JP3683330B2 - Broadcast recording and playback system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a recording / playback system used for television broadcasting, and more particularly to a broadcast recording / playback system using a digital data storage device capable of random access.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, a video tape recorder (VTR) has been used as a broadcast recording / playback system. Since the VTR uses a magnetic tape that performs sequential access as its recording medium, if you want to play back the scene immediately after recording a scene, a waiting time will occur along with the tape rewind, and a quick response will occur. It was difficult. In addition, sequential access and low-speed recording / reading speed are hindered in order to perform quick editing even when editing recorded video.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, in recent years, in conjunction with the progress of video data compression technology, a recording / playback system using a storage medium capable of high-speed random access such as a magnetic disk device (hard disk device) has begun to be used. Yes.
[0004]
However, there is still room for improvement in operability when actually using such a recording / playback apparatus in the field of broadcasting equipment, particularly in sports broadcasting. In particular, it is desired to improve the operability of editing operations and prevent erroneous operations by combining a plurality of recorded scenes or changing the length of each scene.
[0005]
Therefore, the present invention is a system using such a random-accessible storage medium, and for broadcasting that can present new functions such as recording and editing utilizing the high speed of random access and a comfortable operating environment. An object is to provide a recording / playback system.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the present invention, a broadcast recording / playback system used for television broadcasting includes a video data storage means including a random access storage device that stores video data of a plurality of scenes, a display device and an input device for a graphical user interface, Window display means for displaying on the display device a timeline window for displaying a series of scenes to be reproduced in a time series and a bar graph having a scene section proportional to the length of each scene; Input operation reception processing means for receiving an input operation for changing at least the order of a series of scenes arranged in a timeline window by the input device; and playback means for continuously playing back the series of scenes, The window display means includes a plurality of scenes to be reproduced within the time window. When listing, in addition to the first display mode for displaying graphs of the bar, characterized by having a second display mode that displays a list of text information identifying the plurality of scenes.
[0007]
With the first display mode of the timeline window, the sequence and length of a series of scenes to be reproduced can be recognized in time series and edited, and switched to the second display mode for display. This makes it possible to easily recognize a minute scene that may be missed in the first display mode.
[0008]
The window display means includes an operation button for switching display modes, which can be operated by the input device to shift between the first display mode and the second display mode in the timeline window. It is preferable to display. This operation button can be instructed, for example, by using a pointing device such as a mouse as an input device.
[0009]
The input operation acceptance processing means accepts an operation of dragging and dropping an arbitrary scene of a series of scenes displayed in a graph in the timeline window, and enables the order of the scenes to be changed according to the operation. It is preferable. Thereby, the operability of order change is improved.
[0010]
In addition to the timeline window, the window display means displays a scene window on the display device for storing icons representing scenes of recorded video data, and the input operation reception processing means is provided in the scene window. An operation of dragging and dropping an icon of an arbitrary scene to an arbitrary position in the timeline window by the input device is received, and in accordance with the operation, the scene is stored in the timeline window and the sequence of reproduction of a series of scenes It is also possible to make a decision. This facilitates cooperative operation with the window screen.
[0011]
Preferably, the video data storage means stores video data wider than a start point and an end point of the scene for at least a specific scene, and the window display means is an arbitrary one in the timeline window or the scene window. By instructing a scene with the input device, a predetermined preview window is opened, and the input operation reception processing means receives an operation for correcting the start point or end point of the scene in the preview window. As a result, the start point and end point of an arbitrary scene can be corrected quickly and easily. This is also because video data is stored in a random access storage device, and an arbitrary part of the stored video data can be created and modified as a scene.
[0012]
The input operation reception processing means receives an input of a target value of the playback time for one or more scenes displayed in the timeline window, and the playback time of the one or more scenes is set to the target value. It is also possible to obtain a scaling value of the reproduction speed so that they match. This makes it possible to perform slow playback of a specific scene (group) in accordance with the target playback time.
[0013]
The video data storage means also stores audio data corresponding to the video data, and has a video track and an audio track temporally corresponding to the video track in the timeline window. An operation unit for selecting the normal mode for fixing the correspondence between the video scene and the audio scene to be played and the split mode for not fixing the correspondence, and extending the front end or the rear end of the audio scene in the split mode in units of scenes. And an operation unit for the purpose. As a result, an operation of extending a specific sound scene to another sound scene area can be easily performed.
[0014]
The video data storage means also stores audio data corresponding to the video data, and has a video track and an audio track temporally corresponding to the video track in the timeline window. An operation unit for shifting the content of the audio scene forward or backward by a time corresponding to one field unit of the signal may be provided. As a result, it is possible to easily correct the deviation between video and audio generated due to some factor.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0016]
First, FIG. 1 shows an overall schematic configuration of a broadcast recording / playback system to which the present invention is applied. This system has a digital recording / playback apparatus 10 at the center. The digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 incorporates a random access storage device for digitally storing video (video) data and audio (audio) data. In this embodiment, a magnetic disk device is used as the random access storage device. In front of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, there are a plurality of television cameras 2 and a camera selector 4 for selecting some outputs of these cameras 2, and the output of the camera selector 4 is input to the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10. . The digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10 may have a plurality of input channels. Note that the output of the camera 2 includes not only a video signal but also an audio signal. In this way, video / audio signals of a plurality of channels can be simultaneously input to the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, but only one channel may be input. Further, the number of cameras 2 may be one, and the camera selector 4 is not essential.
[0017]
The digital recording / playback apparatus 10 can have a plurality of output channels (playback channels). A monitor 6 is connected to each subsequent output channel of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, and a switcher 8 that selects a signal to be broadcast output (on-air) from a plurality of video signals and audio signals is connected to the subsequent stage. Is done. The switcher 8 has an external input line 7 that can receive signals from the outside such as a camera and a VTR, in addition to the multi-channel output of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10. There may be a plurality of external input lines 7. The signal selected by the switcher 8 is output to the main line 9 for broadcasting. The switcher 8 is controlled to be switched by a person in charge of broadcasting.
[0018]
For control of the digital recording / reproducing apparatus 10, a keyboard 14, a mouse 16, and a display 12 are connected. An arbitrary pointing device such as a trackball can be used instead of the mouse. The display 12, the keyboard 14, and the mouse 16 are devices for assisting a GUI (Graphic User Interface), and are used to interactively perform various operations such as recording, editing, and reproduction on a display screen. Further, a live controller 18 is connected to the digital recording / playback apparatus 10. The live controller 18 is a motion controller dedicated to this system that can control many functions mainly for video control. A plurality of live controllers 18 can be provided separately for each operation channel to be operated (for each virtual recorder described later). Alternatively, it is possible to share one live controller 18 for a plurality of operation channels. The live controller 18 can perform most operations using the GUI, but cannot perform cut editing (editing in a timeline window described later). As operations unique to the live controller 18, variable adjustment of the reproduction speed by the jog / shuttle dial 18 a and variable control of the reproduction speed by the slow lever 18 b are possible.
[0019]
FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the digital recording / playback apparatus 10.
[0020]
In this example, the digital recording / playback apparatus 10 includes a 17-slot EISA bus 110 and a 12-slot digital video bus (CCIR601) 130. The processor card 121, the display controller card 122, and the RS422 interface card 125 are connected to the slot of the EISA bus 125. Depending on the card, the connection is made across both slots of the EISA bus 125 and the digital video bus 130. In the illustrated example, such cards are a genlock reference card 124, a disk controller card 123, a video input interface card 126, a video output interface card 127, and an audio input / output interface card 128.
[0021]
The processor card 121 includes a microprocessor (for example, Intel i486), a RAM, an input / output interface, and the like. The processor card 121 is connected to a system hard disk drive 160 and a floppy disk (flexible disk) drive 150, and is further connected to a keyboard 14 and a mouse 16. A display controller is mounted on the display card 122 and controls the display operation of the display 12.
[0022]
A video input from the camera selector 4 is connected to the video input interface card 126, and a video signal from the video output interface card 127 to the monitor 6 is output. The audio input / output interface card 128 provides an interface for audio input from the camera 2 and audio output to the monitor 6. These input signals may be analog signals or digital signals. In the case of an analog signal, it is converted into a digital signal internally. These input / output interface cards can be added.
[0023]
The digital video bus 130 incorporates a video router 133 that switches input / output video signals. In this example, the video router 133 can switch any input of 32 inputs to any output of 32 outputs under the control of the processor.
[0024]
The disk controller board 123 controls the video hard disk disk drive 140. In this example, a plurality of 4.2 Gbyte hard disks (random access storage devices) (4 in the example in the figure: a total of 16.8 Gbytes) are controlled via the SCSI-2 FAST / WIDE bus 135. A plurality of sets of the disk controller board 123 and the hard disk drive 140 can be added.
[0025]
The genlock reference interface card 124 is for locking the internal clock to an external normal NTSC or PAL black burst signal. The RS422 interface card 125 provides an interface for connecting the live controller 18.
[0026]
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the disk controller 123 a mounted on the disk controller card 123. This corresponds to the case where two disk controller cards 123 are mounted in FIG. One disk controller 123a has two JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group) compression / decompression chips 123b and 123c for two channels. In order to record a video signal for a longer time, in this example, the motion JPEG compression technique is used, and the video is compressed and stored in the hard disk. Each chip has one video input / output channel and four audio input / output channels. The input video signal and the audio signal are compressed and stored in a disk, and the compressed storage information is expanded and output. be able to.
[0027]
This system has a plurality of physical resources (resources) that can function as respective video recorders. The number of resources corresponds to the number of compression / decompression chips. Depending on the user's purpose, these resources can be assigned to different functions such as recording / playback or editing. For example, if there is less camera recording but you want to edit, reduce the number of recording channels and provide separate editing channels. Conversely, if you want to increase the number of camera recordings, increase the number of recording channels for editing. The resource can be effectively used according to the usage, such as not providing the channel. In this system, such a logical video recorder is called a virtual recorder.
[0028]
The operation mode of this system will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents time. A clip from a REC point to a REC STOP point in FIG. 4A represents a clip as a unit of physical recording on the disc. In FIG. 5B, the clip from the REC point to ENTER / CUEUP corresponds to the clip. A logical recording unit for a physical recording unit clip is called a scene. In this example, the video of an arbitrary section in the clip is designated as a scene that may be reproduced later. In the figure, a dark shaded portion on the time axis represents a recording scene in the recording channel, and a thin shaded portion represents a reproduction scene in the reproduction channel.
[0029]
FIG. 4A shows the 2-channel recording mode. In this mode, the recording channel and the playback channel exist independently. Recording of recording channel information starts from the REC point. Thereafter, the operator instructs the start point (IN time) of the scene by the MARK instruction, and then instructs the end point (OUT time) of the scene by the ENTER / CUEUP instruction at an appropriate place. Thereby, one scene is designated, and scene specifying data for specifying this scene is generated. The structure of this data will be described later. The scene is cued by CUEUP, and the scene just captured by the PLAY instruction is reproduced and output on the reproduction channel. Note that this playback output is only output from the digital recording / playback apparatus 10, and is not output as it is. As described above, the signal output by broadcast is the signal selected by the switcher 8. In this 2-channel recording mode, the recording channel is provided separately from the playback channel, so that recording on the recording channel is continued even during playback output. For example, an operation that does not interrupt recording during slow playback is possible. Therefore, important scenes that occur during playback are not missed. Such a scene can be created later as long as it is recorded as a clip.
[0030]
When the ENTER / CUEUP instruction is performed without performing the MARK instruction, the point in time that goes back from the indicated point for a predetermined time (mark time Tm) is determined as the IN time, and a scene of that time width is generated. The Thereby, it is possible to instruct the scene creation even after the definitive scene is over. This scene can be reproduced and output immediately by a PLAY instruction. The positions of the IN time and the OUT time can be changed later within the range of the corresponding clip.
[0031]
FIG. 4B shows a one-channel recording mode. In this mode, since the recording channel and the playback channel share one resource, recording cannot be performed during playback. Therefore, the recording of the clip is stopped at the time of the ENTER / CUEUP instruction. In order to record again, it is necessary to give a REC instruction again after the end of reproduction. Other operations are the same as in the 2-channel recording mode.
[0032]
When recording and playback in the 2-channel recording mode for one camera input, two resources are required as the resource. This is to continue recording even during scene playback. Both resources share one playback channel. One resource is sufficient for recording and playback in one-channel recording mode for one camera input. When performing timeline editing described later, one resource is separately required. In this case, the edited video and audio are played back at the same speed. For example, if you slow down the video, the audio will slow down. However, audio split editing in which the break of the video scene and the break of the audio scene are different is possible with one virtual recorder. When it is desired to change the playback speed of audio and video in timeline editing described later, it is necessary to separately allocate one resource for audio editing. Such a use can be considered, for example, in a case where a slow-playing video is covered with background music at a normal speed.
[0033]
When two camera inputs are recorded simultaneously in synchronization, two resources are required, and two more resources are required to perform recording and reproduction at the same time. In this case as well, both videos share the same playback channel.
[0034]
In this system, various windows displayed on the display 12 are used for GUI operation. In this example, a record controller window, a scene window, a preview window, a highlight window, a timeline window, a library window, and an event window are employed. Hereinafter, an operator operation and a system operation in each of these windows will be described in detail.
[0035]
The information processing apparatus using the processor on the processor card 121 in this embodiment uses Windows NT (trademark of Microsoft Corporation) as an operating system, on which a control program unique to this system operates, and a main menu screen ( (Not shown) is displayed on the display 12.
[0036]
By selecting and instructing “configuration” from the main menu screen, a configuration window as shown in FIG. 5 is opened. In this window, the above-described resources are allocated to various functions according to the use of the user. Here, it is assumed that one 1-channel recording mode, one editing channel, and one two-channel recording mode are selected. Icons representing various functions in the “edit” area and “record / play” area in the window indicate the number of resources required by the icons. To record one channel, first click the “1 CHANNEL” icon in the “Recording / Playback” area with the mouse. Clicking refers to an operation of placing a mouse cursor on an object on the screen and pressing a mouse button. At this time, one of the four boxes in the upper right part of the window is colored. These boxes represent the number of resources. In this example, there are physical 4-channel resources, and one of the channels (A channel) is assigned by changing the color of one box. This resource usage status display shows at a glance how many resources can be allocated (that is, the number of free resources). Subsequently, when the icon of the video editing function “1 CHANNEL EDIT” in the “Edit” area is clicked, a new channel (B channel) is assigned for editing, and another resource box is colored. The remaining two. Further, when the “2 CHANNEL” icon in the “recording / playback” area is selected, two new resources are assigned to a new channel (C channel), and all resource boxes are colored. As a result, all resources have been allocated.
[0037]
In this way, the four physical resources of the digital recording / playback apparatus 10 can be assigned to various functions according to the purpose.
[0038]
Note that “chase editing” in the editing area is a function used when time-sequential playback is performed while cutting unnecessary scenes in the recorded video, and two resources are also used for this. The buttons arranged at the bottom of the window are an OK button for approving the assignment setting, a Cancel button for canceling the setting, and a Clear button used when setting is restarted from the beginning. In addition to the currently selected “resource assignment”, menu items “resource setting”, “routing setting”, “other”, and “filing” are displayed at the top of the window.
[0039]
FIG. 6 shows a screen displayed by clicking “resource setting” in the window screen of FIG. On this screen, assignment of up to eight RS422 ports (for the live controller 18), assignment of up to four cards of audio banks, etc. are set for each channel set on the screen of FIG. Allocation can be performed by clicking on intersections on the matrix at the front and rear stages of the resource display area. In this example, ports and resources can be assigned one-to-one, one-to-multiple, or multiple-to-one. Since resources are not independently assigned to “library resources” (library window functions to be described later), any resource is designated in order to share a playback channel of resources of other functions. For example, the editing resource is shared. In the lower right corner of the screen, the compression rate of the image data for each channel is selected.
[0040]
FIG. 7 shows a screen displayed by clicking “routing setting” on the screen of FIG. In this screen, an input source (recording channel) and an output source (playback channel) are assigned to recording / playback channels (A channel and C channel in the example of FIG. 5). As input / output sources, there are audio input / output cards as well as video input / output cards such as digital composite video signals and analog composite video signals.
[0041]
FIG. 8 shows a screen displayed by clicking “Others”. “Pre-roll 1”, “pre-roll 2”, and “pre-roll 3” in the “timer setting” area on the left side of this screen are input areas in which three pre-roll times can be set. “Postroll” is an input area for setting a postroll time. The pre-roll and post-roll functions will be described later. The reason why a plurality of pre-roll times can be set is that the pre-roll time affects the operation of the operator, but the post-roll time does not affect the operation of the operator. The four numeric columns in the “timer setting” area represent hour, minute, second, and number of frames (30 frames / second) from the left, respectively. In practice, an appropriate upper limit value may be provided for each of these set values. “ENTER SPACE” is an input area for setting how long the clip recording is continued after the ENTER / CUEUP instruction and the recording is stopped and queued up when one channel is recorded. In the case of one-channel recording, as described above, clip recording is stopped by the ENTER / CUEUP instruction, but it is not immediately stopped by the instruction, but leaves room for a change in the outward direction of the subsequent OUT time. In order to do this, “FORWARD SPACE” and “REVERSE SPACE” are the input areas of the front margin and the rear margin. When the disc arrangement described later is performed in the two-channel recording mode, the video data of the clip excluding the scene-corresponding portion is deleted to secure the storage area of the disc. At this time, it is preferable to allow a certain amount of margin before and after the scene in consideration of the possibility of later movement of the IN time and OUT time. That extra time is a margin. The set margin range is excluded from the target of disc organization together with the scene-corresponding portion.
[0042]
The “automatic disk organizing” area is an input area for setting parameters when automatic disk organizing is executed. The automatic disk organization is a function for automatically erasing unnecessary data as the capacity of the hard disk 140 decreases as recording continues for a long time. As a result, the recording time can be substantially extended for a certain hard disk capacity. The opportunity to perform automatic disk organization is when the free capacity of the disk 140 divides the set value. “START REMAIN” is an input area for setting the free capacity of the disk 140 that triggers the automatic disk organization. When organizing the disc, the portion other than the scene of the clip data before a certain time in the past direction from the present is erased. This is because older data is considered less important. “LEAVE SPACE” is an input area for setting a value that determines a recent time width that is not a target of disk organization during automatic disk organization.
[0043]
The “drop frame / non-drop frame” in the “option” area is an area that determines whether or not to consider a fraction when counting the number of frames with a fraction per second. “1 Field / 2 Field” is an area for selecting whether playback is performed with one-field video or playback with two-field video when video playback is stopped. In the case of a still image such as a fast-changing video, it is preferable to reproduce it in one field. “MAX SHUTTLE SPEED” is an input area for setting the maximum speed limit of the shuttle.
[0044]
FIG. 9 shows a memory area for storing various parameters set in the configuration window. This memory area is provided on a RAM mounted on the processor card 121 and stores the various parameters 301 to 312 described above.
[0045]
10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 show tables representing the data structures of scenes, highlights, and events in the present embodiment, respectively.
[0046]
FIG. 10 shows a scene data table 410 for registering data of each scene registered in the scene window shown later. The scene data table 410 has fields for each scene, the scene number, the clip number of the corresponding clip, the time code of IN time and OUT time, duration, scene name, and comment.
[0047]
FIG. 11 shows a highlight data table 420 for registering data of each highlight registered in the highlight window shown later. The highlight data table 420 includes, for each highlight, the highlight number, the scene number (several cases) of the corresponding scene, the time code of the IN time and OUT time, the duration, the highlight scene name, the comment It has each field.
[0048]
FIG. 12 shows an event data table 430 for registering data of each event registered in the event window shown later. This event data table 430 has fields for each event: the event number, the corresponding scene or highlight number, duration, event name, and comment.
[0049]
FIG. 13 shows an example of the record controller window. This window is a window for recording, playing back, and generating a scene from the screen instead of the live controller 18, and this allows a minimum necessary operation to a channel to which the controller 18 is not connected. The channel to which the controller 18 is connected can be used together with the controller 18.
[0050]
In the “operation channel” area, a channel to be operated by this record controller is selected. This channel is not a physical channel, but corresponds to the A, B, C, and D channels in the “resource information” area shown in FIG. 5 and corresponds to the logical virtual recorder described above. The “REC” and “STOP” buttons in the “recording” area are buttons for instructing the start and end of the recording (recording) of the clip described above. The PLAY button and the STOP button in the “playback” area are buttons for playing back and stopping the recorded scene.
[0051]
The “MARK” button in the “scene creation” area is a button corresponding to the MARK instruction described with reference to FIG. 4 and designates the start point (IN time) of the scene. The ENTER button is used to specify the end point (OUT time) of the scene. If the STOP button is clicked without giving an ENTER command after a MARK command, scene generation is also terminated. The ENTER / CUE button is a button corresponding to the ENTER / CUEUP instruction described with reference to FIG. 4, and specifies the end of the scene and the IN time of the scene (actually the pre-roll time in practice) so that the scene can be immediately played back. Cue up to the previous time) and rest in VAR mode. The VAR mode is a mode for enabling the throw lever 18b. The “CONT” check box in the “Scene Creation” area indicates that when the OUT time is reached when the scene is played back by the PLAY button after the scene is created, the OUT time video of the scene is stopped as a still image. This is to select whether to output the video of the recording channel or to continuously output the video of the recording channel. When the check box is checked, the latter is selected.
[0052]
“RECORD TIME” in the record controller window displays the last recorded time (time code). “PLAYER TIME” displays the time code being reproduced. This display also stops when playback is stopped. “DELAY TIME” displays how much time has elapsed since the currently reproduced video was recorded. Note that the time code is generated by free-running with a built-in generator. This generator can be adjusted to an external LTC (Logitudinal Time Code).
[0053]
FIG. 14 shows an example of the scene window. The scene window displays the identification information (scene number, etc.) of each scene generated using the record controller window (FIG. 13) or live controller 18 (FIG. 1) as an icon, stocks it, and searches as necessary. It is a window to do. That is, it is a drawer for storing scenes. There is no function to play a scene directly from this window. Arbitrary scenes in the window can be selected with the mouse, and by dragging and dropping the selected scene to another window, the operation of the scene can be performed with the function of the other window. Drag and drop refers to an operation of moving a mouse cursor to a destination while holding down the mouse button, moving the mouse cursor to a moving object on the screen, and releasing the mouse button. The same operation can be performed with a pointing device other than a mouse. By double-clicking on an arbitrary scene, a preview window, which will be described later, is opened, in which scene names and comments can be input, and IN time and OUT time can be changed. There are as many scene windows as there are recording virtual recorders (2-channel recording or 1-channel recording). For example, when there are two 1-channel virtual recorders and one 2-channel virtual recorder, there are three scene windows. In order to distinguish each scene window, a channel name ([C] in the example in the figure) is displayed in the title bar of the window.
[0054]
As shown in FIG. 14, each scene in the scene window is displayed with an icon for displaying the scene name (default is the scene number) and the scene generation time, as well as the scene number, scene name, IN time, OUT time, duration, and comment. A list display (FIG. 15) indicating text information (FIG. 15), a grid display (FIG. 16) displaying only scene names in a grid pattern, and a search display (Search Display) (FIG. 17) capable of inputting conditions for searching for an arbitrary scene. Is also possible and can be selected from the menu bar at the top of each window. In the search display screen of FIG. 17, a target scene can be searched from various search conditions such as a scene name, a recording date, a recording time, and a comment.
[0055]
Note that a scene that is no longer needed can be deleted by dragging and dropping it into a trash box (not shown) on the display screen.
[0056]
FIG. 18 shows an example of a processing flow of clip recording and scene generation. This corresponds to processing in the 2-channel recording mode. This process is realized by the processor executing a control program stored in the RAM on the processor card 121, and is activated by clicking the REC button.
[0057]
First, recording of a recording channel signal is started (211). That is, that point becomes the start point of the clip. The input video of the recording channel can be monitored on the monitor 6 of the corresponding reproduction channel. While monitoring the video, the operator clicks the MARK button at the beginning of the scene that he will want to play later. In response to this MARK instruction (212), the time code at that time is recorded as an IN time (213). Thereafter, the operator clicks the ENTER button at the point where the generation of the scene is desired to end. In response to this ENTER instruction (214), the time code at that time is recorded as an OUT time (215). Next, a scene having this IN time and OUT time is generated (216). At this time, scene numbers are automatically assigned to the scenes in the order of generation. For example, scene numbers are added such as SC001, SC002, SC003,. Here, “S” indicates a scene, and “C” indicates a recording channel.
[0058]
Since the scene is a part of the clip, the scene specific data that does not have the video of the scene itself separately from the clip and can understand the correspondence with the clip, that is, the time code of the IN time and OUT time (or instead of the time code of OUT time (Duration from IN time to OUT time). When the same time code can exist in a plurality of clips, a clip number described later is also included in the scene specifying data. Such scene specifying data is stored in the scene data table 410 shown in FIG. A scene name, a comment, etc. can be added to the scene by the operator.
[0059]
If the ENTER instruction is accompanied by CUE, the generated scene is cued. Thereafter, until the REC STOP button is clicked (219), the process returns to step 212 to accept the MARK designation of the next scene. When the REC STOP button is clicked, the recording of the recording channel ends (220). That is, that time becomes the end point of the clip. Preferably, the clip number is also automatically generated for the clip at the start of the REC, the time code at the start and end of recording (or the duration from the start to the end) is recorded, and the recorded video (and audio) Stored in association with data.
[0060]
If ENTER is detected without detecting MARK in step 212 (217), as shown in FIG. 19B, the time code of the time point before the preset mark time Tm is recorded as IN time. (218), and the process proceeds to step 219. Accordingly, it is possible to generate a scene by going back the mark time after confirming the occurrence of an important scene without performing a MARK instruction. This can avoid the generation of a large number of useless scenes. The mark time may be variably set by the user.
[0061]
Note that instructions such as REC, ENTER, and REC STOP can also be executed from the live controller 18. Further, as described above, in the 1-channel recording mode, clip recording is terminated by the ENTER / CUE instruction without waiting for the REC STOP instruction.
[0062]
Next, functions of pre-roll and post-roll will be described.
[0063]
In the switcher 8 (FIG. 1), when switching information output to the main line 9 from one program (or scene) to another program (or scene), for example, when switching output from the switcher input X to the switcher input Y, input It is preferable that the start point of the Y video coincides with the switching time of the switcher 8. However, since the operator of the switcher 8 and the operator of the GUI or the live controller 18 are usually different, the start point of the switching destination video does not always coincide with the switching point of the switcher 8. If the start of playback of the switching destination video is delayed or the switching of the switcher 8 is earlier than the scheduled switching time, the switching destination correct video is not yet prepared, and inconvenient video such as noise is broadcast. There is a fear. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19A, a pre-roll time (for example, 5 seconds) PR is set as a time before the start point (IN time) of the scene, and when a scene or the like is instructed to be reproduced, Playback starts from the time point before the IN time by the pre-roll time. That is, an operator such as GUI tries to start the reproduction earlier than the scheduled switching time by the pre-roll time (FIG. 20A). At this time, even if the start of the switching destination video is delayed (FIG. 20B), or even if the switching time of the switcher 8 is earlier than the scheduled time, an inconvenient video is not output. Further, the operator of the switcher 8 can confirm the switching destination video earlier by the pre-roll time, and can switch the switcher 8 at a predetermined time after confirming that the video is correct.
[0064]
Conversely, if the switching source video ends earlier than the switching time, or if the switching is delayed from the scheduled switching time, there is a possibility that the switching source still image or noise may be broadcast. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19A, a post-roll time (for example, 10 seconds) PO is set as a time after the end point (OUT time) of the scene or the like. As a result, the switching source scene and the like continue to be played for the post-roll time even after reaching the OUT time. Therefore, even when the switching source video ends earlier than the switching time (FIG. 20C), or even when the switching is delayed from the scheduled switching time, the video is continuously reproduced for the post-roll time PO. Inconvenient video is not output. FIG. 20D corresponds to an extreme case where the OUT time of the video of the switching source X is before the switching point and the IN time of the video of the switching destination Y is after the switching point. In this case as well, the above problem is avoided as in the cases (b) and (c).
[0065]
FIG. 21 shows an example of the preview window. The preview window is used not to play a video on the main line 9 (FIG. 1), but to temporarily see a video of a scene or the like, or to change the IN time or OUT time of the scene. In addition, the name of the scene and the comment can be changed in this window. In the example shown in the figure, a preview window opened by double-clicking one library scene in a library window described later is shown.
[0066]
In the “information” area at the top of the window, the number, name, recording date, comment, etc. of the corresponding scene (library in the figure) are displayed. The “edit” area displays IN time, current time (current time code), OUT time, duration, and pre-roll preliminary time. “Current time” indicates the time code of the currently reproduced video, and “Duration” indicates the time interval from the set IN time to the OUT time. “Pre-roll preliminary time” indicates a time width of a video existing at a time point before the IN time in a clip corresponding to the scene or the like, and this is a possible range when moving the IN time forward. This is a guideline for judging. The relative relationship of IN time, current time, OUT time, and duration is displayed as a bar graph. In the “motion control” area, an operation channel for outputting a preview image is selected.
[0067]
The “operation channel” in the “motion control” area at the bottom of the window is for selecting a logical virtual recorder output channel and outputting a preview video. If there is a virtual recorder for editing, the preview video is output by default to the output channel for editing. The “image capture” button is for capturing one frame of current time video and using it for icon display of the scene or the like. Since the scene window icon has no video display, this button is disabled in the scene preview. This scene can be played back and stopped by the PLAY button and the STOP button. At this time, the reproduction speed is variable depending on the setting of SPEED. For example, a new IN time and OUT time can be set by clicking an IN button and an OUT button in the “edit” area during slow playback. The REV button and the FWD button can rewind and advance the video. At that time, if the corresponding clip is stored beyond the current IN time and OUT time of the scene, the current time can move beyond the current IN time and OUT time, and the IN can be moved outside the current scene. It is also possible to change the time and the OUT time. The PB button is used to select a mode for outputting the playback video (still image) while playback is stopped, and the EE button is a mode for outputting the recorded video as it is when playback is stopped. It is for selection. The preview window can be closed by clicking the end button.
[0068]
It is also possible to directly change and set the numerical values of the time codes of the IN time and OUT time.
[0069]
FIG. 22 shows an example of the highlight window. The highlight window is a window for collecting and storing only important scenes among the generated scenes. That is, a highlight is a scene to which information that is important among scenes is added. Usually, the number of scenes generated in the scene window is enormous, and all these scenes are not necessarily important. Although it is possible to search for a specific scene in the scene window, it is troublesome to search for a necessary scene immediately, which requires troublesome work. Therefore, this highlight window is prepared, and important scenes are stored in advance in this window so that they can be searched at a glance. Also in this window, list display, grid display, and search display are possible as in the scene window.
[0070]
In order to register a scene in the highlight window on the GUI, a scene or library scene may be dragged and dropped from another window. In addition, when registering from a timeline window described later or using a live controller, the highlight registration button is clicked or the ADD HIGHLIGHT button is pressed. A unique highlight number is assigned to a scene when the highlight is registered. The data structure of the highlight scene data registered for highlight is as shown in FIG. The highlight scene name can be changed to a name that is easy for the operator to understand. The relationship between the registered highlight scene and the original scene is a link relationship. A link relationship is a relationship in which if one of them is changed, the other is changed in the same manner. There is only one such window in the system. Therefore, a scene recorded from any virtual recorder can be searched, called, and played back from any recording virtual recorder when it becomes a highlight scene (when it is registered in the highlight window). The playback channel at this time is the playback channel of the called virtual recorder.
[0071]
In the icon display, a part (one frame) of the information is displayed for each highlight scene, and the name is used as a clue to search. Note that there is no function for playing back on the GUI from this window. Each highlight scene can be selected by clicking with the mouse, and the selected scene can be dragged and dropped onto another window to perform a reproduction operation with the function of the other window. For example, by dragging and dropping to a library window described later, the scene can be played back as a video file. Also, by double-clicking the scene, the preview window described above can be opened, and the highlight scene name, comment input, IN time, OUT time, etc. can be changed.
[0072]
Although the selected window cannot be played back in this highlight window, a window (referred to as a library window or a manual play window) having a playback operation function as shown in FIG. 23 may be provided instead of this window. . The library window is a window for instantaneously reproducing the registered video. This is not limited to the video recorded immediately before, but the scenes that are likely to be broadcast in advance such as last year's winning scenes in sports programs and player profiles are arranged in the window so that they can be played back instantly when necessary. .
[0073]
In the example of FIG. 23, a scene can be cued by selecting an icon of any scene by clicking and clicking the CUE button. Further, by clicking the PLAY button, the playback of the scene is started. By clicking the STOP button, playback can be stopped. In order to register a scene or the like in this library window, an icon such as a scene is dragged from another window, for example, a scene window or a highlight window, and dropped in this window. Library scenes can be organized by dividing pages. As a result, even if the number of library scenes increases, access to the target scene is facilitated. In the figure, the contents of sample page 1 are displayed. To display sample page 2, click on the menu item. It is also possible to search for a target library scene on a search screen (not shown).
[0074]
In this screen, there are check boxes for pre-roll and post-roll. By checking this box with the mouse, the pre-roll time and post-roll time that are currently set are enabled or disabled. Can be set. For example, if the pre-roll check box is checked, when the selected scene is cued, it is cued to the video at the point before the pre-roll time set from the IN time, and is played from that position according to the playback instruction. Is started. If the post-roll check box is checked, the video is output and stopped after the OUT time of the reproduced scene until the time after the post-roll time. Disabling the pre-roll and post-roll functions is useful when reproducing a scene or the like in which video data for the pre-roll time and post-roll time is not secured. To change the pre-roll and post-roll times, use the configuration window described above. Although three pre-rolls can be set in the configuration window, when a plurality of pre-rolls are set, any one of them can be selected by a selection button of the live controller 18. It is also possible to provide three pre-roll check boxes in the library window so that one of them can be selected.
[0075]
The check box of “AUTO CUE” is used to automatically cue by clicking a scene icon without clicking the CUE button. If this is done during playback, playback is stopped and cueing is performed. The check box of “AUTO PLAY” is for automatically cuing and starting playback by clicking a scene icon without clicking the CUE button and the PLAY button.
[0076]
FIG. 24 shows a timeline window. The timeline window is a window that displays a plurality of scenes in time series in a bar graph (with scene division proportional to the length of each scene), especially for editing scenes. Window.
[0077]
“Duration” at the top of the window indicates the total length of the scenes registered in this window. “Current time” indicates a position being reproduced at present by a time code. “IN duration” indicates the time of the entire scale obtained if the IN time is set as the current time. “OUT duration” indicates the overall scale time obtained when the OUT time is set as the current time. The “target time” is the target overall scale time of the selected scene (group), and can be input by the operator.
[0078]
In the center of the window, there is one video track and two audio tracks. In order to register a scene in this timeline window, a scene to be registered is dragged from another window and dropped to a target place (order position). When a scene is dropped on a video track, the audio paired with the video file is registered in the audio track. When a scene is dropped on an audio track, the video file paired with the audio file is not registered in the video track. To change the order (order) of the scene, drag the target scene on the timeline and drop it at the target location. Once dropped on a track, video and audio can be manipulated independently. If you want to operate together, operate with both selected. If the video and audio corresponding scenes are to be fixed and operated, “NORMAL” at the bottom of the window is selected. To operate video and audio separately, select “SPLIT” (audio split mode) at the bottom of the window. By selecting SPLIT and selecting the audio scene to be operated and instructing the “REV” button or the “FWD” button, the front end or the rear end of the audio scene can be extended by one scene unit. FIG. 26 shows a state in which only the sound of the “first strike” scene is extended to the immediately preceding “squeeze” scene. In this case, the audio scene corresponding to the immediately preceding “squeeze” is deleted. Accordingly, it is possible to cover the video of the squeeze scene with the audio at the time before the audio scene corresponding to the first hit video scene. In addition to this example, for example, in a news program, when an announcer's face and sound are recorded, the announcer's sound is continuously played, while the video is streamed with another video, and the announcer's face is broadcast at the end. Easy to do. When “SLIP” is selected, the content of the audio scene can be shifted back and forth in field units by instructing the “REV” button or the “FWD” button. In the case of video and audio signals received from outside the studio, one may be displaced from the other (for example, sound is faster). The SLIP function makes it possible to easily cope with such problems. If you want to change the length of each scene (or its IN time, OUT time), double-click the scene on the timeline to open the preview window described above, and do that.
[0079]
In this timeline window, a series of edited video images of the scene can be played back with the CUE, PLAY, and STOP buttons located on the lower left side of the window. The edited video / audio is output to an output channel assigned to the virtual recorder for editing. At the time of reproduction, the post-roll time of a scene having another scene after that is ignored among consecutive scenes, and the pre-roll time of a scene having another scene before is ignored. After all, only the pre-roll time of the first scene and the post-roll time of the last scene are valid. This is because the plurality of scenes are edited into one scene as a set of videos to be reproduced continuously. The processing for this can be performed very easily because each scene can be handled as the corresponding clip and data of IN time and OUT time.
[0080]
The CLEAR button at the bottom of the window is a button used to clear all the setting contents of this window at once. The TELE button and the WIDE button are for enlarging and reducing the display in the time axis direction, respectively. As a result, the details can be enlarged and displayed so that the details can be easily seen, or the entire file can be reduced to fit in the window according to the length of the entire scale.
[0081]
As described above, the highlight registration button is a button for registering a series of scenes edited in this window as one highlight scene in the highlight window. Registration to the highlight window in other windows was done by drag and drop, but registration from the timeline window to the highlight window is performed in units of the entire series, so it is necessary to select all scenes. The operation becomes complicated. Therefore, a dedicated button for performing highlight registration is provided in the timeline window. Of course, highlight registration may be performed by drag and drop as in the case of other windows. Edit scenes registered by highlight registration are particularly called groups. The group data is defined in relation to the scene data, and can be reproduced in the same manner as other highlight scenes, and can be re-edited by dragging and dropping it to the timeline window again.
[0082]
The SLOW button is a button for performing slow playback for the selected scene (group) in the timeline window. When the SLOW button is clicked, “scaling” and “slow playback by“ user setting value ”can be further selected. The slow reproduction by the user setting value is one in which the user designates the slow reproduction speed as a% value. Scale adjustment is a function that selects the target scene or scene group and performs slow playback of the selected scene or scene group at an appropriate constant speed so that the length matches the target time set previously. is there. Note that if the overall scale of the selected scene group is longer than the target time, the scale adjustment function is disabled.
[0083]
FIG. 25 shows an example of the flow of playback control in the timeline window. This process is realized by the processor executing a control program stored in the RAM on the processor card 121, and is activated by clicking the PLAY button.
[0084]
First, it is checked whether slow playback by the SLOW button is set (231), and if it is not slow, the playback speed V is set to 100% (237). If it is slow, it is checked whether scale adjustment is designated (232). Otherwise, the user input value is set to the playback speed V (238). The input value may be input by the user at this time, or may be input by the user when the previous SLOW button is clicked.
[0085]
If it is determined in step 232 that the alignment is designated, the previously set target time is set to the variable T (233). Next, the total time of all the previously selected scenes is set in the variable S (234). Therefore, the values of the variable T and the variable S are compared (235). If the variable T is smaller, that is, if the target time is shorter than the actual length of the entire scene, slow playback cannot be performed, so the scale adjustment function is disabled and the process proceeds to step 238. At this time, step 238 may be skipped and the process may proceed to the next step 239. If it is determined in step 235 that the variable T is larger, (T / S) × 100 is substituted for the variable V (236). As a result, the ratio of extending the playback time of the selected scene group corresponding to the target time T can be obtained. Therefore, the edited series of images is reproduced at a speed V (239). The value of the speed V is held corresponding to the selected scene group, and is passed to the group data at the time of highlight registration. As a result, the same slow reproduction can be performed during reproduction of the highlight scene. Note that the scene groups to be selected do not need to be adjacent to each other.
[0086]
In the timeline window of FIG. 24, each scene is displayed on the time axis with a length corresponding to its length (time width), so a scene with a relatively short time exists between other scenes. If you do, you may miss its existence. In the example of FIG. 24, another minute scene is included between the scene CB001 “stolen” and the scene CB002 “squeeze”. However, since the scene is short, it cannot be recognized in FIG. Also, blank scenes may occur on the video track during the editing process. For example, in a preview window, it is possible to intentionally edit a video of a certain scene so as to start audio from a point slightly before the IN time. In order to prevent misalignment, a blank scene of a length corresponding to the increase in audio may automatically occur before the corresponding scene on the video track. On the other hand, it is necessary to take measures such as increasing the OUT time of the video of the immediately preceding scene by the corresponding length, or shortening the audio of the immediately preceding scene by the corresponding length. However, since this blank scene is small, it may be buried between other scenes in the timeline display and may not be noticed. If this is reproduced as it is, there is a risk that an inconvenient broadcast may be performed. Therefore, a list display mode is provided. In the timeline window of FIG. 24, List on the screen
Click the Display menu button to enter list display mode.
[0087]
FIG. 27 shows a window screen in the list display mode. In this screen, all scenes displayed on the timeline display screen are displayed as a list of character information. In this list display mode, instead of displaying the time axis of the center track, character information for identifying each scene, that is, a list including the scene number, name, IN time, duration, and comment is displayed. In the list display mode, the file names of all the scenes are displayed in the same size regardless of the time of each scene, so that even a blank scene of an extremely short time can be recognized with certainty. From this list display, it can be seen that the minute scene in FIG. 24 was the scene CB006 “Three missed strikes”. To return to the normal timeline display mode of FIG. 27 to FIG. 24, the Timeline Display menu button on the screen may be clicked.
[0088]
FIG. 28 shows an example of the processing flow of timeline display mode control. This process is realized by the processor executing a control program stored in the RAM on the processor card 121. The timeline window is first generated as an icon on the screen of the display 16 by the system. The system opens a timeline window in response to a double click on this icon by the operator (221). In this window, the window contents are displayed in the timeline display mode as shown in FIG. 24 (222). When the window is opened, the video and audio tracks do not contain any scenes. In this state, an editing operation is accepted and processing corresponding to the operation is performed (223). For example, a plurality of scenes are dragged and dropped from this scene window into this window, and their editing is executed. This state is continued until an instruction to switch to the list display is made by clicking the List Display button (223, 224). When there is an instruction to switch to list display, the window contents of the timeline window are changed to the list display mode as shown in FIG. 27 (225). The list display mode continues until there is an instruction to switch to the timeline display by clicking the Timeline Display button (225, 226).
[0089]
Thus, by switching the timeline window from the timeline display to the list display, it is possible to quickly and easily recognize a minute scene or a blank scene.
[0090]
FIG. 29 shows an example of an event window. This window is a window for sequentially reproducing a plurality of scenes. An event is a scene, highlight, or group arranged in the playback channel of a recording virtual recorder in the order of transmission. When the operator presses the ADD EVENT button of the live controller 18 or drags and drops a scene icon onto the event window on the GUI, it becomes an event. At this time, the relationship with the original scene or highlight becomes a copy. At this time, an event number and an event name are assigned to the event. The event number is determined by the number of registered events registered in the event list at that time. For example, the first event starts from EA001, and the next event increases to EA002. However, this number changes dynamically by changing the order of events. Each event number is held in association with a scene number or the like. The structure of the event data is as described in FIG.
[0091]
The order of sending is fixed to some extent, but dynamic sequential sending that cannot be done by editing and making it into one file, such as when playing continuously or waiting at the beginning of the primary scene one by one The event window provides this function (referred to as a live transmission function). The event window is provided separately for each output channel of the recording virtual recorder. The order of sending is determined by the position where the icon of the scene or highlight scene is dragged from those windows and dropped. The order position can be changed after dragging and dropping by dragging and dropping the event in the event window.
[0092]
“Duration” in the “event list” area at the top of the event window displays the length (overall scale) of the entire event list. The “remaining time” is for displaying in numerical values and a graph how long the entire event list will end after the current playback position. “Duration” in the “Event” area displays the length of the currently selected or playing event. The “remaining time” is a numerical value and a graph showing how long the event ends after the current playback position.
[0093]
The NEXT button is a button for cuing up at the head of the next event after the currently designated event or the event being reproduced. The head is a position (time point) before the IN time by the pre-roll time. The CUE button is a button for cueing the head of the selected event. This head is the same as in the case of the NEXT button. The PLAY and STOP buttons are buttons for playing and stopping the selected event. The STEP button is a button for designating a sequential playback mode. In this mode, the playback of the current event stops at the end point of the event (a position obtained by adding the post-roll time to the OUT time). The CONT button designates a continuous reproduction mode. In this mode, when the reproduction of one event is completed, the next event is continuously reproduced. In this continuous playback mode, the pre-roll time and post-roll time between events are ignored.
[0094]
During continuous reproduction of a plurality of events, the event currently being reproduced is identified and displayed (inverted display), and the reproduction status is sequentially displayed. For example, a character “playing” is displayed in the PLAY status display column at the left end for an event being played, and a character “playing finished” is displayed for an event that has been played. In the event window, similarly to the library window, check boxes for pre-roll and post-roll may be provided so that their validity / invalidity can be selected.
[0095]
As described above, in the event list display mode of FIG. 29, it is possible to select an event to be played back, select single playback or playback, change the playback order, and the like. There are cases where the user does not realize that there is a mistake and performs an operation by mistake. For example, if the STOP button or CUE button is pressed during the playback or the order is changed, the event playback content that has been set may be distorted and broadcast, which is extremely inconvenient. In order to deal with such a case, a playlist display mode is provided. That is, when the Playlist Display menu button is selected and the play list display mode is entered, a play list display window as shown in FIG. 30 is displayed instead of the event window of FIG. In this window, during event playback, operations such as changing the order of events, stopping and cueing up are suppressed, and erroneous operations are prevented. In other words, during playback, it is only possible to monitor the playback status (inverted display of the event being played back), and no matter how the keyboard or mouse or other input device is operated, the event list once set is changed. I can't do that. However, when playback is finished and stopped, operations such as changing the order of events and cueing up can be performed. Even during playback, it is possible to shift to the playlist display mode.
[0096]
In this example, on the event list display screen in FIG. 29, after the reproduction is started, the play list display mode in FIG. 30 is shifted based on the operator's selection instruction. Alternatively, the display mode may be shifted to the playlist display mode. Further, it may be automatically returned to the event list display mode when the reproduction is finished.
[0097]
29 and 30 have a Filing menu button. When this button is clicked, a save screen (not shown) is opened, and the current event list is saved on the hard disk 160 or floppy disk 150 of the present system. Can do. You can also call up a saved event list.
[0098]
FIG. 31 shows an example of a flow of event display mode control in the event window. This process is realized by the processor executing a control program stored in the RAM on the processor card 121. The event window is first generated as an icon on the screen of the display 16 by the system.
[0099]
The system opens an event window in response to a double click of this icon by the operator (251). In this window, the window contents are displayed in the event list display mode as shown in FIG. 29 (252). The event is not included when the window is initially opened. In this state, an editing operation is accepted and processing corresponding to the operation is performed (253). For example, a plurality of scenes are dragged and dropped from the scene window into this window, and their order is changed. This state is continued until an instruction to switch to the playlist display is made by clicking on the Playlist Display button (253, 254). When there is an instruction to switch to the playlist display, the window contents of the event window are changed to the playlist display mode as shown in FIG. 30 (255). Next, input other than an instruction to switch to the event list display is prohibited from being accepted (256). In the playlist display mode, only the playback status display (inverted display of the list item being played back, graph display of the playback status, etc.) is continuously performed until an instruction to switch to the event list display by clicking the Eventlist Display button is given ( 257, 258). However, when the reproduction is finished and stopped as described above, operations such as changing the order of events and cueing up may be accepted.
[0100]
FIG. 32 shows an example of a flow of event playback control in the event window. This process is activated by a PLAY instruction from the operator, and is realized by the processor executing the control program stored in the RAM on the processor card 121.
[0101]
First, it is checked whether continuous (CONT) reproduction or sequential (STEP) reproduction (261). It is assumed that any of the flags (not shown) indicated in advance is set by an instruction to the operator. If any one is set by default and there is no instruction from the operator, the default state is selected. In the case of STEP playback, information on the event previously selected by the mouse is acquired (264). The event information corresponds to scene data of a scene corresponding to the event, as shown in FIG. Then, the currently set pre-roll time and post-roll time are added and the event is reproduced (265). As a result, when one event is reproduced independently, the above-described pre-roll and post-roll functions are ensured.
[0102]
If it is determined in step 261 that the playback is CONT, information on the first event among all or selected events is acquired (262). Next, the pre-roll time is added to reproduce the event (263). At this time, the post-roll time is not added, and immediately after the reproduction of the event, information on the next event is acquired (266). If this new event is not the final event (267, No), it is reproduced without adding any pre-roll time and post-roll time (268). If it is the final event, the pre-roll time is not added, but only the post-roll time is added and the event is reproduced (269). By such processing, between the continuous events, the pre-roll time and the post-roll time can be eliminated, and the reproduction end and the reproduction start can be performed at the original end point and start point of each event. Since the pre-roll time and post-roll time are automatically added / deleted depending on whether CONT playback or STEP playback, the operator does not need to be aware of the setting.
[0103]
If there is a STOP instruction during playback, the playback is stopped by an interrupt process (not shown).
[0104]
FIG. 33 summarizes the relationship between the various windows. As shown in the figure, in each of the scene window, highlight window, library window, event window, and timeline window, a preview window related to the scene etc. is opened by double-clicking the displayed scene etc. It is possible to change the name of the scene, etc., change the IN time and OUT time, and the like. When the preview is finished, the preview window is closed. When the preview window is opened from the library window, the IN time and OUT time cannot be set.
[0105]
FIG. 34 shows the functions of the system and the scene flow between the functions. In the figure, a thick line arrow indicates a path that can be operated from the live controller 18, and a thin line arrow indicates a path that can be operated only from the GUI. A function not hatched indicates a function accessible only from the GUI, and a function hatched indicates a function accessible from the live controller 18. As shown in the figure, the recorded scene becomes a highlight scene by copying from the scene window to the highlight window in a link relationship. The scene window becomes an event by copying it from the scene window to the event window. A highlight scene becomes an event by copying it from the highlight window to the event window. These route operations can be performed by either the live controller 18 or the GUI. In addition, a scene can be moved between the highlight window (highlight scene), the library window (library scene), and the timeline window (edit) by the GUI. Further, the scene can be moved from the scene window to the timeline window, from the timeline window to the event window, or from the library window to the event window, respectively. The windows for the functions shown in FIG. 34 may coexist on the screen of the display 12 and open.
[0106]
Finally, FIG. 35 shows the relationship between various windows and the virtual recorder.
[0107]
In the figure, VR1 indicates a virtual recorder for 2-channel recording or 1-channel recording, and includes functions of a scene window and an event window. The virtual recorder VR1 has a function of recording video from one camera, taking a window into a scene window, and reproducing and outputting the event window to a monitor. That is, it has its own playback channel (output channel). In the case of a one-channel recording virtual recorder, since it has only one physical resource, recording and reproduction cannot be performed simultaneously. In the case of a two-channel recording virtual recorder, recording and playback can be performed simultaneously.
[0108]
VR2 indicates a virtual recorder for editing, and includes a function of a timeline window. The editing recorder VR2 also has its own reproduction channel. Although the library window has a playback function, there is no virtual recorder for the library window itself, and another virtual recorder (for example, an editing virtual recorder VR2) is used during playback. As a result, both the library and the editing can share physical resources, and the resources can be used effectively. Since the highlight window originally does not have a playback function, it does not belong to the virtual recorder. Although the preview window has a playback function, playback is performed using another virtual recorder, such as an editing virtual recorder, in the same manner as the library window.
[0109]
VR3 is a virtual recorder for audio editing. By assigning a virtual recorder using one resource for audio, video and audio can be played back at different speeds in timeline editing. For example, the audio can be played normally while the video is played slowly. This is useful for applications in which slow playback video is covered with background music at normal speed.
[0110]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a broadcast recording / playback system that can utilize a random access storage device and present new functions such as recording and editing utilizing the high speed of random access and a comfortable operating environment. That is, it is possible to improve operability and prevent erroneous operations during editing operations that combine a plurality of recorded scenes or change the length of each scene. For example, in the first display mode of the timeline window, the sequence and length of a series of scenes to be played can be recognized and edited in chronological order, and switched to the second display mode for display. By doing so, it is possible to easily recognize a minute scene that may be missed in the first display mode.
[0111]
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a broadcast recording / playback system to which the present invention is applied.
2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a digital recording / playback apparatus 10 in the system of FIG.
3 is a configuration diagram showing an internal configuration of a disk controller in the apparatus of FIG. 2;
4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between recording modes, scenes, and clips in the system of FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 5 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining resource allocation in a configuration window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 6 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining resource settings in a configuration window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a routing setting in a configuration window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 8 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining the rest of the configuration window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a memory area that stores various parameters set in the system of FIG. 1;
10 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of scene data used in the system of FIG.
FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the structure of highlight data used in the system of FIG. 1;
12 is an explanatory diagram of a structure of event data used in the system of FIG.
FIG. 13 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a record controller window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 14 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining icon display of a scene window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 15 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a list display of a scene window in the system of FIG. 1;
16 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining grid display of a scene window in the system of FIG.
FIG. 17 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a search display of a scene window in the system of FIG. 1;
18 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a recording operation in the system of FIG.
FIG. 19 is a timing diagram showing the relationship between clips and scenes in the system of FIG. 1;
20 is an explanatory diagram of functions of a pre-roll time and a post-roll time in the system of FIG.
21 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a preview window in the system of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 22 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a highlight window in the system of FIG. 1;
23 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a library window in the system of FIG. 1;
24 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a timeline display mode of a timeline window in the system of FIG.
FIG. 25 is a flowchart of playback processing in a timeline window in the system of FIG. 1;
26 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on the display for explaining an example of operation in the timeline window of FIG. 25. FIG.
27 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a list display mode of a timeline window in the system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 28 is a flowchart of a display mode control process in a timeline window in the system of FIG.
29 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining an event list display mode of an event window in the system of FIG.
30 is a photograph of a halftone image displayed on a display for explaining a playlist display mode of an event window in the system of FIG.
FIG. 31 is a flowchart of display mode control processing in an event window in the system of FIG. 1;
32 is a flowchart of an event playback control process in an event window in the system of FIG.
33 is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between a preview window and other windows in the system of FIG.
34 is an explanatory diagram of a relationship between various windows in the system of FIG. 1;
35 is an explanatory diagram of the relationship between the window and the virtual recorder in the system of FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
2 ... Camera, 4 ... Camera selector, 6 ... Monitor, 7 ... External input, 8 ... Switcher, 9 ... Main line, 10 ... Digital recording / playback device, 12 ... Display, 14 ... Keyboard, 16 ... Mouse, 18 ... Live Controller 110 110 EISA bus 121 Processor card (including RAM) 122 Display controller card 123 Disk controller 124 Genlock reference card 125 RS422 interface card 126 Video input interface card 127 Video output Interface card 128 ... Audio input / output interface card 130 ... Digital video bus 133 ... Video router 135 ... SCSI-2 bus 140 ... Video hard disk drive 150 ... Flow Floppy disk drive, 160 ... hard disk drive for the system.

Claims (8)

In a broadcast recording / playback system used for television broadcasting,
Video data storage means comprising a random access storage device for storing video data of a plurality of scenes;
A display and input device for a graphical user interface;
A window display means for displaying on the display device a timeline window for displaying a series of scenes to be reproduced in a time series and a bar graph having a scene division proportional to the length of each scene;
Input operation reception processing means for receiving an input operation for changing at least the order of a series of scenes arranged in the timeline window by the input device;
Replay means for continuously replaying the series of scenes,
The window display means lists character information for identifying the plurality of scenes in addition to the first display mode for displaying the bar graph when displaying the plurality of scenes to be reproduced in the time window. A broadcast recording / playback system having a second display mode for displaying. The window display means includes an operation button for switching display modes, which can be operated by the input device in order to shift between the first display mode and the second display mode in the timeline window. The broadcast recording / playback system according to claim 1, wherein the broadcast recording / playback system is displayed. The input operation reception processing means receives an operation of dragging and dropping an arbitrary scene of a series of scenes displayed in a graph in the timeline window, and changes the order of the scenes according to the operation. The broadcast recording / reproducing system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: In addition to the timeline window, the window display means displays a scene window for storing an icon representing each scene of recorded video data on the display device,
The input operation acceptance processing means accepts an operation of dragging and dropping an icon of an arbitrary scene in the scene window to an arbitrary position in the timeline window by the input device, and the timeline window according to the operation The broadcast recording / playback system according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the scene is stored in and a playback order of a series of scenes is determined. The video data storage means stores video data wider than the start point and end point of the scene for at least a specific scene,
The window display means opens a predetermined preview window by instructing an arbitrary scene in the timeline window or the scene window by the input device,
5. The broadcast recording / playback system according to claim 4, wherein the input operation reception processing means receives a correction operation for a start point or an end point of the scene in the preview window. The input operation reception processing means receives an input of a target value of the playback time for one or more scenes displayed in the timeline window, and the playback time of the one or more scenes is set to the target value. The broadcast recording / playback system according to claim 1, wherein a scaling value of the playback speed is obtained so as to match. The video data storage means also stores audio data corresponding to the video data,
In the timeline window, there is a video track and an audio track that corresponds temporally to the video track, and further, a normal mode for fixing a corresponding relationship between the video scene and the audio scene, and the corresponding relationship And an operation unit for extending the front end or rear end of the audio scene in scene units in the split mode. The broadcast recording / playback system according to any one of the above. The video data storage means also stores audio data corresponding to the video data,
The timeline window has a video track and an audio track that corresponds temporally to the video track, and the content of the audio scene is forward or backward for a time corresponding to one field unit of the video signal. The broadcast recording / playback system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising an operation unit for shifting to a position.

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