JP2019217022A - Animation distribution server, animation distribution method, and animation distribution program - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow a plurality of games in a game tournament to be viewed by overlooking.SOLUTION: An animation distribution server 1 distributes animation data of a game to progress of a game tournament for the game tournament in which plural games in which a plurality of players play a match are performed. The animation distribution server 1 includes: an animation acquisition part 21 for acquiring each of animation data of plural games; a compositing part for dividing a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, allocating animation data of a game to each of the divided display areas, and compositing the data to composited animation data; and a distribution part 24 for distributing the composited animation data to a viewer's terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving image distribution server, a moving image distribution method, and a moving image distribution program for distributing moving image data of a game in a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed, in accordance with the progress of the game tournament.

  With the recent development of information communication, games, such as e-sports, in which opponents compete using computers via a communication network, have become widespread. For these games, there is a system for managing a tournament and a game tournament by league play (see Patent Document 1).

  When a game organizer inputs setting information of a game tournament such as a league name, the system described in Patent Literature 1 creates an online game league of the game tournament, causes members to play and score. Patent Document 1 discloses displaying a list of games currently in progress or open, such as a game for recruiting participants and a game that can be watched. On the game list screen, attribute information such as rules applied in this game is displayed.

JP-T-2005-521541

  However, Patent Literature 1 merely displays a list of games currently in progress or open, and it is necessary to select a game and participate as a spectator in order to check the status of each game.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a moving image distribution server, a moving image distribution method, and a moving image distribution program for distributing moving image data that can be viewed while viewing a plurality of games in a game tournament.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first feature of the present invention relates to a moving image distribution server that distributes moving image data of a game in a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed, in accordance with the progress of the game tournament. A moving image distribution server according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a moving image acquisition unit that acquires moving image data of a plurality of games, and a display area that is divided according to the number of games to be displayed in a game tournament. The image processing apparatus includes a combining unit that assigns moving image data of a game to each of the regions and combines the moving image data with the combined moving image data, and a distribution unit that distributes the combined moving image data to the viewer terminal.

  When the game assigned to the display area ends, the combining unit assigns the moving image data assigned to the display area adjacent to the display area assigned to the moving image data of the ended game to the moving image data of the ended game. A display area and an adjacent display area may be assigned to a combined area.

  When the game assigned to the display area ends, the combining unit may assign digest video data of the video data of the ended game to the display area of the ended game.

  When the game tournament is performed in a winning match, the combining unit divides the display area according to the number of games in a predetermined tournament group or the number of games in a plurality of tournament groups, and determines a pair of opponents of the game performed by winning. May be allocated to adjacent display areas.

  When one ongoing game ends, the combining unit displays the moving image data of the game paired with the ended game, the display area assigned to the moving image data of the ended game, and the game area paired with the ended game. The display area assigned to the moving image data may be assigned to the combined area.

  When the game tournament is performed in a round-robin match, the combining unit divides the display area according to the number of games in a predetermined number of league groups, and stores moving image data of a plurality of games belonging to each league group in an adjacent display area. May be assigned.

  When one ongoing game ends, the synthesizing unit may assign the moving image data of another game of the league group to which the ended game belongs to the display area assigned to each game of the league group to which the ended game belongs. good.

  A second feature of the present invention relates to a moving image distribution method for distributing moving image data of a game in a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed, in accordance with the progress of the game tournament. In the moving image distribution method according to the second aspect of the present invention, the computer acquires moving image data of a plurality of games, and the computer divides a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, The method includes a step of allocating video data of a game to each of the divided display areas and synthesizing the synthesized video data, and a step of distributing the synthesized video data to a viewer terminal by a computer.

  A moving image distribution program according to a third aspect of the present invention relates to a moving image distribution program for distributing moving image data of a game in a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are played, in accordance with the progress of the game tournament. A moving image distribution program according to a third aspect of the present invention is a computer which divides a computer into a moving image acquisition unit that acquires moving image data of a plurality of games, and a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in a game tournament. The moving image data of the game is assigned to each of the displayed display areas, and the functioning unit functions as a synthesizing unit that synthesizes the moving image data with the synthesized moving image data and a distribution unit that distributes the synthesized moving image data to the viewer terminal.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a moving image distribution server, a moving image distribution method, and a moving image distribution program that distribute moving image data that can be viewed while viewing a plurality of games in a game tournament.

It is a figure explaining the system configuration of the game tournament system concerning an embodiment of the invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the outline of the processing of the game tournament system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating hardware and functional blocks of a moving image distribution server according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of synthesized moving image data output by the synthesis unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a combining process performed by a combining unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a moving image selection screen displayed by the moving image information providing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of the synthetic | combination moving image data which the synthesizing part which concerns on embodiment of this invention outputs, and is a figure explaining the example in which a game tournament is performed by a winning game. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of synthesized moving image data output by the synthesizing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, illustrating an example in which a game tournament is performed in a league match system. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of synthesized moving image data output by the synthesizing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention, and illustrating an example in which moving image data of a plurality of games is replaced in predetermined time units.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(Game tournament system)
With reference to FIG. 1, a game tournament system 9 using the moving image distribution server 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The game tournament system 9 includes a game tournament providing system 4 including the moving image distribution server 1, a first distributor terminal 5a, a second distributor terminal 5b, and a viewer terminal 6. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the first distributor terminal 5a and the second distributor terminal 5b are not particularly distinguished, they may be simply described as the distributor terminal 5.

  In the game tournament according to the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of players repeatedly play the game and determine a final winner. Each player plays with each player in a winning match system, a league match system, or the like, and the winner is the winner.

  The game according to the embodiment of the present invention is typically a competition game in which a computer is used to compete for a predetermined index value such as a score, a time, and a physical strength value, but is not limited thereto. For example, a non-competition game played by one person may be set to have a unique criterion such as time and score, and a plurality of players may play and compete to compete. Alternatively, the game may be a real game in which a plurality of people existing in the same space compete against each other. Real games are, for example, games such as shogi, chess and playing cards using actual pieces, and sports such as soccer, basketball and judo.

  The game tournament providing system 4 includes a moving picture distribution server 1 and a game tournament control server 2. The moving image distribution server 1 and the game tournament control server 2 are communicably connected to each other via a communication network 3 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). Furthermore, the moving image distribution server 1 and the game tournament control server 2 connect to the distributor terminal 5 and the viewer terminal 6 via a communication network 7 such as the Internet.

  The moving image distribution server 1 distributes moving image data of the game to the viewer terminal 6 in accordance with the progress of the game tournament for a plurality of competitive games. The moving image distribution server 1 may distribute the moving image data to each viewer terminal 6 in real time, or may distribute the already stored moving image data to the requested viewer terminal 6 on demand.

  The moving image distribution server 1 distributes at least one moving image data for each of a plurality of competitive games in a game tournament. The moving image data may be a moving image obtained by capturing a screen of a game performed on a computer, or in the case of a real game, may be a moving image obtained by photographing the state of the game.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the moving image distribution server 1 distributes moving image data obtained by combining a plurality of game situations to the viewer terminal 6. The moving image distribution server 1 can distribute the synthesized moving image data without putting a load on a network band or each processing device by generating a reduced image quality when combining a plurality of game situations.

  The game tournament control server 2 holds various types of information for advancing a game tournament such as the progress and results of each game performed in the game tournament according to the embodiment of the present invention, a winning match or a combination of league matches, and the like. Advance the tournament. The game tournament control server 2 also stores various information such as an identifier such as a handle name of a player who plays the game, a result of the current game tournament, and a result of a past game tournament.

  The distributor terminal 5 is a terminal used by a distributor who provides moving image data for drawing a state of a game tournament to the game tournament providing system 4. The distributor terminal 5 may be a terminal of a player who participates in a game tournament and plays a game, or may be a terminal of an organizer who provides a game in the game tournament. For a real game or the like, a terminal that acquires moving image data of the state of the game and transmits the data to the game tournament providing system 4 may be used.

  The viewer terminal 6 is a terminal used by a viewer who views moving image data distributed by the moving image distribution server 1. In the embodiment of the present invention, the moving image distribution server 1 distributes moving image data in which a plurality of game situations are combined, so that the viewer can observe the plurality of game situations from a bird's-eye view.

  With reference to FIG. 2, a moving image distribution method in the tournament system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In step S1, the first distributor terminal 5a distributes the first moving image data to the moving image distribution server 1, and in step S2, the second distributor terminal 5b distributes the second moving image data to the moving image distribution server 1. I do. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the moving image distribution server 1 distributes the first moving image data and the second moving image data to the viewer terminal 6. Each of the moving image data distributed by the moving image distribution server 1 is associated with a search key of the moving image data called a tag. The tag may be provided by the distributor or the viewer, or may be provided by the moving image distribution server 1.

  In step S3, the moving image distribution server 1 acquires the game status from the game tournament control server 2 in step S3. The moving image distribution server 1 acquires, for example, information on each game of the target game tournament.

  In step S4, the moving image distribution server 1 specifies the moving image data of the game from the information of the game acquired in step S3. The video distribution server 1 obtains, from the game tournament control server 2, a game situation including information identifying each game, such as a game identifier and a player identifier, for each game in the currently held game tournament. The moving image distribution server 1 further specifies moving image data of each game based on information specifying each game. The information identifying each game is compared with the tag given to the video data or the metadata of the video data to identify the video data of each game. The moving image distribution server 1 further has a possibility that the player will compete in the future, for example, with the progress of a game such as moving image data currently in progress, moving image data in progress at a predetermined time, and a game in which a predetermined player participates. Based on predetermined conditions such as a game related to a player, such as a game for determining an opponent, a game to be synthesized in the synthesized moving image data is specified. Further, the game to be synthesized in the synthesized moving image data may be specified in accordance with the progress of a game tournament such as a predetermined game (a plurality of games) such as a winning game or a league.

  When the moving image distribution server specifies the moving image data of each game in step S4, in step S5, the moving image distribution server combines the specified moving image data to generate composite moving image data. At this time, the moving image distribution server 1 allocates each game to the display area of the moving image in the synthetic moving image data so that the progress of the group of the game tournament to which each game belongs (a predetermined tournament or a predetermined league of a winning game, etc.) can be understood. .

  Upon receiving the request for the combined moving image data from the viewer terminal 6 in step S6, the moving image distribution server 1 distributes the combined moving image data generated in step S5 to the viewer terminal 6 in step S7. Here, it is assumed that synthesized moving image data obtained by synthesizing the first moving image data and the second moving image data is distributed. In such composite moving image data, a request to view the first moving image data is associated with an area to which the first moving image data is assigned, and a second moving image is assigned to the area to which the second moving image data is assigned. A request to view data is associated with the request.

  Here, in step S8, when the display area to which the first moving image data is assigned in the combined moving image data is selected at the viewer terminal 6, a request to view the first moving image data is transmitted to the moving image distribution server 1. Is done. The moving image distribution server 1 distributes the first moving image data to the viewer terminal 6 in step S9. The viewer checks the progress of the entire game tournament and the game status in the synthetic video data, and selects one of them to reproduce the video data of the selected game in the entire display area, and can do.

(Video distribution server)
With reference to FIG. 3, the moving image distribution server 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. The moving image distribution server 1 is a general computer including a storage device 10, a processing device 20, and a communication control device 30. A general computer executes the conversion logic generation program to realize the functions shown in FIG.

  The storage device 10 is a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk, or the like, and stores various data such as input data, output data, and intermediate data for the processing device 20 to execute processing. . The processing device 20 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that reads and writes data stored in the storage device 10 and inputs and outputs data to and from the communication control device 30 to execute processing in the moving image distribution server 1. I do. The communication control device 30 is an interface for the moving image distribution server 1 to communicably connect with the game tournament control server 2, the distributor terminal 5, and the viewer terminal 6.

  The storage device 10 stores a moving image data group 11, game situation data 12, and composite moving image data 13.

  The moving image data group 11 is a plurality of moving image data distributed from the distributor terminal 5. Each moving image data is associated with a tag serving as a search key. Although not shown, the storage device 10 may store data in which the identifier of each moving image data is associated with metadata such as a distributor identifier and a title together with the moving image data group 11.

  The game situation data 12 is data provided by the game tournament control server 2 to the moving image distribution server 1. The game situation data 12 includes, for each game in the game tournament, information such as a game identifier, a player identifier, and a result when the game is over. The game situation data 12 may include an identifier for specifying moving image data relating to each game. The game situation data 12 may further include peripheral information, such as a past performance of each player, which is a key for a viewer to search for moving image data. The game situation data 12 may include data necessary for the later-described synthesizing unit 23 to specify moving image data to be synthesized or to generate a screen provided by the moving image information providing unit 25. It is set as appropriate according to the game configuration and the like.

  The synthesized moving image data 13 is data generated by synthesizing a plurality of moving image data of the moving image data group 11 by a synthesizing unit 23 described later based on the game situation data 12. The synthesized moving image data 13 is distributed to the viewer terminal 6.

  The processing device 20 includes a moving image acquisition unit 21, a game situation acquisition unit 22, a combining unit 23, a distribution unit 24, and a moving image information providing unit 25.

  The moving image acquisition unit 21 acquires moving image data from the distributor terminal 5. In the embodiment of the present invention, the moving image acquiring unit 21 particularly acquires moving image data of a plurality of games. The moving image acquisition unit 21 stores the acquired moving image data in the moving image data group 11 as necessary, for example, as a material of the combined moving image data 13.

  The game situation acquisition unit 22 acquires the game situation data 12 from the game tournament control server 2 and stores it in the storage device 10. The game situation acquisition unit 22 acquires the game situation data 12 from the game tournament control server 2 at a predetermined timing such as a timing at which the synthetic moving image data 13 is generated.

  The synthesizing unit 23 divides the display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, assigns the moving image data of the game to each of the divided display areas, and synthesizes the moving image data 13 with the synthesized moving image data 13. The combined moving image data 13 generated by the combining unit 23 generates frame data of the combined moving image data 13 by linking frame data of the same moving image data at the same timing. At this time, the distribution of the combined moving image data 13 is adjusted so as to be appropriately performed by reducing the image quality of the frame data before the combination.

  The combining unit 23 specifies the moving image data to be combined with reference to the game situation data 12. The synthesizing unit 23 may set moving image data of all games currently in progress in the game tournament to be synthesized, or may set moving image data of a game satisfying a predetermined condition among games currently in progress. For example, with reference to the game situation data 12, moving image data of a highly relevant game, such as moving image data of a game belonging to the same tournament or league in a winning match, moving image data of a game for determining a player to be played in the future, and the like. Is specified as a synthesis target. At this time, the synthesizing unit 23 allocates each of the moving image data to the display area so that the moving image data of the game having a higher relation is allocated closer.

  The synthesizing unit 23 may set only the moving image data distributed in real time for the game in progress, may set only the moving image data distributed for the game that has already ended, and may mix these. It may be a target. For a game that has already ended, moving image data obtained by processing the original moving image data, such as digest moving image data composed of only main parts, may be used. Further, the synthesizing unit 23 may specify moving image data to be synthesized according to the conditions specified by the viewer.

  When the game assigned to the display area ends, the combining unit 23 assigns the moving image data assigned to the display area adjacent to the display area assigned to the moving image data of the ended game to the moving image data of the ended game. May be assigned to a combined area of the display area and the adjacent display area. For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the moving image data A to D of the game in which the game is in progress is to be synthesized, the moving image data A is assigned to the display area V11 on the upper left side of the display area V1 of the moving image data. The moving image data B is allocated to the upper right display area V12, the moving image data C is allocated to the lower left display area V13, and the moving image data D is allocated to the lower right display area V14. Here, it is assumed that the game ends in the moving image data A. In this case, as shown in the display area V2 in FIG. 4B, the display area V11 to which the moving image data A is assigned and the display area V15 to which the moving image data B is assigned are added to the display area V15. Is assigned. There is no change in the display areas V13 and V14. As another example, the display region V11 may be combined with the display region V13 vertically adjacent to the display region V11 to generate the display region V15. As described above, without displaying the finished moving image data, by expanding the display area of the other moving image data to the area where the ended moving image data is displayed, the viewer can be notified that the game of the moving image data A has ended. Can be intuitively understood.

  As another example, when the game assigned to the display area ends, the synthesizing unit 23 may assign the digest moving image data of the animation data of the ended game to the display area of the ended game. For example, in the display area V1 shown in FIG. 4A, it is assumed that the game ends with the moving image data A assigned to the display area V11. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4C, the video data of the digest version of the video data A is allocated to the display area V11. Thus, the viewer can understand that the game of the moving image data A has ended, and can understand the outline of the game content by the digest of the game. Each display area to which the moving image data is assigned does not need to be assigned to an equal area, and may have any size.

  With reference to FIG. 5, an outline of the processing of the combining unit 23 will be described. In step S101, the synthesizing unit 23 reads the game situation data 12 acquired by the game situation acquiring unit 22, and specifies moving image data to be synthesized in step S102. In step S103, the combining unit 23 generates the combined moving image data 13 by arranging the moving image data specified in step S102 according to the attribute of each moving image data. In step S104, the combining unit 23 distributes the combined moving image data 13 generated in step S103. 24.

  Here, when the synthesizing unit 23 detects in step S105 that one of the games of the moving image data to be synthesized has ended, in step S106, the synthesizing unit 23 converts the moving image data of the game in the adjacent display area up to the display area of the ended game. Expand. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4B, the display area of the moving image data B is extended and displayed to the display area of the moving image data A in which the game has ended. The extended combined moving image data 13 is delivered by the delivery unit 24 in step S104.

  When the distribution of the moving image is ended in step S107, the synthesizing process by the synthesizing unit 23 is ended.

  The distribution unit 24 distributes the combined moving image data 13 to the viewer terminal 6 in addition to the individual moving image data constituting the moving image data group 11. When a predetermined area is selected from the display area where the combined moving image data 13 is reproduced on the viewer terminal 6, the distribution unit 24 distributes the moving image data assigned to the selected area. In the moving image data distributed here, moving image data of one game is assigned to the entire display area, and the viewer can clearly view the state of the game in a wider area than the synthetic moving image data. .

  The moving picture information providing unit 25 displays a screen for allowing the viewer to select desired moving picture data relating to the game tournament, and distributes the desired moving picture data to the viewer. The moving image information providing unit 25 specifies the moving image data of each game in the game tournament according to the information of the game situation data 12. The moving image information providing unit 25 displays a list in which information such as the attribute of each moving image data is associated with a link of a viewable URI (Uniform Resource Identifier). The viewer can view desired moving image data by selecting from the list.

  The moving image information providing unit 25 displays the moving image selection screen V100 shown in FIG. 6 on the viewer terminal 6 and allows the viewer to specify a filtering condition of moving image data desired to be viewed or a sort key of a search result, and the like. The data search result may be displayed. The filtering conditions include the game end status such as during the game, the game end, the game type such as the finals, semi-finals, and qualifiers, the last prize, the first appearance, the appearance of 5 or more times, the attribute of the game player such as 5 or more wins, the platform, etc. And the like. The viewer can check the check boxes provided in correspondence with these filtering conditions as appropriate to confirm a list of moving images according to the set conditions. In addition, on the moving image selection screen V100, the viewer can specify the number of comments, the number of viewers, the number of winning players, the number of participants, and the like in the moving image as sort keys for sorting the search results.

  The moving image information providing unit 25 may display thumbnail images of a plurality of moving images, and generate a list in which each thumbnail image is associated with a URI at which each moving image can be viewed. When such a list is displayed on the viewer terminal 6 and a thumbnail image of a moving image is selected, the moving image data associated with the selected thumbnail image is reproduced. The moving image list generated by the moving image information providing unit 25 is distributed to the viewer terminal 6 from the moving image distribution server 1 via the game tournament control server 2 or directly. Similarly, the moving image list may be distributed from the moving image distribution server 1 to the viewer terminal of another moving image distribution server via another moving image distribution server (other platform) or directly.

  The synthesizing unit 23 may specify moving image data to be synthesized in the synthesized moving image data 13 in accordance with the conditions checked by the viewer on the moving image selection screen V100 illustrated in FIG. In other words, the respective moving image data filtered on the moving image selection screen V100 may be combined by the method described in the combining unit 23 and delivered to the viewer terminal 6.

  The video information providing unit 25 is not only information on video data distributed by the video distribution server 1, but also video data distributed by another video distribution server such as operated by another business entity. The information of the moving image data may be provided. This allows the viewer to view a large amount of moving image data relating to a predetermined game tournament, regardless of the platform on which the moving image data is provided.

  Further, a method of searching for a moving image permitted to the viewer may be restricted depending on whether or not the viewer is charged. For example, the moving image selection screen V100 may be displayed only for the charged viewer.

(Synthesis unit)
An example of the combined moving image data 13 generated by the combining unit 23 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  With reference to FIG. 7, an example of the synthetic moving image data 13 in a case where the game tournament is performed in a winning match system (knockout system) will be described.

  When the game tournament is performed in a winning game, the combining unit 23 divides the display area according to the number of games in a predetermined tournament group or the number of games in a plurality of tournament groups, and determines an opponent of the game performed by winning. The moving image data of the paired game is allocated to an adjacent display area. The combining unit 23 divides the display area in the combined moving image data 11 according to the number of games to be displayed. The synthesizing unit 23 may divide the display area by the number of games to be displayed or more. If there is a display area to which the video data of each game is not allocated, information related to the game to be displayed, such as the allocation status of the video data and the past digest video, may be displayed in the display area.

  When one ongoing game ends, the synthesizing unit 23 pairs the moving image data of the game paired with the ended game with the display area assigned to the moving image data of the ended game and the ended game. The display area assigned to the video data of the game is assigned to the combined area. For a game to be played in the future, moving image data of two games for determining an opponent of the game are referred to as moving image data A and moving image data B, respectively. When the game of the moving image data A ends, the moving image data B is extended to the display area to which the moving image data A is assigned and displayed. Thus, for each game to be played in the future, one or more games for deciding the opponent can be displayed in a predetermined display area, so that the progress of the tournament in the game tournament can be displayed in the synthetic moving image data 13. From a bird's-eye view. When a game in which the winners of the moving image data A and B fight is started, the moving image data of the game is divided into a display area to which the moving image data A is assigned and an area in which the display area to which the moving image data B is assigned is connected. It may be displayed.

  A case where the combining unit 23 generates the combined moving image data 13 for the tournament group shown in FIG. 7A will be described. In the tournament group shown in FIG. 7A, four games are played in the first round, and the moving image data of each game is moving image data A to D. In the semi-finals, the moving image data of the game in which each winner of each game of the moving image data A and B competes is the moving image data E, and the moving image data of the game in which each winner of each game of the moving image data C and D competes is the moving image data F It is. In other words, each game of the moving image data A and B is a pair game for determining an opponent of the game of the moving image data E, and each game of the moving image data C and D is an opponent of the game of the moving image data F. It is a pair game to decide. In the final, the moving image data of the game in which each winner of each of the moving image data E and F competes is the moving image data G. In other words, each game of the moving image data E and F is a paired game for determining an opponent of the game of the moving image data G.

  In the tournament group shown in FIG. 7A, during the battle of the first round, the synthetic moving image data 13 having the display area V3 shown in FIG. 7B is distributed. In the display area V3, the moving image data A is assigned to the upper left display area V31, the moving image data B is assigned to the upper right display area V32, the moving image data C is assigned to the lower left display area V33, and the lower left area is assigned. The moving image data A is allocated to the display area V34.

  Here, when the game of the moving image data A ends, the synthesized moving image data 13 having the display area V4 shown in FIG. 7C is distributed. The display area V4 is different from the display area V3 in FIG. 7B in that the moving image data B is assigned to the upper display area V35. The display area V35 is a display area V31 for the ended game (the game of the moving image data A) and a game for determining the opponents of the game (game of the moving image data E) in which the winners of the ended game (the game of the moving image data A) compete. And the display area V32 of the moving image data B. By distributing the composite moving image data 13, the viewer can confirm that the game of the moving image data A in the first round has been completed, the game of the moving image data B to D has been played, and the four It is possible to intuitively understand that one person has been decided.

  Thereafter, when the respective games of the moving image data B to D are finished, the synthesized moving image data 13 having the display area V5 shown in FIG. 7D is distributed. In the display region V5, the moving image data E is assigned to the upper display region V35, and the moving image data F is assigned to the lower display region V36. By distributing such composite moving image data 13, the viewer can intuitively understand that the game on the first line has ended and the semi-final moving image data E and F are being played.

  Further, when the respective games of the moving image data E and F are finished, the synthesized moving image data 13 having the display area V6 shown in FIG. There is no division in the display area V6, and the moving image data G is displayed on the entire display area V6. By distributing such composite moving image data 13, the viewer can intuitively understand that each game of the semi-finals is finished and the final is being performed in this tournament group.

  Although the example shown in FIG. 7 describes the case where the combined moving image data 13 is created for a predetermined tournament group, the combined moving image data 13 may be created for a plurality of tournament groups in a game tournament. For example, when the winners of the four tournament groups further determine the winner by performing a winning match in the semi-finals and the finals, the video data of the game of each final of the four tournament groups is converted into the video data A to D shown in FIG. And As described above, the game to be synthesized by the synthesizing unit 23 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be a part of a predetermined tournament, or may be a part or a whole of a plurality of tournaments.

  With reference to FIG. 8, an example of the synthetic moving image data 13 performed in the league game will be described.

  When the game tournament is performed in a round robin game (league match), the synthesis unit 23 divides the display area according to the number of games of a predetermined number (one or more) of the league groups, and displays a plurality of games belonging to each league group. The moving image data is assigned to an adjacent display area. The combining unit 23 divides the display area in the combined moving image data 11 according to the number of games to be displayed. The synthesizing unit 23 may divide the display area by a number larger than the number of games to be displayed, and display the allocation state of the video data, the past digest video, etc. in the display area to which the video data of each game is not allocated. Information related to the target game may be displayed.

  When one ongoing game ends, the synthesizing unit 23 allocates the moving image data of another game of the league group to which the ended game belongs to the display area allocated to each game of the league group to which the ended game belongs. . For example, if two games are played for a certain league and one of them is finished and one is in progress, the one game in progress is extended to the display area of the finished game and displayed. Thereby, the game of each league can be displayed in the predetermined display area, so that the progress of the league match in the game tournament can be intuitively grasped from the synthetic video data 13.

  A case where the combining unit 23 generates the combined moving image data 13 for the four league groups shown in FIG. 8A will be described. The four league groups shown in FIG. 8A are the A league, the B league, the C league, and the D league. In the A league, each game corresponding to the video data A1 and A2 is performed. Each game corresponding to the moving image data B1 and B2 is performed. In the C league, each game corresponding to the moving image data C1 and C2 is performed. In the D league, each game corresponding to the moving image data D1 and D2 is performed. Later, the opponent is changed in each league, and a round robin is played in the league.

  When each game is in progress, composite moving image data 13 having a display area V7 shown in FIG. 8B is distributed. In the display area V7, the moving image data A1 and A2 are allocated to the upper left display areas V71 and V72, the moving image data B1 and B2 are allocated to the upper right display areas V73 and V74, and the lower left display area V75 and Moving image data C1 and C2 are assigned to V76, and moving image data D1 and D2 are assigned to lower right display areas V77 and V78.

  Here, when the game of the moving image data A1 ends, the synthesized moving image data 13 having the display area V8 shown in FIG. 8C is distributed. The display area V8 is different from the display area V7 in FIG. 8B in that the moving image data B is assigned to the display area V79 on the upper left side. The display area V79 is an area in which the display area V71 of the ended game and the display area V72 to which the moving image data A2 of the game belonging to the same league as the ended game are assigned. By distributing such composite moving image data 13, the viewer can intuitively know that the game corresponding to the moving image data A1 has ended and the game corresponding to the moving image data A2 has been played in the A league. I can understand.

  With reference to FIG. 9, an example of the synthetic moving image data 13 relating to a randomly selected game will be described. In the examples of FIGS. 7 and 8, a case will be described where one frame data of the moving image data is allocated to a plurality of moving image data and synthesized. In FIG. 9, the synthesizing unit 23 allocates the moving image data to the frame data every predetermined time. A case where the synthesized moving image data 13 is generated by replacing the data A to D will be described. The display area V9 of the combined moving image data 13 is switched in a predetermined order in a predetermined time unit such as moving image data A → moving image data B → moving image data C → moving image data D → moving image data A. By distributing such combined moving image data 13, the viewer can check the status of each game on one wide screen.

  In this way, by devising the way of assigning to each display area, such as changing the size of the display area of the moving image according to the progress of the game, the synthesizing unit 23 makes the synthesized moving image data 13 easy for the viewer to understand the progress of the game. Can be generated. In addition, there is a method of generating the synthetic moving image data 13 which is easy for the viewer to understand by devising the arrangement of the moving image data. For example, moving pictures of a plurality of games selected by a predetermined rule, randomly selected, or selected by a viewer are equally allocated, and when the game is completed, a game other than the ended game is selected. Moving image data of popular games such as a game with the largest number of viewers and a game with the largest number of comments may be expanded and displayed. This makes it possible to visually show a popular game to the viewer. In addition to the number of viewers or comments, video data of a game that has been rapidly attracting attention, such as a video of a game in which the number of viewers or comments has increased significantly in the latest unit time, may be expanded and displayed. Can be applied.

  Note that, in the examples of FIGS. 7 to 9, the case where only the game in progress is displayed has been described, but when the game is over, it may be replaced with the digest version of moving image data of the completed game.

  The moving image distribution server 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can distribute moving image data that can be viewed while viewing a plurality of games in a game tournament.

(Other embodiments)
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, it should not be understood that the description and drawings forming a part of the present disclosure limit the present invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples, and operation techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

  For example, the moving image distribution server described in the embodiment of the present invention may be configured on one piece of hardware as shown in FIG. 3, or may be configured on a plurality of pieces of hardware according to its functions and the number of processes. May be. Further, the present invention may be realized on an existing computer.

  The present invention naturally includes various embodiments not described herein. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is determined only by the invention specifying matters according to the claims that are appropriate from the above description.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 video distribution server 2 game tour control server 3, 7 communication network 4 game tour providing system 5 distributor terminal 6 viewer terminal 9 game tournament system 10 storage device 11 video data group 12 game situation data 13 synthetic video data 20 processing device 21 Video Acquisition Unit 22 Game Status Acquisition Unit 23 Combination Unit 24 Distribution Unit 25 Video Information Provision Unit

Claims (9)

For a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed, a video distribution server that distributes video data of the game in accordance with the progress of the game tournament,
A moving image acquisition unit that acquires moving image data of the plurality of games,
A combining unit that divides a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, assigns moving image data of the game to each of the divided display areas, and combines the moving image data with synthetic moving image data;
A moving image distribution server comprising: a distribution unit that distributes the synthesized moving image data to a viewer terminal. When the game assigned to the display area ends, the synthesizing unit assigns the moving image data assigned to the display area adjacent to the display area assigned to the moving image data of the ended game to the moving image data of the ended game. The moving image distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the moving image distribution server allocates the display region and the adjacent display region to a combined region. The moving image distribution according to claim 1, wherein, when the game assigned to the display area ends, the combining unit assigns digest moving image data of the moving image data of the ended game to the display area of the ended game. server. When the game tournament is performed in a winning game, the combining unit divides a display area according to the number of games in a predetermined tournament group or the number of games in a plurality of tournament groups, and determines an opponent of a game performed in the winning game. The moving image distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the moving image data of the game of the determined pair is assigned to an adjacent display area. When one ongoing game ends, the synthesizing unit displays the moving image data of the game paired with the ended game, the display area allocated to the moving image data of the ended game, and the game paired with the ended game. The moving image distribution server according to claim 4, wherein the moving image distribution server allocates a display region assigned to the moving image data to a combined region. When the game tournament is performed in a round robin game, the synthesis unit divides a display area according to the number of games of a predetermined number of league groups and displays moving image data of a plurality of games belonging to each league group in an adjacent display. The moving image distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the moving image distribution server is assigned to an area. When one ongoing game ends, the synthesizing unit allocates video data of another game of the league group to which the ended game belongs to a display area allocated to each game of the league group to which the ended game belongs. The moving image distribution server according to claim 6, wherein: A video distribution method for distributing video data of a game in accordance with the progress of the game tournament for a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed,
A computer acquiring each of the video data of the plurality of games;
A step in which the computer divides a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, assigns moving image data of the game to each of the divided display areas, and synthesizes the combined moving image data;
A step of the computer distributing the synthesized moving image data to a viewer terminal. For a game tournament in which a plurality of competitive games are performed, a video distribution program that distributes video data of the game in accordance with the progress of the game tournament,
Computer
A moving image acquisition unit that acquires moving image data of the plurality of games,
A combining unit that divides a display area according to the number of games to be displayed in the game tournament, assigns moving image data of the game to each of the divided display areas, and combines the moving image data with synthetic moving image data;
A moving image distribution program for causing the synthesized moving image data to function as a distribution unit that distributes the synthesized moving image data to viewer terminals.

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