JP2010141460A - Meta-information providing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple computerized cue-sheet creating means to aim at fusion between workflow of a photography site and digital media, since there is no meta-information input means suitable for a cue-sheet even now when video recording has shifted to a nonlinear recording medium from tapes and a cue-sheet created by paper should be carried around together with a recording medium at the present condition, although a contrast table "cue-sheet" for a time code and the content of video has been traditionally used in the site of video photography. <P>SOLUTION: An origination time code designating means 105 and a video content input means 103 are displayed on a touch panel 101. If a user inputs the content of a cue-sheet through the arrangement, a TC-clip conversion means 109 searches a video file corresponding to a time code specified by a video file in a recording medium 115. A meta-information recording means 107 gives the content of the cue-sheet to the acquired video file as a meta-information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording additional information on a recording medium on which a video is recorded by a camera recorder or the like, and more particularly to a meta information giving apparatus for giving a cue sheet created at the time of shooting to a video.

  Conventionally, in a professional field where images are shot, a paper called a cue sheet has been used to make a note of the content recorded on a film or video tape and the position on the tape.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a video tape recording table including a cue sheet that is actually used at the shooting site. The videotape recording table is based on “title” and “production production”, which are information related to the entire shooting, the memo column of the VTR model and recording format, and the cue sheet which is a comparison table between the position on the tape and the recording contents. It is configured. In the example of FIG. 5, it is shown that “credit” is photographed for 12 seconds from the time code 00: 59: 45: 00 to 00: 59: 57: 00 on this tape. At the time of shooting, the photographer and the shooting assistant check the recording start and recording end time codes, and fill in the cue sheet together with the recorded contents. The time code here is time information having a format of hour: minute: second: frame (hour: minute: second: frame) defined by, for example, SMPTE-12M.

  The purpose of creating the videotape recording table is to make it easier to find the video necessary for the later editing work by noting the recorded contents and the time code on the cue sheet in this way.

  On the other hand, in recent years, it has become common to perform non-linear editing using a computer for video editing. From the shooting stage, video is not recorded linearly on a tape, but is represented by a semiconductor memory. The use of a camera recorder that records video as a file on a recording medium with high affinity has become common in professional sites (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the case of such file-based video recording, there are many that have a function of recording additional information related to the captured video on the same recording medium as the video file.

  As an additional information record, an example of the operation of a typical device that is actually used at the current shooting location will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional camera recorder. The camera recorder 800 includes a liquid crystal screen 801, a semiconductor memory insertion unit 802, and a text memo assignment button 803. At the timing when the recording start / end button 804 or the recording start / end button 805 is pressed, the captured video is recorded on the semiconductor memory inserted in the semiconductor memory insertion unit 802. A photographer who shoots using the camera recorder 800 can add an empty text memo to the video file and the offset that was shot at that time by pressing the text memo assignment button 803 simultaneously with the shooting. it can.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a file recorded on a file system constructed in a semiconductor memory in a conventional camera recorder. In this semiconductor memory, a directory called “CONTENTS” exists in the uppermost layer (root directory) of the file system, and two directories called “VIDEO” and “CLIP” exist below it. A video file 900 photographed by the video camera 800 is recorded in the “VIDEO” directory. The file name of the video file 900 is given a serial number from 0001 in the recording order. Further, since the extension MXF indicating that the recording format of this file is the MXF format is given, the file name is 0001. MXF. An empty text memo given during recording of the video file 900 is given in the semiconductor memory as shown in FIG. A text memo file 901 (0001.XML) having the same file name and different extension as the video file 900 (0001.MXF) recorded when the text memo assignment button is pressed is under the “CLIP” directory. Created on. In this example, the text memo file 901 is recorded in the XML format. In the text memo file 901, an offset time (in this example, “5734” as an offset in frame units from the head of the video file 900) when the text memo giving button is pressed is described.

  Text memo assignment can also be performed in parallel with video file playback. The video recorded in the semiconductor memory can be viewed on the liquid crystal screen 801 at the timing when the playback start / end button 804 or 805 is pressed. If the text memo assign button 803 is pressed in the playback state, the video is played back. An empty text memo can be assigned to the offset time of the video file that has been recorded. The given method is the same as that during the recording.

  The photographer connects the semiconductor memory in which the video file 900 and the text memo file 901 are recorded to a personal computer or the like, opens the empty text memo file 901 in which only the offset time given by the above procedure is recorded, By additionally recording, a text memo in which the photographing contents are recorded can be attached to a certain offset time of the video file.

As described above, the conventional camera recorder registers only the designated position in the video file at the time of recording / playback of the video file, and inputs the additional information regarding the position later, thereby the additional information is designated as the designated position of the video file. The process to associate with was realized.
JP-A-7-67066

  When shooting video using a non-linear recording medium represented by semiconductor memory, the cue sheet created at the same time as shooting is taken as electronic data (electronic cue sheet) into the same recording medium on which the video was recorded. If this is possible, the convenience of the user will be greatly enhanced. In other words, video and cue sheets can be easily managed together, and when a recording medium is connected to a computer for editing, the necessary automatic video can be automatically linked with electronic cue sheets and nonlinear editing software. Extraction and the like can be performed.

  However, in a conventional non-linear medium recording camera recorder, a check mark such as an empty text memo is inserted at a certain time point of the video file during recording or playback of the video file shot as described above. Therefore, it is not suitable for usage in which recorded contents are input in parallel during shooting. This is because the photographer concentrates only on video shooting, and the video assistant creates a video tape recording table based on the time code displayed on the camera and records the “time code range and recorded contents”. It is not suitable for the operation mode that is used in the video field.

  In other words, since conventional camera recorders do not have means for adding additional information that matches the current operation mode, an operation mode is adopted in which a non-linear recording medium and a paper cue sheet are carried as a set from the shooting site to the editing site. The current situation is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and in the case of recording video on a recording medium typified by flash memory, the video is recorded on the cue sheet created at the same time as shooting. It is an object to provide a means for easy management using the same recording medium.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a meta information providing apparatus according to the present invention is a meta information providing apparatus that records meta information related to video data on a recording medium on which a video file including video data is recorded. Video content input means for accepting input from the user, position information input means for accepting input of position information on the video data for associating the meta information input by the video content input means, and a position specified by the position information input means A file search means for searching the corresponding video file from the recording medium based on the information, a recording medium access means for reading and writing to the recording medium, and the meta information in the position in the video data included in the searched video file Meta information recording means for recording in a recording medium as a meta information file associated with the position indicated by the information; With was.

  The meta information providing apparatus of the present invention has the above-described configuration, and for a video file recorded on a recording medium, it is possible to electronically record a cue sheet created simultaneously with the shooting on the same recording medium as the video file. Therefore, management that associates both becomes easy. In addition, since both are associated in a form with high IT affinity, it is possible to use a cue sheet to automate the procedure at the editing stage, thereby improving user convenience.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a meta information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The meta information providing apparatus 100 includes a touch panel 101. Further, it includes a meta information recording means 107 and a cue sheet reading means 108 provided with a TC-clip converting means 109 for searching a correspondence relationship between the time code and the video file. The user can switch the mode through the mode switch 112. Further, the meta information providing apparatus 100 includes a recording medium access unit 111 for reading and writing data on the recording medium 115, and the recording medium access unit 111 includes a medium connection detection unit 113. The clip access unit 110 accesses the video file 116 and the meta information file 117 in the recording medium 115 through the recording medium access unit 111.

  In the present embodiment, the following operation is assumed. That is, the photographer operates the camera recorder to photograph the subject, and records the video file 116 and the meta information file 117 on the recording medium 115. In parallel with this, the photographing assistant operates the meta information providing apparatus 100 to create an electronic cue sheet for the image being photographed. The created electronic cue sheet is given to the meta information file 117 recorded on the recording medium 115 in real time or after the photographing is completed.

  Hereinafter, an operation when the user operates the meta information recording unit 107 using the mode switch 112 and sets the operation mode of the apparatus to the “cue sheet writing mode” will be described.

  On the touch panel 101, a start time code input unit 105 and an end time code input unit 106, a recording content input unit 103, and a data reflection instruction unit 104 are displayed as position information input means. The user uses the stylus 102 to describe information previously described on a paper cue sheet through each input unit on the touch panel 101. For example, if “credit” is photographed between the time codes “00: 59: 45: 00” and “00: 59: 57: 00”, the start timecode input unit 105 uses “ 00: 59: 45: 00 ”,“ 00: 59: 55: 00 ”is input as the queue end time code to the end time code input unit 106, and“ credit ”is described as the queue content description in the recording content input unit 103. . Note that these time codes can be obtained by visually observing the display section of the camera recorder during photographing. Further, the cue start time code and the cue end time code are position information indicating to which position on the video file the cue content description, which is meta information, is associated, and a certain section can be specified by specifying the start position and the end position. It may be pointed to, or only one time code (position information) may be specified and the meta information may be associated with the position. Further, although the cue content description that is meta information is a text memo (text data), the present invention is not limited to this, and image data such as a handwritten memo input from the touch panel 101 may be used. When the description is completed, the user presses the data reflection instruction unit 104 with the stylus 102 to determine the contents of the electronic cue sheet. If you want to enter multiple items, repeat the above operations.

  When necessary information is input to the electronic cue sheet by the above procedure and data reflection is instructed through the data reflection instruction unit 104, the “cue start time code constituting the electronic cue sheet is displayed from each input unit 105, 106 and 103. , “Queue end time code” and “queue content description” are passed to the meta information recording means 107. The meta information recording unit 107 temporarily stores the received three data in the buffer memory 114. Furthermore, the meta information recording unit 107 must acquire the state of the medium connection detecting unit 113 included in the recording medium access unit 111 through the clip access unit 110 and confirm that the recording medium 115 is connected to the meta information providing apparatus 100. If so, the process ends here. At this time, instead of ending the process, the touch panel 101 is displayed on the touch panel 101 to prompt the user to connect the recording medium 115 to the meta information providing apparatus 100, and the standby state is entered. You may make it wait for connection to.

  2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating examples of connection forms of the recording medium 115 with respect to the meta information providing apparatus 100. FIG. The medium connection detection means 113 mentioned here refers to the physical connection between the recording medium 115 and the recording medium connecting unit 201 when the meta information providing apparatus 100 is directly inserted into the recording medium 115 as shown in FIG. This indicates a mechanism for detecting an abnormal contact. In the case of this apparatus configuration, the user connects the recording medium 115 removed from the camera recorder to the meta information adding apparatus 100 after the photographing is completed, so that the input electronic cue sheet is stored in the meta information file 117 in the recording medium 115. reflect. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the recording medium 115 is attached to or built in the camera recorder 302 including the wireless communication unit 303, and the meta information providing apparatus 100 can access the recording medium 115 through the wireless communication unit 301. In such a case, hardware / software that monitors the connection status of both wireless communication units 301 and 303 is indicated. In the case of this device configuration, the user does not need to make a physical connection between the recording medium 115 and the meta information providing apparatus 100 at the end of recording.

  On the other hand, when the meta information recording unit 107 can confirm the connection of the recording medium 115 when receiving the data, or when the medium connection detecting unit 113 detects that the recording medium 115 is newly connected to the meta information providing apparatus 100 The meta information recording means 107 performs the following operation. That is, the meta information recording unit 107 searches the recording medium 115 for a video file to which the contents of the electronic cue sheet should be added as meta information based on the position information in each electronic cue sheet stored in the buffer memory 114. Record in the corresponding meta information file. Hereinafter, the operation will be described in detail.

  First, an electronic cue sheet recorded in the buffer memory 114, that is, three sets of data of “queue start time code”, “queue end time code”, and “queue content description” are taken out one by one. Then, the “queue start time code” is passed to the TC-clip conversion means 109. The TC-clip conversion unit 109 scans the meta information file 117 in the recording medium 115 through the clip access unit 110, and what frame the time code given as the cue start time code corresponds to from which head of the video file. (Hereinafter referred to as “queue start offset”) is searched and calculated.

  A specific example of the correspondence search procedure between the time code and the video file will be described below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the video file 116 and the meta information file 117 on the file system constructed on the recording medium 115. The arrangement and naming of each directory and each file on the recording medium 115 are the same as in FIG. A directory called “CONTENTS” exists at the top layer (root directory) of the file system, and below that there is a “VIDEO” directory for storing the video file body and a “CLIP” directory for storing meta information. Yes. In the “VIDEO” directory, a video file having a sequential number from 0001 as a file name is created every time recording is performed by the camera recorder. For example, in a camera recorder, a video file is created one by one for each series of recording operations in which a video recording button is pressed to start video recording, and then a stop button is pressed to stop video recording. In this example, since the MXF format (Material eXchange Format: SMPTE 377M-2004) is adopted as the format of the video file, the extension of the file is “MXF”.

  Each time a video file is newly created, a meta information file corresponding to each of these video files is created under the “CLIP” directory by the camera recorder. The correspondence between the video and the meta information is determined by making the meta information file name the same as the name of the video file and changing only the extension to “XML” so that it can be easily judged by both humans and computers. . That is, the video file 0001. At the same time with MXF, the meta information file 0001. XML is recorded.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of a meta information file. In this example, the XML format (extensible Markup Language [JIS X 4159: 2002]) is used to describe the meta information. Here, the file name of the video file is indicated by the <ClipName> tag, the length of the video file is described by the <Duration> tag aligned therewith, and the parameters of the video file are listed by the <EssenceList> tag. In this example, a frame unit is used as a unit of the length of the video described by Duration. In the <EssenceList> tag, the frame rate of the video is described using the <Codec> tag, and the start time code of the video file is described using the <StartTimecode> tag. In this example, the video file 0001. It can be seen that the MXF video length is 1064 frames, the frame frequency is 59.94 frames per second, and the start time code is 05: 33: 33: 12.

  The TC-clip conversion unit 109 opens the XML files in the “CLIP” directory in the recording medium 115 through the clip access unit 110 in the order of serial numbers, and the “video start time code”, “ Acquire “frame frequency” and “video length”. In this example these are 05: 33: 33: 12, 59.94p and 1064, respectively. From these pieces of information, the “video start time code” and “video end time code” of the video file can be found. Therefore, if an XML file including “cue start time code” within the range of both is searched, the target video file Meta information is found. The “video end time code” in the example of FIG. 6 can be calculated as 05: 33: 51: 12. Further, regarding the found information, it is possible to obtain a “cue start offset” in units of frames by performing an operation of converting (“cue start time code” − “video start time code”) into the number of frames. .

  With the above procedure, the correspondence between the time code and the video file can be obtained. Using the same procedure, a video file including “cue end time code” can be acquired.

  Subsequently, the meta information recording unit 107 reflects the “queue content description” in the meta information file acquired by the above procedure. A method for embedding the “queue content description” in the meta information file will be described in detail below.

  First, a case where “cue start time code” and “cue end time code” are included in the same video file will be described. As an example, when the queue start time code = 05: 33: 37: 00, the queue end time code = 05: 33: 42: 00, and the queue content description = “scene 1” are embedded in the meta information file shown in FIG. Will be explained.

  First, the meta information recording unit 107 calculates (“cue start time code” − “video start time code”) to obtain the number of frames in the video file corresponding to the cue start position. In this example, the frame unit offset from the top of the video file is 228 frames.

  Next, (“cue end time code” − “cue start time code”) is calculated, and the video length of the section to which the cue content description should be associated is obtained in units of frames. In this example, the association target video length is 300 frames.

  In this example, as shown in FIG. 7, a queue content description is inserted into a meta information file that is an XML document using a <MemoList> tag and a <Memo> tag. The <MemoList> tag includes one or more <Memo> tags below it. The <Memo> tag includes a <Offset> tag for storing the frame unit offset obtained in the above-described procedure, a <Duration> tag for storing the association target video length, and a <Text> tag for storing a queue content description. In this example, since there is only one queue content description to be inserted, only one <memo> tag is inserted. Also, 228 is inserted as <Offset>, 300 as <Duration>, and “Scene 1” as Text.

  The meta information recording unit 107 can electronically reflect the contents of the electronic cue sheet input by the user on the recording medium 115 by rewriting the meta information file as shown in FIG.

  Next, the case where the information to be written spans a plurality of video files having different “cue start time code” and “cue end time code” will be described. For example, when they extend over two video files, the meta information recording unit 107 changes the information to be written from “queue start time code” to “first video file end time code” and “second video file”. Are divided into two, namely, “start time code” and “queue end time code”. The contents of the “queue contents description” are the same.

  Then, using the same procedure as the case where the above “cue start time code” and “cue end time code” are included in the same video file, the former information is converted into the meta information of the first video file, and the latter Information may be added to the meta information of the second video file.

  With the above configuration, the electronic cue sheet written by the user through the touch panel 101 can be electronically recorded in the recording medium 115.

  Finally, as an example of a device that uses the electronic cue sheet shown in this example, in the meta information providing apparatus 100, the user operates the cue sheet reading unit 108 using the mode changeover switch 112, and changes the operation mode of the apparatus to “ The operation when the “cue sheet display mode” is set will be described. The file configuration on the recording medium 115 and the meta information description method are the same as those described above.

  When this mode is set, the cue sheet reading unit 108 reads the contents of all XML files in the “CLIP” directory in the recording medium 115 through the clip access unit 110. Then, the contents of the <Memo> tag listed in the <MemoList> tag are extracted from each XML document. At this time, the “queue start time code” is calculated by adding the <Offset> tag included in each <Memo> tag to the video start time code described in the <StartTimecode> tag in each XML file.

  The cue sheet reading means 108 sorts the contents of the extracted <Memo> tags in the order of “cue start time code”, “cue start time code”, “association target video length (= <Duration> tag contents)”, “ “Queue content description (= <Text> tag content)” is displayed on the touch panel 101. FIG. 8 is a view showing a display example of the electronic cue sheet read by the cue sheet reading unit 108. In the figure, the "cue end time code" is obtained by adding the target video length to the "cue start time code", and the section from the "cue start time code" to the "cue end time code" on the arrow-shaped timeline Is displayed with shading, and “queue content description” is displayed corresponding to this section.

  Thereby, the user can browse the cue sheet created at the same time as recording, and can list the contents of the video files recorded in the recording medium 115 in an easy-to-understand manner.

  As described above, the meta information providing apparatus according to the present invention allows the user to easily place the cue sheet on the same recording medium where the video file is stored in an electronic form having high affinity with the IT device. Can be recorded and used.

  In this embodiment, an electronic cue sheet is given as an example of meta information to be added to a video file. However, any meta information with information for specifying a file to be added and its position can be used. It may be information. In addition, the time code is used to specify the position on the video file input by the user, but the offset from the top of the video file and the video length of the section to which the meta information is added may be directly input. Good.

  In this embodiment, the meta information file is created together with the video file, and the meta information file is rewritten by the meta information recording means. However, when the video file is recorded, the meta information file is not created and the meta information file is added. A meta information file may be newly created by the apparatus to record the meta information.

  With the meta information providing apparatus of the present invention, a user can easily record a cue sheet electronically on the same recording medium on which the video file is stored, and the management of the medium and the cue sheet is simplified. At the same time, it is easy to use cue sheets in IT equipment, so it is useful for video production environments combined with non-linear editing machines.

Block diagram showing an example of a device configuration in an embodiment The figure which shows the example of the shape of the apparatus in embodiment The figure which shows the example of the shape of the apparatus in embodiment The figure which shows the file system example on the recording medium in embodiment A diagram showing an example of a cue sheet used in the field The figure which shows the example of the content of the meta-information file in embodiment The figure which shows the example of insertion of the cue sheet description in embodiment The figure which shows the example of a display of the electronic cue sheet | seat in embodiment The figure which shows the structure of the conventional camera recorder The figure which shows the outline of the file recorded on the semiconductor memory in the conventional camera recorder

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Meta information provision apparatus 101 Touch panel 102 Stylus 103 Recording content input means 104 Data reflection instruction means 105 Start time code designation means 106 End time code designation means 107 Meta information recording means 108 Cue sheet reading means 109 TC-clip conversion means 110 Clip access Means 111 Recording medium access means 112 Mode changeover switch 113 Recording medium connection detection means 114 Buffer memory 115 Recording medium 116 Video file 117 Meta information file 201 Recording medium connection section 301 Wireless communication section (apparatus side)
302 Camera recorder 303 Wireless communication unit (camera recorder side)

Claims (6)

A meta information providing apparatus for recording meta information related to video data on a recording medium on which a video file including video data is recorded,
Video content input means for accepting input of meta information related to the video data from a user;
Position information input means for receiving input of position information on the video data for associating the meta information input by the video content input means;
File search means for searching for a corresponding video file from the recording medium based on the position information specified by the position information input means;
Recording medium access means for reading from and writing to the recording medium;
Meta information recording means for recording the meta information in the recording medium as a meta information file associated with the position indicated by the position information in the video data included in the searched video file;
A meta information providing apparatus comprising: The meta information adding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information input unit can input a start point and an end point of the video data associated with the meta information. The meta information adding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position information input unit is capable of inputting a start point and a time length of the video data associated with the meta information. 2. The meta information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a recording medium connection detecting unit that detects whether or not the recording medium is connected to the recording medium access unit in a readable / writable state. 5. The meta information adding apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording medium connection detecting unit detects the presence / absence of the recording medium using the presence / absence of physical connection between the recording medium access unit and the recording medium. The recording medium is connected to a wireless communication device physically separated from the meta information providing device,
The meta information addition according to claim 4, wherein the recording medium connection detection unit detects the presence or absence of the recording medium using whether or not a wireless connection between the recording medium access unit and the wireless communication apparatus is established. apparatus.

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