JPH0390968A - Automatic production system for animation image digest - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically control the time and segmentation of digest scene by automatically extracting the animation scenes in the order of higher priority levels already assigned with optional designation of the time of a digest program. CONSTITUTION:The degrees of importance of the scenes regarded important are recorded to a priority level information recording medium 30 of a data base 3 via a priority level input device as the priority levels of those scenes. A threshold value calculation part 6 calculates the threshold value of the priority level based on the time necessary for the input digest and the priority levels recorded to the medium 30. A digest picture frame retrieving part 7 retrieves the picture frames having higher priority levels than the threshold value out of an animation image store medium 31 of the base 3. These retrieved picture frames are recorded to a digest store medium 8 as the digests. Thus it is possible to automate the time control of the scenes to be segmented and the scene segmenting tasks performed after the time control.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Technical Field to which the Invention Pertains) This invention relates to a method for configuring a program to generate a digest of a program, etc., consisting of a series of moving image scenes stored on a videotape, video disc, etc. This relates to a method that prioritizes the scenes to be played and then automatically generates a digest for the time specified by the user. Industrial applications include creating digest versions of TV programs.

(Conventional technology) Conventionally, to create a digest of a video image, the user has to allocate time in detail to scenes that the user deems important and cut them out from the original video image in order to fit within a predetermined amount of time. .

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) According to the conventional method described above, it was necessary to make detailed time adjustments for the scene to be cut out. In addition, the work of cutting out scenes after time adjustment was done manually by inputting the start and end points of each scene, which resulted in a large amount of work. Ta.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The automatic video digest generation method according to the present invention includes:
The specified time is achieved by assigning priorities to the video scenes that make up the program, allowing the user to arbitrarily specify the time required for digesting, and calculating the total time of video scenes with a certain priority level or higher. The process consists of a process of determining a priority threshold, and a process of searching for video scenes with a priority higher than this threshold.

(Function) In this invention, by arbitrarily specifying the time of a digest program, the user can automatically extract video scenes in order of priority, starting from the video scenes that have already been assigned, and create a digest program for the specified time. It is characterized by automatically generating.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an example of a block configuration of a device that implements priority assignment according to the present invention. This method uses a man-machine interface to assign priorities to video scenes, using a man-machine interface to continuously assign priorities to each image frame that constitutes the video.

In the figure, 1 is a joystick that is a man-machine interface, and 2 is a priority input device to which the joystick for assigning priorities to moving image scenes is connected. 3 is a database, and the priority input device 2
It consists of a priority information storage medium 30 for recording the priorities input from a video storage medium 30, and a video storage medium 31 in which video images to be digested are stored. 4 is a display for displaying moving images stored in the moving image recording medium 31;

The user displays an image of the program to be digested from the video storage medium 31 on the display 4, and operates the joystick while viewing the image to determine the importance level of the scene that is considered important. is recorded as the priority of the scene from the priority input device 2 into the priority information recording medium 30 of the database 3 as a continuous value.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between moving images to be digested by the above means and priority (P). In the figure, A represents an image frame (F) constituting a moving image scene. Further, B is a graph showing the relationship between the image frame (F) and the priority (P), in which the horizontal axis represents the image frame and the vertical axis represents the priority of each image frame. The priority is recorded as a continuous value for each image frame forming a moving image as a measure of the importance of a scene that the user has determined to be important.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the principle of generating a digest at an arbitrary time using the priorities already recorded by the means shown in FIG. 1, in which the horizontal axis shows the priority (P); The vertical axis shows the number (N) of image frames (F). This graph is obtained by calculating the total number N of image frames for each recorded priority. The video image is
Since there are 30 image frames per second, the number of image frames can be converted into time. Therefore, the area S of the part surrounded by the curve B in Figure 1 (the curve showing the relationship between image frames and priorities and corresponds to B in Figure 2) and the horizontal axis
"all" corresponds to the entire program time before being digested.

The area S digest in the figure corresponds to the digest time. That is, the priority threshold (p th) can be determined so that S digest is the digest time specified by the user. By cutting out only the image frames with a priority higher than the priority threshold (pth) determined in this way from the original video (program), it becomes possible to automatically generate a digest of any time. .

FIG. 4 shows an example of the block configuration of a device for extracting digest scenes from the database 3 of the present invention.

In the figure, 5 is a digest time input section, 6 is a threshold calculation section, 7 is a digest image frame search section, and 8 is a digest time input section.
is a digest storage medium.

The user inputs the time required for digesting into the threshold calculation section 6 from the digest time input section 5 using a man-machine interface such as a keyboard.

The threshold value calculation unit 6 calculates the threshold value (Pth) of the priority (P) based on the time required for this input digest and the priority recorded in the priority information storage medium 30 of the database 3. .

An image frame (F) having a priority higher than the threshold value obtained by the threshold calculation unit is searched by the digest image frame search unit 7 from the moving image storage medium 31 of the database 3, and is stored in the digest storage medium 8. Record the retrieved image frames as a digest.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, a priority is assigned to a video scene, a priority threshold is calculated by the user arbitrarily specifying the time required for digesting, and the threshold is Video scenes with a priority higher than this value are automatically extracted to generate a digest, so when creating a digest, the work of adjusting the digest time and cutting out the digest scene, which was previously done manually, is now automated. can do.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the block configuration of a device that implements priority assignment according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between video images to be digested and priority (P), and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the principle of generating a digest of an arbitrary time using already recorded priorities, and is a diagram illustrating an example of the block configuration of an apparatus for extracting a digest scene from a database according to the present invention. 1...joystick, 2...''priority input device, 3...database, 30...priority information storage medium, 31...moving image storage medium, 4...
Display, 5... Digest time input section,
6... Threshold calculation unit, 7... Digest image frame search unit, 8... Digest storage medium.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a method for generating a digest of a program, etc., consisting of a series of video scenes stored on a video storage medium such as a videotape, a video disc, etc., a step of assigning priorities to video scenes constituting the program; A process in which the user arbitrarily specifies the time required for digesting, a process in which a priority threshold is determined to reach the specified time by calculating the total time of video scenes with a certain priority or higher, and An automatic video digest generation method is characterized in that it consists of a process of searching for video scenes that have a priority higher than a threshold value, and automatically generates a digest of an arbitrarily specified time.