JPH1188864A - Moving picture distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving picture data distribution system capable of efficiently storing moving picture data constituting contents. SOLUTION: A contents edition part 12 in an authoring computer 10 prepares an index file indicating which parts of respective materials are used for the edition of contents and the input order of respective parts following contents preparator's edition work and transfers the prepared index file and respective materials to a server computer 20. A registration control part 21 in the computer 20 registers the index file and respective materials transferred from the edition part 12 in a disk device 23. While preparing the contents from the index file and respective materials registered in the device 23 in response to a user's request, a distribution control part 22 distributes the prepared contents.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
G (Motion Picture Experts
The present invention relates to a moving image data distribution system that distributes various contents composed of digital moving image data and the like compressed and coded according to the Group standard upon request, and in particular, efficiently converts digital moving image data constituting contents to be distributed. The present invention relates to a moving image data distribution system for storing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a VOD (Video On Demand) system is known as a system for distributing various contents composed of digital image data compressed and encoded according to the MPEG standard in response to a request from a user. FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of a moving image data distribution system including the VOD system.

[0003] As shown in FIG. 4, the moving image data distribution system includes an authoring computer 10 and a server computer 20, and the server computer 20 manages contents edited by the authoring computer 10.

The authoring computer 10 inputs a plurality of analog or digital materials (analog materials are digitally converted by the encoder 11) and edits the input plurality of materials in accordance with an instruction of a content creator. The content editing unit 12 partially captures moving image data from each material to create one content, and delivers the created edited content to the server computer 20.

[0005] On the other hand, the server computer 20 manages a plurality of titles of edited content and distributes the edited content in response to a request from a user. This server computer 20
The registration control unit 21 includes a registration control unit 21 and a distribution control unit 22. The registration control unit 21 registers the edited content delivered from the content editing unit 12 in the disk device 23. One of the distribution control units 22 The edited content registered in 23 is distributed in response to a user request.
Thus, the user can receive the distribution of the moving image data of the desired content at any time.

[0006]

By the way, the content composed of digital moving image data has a considerable data capacity (0.5 to 2 MB per second, for example) even by compression coding of the MPEG standard having a high compression rate. ), And efficient storage is essential to save the storage space of the disk device 23 of the server computer 20.

However, in the conventional moving image data distribution system described above, since the edited contents are registered in the disk device 23, for example, when there are a plurality of contents including the same portion of moving image data of the same material (the main edition and the digest) Such as the same version or the same ad with different ads inserted), the video data in that part would use up separate storage space, and although efficient storage would be possible Did not.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a moving image data distribution system that efficiently stores digital moving image data constituting a content.

[0009]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, instead of storing edited content in a disk device, a material itself and a content are created based on the material. Are stored in the disk device. The index file is created at the time of editing each content, and indicates which portion of the plurality of materials is captured and edited in each content.

According to the present invention, when distribution of moving image data of any content is requested, the content is created and distributed from a plurality of materials based on an index file corresponding to the content. It is.

In other words, according to the present invention, even when there are a plurality of contents including the same portion of moving image data of the same material, the moving image data of the portion is not redundantly stored, so Is efficiently stored.

When time management information is included in moving image data managed as a material, if the moving image data of these materials is partially fetched, edited and distributed, the reference time is skipped within the same content. Therefore, the user receiving such distribution of the moving image data cannot perform normal reproduction. Therefore, according to the present invention, the input material is reorganized into a format in which the time management information included in the moving image data is easily updated, and then stored in the disk device. The reference time is counted, and based on the counted reference time, the time management information included in the captured partial moving image data is updated and distributed. As a result, the user can reproduce the moving image data of the distributed content without any problem.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a moving image data distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the moving image data distribution system of this embodiment includes an authoring computer 10 and a server computer 20, and the server computer 20 manages contents edited by the authoring computer 10.

The authoring computer 10 is for inputting a plurality of analog or digital materials (analog materials are digitally converted by the encoder 11) and for creating contents based on the input plurality of materials. The content editing unit 12 creates an index file indicating which part of each material has been edited by taking in which part of each material in accordance with the editing work of the content creator. Server computer 20 for files and materials
Hand over to FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of an index file created by the content editing unit 12.

As shown in FIG. 2, the index file stores content identification information in a header portion, a material number for specifying a material in a data portion, and a fetching method in the material specified by the material number. A set consisting of a start point and a data length is stored in the editing order by the number of the moving image data partially captured. In other words, one piece of content can be created by fetching and editing partial moving image data from each material in the order indicated in the index file.

On the other hand, the server computer 20 manages the index file and the material, and creates and distributes the content from the index file and the material in response to a request from the user. The server computer 20 includes a registration control unit 21 and a distribution control unit 22. The registration control unit 21 registers the index file and the material passed from the content editing unit 12 in the disk device 23, and performs distribution control. Part 2
2 executes distribution while creating contents from the index file and the material registered in the disk device 23 in response to the user's request.

As described above, in the moving picture data distribution system of this embodiment, since the edited content is stored in the disk device 23 instead of being separately stored, the index file and the material are stored. Even if there are a plurality of contents including the moving image data, the moving image data of that portion is not redundantly stored.

For example, in the case of a material composed of digital moving image data compressed and encoded according to the MPEG standard or the like,
Time management information for reproducing at normal timing is recorded in the moving image data. For this reason, if these materials are registered in the disk device 23 as they are, and partial moving image data is fetched, edited, and distributed in the order indicated in the index file, the reference time becomes discontinuous in the same content. However, the user who receives the distribution of the moving image data of the content cannot perform normal reproduction.

Therefore, in the moving picture data distribution system of this embodiment, the content editing unit 12 of the authoring computer 10 reorganizes the time management information included in the moving picture data into a format that can be easily updated. Create an index file so that content can be created based on the material after re-editing. Then, the distribution control unit 22 of the server computer 20 counts the reference time from the time when the distribution of the content is started, and based on the counted reference time, the partial moving image data captured from the reorganized material. The time management information included in the URL is updated and distributed.

For example, the PS (Pro) shown in FIG.
In the "gram stream", since the elementary stream (ES), which is the main body of the MPEG data, is packetized (PES packetized) and time management information is added to each packet, the time management information can be easily updated. , TS (Transport) shown in FIG.
In (t Stream), when the elementary stream (ES), which is the main body of the MPEG data, is packetized (transport packetized), multiplexing is achieved, and time management information is not added to each packet but rather to some extent. It is difficult to update it because it is added as appropriate at intervals.

Therefore, in such a case, the content editing unit 12 is designed to unify the format of the material registered in the disk device 23 into a PES packet in which the time management information can be easily updated.
Reorganizes the material of the other format and creates an index file based on the reorganized material. Then, the distribution control unit 22 executes distribution while updating the time management information added to the PES packet based on the reference time counted by itself.

Thus, even when the time management information is distributed based on the material recorded in the moving image data and the moving image data is distributed, the time may be intermittent. Therefore, the user side can normally reproduce the moving image data of the distributed content.

[0023]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, instead of accumulating edited contents in a disk device as in the prior art, it is possible to create contents based on the material itself and the material. Since the index file is stored in the disk device, for example, even when there are a plurality of contents including the same part of the moving image data of the same material, the moving image data of the part is not redundantly stored. Efficient storage of content in the disk device will be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a moving image data distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing a configuration example of an index file created by a content editing unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining packetization of an elementary stream that is the main body of MPEG data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional moving image data distribution system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Authoring on computer 11 ... Encoder 12 ... Content editing part 20 ... Server computer 21 ... Registration control part 22 ... Distribution control part 23 ... Disk device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/781

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A moving image data distribution system that stores moving image data of at least one or more contents in a disk device and immediately starts distribution of the moving image data of the stored contents when requested. In the moving image data distribution system in which the content is created by editing partial moving image data taken from a plurality of materials, an index file indicating which part of the plurality of materials is taken and edited in which order A moving image data distribution system, comprising: an editing unit that creates a file for each of the contents; and a registration unit that registers the index file and the plurality of materials created by the editing unit in the disk device. 2. When distribution of moving image data of any content is requested, reference is made to the index file corresponding to the content, and partial moving images are read from the plurality of materials in the order indicated in the index file. 2. The moving picture data distribution system according to claim 1, further comprising a distribution unit that fetches and distributes the data. 3. A moving image data distribution system which stores moving image data of at least one or more contents in a disk device and immediately starts distribution of the moving image data of the stored contents when requested. In the moving image data distribution system in which the content is created by editing partial moving image data taken from a plurality of materials, an index file indicating which part of the plurality of materials is taken and edited in which order Editing means for creating the content for each of the contents, registration means for registering the index file created by the editing means and the plurality of materials in the disk device, and when distribution of video data of any content is requested Then, refer to the index file corresponding to the content, and And a distribution means for fetching and distributing partial moving image data from the plurality of materials in the order indicated in the index file. 4. The moving picture data distribution according to claim 1, wherein said editing means has means for reorganizing said material into a format that can easily update time management information included in the moving picture data. system. 5. The distribution means for counting a reference time of moving image data from the time when distribution is started, and time management information included in the captured partial moving image data based on the counted reference time. 5. The moving image data distribution system according to claim 4, further comprising: means for updating the moving image data.