JP4401711B2 - Image processing apparatus and image processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing technique.

  In recent years, a so-called digital camera device that digitally converts an image input from a CCD input device and stores it in a storage device as image data has been put into practical use and has come to be widely used as a means for creating a digital image. Some digital camera devices have a function that allows users to set special effects during shooting, which enables them to shoot images with special effects such as color tone conversion and soft focus ( For example, see Patent Document 1.)

JP 2002-176615 A

  However, since the special effect that can be set by the above-described conventional digital camera device is configured to be applied to the image data when the image data is stored in the storage device, the special effect can be displayed while displaying the image with the special effect. There was a drawback that it was not possible to shoot after confirming that the special effects as applied were applied. Also, since the image data itself is processed directly when applying special effects, it will be a material even if there is a situation where you want to use image data whose special effects have been canceled or image data to which other special effects have been applied. There has been a problem that image data without a special effect should not be obtained.

  As a method for solving such a drawback, there is a method in which image data taken by a digital camera device is transferred to a computer device, and a special effect is applied by using a program operating on the computer device. Such a program is called a photo retouch application, and various special effects can be interactively applied using image data without special effects as a material.

  However, in the above-described solution using the photo retouching application, it is necessary to first transfer the image data to the computer device, so that the convenience of creating the special effect image with the digital camera device alone cannot be obtained. In addition, there is a problem that an operation in a process from image shooting to creation of an image with special effects is a very complicated procedure requiring many steps.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily shoot an image as intended by the photographer while confirming the application state of special effects or the like during shooting. To provide processing technology.

  It is another object of the present invention to provide an image processing technique capable of obtaining an image to which a special effect or the like is applied without directly processing the image data itself.

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that photoelectrically converts a subject image to generate image data, a display unit that displays an image, a storage unit that stores animation data, and a loop that repeats the animation data during shooting. Image output means for outputting an image obtained by combining the image data obtained by the image pickup means with the animation data to the display section, and image data generated by the image pickup means when a shooting instruction is given And recording means for recording the information of the animation data in association with each other, and recording means for recording the information specifying the timing when the shooting instruction is given in the animation data.
The image processing method of the present invention also includes an imaging step for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate image data, and displaying animation data stored in the storage means while repeatedly looping at the time of shooting. An image output step for outputting an image obtained by combining the obtained image data with the animation data to a display unit, and when a shooting instruction is given, the image data generated by the imaging step and the information of the animation data are recorded in association with each other. And a recording step of recording information for specifying the timing at which the shooting instruction is given in the animation data.

  By outputting an image obtained by applying a special effect or the like to the image data, an image as intended by the photographer can be easily taken while confirming the application state of the special effect or the like at the time of shooting. In addition, by associating and recording information such as image data and special effects, it is possible to record an image to which special effects are applied without directly processing the image data itself. Since they can be handled independently, various images can be recorded by combining different special effects and the like on the same image data.

Hereinafter, the details of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a digital camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the control unit 1 includes an imaging unit 2, an operation unit 3, a recording unit 4, a mode switch 8, a special effect selection switch 9, a special effect image selection switch 10, a shutter button 11, and a special effect image storage switch. 12 and the communication interface 14 respectively. Further, an output is made from the control unit 1 to the display unit 7 and the recording unit 4. The control unit 1 is connected to the ROM 5 and the RAM 6.

  Among the above units, the imaging unit 2 photoelectrically converts the subject image into a digital signal and inputs the digital signal to the control unit 1. The operation unit 3 can send an operation signal to the control unit 1 by operating a switch. The mode switch 8 is a switch for switching the mode of the digital camera to either the shooting mode or the playback mode. The special effect selection switch 9 has a function of selecting one special effect.

  The recording unit 4 is an interface for recording image data on a recording medium and reading from the recording medium. At the same time, the recording unit 4 can read special effect information. The communication interface 14 is an interface for acquiring special effect information from the outside, and is connected to a personal computer (PC) 15 by a communication cable or wirelessly.

  The display unit 7 is a finder of a digital camera and also serves as a display during reproduction. It also has the function of interpreting the contents described by the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) standard and dynamically generating and displaying an image.

  Next, a shooting mode of the digital camera configured as described above according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of processing in the shooting mode, which starts when the mode of the digital camera is set to the shooting mode by the mode changeover switch 8.

  First, the special effect setting means (step 101) will be described along the flow of the special effect setting means shown in FIG. The special effect information template is described by the SVG standard, and exists in the recording medium of the ROM 5 or the recording unit 4. When setting or changing the special effect, the special effect is selected by the special effect selection switch 9 (step 201), the information is stored in the RAM 6 (step 202), and the special effect setting is completed.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, special effect information for converting an image into a sepia tone is described in SVG. The special effect information template includes only one <image> element, and the xlink: href attribute is set to empty (""). The description of special effects follows the SVG standard. As an example, a special effect for converting an image into a sepia tone is given, but various other special effects such as a lighting effect can be set.

  Next, the display means (step 102) will be described along the processing flow of the display means shown in FIG. The imaging unit 2 converts the subject image into a digital signal and inputs the digital signal to the control unit 1. The object image data is transferred to the display unit 7 (step 301). On the other hand, the special effect information is stored in the RAM 6 in the process of step 101, and is transferred to the display unit 7 (step 302). Further, the special effect information is analyzed to generate a composite image applied to the subject image (step 303), transferred to the VRAM (step 304), and output to the display (step 305).

  Returning to FIG. 1, it is checked in step 103 whether the shutter button 11 has been pressed. If not, the process returns to step 101. If pressed, the process transitions to step 104.

  Next, the special effect information storage means (step 104) will be described along the processing flow of the storage means shown in FIG. The subject image at the time when the shutter button 11 is pressed is converted into a digital signal in the imaging unit 2, input to the control unit 1, and stored in the recording unit 4 (step 401). Next, the file name when the image is saved is acquired and transferred to the RAM 6 (step 402). The special effect information to be applied is stored in the RAM 6, and the attribute value of the xlink: href attribute of the <image> element is changed to the acquired file name (step 403). The special effect information constructed in this way is transferred to the recording unit 4 and saved as an SVG file as shown in FIG. 7 (step 404), and the special effect information saving process is terminated. That is, the subject image and the special effect information are recorded in association with each other.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the special effect information template exists in the recording medium of the ROM 5 or the recording unit 4 has been described. However, the special effect information may be acquired from an external input device via a communication interface. Since the special effect information is in a text format and uses a known description language, it can be edited using a commercially available personal computer. In FIG. 1, the special effect information is edited by the PC 15, and after connecting the PC 15 and the communication interface 14, the special effect information is transferred to the control unit 1 and stored in the RAM 6. This special effect information can be handled in the same manner as the special effect information stored in the recording medium of the ROM 5 or the recording unit 4.

  Next, processing in the playback mode will be described with reference to FIG. This process starts when the mode of the digital camera is set to the playback mode by the mode switch 8.

  First, in step 501, the special effect-added image selection switch 10 selects one of one or a plurality of special effect information stored in the recording medium of the recording unit 4.

  Next, the display means (step 502) will be described along the flow of the display means shown in FIG. The selected special effect information is stored in the SVG format as shown in FIG. First, special effect information stored in the recording medium of the recording unit 4 and image data to which the special effect is applied are acquired (steps 601 and 602). Next, a composite image in which a special effect is applied to the image data is output (step 603, see FIG. 4), and the process ends.

  Next, when changing the special effect of the selected image with special effects, special effect setting processing is performed (step 503, see FIG. 3), and the process returns to step 502. Further, recording processing is performed by the special effect-added image storage switch 12 (step 504). Only the special effect information constructed in the RAM 6 is output to the recording medium of the recording unit 4 by the recording process. Then, the playback mode is ended in accordance with the end instruction.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a digital camera according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 10, signals are input to the control unit 1 from the imaging unit 2, the operation unit 3, the recording unit 4, the mode switch 8, the selection switch 22, the determination switch 23, the communication interface 14, and the wireless network interface 24. . The control unit 1 outputs to the recording unit 4, the display unit 7, the communication interface 14, and the wireless network interface 24. The recording unit 4 is connected to the recording medium 21. The control unit 1 is connected to a ROM 5 and a RAM 6.

  Among the above units, the control unit 1, the imaging unit 2, the operation unit 3, the recording unit 4, the ROM 5, the RAM 6, the display unit 7, the mode change switch 8, the selection switch 22, and the determination switch 23 are provided in the main body of the digital camera. .

  Among the above units, the imaging unit 2 converts the subject image into a digital signal and inputs the digital signal to the control unit 1. The operation unit 3 can send an operation signal to the control unit 1 by operating a switch. The mode change switch 8 is a switch for changing the mode of the digital camera between a photographing mode and a reproduction mode. In addition to the normal playback mode, the playback mode is divided into a special effect transfer mode, a special effect setting mode, and a special effect mail transmission mode. The selection switch 22 has a function of selecting special effect information and image data, and the determination switch 23 has a function of determining the selected special effect information and image data.

  The recording unit 4 is an interface for writing and reading image data to and from the recording medium 21. The recording unit 4 also writes and reads special effect information and images with special effects. The communication interface 14 and the wireless network interface 24 are interfaces for acquiring special effect information from the outside, and are connected to the personal computer 15. At the same time, it is an interface for outputting an image with special effects to an external display device.

  The display unit 7 is a finder of a digital camera and also serves as a display during reproduction. It also displays file name display and other setting information, and provides information for setting special effect information and instructing function execution.

  FIG. 11 shows the directory structure of the special effect information file stored in the recording medium 21. As shown in FIG. 11, the special effect information file is stored in the “SVG” directory created under the root directory of the recording medium 21.

  The special effect information is described using the SVG standard and is stored as a file on the recording medium 21. An example in which the special effect information template is described in SVG is shown in FIG. In this description example, a special effect of displaying image data in gray scale is shown. Information on the <title> and <desc> elements is displayed on the display unit 7 and is used when the user determines the content of the special effect. In this example, there is only one <image> element and the initial value of the xlink: href attribute is set to blank.

  The special effect information template is downloaded from a Web site such as the Internet or transferred from a CD-ROM or the like in which special effect information is stored.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing browsing with a Web browser of a personal computer in order to acquire special effect information from the outside. The effect is confirmed on a Web browser and downloaded to a personal computer.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the flow of processing when acquiring special effect information from the outside. Here, an example is shown in which information on special effects is transferred to a digital camera device by operating a personal computer. First, the mode changeover switch 8 is used to switch to the special effect transfer mode. In step 801, special effect information to be transferred on the personal computer is selected. Next, in step 802, the interface used for transfer is selected from the communication interface 14, the wireless network interface 24, etc., and connected. When the connection between the selected transfer interface and the personal computer to be connected is confirmed, transfer of special effect information is started in step 803 and stored in the recording medium 21 in step 804. When the storage process ends, the special effect transfer process ends.

  Next, the special effect setting mode will be described. Description will be made along the flow shown in FIG. First, the mode changeover switch 8 is used to switch to the special effect setting mode. First, in step 901, the display as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the display unit 7, and an image for which a special effect is to be set is selected from the image data stored in the recording medium 21.

  The file name of the selected image is temporarily stored in the RAM 6. In the selection of the special effect in step 902, the selected image data is displayed in the upper part of the display unit 7 as shown in FIG. 17, and the special effect information stored in the recording medium 21 is displayed in the lower part. Select the special effect to be set from the displayed special effects. Here, the special effect information is changed to the file name of the selected image data with the value of xlink: href. FIG. 18 shows a description example of the special effect information after the change.

  In step 903, it is confirmed whether the changed special effect information is to be saved. If so, the recording medium 21 is saved in step 904, and the process ends. If it is not saved, the process is terminated.

  If a special effect you like is not found while setting a special effect, new special effect information is input from the outside using the special effect transfer method described above.

  In the present embodiment, the special effect information template from the outside is used as it is. However, since the special effect information is in a text format and uses a known description language, if a text editor of a general personal computer is used. Special effect information can be edited.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a flow of processing when the created special effect-added image is transmitted by mail. First, the mode change switch 8 switches to the special effect mail transmission mode. Next, in step 1001, an image with special effects to be transmitted is selected from the recording medium 21. As shown in FIG. 20, the display unit 7 displays thumbnails of images for which special effects are set in the lower row and the special effect names selected in the upper row. When the special effect-added image to be transmitted is determined, a connection means with a personal computer is selected in step 1002. The connection means is selected from a communication interface device such as USB or IEEE1394, a wired or wireless network interface device, or the like.

  When the connection between the selected connection means and the personal computer is confirmed, the mail transmission is confirmed in step 1003. If it is transmitted, in step 1004, the special effect information and its set image data are transmitted from the personal computer, and the process ends. If it is not sent, the process ends. Since it is described by the SVG standard, the mail recipient can view the special effect expression as intended by the creator using a general mail application corresponding to SVG.

  As described above, according to the first and second embodiments, there is an effect that it is possible to easily shoot an image with a special effect as intended by the photographer while confirming the application state of the special effect at the time of shooting.

  In addition, according to the above embodiment, there is an effect that an image to which a special effect is applied can be obtained without directly processing the image data itself.

  In addition, according to the above embodiment, since image data and special effect information can be handled independently, an effect that various special effects can be obtained by combining different special effects on the same image data. There is.

  In addition, when XML (Extensible Markup Language) standard is used to express special effect information, special effect information can be edited using a general tool or text editor that supports XML. The effect of reducing the burden of is obtained.

  In addition, when the SVG standard is used to express an image with special effects, images with special effects can be displayed using general Internet browsing software compatible with SVG. Is obtained.

(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment of the present invention can perform shooting while displaying the animation SVG on the display unit (LCD) 7. The SVG file of the animation image that changes with time is stored in advance, and when the animation shooting mode is selected, the animation SVG file is read out, and the animation is looped and displayed on the display unit 7. At that time, the display unit 7 synthesizes and displays the animation and the subject image data captured by the imaging unit 2.

  Next, when the shutter button 11 is pressed, the imaging unit 2 converts the subject image at that time into digital image data and stores it in the recording unit 4, and at the same time, the SVG information at that time (which timing in the animation Are stored in the recording unit 4 in association with each other. The SVG information is, for example, a flag indicating which frame is used for shooting timing in SVG data indicating an animation. As a result, the animation frame at the photographing timing and the subject image data can be combined and reproduced.

  When the captured image with animation is selected in the playback mode, the frame image at the shooting timing of the animation and the subject image data are combined and displayed on the display unit 7 based on the SVG information file and the subject image data file. In addition, you may make it display what combined object image data with the one part frame in the animation which changes temporally. Which display method is used can be determined by the description method of the SVG file and may be selected by the user.

  In addition to the case where the flag indicating which frame is used for the shooting timing is added to the SVG data indicating the animation as the “information indicating which timing during the animation”, the display is performed from the animation SVG data at the shooting timing. New SVG data indicating the current frame may be created and recorded in association with the subject image data. In other words, SVG data of an animation frame at the shooting timing designated by the shutter button 11 is newly created. When the shooting timing is designated at the timing between frames, SVG data of an animation frame at the shooting timing may be newly created based on the two frames.

  Further, in addition to the case where the SVG data and the subject image data are combined at the time of shooting, the combination processing with the animation SVG data may be performed in the editing process after shooting. For example, in the playback mode shown in FIG. 8, a combination of animation SVG data and subject image data can be selected, synthesized, displayed, and recorded in the recording unit 4.

  This embodiment can be realized by a computer executing a program. Also, means for supplying a program to a computer, for example, a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM recording such a program, or a transmission medium such as the Internet for transmitting such a program is also applied as an embodiment of the present invention. Can do. A computer program product such as a computer-readable recording medium in which the above program is recorded can also be applied as an embodiment of the present invention. The above program, recording medium, transmission medium, and computer program product are included in the scope of the present invention. As the recording medium, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of imaging | photography in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the special effect setting process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the display process at the time of imaging | photography in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of description of the special effect information in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the preservation | save process in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of description of the image with a special effect in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process at the time of the reproduction | regeneration in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the display process at the time of the reproduction | regeneration in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the digital camera by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the directory structure of the special effect information file in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of description of the special effect information in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed typically the acquisition method of the special effect information in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the special effect transfer mode in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the special effect setting mode in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the screen display content in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the screen display content in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of description of the image with a special effect in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the special effect mail transmission mode in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the screen display content in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Imaging part 3 Operation part 4 Recording part 5 ROM
6 RAM
7 Display 8 Mode selection switch 9 Special effect selection switch 10 Special effect image selection switch 11 Shutter button 12 Special effect image storage switch 14 Communication interface 15 PC
21 Recording medium 22 Selection switch 23 Determination switch 24 Wireless network interface

Claims (8)

Imaging means for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate image data;
A display for displaying an image;
Storage means for storing animation data;
An image output means for displaying the animation data while repeatedly looping at the time of shooting, and outputting an image obtained by combining the image data obtained by the imaging means with the animation data to the display section;
When a shooting instruction is given, the recording means records the image data generated by the imaging means and the information of the animation data in association with each other, and specifies the timing at which the shooting instruction is made in the animation data An image processing apparatus comprising recording means for recording information. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the animation data is SVG data. When the reproduction of the image data and animation data recorded in association with each other is instructed by the recording means, the image output means is recorded in association with each other based on the information of the image data and animation data recorded in association with each other. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an image obtained by combining the image data and the animation data is output to the display unit. The image output means outputs a combined image of the selected animation data and image data to the display unit when a combination of animation data and image data in the storage means is selected during reproduction. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1. An imaging step for photoelectrically converting a subject image to generate image data;
An image output step of displaying the animation data stored in the storage means while repeatedly looping at the time of shooting, and outputting an image obtained by combining the image data obtained by the imaging step with the animation data to the display unit;
When a shooting instruction is given, the recording step records the image data generated in the imaging step and the information of the animation data in association with each other, and the timing at which the shooting instruction is given is specified in the animation data An image processing method comprising: a recording step for recording information. 6. The image processing method according to claim 5, wherein the animation data is SVG data. In the image output step, when the reproduction of the image data and animation data recorded in association with the recording step is instructed, the image output step is recorded in association with each other based on the information of the image data and animation data recorded in association. 7. The image processing method according to claim 5, wherein an image obtained by combining the image data and the animation data is output to the display unit. The image output step outputs a combined image of the selected animation data and image data to the display unit when a combination of animation data and image data in the storage means is selected during reproduction. The image processing method according to any one of claims 5 to 7.

Images