the target material by referring to these image data when searching. It is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, recent AV materials have been moved to MPEG (Moving Picture Coding Experts Group). In particular, MPEG2 compression coding is used for digital broadcasting, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -Video, etc., and in broadcast program production sites. Has also been used. Furthermore, in recent years, MXF (Material eXchange Format) has been changed to SMPTE (Society) as a format for exchanging files between broadcasting devices of different models or manufacturers on a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) / IP (Internet Protocol) network. of Motion Picture and Television Engineers).

  MXF is a format in which data in MPEG format or DV (Digital Video) format, and metadata (information such as compression encoding method, video content, type, shooting location, etc.) can be integrated and transmitted and streamed. It also supports functions. By using MXF, for example, by using a local area network (LAN) in a broadcasting station, a simple operation on a screen such as drag and drop in a GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment can be performed between devices on the LAN. Transfer, playback, and recording of material files are becoming possible. The file transfer on the network is controlled by a protocol such as CIFS (Common Internet File System) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

In such a material management system that manages materials via a network, a cart device that stores a plurality of portable storage media such as optical disks that store materials is used. The cart device is connected to, for example, a LAN in the broadcasting station, and can search for materials stored in the cart device and transfer or play back the materials using CIFS / FTP under instructions from a computer on the LAN. It has become. In broadcasting stations, for example, broadcast materials for about 10 years are stored in one cart device. However, depending on the scale of the broadcasting station, the amount of data that can be stored on the optical disk in the cart device may exceed a few years. Therefore, it may be possible to bring a plurality of necessary cart devices online (connected to a network), but this is expensive. For this reason, conventionally, an optical disk in which a material is stored is taken out from the cart apparatus, a new blank optical disk is stored in the cart apparatus, and the extracted optical disk is arranged in the order of ID on an external storage shelf.
Japanese Patent No. 2952908

  However, in the conventional material management system, the information on the portable storage medium taken out from the cart device disappears from the file system, and thus cannot be referred to from the network. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to search for the material stored in the portable storage medium taken out from the cart device.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a material management system that can easily search for materials stored in a portable storage medium taken out from a cart device.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a material management method capable of easily retrieving materials stored in a portable storage medium taken out from a cart device.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a material management system for managing video or audio material, comprising: a cart device that stores a plurality of portable storage media for storing material; and a communication means that is connected to a network. A cart control device that clearly indicates status information indicating whether or not the portable storage medium exists in the cart device together with information on the material stored in the portable storage medium so that it can be referred to on the network; , A material management system is provided.

  According to the above configuration, the cart device stores a plurality of portable storage media for storing materials, and the cart control device includes communication means connected to a network, together with information on the materials stored in the portable storage media. The state information indicating whether or not the portable storage medium exists in the cart device is clearly indicated so that it can be referred to on the network.

  According to the present invention, the cart device stores a plurality of portable storage media for storing materials, and the cart control device has the portable storage media in the cart device together with information on the materials stored in the portable storage media. Since the status information indicating whether or not to do so is specified so that it can be referred to on the network, even if the portable storage medium is taken out from the cart device, the information on the material can continue to be managed on the network, It can be seen at a glance whether the material is actually in the cart device, and the target material can be easily searched.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a material management system according to the present embodiment.
The material management system according to the present embodiment is a system that is applied, for example, at a program production site of a broadcasting station, and includes a cart device 1, a cart control device 2, and a search computer 3. These are connected to the LAN 4. For example, an external storage shelf 5 for storing a portable storage medium taken out from the cart device 1 is disposed outside the cart device 1.

The cart device 1 includes a storage shelf 1a for storing a plurality of portable storage media, and a plurality of recording / reproducing devices 1b.
The portable storage medium is, for example, the optical disk 10 that employs high-density storage using blue-violet laser light, and has a capacity of 23.3 GB, for example. The optical disc 10 is attached with a barcode 10a obtained by encoding its own identification information (hereinafter DiscID). In addition, a DiscID that is not coded is also entered so that the user can identify it. In the storage shelf 1a, for example, about 600 optical disks 10 are stored.

  A plurality of recording / reproducing apparatuses 1b are mounted in the cart apparatus 1. Each recording / reproducing apparatus 1b includes an interface of IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 standard in addition to an interface connectable to the LAN 4. Then, under the control of the cart control device 2, the material is stored in the optical disk 10 taken out from the storage shelf 1a by the robotics function (not shown), and the material stored in the optical disk 10 is reproduced.

  The cart control device 2 is a computer that controls a robotics function (not shown) of the cart device 1 and a recording / reproducing device 1b in the cart device 1 by, for example, a control signal from an RS-422A terminal. An interface that can be connected to the LAN 4 is provided, and the material to be recorded on the cart apparatus 1 is received using the FTP or CIFS protocol. Note that the material received via the LAN 4 is supplied to the recording / reproducing apparatus 1b through, for example, an IEEE 1394 standard interface.

In addition, the cart control device 2 has a database 2 a that stores management information on the material of the optical disk 10 in the cart device 1.
FIG. 2 is an example of a database that stores material management information.

  As shown in the figure, the database 2a includes, for each material file, the Disc ID of the optical disk 10 storing the material file, the ID (File ID) of the material file, the stored date and time (Date), the title, the update date and time (last), and the like. Management information is stored.

  The search computer 3 is connected to the LAN 4. For example, the user uses this search computer 3 to search for a desired material from the database 2 a, and to perform a transfer, playback, or recording request for the material.

In the external storage shelf 5, the optical disks 10 taken out from the cart device 1 are arranged and stored in the order of DiscID.
In FIG. 1, the database 2 a is shown in the cart control device 2. However, the database 2 a may be connected to the LAN 4 and can be referred to by the search computer 3.

Hereinafter, the operation of the material management system of the present embodiment will be described.
When a new optical disk 10 is stored in the cart apparatus 1, a barcode reader (not shown) in the cart apparatus 1 reads DiscID from the barcode 10 a attached to the optical disk 10. The cart control device 2 constructs the following file system based on the read DiscID.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a directory structure of the cart control device.
For example, when the optical disc 10 having the Disc ID “00000001” is stored in the cart apparatus 1, the Disc ID is registered in the database 2a. Further, in the directory structure of the cart control device 2, a directory of the stored optical disc 10 with Disc ID “00000001” is created in “DISCS” indicating the directory of the optical disc 10 in the cart device 1.

  Further, in the material management system according to the present embodiment, the status file “a00000001.STS” is stored in the directory “00000001” as status information indicating that the optical disk 10 having the Disc ID “00000001” is stored in the cart apparatus 1. Put on. “Ymmdd: hhmmss” specified at the same time as the status file “a00000001.STS” indicates the date and time when the optical disk 10 was stored in the cart apparatus 1. In addition, by specifying “1 KB” as the storage size, it is possible for the user on the LAN 4 to refer to the presence of the optical disk 10 in the cart device 1 (details will be described later). , 0 KB indicates that the optical disk 10 exists outside the cart apparatus 1). “A00000001.MXF” is a material file recorded on the optical disc 10, and “a00000001.SMX” is proxy data of the material (a part of AV material image or moving image data). The file update date and time (ymmdd: hhmmss) and the storage size are specified simultaneously with these file names.

Here, the storage of the material in the optical disk 10 in the cart apparatus 1 will be briefly described.
For example, the user downloads a desired material file (for example, MXF file) from the AV server (not shown) to the cart control device 2 by FTP or CIFS protocol. Specifically, it is performed by dragging and dropping a desired material file into the “ENTRY” directory shown in FIG.

  Under the control of the cart control device 2, the cart device 1 takes out the recordable optical disc 10 from the storage shelf 1a, and inserts the optical disc 10 into the recordable recording / reproducing device 1b. When the recording preparation is completed, the material file downloaded to the “ENTRY” directory is stored in the optical disc 10 inserted in the recording / reproducing apparatus 1b. The stored material file is registered in the database 2a as shown in FIG. Furthermore, at this time, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, the material file “a00000001.MXF” stored in the optical disc 10 is clearly shown in the directory of Disc ID “00000001”. The proxy data “a0000001.SMX” is associated with the database 2a and stored separately from the optical disc 10, but is also clearly indicated in the “00000001” directory. The optical disk 10 for which the material file has been stored is stored in the storage shelf 1a again.

  As described above, materials are accumulated in the cart device 1. For example, when creating a broadcast program, the user uses the search computer 3 to search for a desired broadcast material from the database 2a. When a desired material is selected, under the control of the cart control device 2, the cart device 1 takes out the optical disk 10 storing the specified material from the storage shelf 1a, and puts the optical disk into the reproducible recording / reproducing device 1b. 10 is inserted to reproduce or transfer the material via the LAN 4. In this way, the user can use the material stored in the cart device 1.

  By the way, when the material is stored in all of the optical disks 10 stored in the storage shelf 1a in the cart apparatus 1 and a new material cannot be stored, for example, the optical disk 10 storing the old material is taken out from the cart apparatus 1, Replace with a new optical disk 10. In this case, the removed optical disk 10 is stored in the external storage shelf 5 in the order of DiscID by hand, for example.

At this time, the cart control device 2 of the present embodiment performs the following operation.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a directory structure of the cart control device, showing a case where a certain optical disk exists outside the cart device.

  Here, a case where the optical disk 10 with Disc ID “00000001” is taken out is shown. In this case, the cart control device 2 specifies the storage size of the state file “a00000001.STS” as “0 KB” without deleting the “00000001” directory. As a result, the search computer 3 on the LAN 4 knows that the optical disk 10 storing the material file “a00000001.MXF” is not in the cart apparatus 1 but is present in the external storage shelf 5. it can. Therefore, when this material is necessary, the optical disk 10 with Disc ID “00000001” may be removed from the external storage shelf 5. As described above, since the optical disks 10 are stored in the order of DiscID in the external storage shelf 5, the user can easily find the target optical disk 10.

  The user can store the optical disk 10 searched in this way as it is, for example, in a disk drive of his computer (for example, the search computer 3) and reproduce or edit a desired material. Further, the optical disk 10 may be inserted again into the recording / reproducing apparatus 1b of the cart apparatus 1 to perform transfer, reproduction or recording of the material. In that case, the cart apparatus 1 reads the Disc ID from the barcode 10 a of the optical disk 10 by a barcode reader (not shown) and transmits it to the cart control apparatus 2. The cart control device 2 specifies the recording size of the status file of the corresponding optical disk 10 in the “DISCS” directory as “1 KB” on the file system as shown in FIG. 3 from the input DiscID. Thereby, the optical disk 10 with Disc ID “00000001” is stored in the cart device 1 from the search computer 3 on the LAN 4, and the material stored in the optical disk 10 can be accessed via the LAN 4. You can know that there is.

Since the proxy data is stored separately from the material file, the proxy data can be used even when the optical disk 10 is taken out from the cart apparatus 1.
The above is only one embodiment of the present invention, and is not particularly limited to the above. For example, there may be a plurality of cart devices 1 and cart control devices 2.

  Further, a WAN (Wide Area Network) may be used instead of the LAN 4.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the raw material management system of this Embodiment. It is an example of the database which memorize | stores the management information of a raw material. It is a figure which shows the structure of the directory of a cart control apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the directory of a cart control apparatus which shows the case where a certain optical disk exists outside a cart apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cart apparatus, 1a ... Storage shelf, 1b ... Recording / reproducing apparatus, 2 ... Cart control apparatus, 2a ... Database, 3 ... Search computer, 4 ... LAN, 5 ... External storage shelf

Claims (4)

In a material management system that manages video or audio material,
A cart device for storing a plurality of portable storage media for storing materials;
Communication means for connecting to a network, and status information indicating whether or not the portable storage medium exists in the cart device together with information on the material stored in the portable storage medium on the network. A cart controller that clearly indicates that it can be referenced;
A material management system characterized by comprising:   The cart control device manages the status information as a status file and clearly indicates whether the portable storage medium is in the cart device by changing a storage size of the status file. Item 1. The material management system according to Item 1.   The portable storage medium is attached with a barcode encoded with its own identification information. When the portable storage medium is stored in the cart device, the cart control device reads from the barcode. The stored identification information is identified with reference to the identification information, and the state information clearly indicates that the portable storage medium exists in the cart device. 1. The material management system according to 1. In a material management method for managing materials using a cart device that stores a plurality of portable storage media that store video or audio materials,
Along with information on the material stored in the portable storage medium, state information indicating whether or not the portable storage medium exists in the cart device is clearly indicated so that it can be referred to on the network. Material management method.

Images