JP3834387B2 - Self-portrait shooting and printing device that captures and records a user's moving image and selects an arbitrary still image during recording - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus such as a face photograph sticker making machine, and more particularly to a technique for allowing a user to select a favorite pose.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, self-portrait printing devices such as face photo sticker making machines have gained explosive popularity. As is well known, this is a combination of a video camera, a video display, and a video printer. Multiple types of frame patterns to be combined with face photos are converted into data and built-in.The frame pattern arbitrarily selected by the user, additional information such as letters and numbers entered by the user, and the face image captured by the camera are displayed. Combine and print from the video printer at any pause timing.
[0003]
At that time, the subject image taken with the video camera with the selected frame picture in the foreground is displayed in real time on the display, so the user can pose in front of the display and master the favorite pose. The freeze image was decided by the switch operation without missing the moment. In other words, a so-called still photography technique was adopted in which the user re-takes the picture until the user likes it. As operations for shooting, there are some devices that release a shutter after a few seconds when a predetermined button is pressed, and devices with a self-timer. In addition, there was a continuous shooting mode in which a user's figure was continuously shot.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, if you try to capture your favorite facial expressions and the moments of behavior in real time, it will take an extra amount of time and inconvenience users who are waiting for your turn. I had to compromise. In other words, it is necessary to decide the pose according to the timing when the shutter is released, so the eyes are closed at the moment the shutter is released or the expression is stiff and it is difficult to express yourself. Many people were disappointed by seeing what was printed. And the pose pattern of the person who is the subject of shooting is practically limited due to the limit of the number of cancellations at the time of shooting, or about 16 patterns in continuous shooting mode, from which you choose the one with your favorite pose Was difficult.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and a purpose thereof is a self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus capable of easily capturing a moment when a user likes a facial expression and behavior and selecting a pose. Is to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
For this purpose, the self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus of the present invention is arranged so as to show a display image to a video camera for photographing a user and a user photographed by the video camera. A display, an operation input unit operable by a user during shooting, a real-time display means for displaying a video signal output from the video camera on the display in real time, and a predetermined command from the operation input unit In response to an input, video recording means for recording a video signal output from the video camera for a short predetermined time in a video memory, and in response to a predetermined command input from the operation input unit, recorded in the video memory A video cut / playback selection method that selects a still image at any shooting time that is divided into frames while playing back the video signal being displayed and displaying it on the display A database in which a large number of decorative design data created to be added to a person video is stored, decorative design data appropriately selected from the database, and a display target by the real time display means or the video cut reproduction selection means A composite image is created by combining the video and an image composition means for displaying the composite image on the display; in response to a predetermined command input from the operation input unit, the image displayed on the display is sampled. And a video printer for printing. Desirably, a blower that applies an appropriate wind toward the head of the user who is photographing is disposed outside the field of view of the video camera.
[0007]
In this way, since the motion video of the person is recorded and played back freely, the stationary pose can be extracted, so carefully review the moments in the facial expression and behavior movement and carefully select the pose you like. It can be printed with a printer along with your favorite decorative design.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram mainly showing the configuration of a self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the apparatus.
[0009]
There is a transparent panel 15 arranged in front of this apparatus so that a human face is reflected, a video camera 12 for photographing a user standing in front of it, and a user photographed by the video camera 12 A display 14 for displaying the appearance to the user through a mirror and a video printer 13 for sampling and printing an image displayed on the display 14 are incorporated in the main body of the apparatus. The central control unit 1 of this apparatus is a computer main body including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. The main body of the apparatus has a user interface operation panel 3 including a display and operation buttons. The operation panel 3 is coupled to the central control unit 1 via the operation control unit 2. The user performs various operation inputs such as selection of a frame picture and date / number input from the operation panel 3, and the operation contents and response information of the apparatus with respect to the operation input are displayed on the operation panel 3 or the like.
[0010]
Here, the video printer 13 is inserted in a display output path connecting the display control unit 10 and the display 14. In the normal operation mode, the display output from the display control unit 10 simply passes through the video printer 13 and is supplied to the display 14 (through mode). Accordingly, the video signal output from the video camera 12 is displayed on the display 14 in real time. In this state, when a freeze command signal is supplied from the central control unit 1 to the video printer 13, the image data being displayed at that time is held in the internal RAM of the video printer 13, and the held image data is used as a still image. It is displayed on the display 14 (freeze mode). When a through command signal is supplied from the central control unit 1 to the video printer 13, the freeze mode is canceled and the above-described through mode is restored. In this freeze mode, when a print command signal is supplied from the central control unit 1 to the video printer 13, processing for printing the image data (the still image) held in the internal RAM of the video printer 13 on paper is started. At the same time, the mode returns to the through mode.
[0011]
The hard disk device 4 stores a large number of decorative design data to be added to a person video photographed by the video camera 12, and a decorative design database is constructed. In general, the decorative design here is a decorative illustration designed so as to frame the periphery of the face photograph, and the decorative design data is a compression-encoded version of the illustration image. The central control unit 1 reads out the decorative design data from the hard disk device 4 and decodes it, and expands the bitmap data of the decorative design on the video RAM 9. The display control unit 10 combines the decorative design in the video RAM 9 so as to fit the person image captured by the video camera 12, and supplies the combined image data to the display 14 via the video printer 13 for display. When the video printer 13 is in the above-described through mode, the composite image to be displayed is a combination of a moving image captured by the video camera 12 in a frame of a decorative design of a still image. When the video printer 13 enters the freeze mode, the composite image at that time is fixedly displayed on the display 14, and when a print command is given in this state, the composite image is printed. The above is the outline of the operation of the apparatus in the normal shooting mode.
[0012]
In addition to the basic configuration described above, in order to allow the user to perform natural facial expressions and free movements for a predetermined period of time and to select his / her pose to be printed after recording the video. The apparatus includes an MPEG codec section 11 having an MPEG encoder that encodes and compresses a video signal to obtain MPEG data, and an MPEG decoder that decodes and expands the MPEG data. The MPEG codec unit 11 has a configuration and a function as a so-called moving image codec, and handles MPEG data, which is a standard format for handling moving images, but is not limited thereto. .
[0013]
First, when a user gives a recording command from the operation panel 3, the central control unit 1 MPEG-compresses the video signal output from the video camera 12 for a short predetermined time (about 5 seconds) and records it in the RAM. Subsequently, when the user gives a playback command from the operation panel 3, the MPEG data stored in the RAM is MPEG-expanded in response to the user's free playback operation such as forward / reverse frame feed, stop, etc. The image and the decoration frame image are combined and displayed on the display 14 via the video printer 13. At that time, a predetermined number of still images may be randomly selected from the still images at the time of photographing divided into frames and displayed on the display 14 in a divided manner. Then, the user selects a favorite pose from among the still images displayed on the display 14. Therefore, when a print start instruction is given, a composite image of the selected still image and decorative design is held in the internal RAM of the video printer 13 as in the freeze mode in the normal shooting mode, and in a predetermined division pattern and print mode. The printed sticker is discharged from the video printer 13.
[0014]
Here, the MPEG codec unit 11 normally outputs the video captured by the video camera 12 in the above-described through mode. The video captured by the video camera 12 is also output during the encoding for the predetermined time recording, and the subject video combined with the decoration frame image developed in the video RAM 9 passes through the video printer 13 in real time. Display on the display 14.
[0015]
Now, a blower for directing an appropriate wind toward the head of the user who is photographing is disposed outside the field of view of the video camera. This blower is used as a production tool when photographing people. For example, a fan is provided inside the apparatus, and in response to a user's operation, wind is blown toward the user from a blow-out opening opened in the main body of the apparatus. Alternatively, a fan may be attached to the upper part of the main body of the apparatus so as to blow down the wind toward the user during operation. By doing so, it is possible to create a portrait with both hands while acting freely by directing a recording start operation by directing a scene blown in the wind as desired.
[0016]
Note that MPEG encoding / decoding may be performed by software processing using a computer program, and appropriate recording means such as a VTR may be used without regard to the MPEG codec. Further, the configuration may be such that the image of the person to be photographed is recorded for a predetermined time in the continuous shooting mode as still image data by JPEG. In addition, by adding the configuration of this device to the karaoke device, it accurately captures the movement of the person who is singing, chooses the most favorite pose from his own singing video, and then chooses the face photo sticker himself It can be.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, in a self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus such as a face photograph sticker creation machine, it is no longer possible to provide a face photograph print in a pose that does not like the user as in the prior art. This is because the shooting time has been widened, so that it is possible to relax and start shooting, and the range of pose selection at the time of shooting is dramatically expanded. In addition, you can check on the display the images when combining various poses with the selected frame design, so you can choose the best one by experimenting with various expressions and poses that match the frame design. can do. In other words, the best shot that captures the moment of your favorite facial expression can be selected and printed.
[0018]
In addition, by applying appropriate wind toward the head of the user who is shooting with a blower, for example, it is possible to capture a decisive moment when a woman with long hair decides a pose using both hands while waving her hair. It becomes possible, and it is possible to easily select a shot with a change in such a person image and make it a seal.
[0019]
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a self-portrait that satisfies the user, and to capture a pose, a lively expression and an interesting action that could not be photographed in the past. It can be done.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram centering on main parts of a self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the external appearance of the self-portrait photographing / printing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Central Control Unit 2 Operation Control Unit 3 Operation Panel 4 Hard Disk Device 9 Video RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Display control part 11 MPEG codec part 12 Video camera 13 Video printer 14 Display

Claims (3)

A self-portrait photographing and printing apparatus comprising photographing means, display means, decorative design database, user interface, control means, memory, and printing means,
The photographing means shoots a moving image of the user's face according to the control of the control means,
The display means allows the photographed user to view the display screen and display an image according to the control of the control means,
The decorative design database stores a lot of decorative design data,
The user interface presents information to the user and accepts user operation input,
The control means enables design selection processing, real-time display processing, moving image recording processing, moving image reproduction processing, and printing processing,
The design selection process extracts the decorative design data desired by the user from the decorative design database and stores it in the memory.
The real-time display process combines the moving image data output by the photographing means and the decorative design data stored in the memory, and displays the combined image data.
The moving image recording process records the moving image data output by the photographing means in a predetermined time memory in response to a recording command from the user interface during the real time display process,
The moving image reproduction process enables the first to third processes in response to an operation input by the user interface,
The first process is to reproduce the moving image data recorded in the memory in response to the reproduction command, and to display the synthesized image data combined with the decorative design data stored in the memory.
In the second process, the moving image reproduction of the first process is stopped by the stop command, the still image data at the stop point and the decorative design data are combined and displayed,
In the third process, the time position of the stop point in the second process is changed by the frame advance command,
In the print process, the still image data and the decorative design data are combined and displayed by the second and third processes, and the printing unit prints the displayed image in response to a print command from the user interface. Rate shooting printing device. A self-portrait photographing and printing apparatus comprising photographing means, display means, decorative design database, user interface, control means, memory, and printing means,
The photographing means shoots a moving image of the user's face according to the control of the control means,
The display means allows the photographed user to view the display screen and display an image according to the control of the control means,
The decorative design database stores a lot of decorative design data,
The user interface presents information to the user and accepts user operation input,
The control means enables design selection processing, real-time display processing, moving image recording processing, moving image reproduction processing, divided display processing, and printing processing,
The design selection process extracts the decorative design data desired by the user from the decorative design database and stores it in the memory.
The real-time display process combines the moving image data output by the photographing means and the decorative design data stored in the memory, and displays the combined image data.
The moving image recording process records the moving image data output by the photographing means in a predetermined time memory in response to a recording command from the user interface during the real time display process,
The moving image reproduction process enables the first to fourth processes in response to an operation input by the user interface,
The first process is to reproduce the moving image data recorded in the memory in response to the reproduction command, and to display the synthesized image data combined with the decorative design data stored in the memory.
In the second process, the moving image reproduction of the first process is stopped by the stop command, the still image data at the stop point and the decorative design data are combined and displayed,
In the third process, the time position of the stop point in the second process is changed by the frame advance command,
In the fourth process, when a selection command is given to the composite image displayed by the second and third processes, the still image data that is the basis of the composite image is stored in the memory,
The split display process displays a list of still image data stored in the memory by the fourth process, accepts an operation input for specifying an arbitrary frame from the list,
A self-portrait photographing printing apparatus that causes the printing means to print a composite image of still image data and decorative design data specified by the split display processing. It has a blower that sends wind toward the head of the user to be photographed,
The self-portrait photographing printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit operates the blower according to a blow command from a user interface.

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