JPH1196734A - Editing system, display device and computer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily grasp from what a base material an editing result clip is generated by displaying a link state between the editing result clip and an editing objective clip as a tree window. SOLUTION: As to an editing result clip and an editing objective clip, the respective clips are controlled by a hierarchical structure based on an upper/ lower relation between the clips and a link state between the clips is displayed. For instance, when a module corresponding to synthetic processing is started, a GUI(graphical user interface) shown in a figure is displayed. Since a clip registered as a clip data base is displayed on a clip tree window 31 and a library window 33, when operation according to a picture of a time line window 34 is performed, the clip becoming a base material is designated and the required synthetic processing is performed easily. Even when editing contents are revised, the load of an operator is reduced and editing work is performed successively, surely and easily.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[Table of Contents] The present invention will be described in the following order.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems Embodiments of the Invention (1) Overall Configuration of Editing System (FIG. 1) (2) Configuration of Work Station ( (2) (3) Principle of editing in editing system (3-1) Basic configuration of application software for editing (FIG. 3) (3-2) Definition of clip (FIG. 4) (3-3) Synthesis Principle of processing (FIGS. 5 to 7) (3-4) Principle of special effect processing (FIG. 8) (3-5) Principle of editing processing (FIG. 9) (4) Graphic display displayed as GUI (4- 1) GUI when activating the synthesis module (FIG. 10) (4-2) GUI when activating the special effect module
(FIG. 11) (4-3) GUI when editing module is activated (FIG. 12) (5) Clip management data management method in clip database (FIGS. 13 to 20) (6) Various processing procedures in editing system ( (FIGS. 21 to 29) (7) Operation and Effect of Editing System Effect of the Invention

[0003]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an editing system, a display device, and a computer device, and is particularly suitable for application to an editing system that performs an editing process using a plurality of materials.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the field of post-production for editing video data obtained from a video camera, a non-linear editing system using a disk as a recording medium for recording material data has been proposed. Various types of editing processing exist as editing processing performed in this non-linear editing system. For example, a video editing process for creating a desired video program by connecting a plurality of materials, a combining process for combining a plurality of materials by a key signal, and a special effect process for performing a special effect process on the materials. There are effect processing and the like. Generally, the video editing process is performed by an editing device, the synthesizing process is performed by a video switch, and the special effect process is performed by a special effect device.

[0005] With the recent improvement in the random accessibility of disk-shaped recording media, it is possible to simultaneously access a plurality of channels, and as a result, there is a demand for an editing process for processing video data of a plurality of channels in real time. It has become so. For example, in the editing industry for creating TV commercials, the editing industry for creating movie programs, etc., it is necessary to use tens to hundreds of materials for editing and use different types of editing in combination. Is required. Further, it has been required to generate sophisticated and complicated editing result data by repeating these plural kinds of editing processes many times.

[0006]

However, in order to create such sophisticated and complicated editing result data, dozens to hundreds of materials must be managed and the editing process history must be stored. should not. However, the conventional editing system does not have a device for managing such a large number of materials and a device for storing the editing history, and as a result,
Editing operations were complicated. More specifically, information indicating what kind of material the editing result video data has been generated and what kind of editing processing is performed is referred to as an editing operator (hereinafter simply referred to as an operator).
Since it is impossible to store such information, in the conventional editing system, each time an editing operation is performed, the operator writes such information on paper and manages it. In addition, if a complex editing process is performed such that the editing process such as generating newer editing result video data from a plurality of editing result video data is repeated many times, the final editing result video data is The information indicating the editing history indicating whether the information has been created from a large amount of data has become a huge amount of data, and it has been impossible for the operator to even write and manage the information on paper.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to propose an editing system, a display device, and a computer device capable of easily grasping from which material an editing result clip is generated. Is what you do.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an editing system for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, the editing system comprising a plurality of processing modules for editing the clips to be edited. Editing means for generating an editing result clip by performing an editing process corresponding to a processing module selected from the plurality of processing modules on an editing target clip;
Management means for managing the edit result clip and a plurality of edit target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a hierarchical structure by the management means to indicate from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. A graphical user interface including a tree window for indicating a link state of a plurality of clips managed so as to be displayed and a timeline window for indicating an editing section of a clip to be edited on a time axis. And display control means for displaying the information.

Further, according to the present invention, in a display device for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, the display device comprises a plurality of processing modules for editing the clip to be edited, and is selected from the plurality of processing modules. An editing means for generating an edit result clip by performing an edit process corresponding to a processing module on an edit target clip, and an edit means for indicating from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. Management means for managing the edit result clips and the plurality of edit target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a tree window for indicating a link state of the plurality of clips managed in a hierarchical structure by the management means. And a timeline window for indicating the editing section of the clip to be edited on the time axis. The graphical user INTERFACE to be provided and display control means for displaying on Deisupurei.

According to the present invention, in a computer device for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, the computer device comprises a plurality of processing modules for editing the clip to be edited, and is selected from the plurality of processing modules. An editing means for generating an edit result clip by performing an edit process corresponding to a processing module on an edit target clip, and an edit means for indicating from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. Management means for managing the edit result clips and the plurality of edit target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a tree window for indicating a link state of the plurality of clips managed in a hierarchical structure by the management means. , Timeline window for showing the edit section of the clip to be edited on the time axis The graphical user INTERFACE containing to be provided and display control means for displaying on Deisupurei.

As described above, the editing result clip and the clip to be edited are managed in a hierarchical structure, and the link state between these clips is displayed on the display as a tree window, so that the clip between the clips is displayed on the display. Since the link state is displayed, by looking at this display, it is possible to easily grasp from which material the editing result clip was generated.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Editing System First, the overall configuration of an editing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an editing system according to the present invention as a whole, and includes a workstation 2 for controlling the entire system. The workstation 2 is a CPU (central processing unit).
, A main unit 2A including a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, etc., a display 2B connected to the main body 2A, and a keyboard 2
C, a mouse 2D, and a pen tablet 2E. In such a workstation 2, application software for editing is installed in a hard disk drive in advance, and the workstation 2 is activated as an editing computer by operating the application software under an operating system. It has been made to be.

By the way, when this application software is operated, the GUI is displayed on the display 2B.
A graphic display for I (graphical user interface) is displayed;
If a desired graphic display to be displayed on the display 2B is selected using the above-described pen tablet 2E or mouse 2D, a desired editing command can be input to the workstation 2. . Various numerical data related to editing can also be input to the workstation 2 via the keyboard 2C.

The work station 2 outputs control data corresponding to the edit command and various numerical data to a device controller 3 to be described later when an edit command and various numerical data are input by an operation of an operator. Thus, each device constituting the editing system 1 can be controlled via the device controller 3. However, some functions of the video disk recorder 5 can be directly controlled without the intervention of the device controller 3.

Video data is input to the workstation 2 via the device controller 3 so that an image of an edited material or an edited image can be displayed on the display 2B. ing.

The device controller 3 is a control device that receives control data from the work station 2 and actually controls each device. A dedicated controller 4 having a dial operator, a slide operator, and the like is connected to the device controller 3, so that the editing system 1 has a keyboard 2C, a mouse 2D, or a pen tablet 2E of the work station 2. Thus, it is possible to input gradually changing control data that cannot be input.

The device controller 3 receives control data from the workstation 2 or the dedicated controller 4 and controls a device corresponding to the control data. For example, with respect to the video disk recorder 5, the device controller 3 instructs reproduction of the material and recording of the edited material. The video disk recorder 5 receiving this instruction,
According to the instruction, the video data and the audio data of the desired material recorded on the internal disk-shaped recording medium are reproduced and output, or the edited video data and audio data are recorded on the disk-shaped recording medium. I do.

Similarly, a video tape recorder (VTR)
6, the device controller 3 instructs reproduction of the material. Video tape recorder 6 receiving this instruction
Reproduces and outputs video data and audio data of a desired material recorded on an internal video tape according to the instruction. In the case of the editing system 1, the video data recorded on the video tape recorder 6 is once downloaded to the video disk recorder 5 and then treated as video data of the material.

The device controller 3 instructs the switch 7 to select video data output from the video disk recorder 5, video tape recorder 6, or video camera 8. In response to the instruction, the switch 7 selects the video data of the desired material to be input and outputs it to the digital multi-function rectifier 9 or outputs it to the work station 2 via the device controller 3. Alternatively, video data of a desired material to be input is sequentially selected and joined, or edited video data is output to the monitor 10 for display.
The edited video data is transferred to Video Disc Recorder 5
And record it.

The device controller 3 instructs the digital multi-effector 9 to perform various effect processing. Upon receiving the instruction, the digital multi-effect rectifier 9 performs special effect processing such as mosaic processing and three-dimensional image conversion processing and transition effect processing on the input video data of the desired material. And the like, and the resulting video data is returned to the switch 7 again and output to the work station 2, the monitor 10, the video disk recorder 5, or the like.

The device controller 3 instructs the audio mixer 11 to edit audio data output from the video disk recorder 5 or the video tape recorder 6. Upon receiving the instruction, the audio mixer 11 synthesizes (mixes) the desired audio material in accordance with the instruction, and returns the synthesized audio data to the video disk recorder 5 again for recording.

Thus, in the editing system 1 having such a configuration, by inputting a desired editing command via the work station 2, various kinds of plural recordings recorded on the video disk recorder 5 and the video tape recorder 6 are made. It has been made possible to easily create sophisticated and complicated desired video data using video data of a material. As a result, various edits can be performed only by operating the workstation 2 without directly operating the devices constituting the editing system as in the related art, and the number of edit-related operations is reduced as compared with the related art. And the usability of the editing system can be improved.

(2) Configuration of the workstation In this section, the configuration of the workstation 2 which is the main component of the editing system 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the workstation 2 includes a system bus 20 for transmitting command data and video data, a CPU 21 for controlling the entire workstation 2, and video data S 1 supplied from the device controller 3. A video processor 22 for performing processing and the like; a display controller 23 for managing video data displayed on the display 2B and a graphic display for a GUI; an HDD interface 24 for controlling a local hard disk drive (local HDD) 24A; F for controlling a two-disk drive (FDD) 25A
DD interface 25, keyboard 2C, mouse 2
D and a pointing device interface 26 for generating a control command based on a command from a pointing device such as a pen tablet 2E, and an external device having a software driver for transmitting control data S2 to the device controller 3. An interface 27 is provided.

The system bus 20 is a bus for transmitting video data, command data, address data, and the like inside the workstation 2, and includes an image data bus 20A for transmitting video data, a command data and an address. A command data bus 20B for transmitting data.

The CPU 21, the video processor 22, the display controller 23, the display controller 23, the HDD interface 24, and the FDD interface 25 are connected to the image data bus 20A, respectively. The face 24 and the FDD interface 25 transmit video data via the image data bus 20A.

On the other hand, the command data bus 20B has C
PU21, video processor 22, display controller 2
3, HDD interface 24, FDD interface 25, pointing device interface 2
6 and the external interface 27 are connected to each other (that is, all the blocks inside the workstation 2 are connected), and the command data bus 20 is connected.
Command data and address data are transmitted via B.

The CPU 21 is a block for controlling the entire work station 2, and a ROM 21 in which an operating system of the work station 2 is stored.
A, and a RAM 21B for storing uploaded application software, a database, and the like. When starting work station 2,
The CPU 21 is activated by operating based on the operating system stored in the ROM 21A. When starting the application software under the operating system being started, the CPU 21 first reads the application software recorded on the hard disk of the hard disk drive 24A and uploads the application software to the RAM 21B. , The application software is executed and activated.

The application software is divided into modules for each function and is made into a module. As will be described later, the application software is largely divided into an editing module for connecting materials and the like and a material overlapping and the like. Combination module for performing compositing processing, special effect module for performing special effect processing such as three-dimensional image conversion of materials, etc., and management of activation of these modules and transfer of data between modules And a control module. That is, in the case of this system,
When you start the application software,
First, the control module is activated, and when an editing instruction is input from the operator, a corresponding module (editing module, composite module, or special effect module) is appropriately activated under the control of the control module, and the operator instructs the module. Editing has been done.

The video processor 22 is provided with an SDI (Serial Digital Interface) input to the workstation 2.
e) A block for receiving the standard video data S1, performing data conversion on the video data S1, and temporarily buffering the converted video data. Specifically, the video processor 22
Is a processor controller 22A for controlling the entire video processor 22, and the received video data S
A data converter 22 for extracting a composite video signal from the payload section 1 and converting the composite video signal into digital component video data.
B and a frame memory 22 for temporarily storing video data of several frames transmitted from the data conversion unit 22B.
And C.

The processor controller 22A controls the data conversion operation of the data conversion unit 22B by sending a control signal to the data conversion unit 22B, and transmits the time code from the video data S1 to the data conversion unit 22B. Let it be extracted. The processor controller 22A sends a control signal to the frame memory 22C to read / read the frame memory 22C.
Controls write timing and read / write address. Incidentally, regarding the read timing, the processor controller 22A controls the read timing of the frame memory 22C so that the time code transmitted to the display controller 23 and the video data (frame data) correspond to each other.

The data converter 22B converts a composite video signal into digital component video data based on a control signal from the processor controller 22A. Incidentally, the time code is extracted in this conversion process. The video data obtained by this conversion is sent to the frame memory 22C as described above, and the extracted time code is sent to the processor controller 22C.
A is sent to A.

The frame memory 22C has a data conversion unit 2
The video data supplied from 2B is temporarily stored.
The read / write timing of the frame memory 22C is controlled by the processor controller 22A as described above. The frame memory 22C is composed of at least two frame memories, and is capable of storing at least two frames of video data.

The video data stored in the frame memory 22C is read based on the read control of the processor controller 22A. At this time, the image size is made smaller than the original image by reading out the video data stored in the frame memory 22C, instead of reading out all pixels, at a predetermined interval. The video data whose image size has been converted in this way is displayed on a predetermined display area of the display 2B for checking the material or the editing result, and is thus sent to the display controller 23 via the image data bus 20A.

The display controller 23 is a display 2
B is a control block for controlling data displayed on B. The display controller 23 is a memory controller 23
A and VRAM (Video Random Access Memory)
23B. The memory controller 23A operates in accordance with the internal synchronization of the
Read / write timing is controlled. This VRAM
23B, the frame memory 2 of the video processor 22
The video data sent from the 2C and the image data generated by the CPU 21 are stored in the memory controller 2.
It is stored based on the timing control signal from 3A.
The video data and image data stored in the VRAM 23B are read out based on a timing control signal from the memory controller 23A based on the internal synchronization of the workstation 2, and displayed on the display 2B.

In this case, the graphic display based on the image data is the graphic display for the GUI. Incidentally, the image data transmitted from the CPU 21 to the VRAM 23B is, for example, image data such as a window, a cursor, a scroll bar, or an icon indicating a device.

Thus, in the workstation 2, by displaying these image data and video data on the display 2B, the display 2 is displayed.
B displays a GUI for operation by an operator, a material, or an image of an edited result.

The HDD interface 24 is an interface block for communicating with a local hard disk drive 24A provided inside the workstation 2. The HDD interface 24 and the hard disk drive 24A are connected to a SCSI (Small Computer).
Communication is performed based on the transmission format of the System Interface).

Application software to be started on the workstation 2 is installed in the hard disk drive 24A. When the application software is executed, the application software is read from the hard disk drive 24A and read from the CPU 21. Is uploaded to the RAM 21B. When terminating the application software, the RAM 21
Various information (for example, information on a database relating to editing material) generated by the editing operation stored in B is downloaded to the hard disk via the hard disk drive 24A.

The FDD interface 25 is an interface block for communicating with a floppy disk drive 25A provided inside the workstation 2. The FDD interface 25 and the floppy disk drive 25A communicate with each other based on a SCSI transmission format.

The pointing device interface 26 is an interface block for receiving information from a keyboard 2C, a mouse 2D, and a pen tablet 2E connected to the workstation 2. Pointing device interface 26 is keyboard 2C
Receives the input information from the buttons provided in the CPU, decodes the received input information, and sends it to the CPU 21. Similarly, the pointing device interface 26
Receives, from the mouse 2D, the detection information of the two-dimensional rotary encoder provided on the mouse 2D and the click information of the left and right buttons provided on the mouse 2D (ie, the selection designation information by pressing the button). The information is decoded and sent to the CPU 21. Similarly, the pointing device interface 26
The CPU receives two-dimensional position data from the pen tablet 2E, decodes the received position data, and
21. Based on such information from the pointing device interface 26, the CPU 21
Can recognize which command button of the GUI displayed on the display 2B has been instructed, can recognize various data input from the keyboard 2C, and can perform control corresponding thereto.

The external interface 27 is a device controller 3 connected to the outside of the workstation 2.
This is a block to communicate with. The external interface 27 has a driver for converting various control commands, such as a reproduction command and a recording command, generated by the CPU 21 into data of a predetermined communication protocol, and transmits control command data S2 to the device controller 3 via the driver. To send to.

(3) Principle of Editing in Editing System In this section, the principle of editing in the editing system 1 will be described step by step.

(3-1) Basic Configuration of Editing Application Software First, in this section, the basic configuration of editing application software prepared in the workstation 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, in the editing system 1, editing application software modularized for each function is prepared in the workstation 2. This modularized application software can be broadly divided into an editing module EM that performs editing processing such as material joining processing, a synthesis module CM that performs synthesis processing such as material overlapping processing, and a composite module CM. A special effect module SM for performing special effect processing, an edit module EM and a composite module C which are modularized for each of these functions.
M and a control module CNTM that manages the activation of the special effect module SM and the like. When the application software having such a configuration is uploaded from the hard disk drive 24A to the RAM 21B, first, the control module CNTM is started, and
Under the control of the control module CNTM, each of the modules EM, CM, and SM is appropriately activated according to an instruction from an operator.

The clip database CDB is constituted by the video disk recorder 5 and the RAM 21B.
It stores video data of materials and various data related to editing. Each of the modules EM, CM, and SM reads the material specified by the operator from the clip database CDB, and uses the hardware such as the above-described switch 7 and digital multi-function rectifier 9 to send an instruction to the material to the operator. The corresponding editing is performed, and the resulting edited material is registered in the clip database CDB. Each of the modules EM, CM, and SM also registers editing-related data, such as various parameters used for editing, in the clip database CDB. As the clip database CDB, mainly video data of the material is stored in the video disk recorder 5, and various data relating to editing is stored in the RAM 21B.

(3-2) Definition of Clip In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, each material is handled in a unit called a clip. This section defines this clip. In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, one sequence of video moving image data is defined as clip video data, and data for managing how the clip video data is generated is defined as clip management data. Data consisting of these clip video data and clip management data is defined as a clip. In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, a material generated by simply cutting out the source video data is called a material clip (MC), and a material generated by editing the material clip is referred to as a result clip (F).
C).

In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, a plurality of clips composed of material clips and result clips are managed in a hierarchical structure based on the relationship between the clips. This will be described below with reference to the example shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the result clip FC-0
08 is a material clip MC-001, a material clip MC
-002 and material clip MC-003 are generated by synthesizing three material clips. That is, the relationship between the result clip FC-008, the material clip MC-001, the material clip MC-002, and the material clip MC-003 is in a vertical relationship. In such a vertical relationship, the material clip MC
−001, the material clip MC-002 and the material clip MC-003 are called lower clips, respectively, because they are under the result clip FC-008. Conversely, the result clip FC-008 is generated by integrating these lower clips. It is called a higher-level clip because of its

Similarly, the result clip FC-009 is a clip generated by applying a special effect to the material clip MC-004. Therefore, the material clip MC-004 is a lower clip of the result clip FC-009, and conversely, the result clip FC-009 is a higher clip of the material clip MC-004.

The result clip FC-010 is a result clip generated by editing the result clip FC-008 and the result clip FC-009 (in this case, connecting them by, for example, a wipe). . Therefore, the result clip FC-008 and the result clip FC
-099 is a lower clip of the result clip FC-010, and the result clip FC-010 is a higher clip of the result clip FC-008 and the result clip FC-009.

As described above, there is a vertical relationship between the clips. In this editing system 1, the clip database C
The DB manages the clips in a hierarchical structure based on the hierarchical relationship between the clips. In addition,
Material clips that are not used in any editing processing are not related to other clips, but such material clips are managed as having no link destination. Further, the example shown here is merely an example, and there are naturally other combinations as the vertical relationship between clips.

(3-3) Principle of Combining Process Next, in this section, the principle of the combining process performed by the combining module CM will be described. The result clip F shown in FIG.
The video image of C-008 is the material clip MC-0.
01, material clip MC-002 and material clip MC
-003 is generated by synthesizing (i.e., composite processing) the video image. FIGS. 5 and 6 show the principle of this synthesis processing. FIG. 5 shows a state in which video images of three material clips MC-001, MC-002, and MC-003 are combined, and FIG.
Result clip FC-008 generated by synthesis processing
Represents a video image.

In the editing system 1 according to the present invention,
When combining a plurality of clips, each clip is regarded as one layer (that is, a layer), and the combining process is performed by overlapping the layers. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the material clip MC- is used as the first layer L1.
003 is specified, the material clip MC-002 is specified as the second layer L2, and the material clip MC-001 is specified as the third layer L3. Each layer L1, L
When combining the material clips assigned to the layers 2 and L3, the layers L2 and L3 are sequentially superimposed on the layer L1 as the lowermost layer. That is, the material clip MC designated as the first layer L1
A video image (for example, an image representing a person) of the material clip MC-002 designated as the second layer L2 is overlaid on the video image of -003 (for example, an image representing a background), and combined. A video image of the material clip MC-001 specified as the third layer L3 (for example, an image representing a character) is superimposed on the video image thus synthesized and synthesized. By such a combining process, a clip FC-008 can be generated as a result of a video image in which three materials overlap as shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the material clips M assigned to the three layers L1 to L3, respectively.
Although an example in which C-003, MC-002, and MC-001 are combined has been described, in the editing system 1 according to the present invention, a maximum of 10 layers can be secured. Ten material clips respectively assigned from L1 to the tenth layer L10 can be synthesized. Incidentally, in this case, the first layer L1 is the lowermost layer, and the tenth layer L10 having the largest layer number is the uppermost layer.

Next, the synthesizing process will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows a material clip M designated as the first layer L1 with time in the horizontal axis direction.
A state in which a result clip FC-008 is generated by a combining process of C-003, the material clip MC-002 specified as the second layer L2, and the material clip MC-001 specified as the third layer L3. Is shown. As shown in FIG. 7, the result clip FC-008
In the above, the editing start point (hereinafter, referred to as an "in point") and the editing end point (hereinafter, referred to as an "out point") of each material clip and a change point of each parameter such as synthesis or image conversion are defined as first points. Are set from the editing point EP1 to the eighth editing point EP8.

The first editing point EP1 is a material clip MC-
003, the second editing point EP2 indicates the in-point IN2 of the material clip MC-002, and the fourth editing point EP4 indicates the in-point IN of the material clip MC-001.
1 is shown. A sixth edit point EP6 indicates an out point OUT2 of the material clip MC-002, and a seventh edit point EP7 indicates the out point OUT2 of the material clip MC-001.
1 and the eighth edit point EP8 is the material clip MC-0.
An out point OUT3 of 03 is shown. The third editing point EP3 and the fifth editing point EP5 are editing points set to change the synthesis parameters of each layer.
Details of these editing points EP3 and EP5 will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 7, each clip has a unique internal time code starting from the head position of the video data of each clip. For example, the material clip MC-003 specified as the first layer L1 has an internal timeline t3 starting from the head position S3 of the video data, and the material clip MC-002 specified as the second layer L2 is Start position S2 of video data
, And has an internal timeline t2, and a material clip MC-001 designated as the third layer L3.
Has an internal timeline t1 starting from the head position S1 of the video data.

Similarly, the result clip FC-008
Has an internal time line t8 starting from the head position S8 of the video data, and the time codes of the above-mentioned first to eighth editing points EP1 to EP8 correspond to the time lines of the result clip FC-008, respectively. It is defined by the time code on t8.

In-point IN3 of material clip MC-003
And the out point OUT3 are respectively set to the material clip MC-
003 is defined by a time line t3, and these time codes are respectively "00:31:02" and "00:31".
05:18:02 ". Therefore, the time code of this IN point IN3 is the first code in the result clip FC-008.
Corresponds to the time code "00: 00: 00: 00" of the edit point EP1, and the time code of the out point OUT3 is the time code "00: 04: 47: 00" of the eighth edit point EP8 in the result clip FC-008. "Is supported.

Similarly, the in-point IN2 and the out-point OUT2 of the material clip MC-002 are respectively defined by the timeline t2 of the material clip MC-002, and these time codes are respectively "00: 00: 00: 51". : 0
0 "and" 00: 03: 04: 20 ". Therefore, the time code of this IN point IN2 is the result clip FC-00.
8, the time code “00: 0” of the second editing point EP2
0:42:20 "and the time code at the OUT point OUT2 is the sixth edit point E in the result clip FC-008.
It corresponds to the time code "00: 02: 59: 20" of P6.

Similarly, the in-point IN1 and the out-point OUT1 of the material clip MC-001 are respectively defined by the time line t1 of the material clip MC-001, and these time codes are respectively "00:01:40". : 0
3 "and" 00: 02: 45: 48 ". Therefore, the time code of this in-point IN1 is the result clip FC-00.
8, the time code "00: 0" of the fourth edit point EP4
1:56:00 ”, and the time code of the out point OUT1 is the seventh edit point E in the result clip FC-008.
It corresponds to P7 time code "00: 03: 19: 45".

When the result clip FC-008 is reproduced, the video image of the material clip MC-003 is output during the period from the first editing point EP1 to the second editing point EP2, and the second editing point EP2 is output. To the fourth editing point E
In the period up to P4, a video image in which the material clip MC-002 is synthesized is output on the material clip MC-003, and the fourth editing point EP4 to the sixth editing point EP are output.
In the period up to 6, the material clip MC-002 and the material clip MC-001 are placed on the material clip MC-003.
Is output, and during the period from the sixth editing point EP6 to the seventh editing point EP7, a video image in which the material clip MC-001 is synthesized on the material clip MC-003 is output. , The seventh editing point E
During the period from P7 to the eighth editing point EP8, a video image of the material clip MC-003 is output.

It should be noted that the synthesizing process described here is merely an example, and there are naturally other combinations of clips to be synthesized.

(3-4) Principle of Special Effect Processing Subsequently, in this section, the principle of the special effect processing performed by the special effect module SM will be described. The result clip FC-009 shown in FIG. 4 is a clip generated by performing a special effect process on the material clip MC-004.
Here, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, material clip M
For C-004, mosaic effect, crop effect, 3
The principle of the special effect processing will be described with reference to FIG. 8 assuming that the four special effect processings of the two-dimensional image conversion and the trail effect are performed.

As shown in FIG. 8, in this example, for the material clip MC-004, the mosaic effect is designated as the first special effect E1, and the crop effect is designated as the second special effect E2. 3 as the third special effect E3
Two-dimensional image conversion is specified, and the trail effect is specified as the fourth special effect E4.

In this case, the mosaic effect is an effect in which a video image is divided into tile-like small pieces and looks like a mosaic image. In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, the parameter relating to the mosaic effect can be set to an arbitrary value, so that the size and aspect ratio of the tile-shaped piece can be set to an arbitrary value. It has become.

The crop effect is an effect of cutting out a part of a video image by reducing an image frame, and is also called a cut-out effect because a part of a video image is cut out. Editing system 1 according to the present invention
In this example, the parameter relating to the crop effect can be set to an arbitrary value, whereby the position of the right side and the left side, the position of the upper side and the lower side, and the degree of blurring of the edge can be arbitrarily set. It is like that.

A three-dimensional image conversion (3-Dimensional Transfor
m) is an effect of virtually converting an image in a three-dimensional space. For example, if the horizontal direction of the image is defined as the X axis, the vertical direction is defined as the Y axis, and the depth direction is defined as the Z axis, the image is rotated with the X axis, the Y axis or the Z axis as the rotation axis, or the X axis, Image conversion for moving an image in the Y-axis or Z-axis direction. In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, the parameter relating to the three-dimensional image conversion can be set to an arbitrary value, whereby an arbitrary image conversion can be performed.

The trail effect is to freeze an image as a still image at a predetermined interval when moving the image spatially,
This is an effect that leaves the frozen image as an afterimage, and is generally called a recursive effect. In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, the parameter relating to the trail effect can be set to an arbitrary value, so that the interval at which the image is frozen and the period during which the image is left as an afterimage can be arbitrarily set. It has become.

Also in this special effect processing, as shown in FIG. 8, in the result clip FC-009, the editing start point (in point) and the editing end point (out point) of the material clip and the image A first editing point EP1 to a seventh editing point EP7 are set as conversion parameter change points.

The first editing point EP1 is a material clip MC-
The fourth edit point EP4 indicates the start point of the trail effect, the second edit point EP2 indicates the start point of the three-dimensional image conversion, and the fourth edit point EP4 indicates the start point of the trail effect. The seventh edit point EP7 indicates the out point OUT4 of the material clip MC-004, the end point of the mosaic effect, the end point of the crop effect, the end point of the three-dimensional image conversion, and the end point of the trail effect. The third
The edit point EP3, the fifth edit point EP5, and the sixth edit point EP6 are edit points set to change the conversion parameters of the three-dimensional image conversion. These editing points EP
Details of 3, EP5 and EP6 will be described later.

In the case of the special effect, similarly to the case of the synthesis processing, the material clip MC-004 and the result clip FC-
No. 009 has internal time lines t4 and t9 each represented by a unique internal time code starting from the head position of the video data of each clip, and includes the above-mentioned first to seventh editing points EP1 to EP9. The time code of the edit point EP7 is defined by the time code on the time line t9 of the result clip FC-009.

In-point IN4 of material clip MC-004
And the out point OUT4 are respectively set to the material clip MC-
004 are defined by time line t4, and these time codes are respectively "00: 10: 12: 00" and "00:00".
12:18:00 ". Therefore, the time code of this IN point IN4 is the first code in the result clip FC-009.
Corresponds to the time code "00: 00: 00: 00" of the edit point EP1, and the time code of the out point OUT4 is the time code "00: 02: 06: 00" of the seventh edit point EP7 in the result clip FC-009. "Is supported.

As shown in FIG. 8, the start point of the mosaic effect designated as the first special effect E1 is that the time code in the result clip FC-009 is "00:
00:00:00 "and the first editing point EP1.
The end point of the mosaic effect is the result clip FC-0
The seventh edit point EP7 at which the time code at 09 is “00: 02: 06: 00”.

Similarly, as shown in FIG. 8, the start point of the crop effect designated as the second special effect E2 is that the time code in the result clip FC-009 is "00: 00: 00: 00". And the end point of the crop effect is that the time code in the result clip FC-009 is “00:02:06:
00 "at the seventh editing point EP7.

The start point of the three-dimensional image conversion designated as the third special effect E3 is the result clip FC-
The time code at 009 is the second editing point EP2 at which "00: 00: 12: 03" is reached, and the end point of the three-dimensional image conversion is that the time code at the result clip FC-009 is "00:02: 06:00 ", the seventh editing point E
It is P7.

The starting point of the trail effect designated as the fourth special effect E4 is the result clip FC-0.
The time code at the time 09 is the fourth editing point EP4 at which the time code is "00: 01: 02: 50", and the end point of the trail effect is at the time point at which the time code at the result clip FC-009 is "00:02:06: 00 "7th edit point EP

(4-2) GUI when Activating Special Effect Module Next, this section describes the GUI when the special effect module SM is activated. In the editing system 1, when the special effect module SM is activated, a graphic display as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display 2B of the workstation 2 as the GUI of the special effect module SM.

As shown in FIG. 11, the GUI of the special effect module SM is roughly divided into a menu window 30, a clip tree window 31, an effect selection window 40, and a library window 3.
3, a timeline window 41, a parameter setting window 42, and a preview screen display window 36
, A device control window 37, an editing content display window 38, and a control command window 39.

The GU of this special effect module SM
Among the windows displayed in I, the menu window 30, the clip tree window 31, the library window 33, and the preview screen display window 3
6. The device control window 37, the editing content display window 38, and the control command window 39 are the same as those in the case of the above-described composite module CM, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

First, the effect selection window 40 is an area for selecting a special effect to be applied to video data of a clip, and displays command buttons for various special effects. In this case, as the command buttons to be displayed, a 3D button for designating a three-dimensional image conversion, a trail button for designating a trail process for adding an afterimage, a video image attached to a cubic surface and rotated. A button for designating a shadow process to add a shadow to video data, a shadow button for designating a shadow process to add shadow to video data, a mix button for designating a mix process for mixing video data,
A light button for designating light processing for adding a shadow to an object by being exposed to light from one direction, a crop button for designating crop processing for cutting out a predetermined range of video data, and the like are provided.

In the effect selection window 40, a horizontal scroll button 40A is displayed at the lower side of the area.
By operating, the displayed command button can be scrolled in the left-right direction. Similarly, an up / down scroll button 40B is displayed at the right side position of the effect selection window 40. By operating the scroll button 40B, the displayed command button can be scrolled up / down. I have.

The effect selection window 40 as described above
In order to select a desired special effect, the user designates an edit point to which the special effect is to be applied in the timeline window 41, and clicks a command button corresponding to the desired special effect. Has been specified.

The timeline window 41 is an area for arranging clips to be edited on the time axis and designating editing contents. As the timeline window 41 displayed by the special effect module SM, the one related to the special effect processing is naturally displayed. The timeline window 41 is roughly divided into a time code display area (Time Code) and an edit point display area (Edit Poi
nt), a preview range display area (Preview), and a clip and special effect designation area (L1 to L10).

The time code display area is an area where the time code at the editing point is displayed. The time code is a time code on the time line of the result clip generated based on the editing content specified in the time line window 41.

The edit point display area is an area in which points set as edit points are indicated by triangular marks. For example, when the special effect processing as shown in FIGS. 4 and 8 is designated, the editing points EP1 to EP
7 is indicated using a triangle mark.

The preview range display area is an area indicating the range of video data displayed on the preview screen display window 36 when the above-mentioned preview button or the view button is operated. In this example, edit point E
From P1 to edit point EP7 (that is, result clip FC
−009) is set as the display range.
A bar indicating that section is displayed.

The clip and special effect designation area is an area for designating a special effect to be applied to the clip for each layer. In the editing system 1, ten layers from a layer L1 to a layer L10 are prepared, and a clip to be subjected to the special effect processing can be designated for each of the layers. The special effect processing can be specified for each. Note that the clip and special effect designation area has a limited display range (approximately two layers as shown in the figure), and all layers L1 to L
10 cannot be displayed. However, by operating the scroll button 41A displayed on the right side of the clip and special effect designation area, the clip and special effect designation area can be scrolled up and down, thereby displaying a desired layer. You can get it.

Each of the layers L1 to L10 has four special effect designation areas (E1 to E4), a video area (Video) for designating a clip to which a special effect is applied, and
It is divided into a key area (Key) for designating key processing for the clip. The special effect designation area is an area for designating a special effect to be applied to a clip registered in the video area. Since four special effects are provided in one layer, four special effects are provided for one clip. Special effects can be specified at the same time. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when mosaic processing is designated as the special effect E1, crop processing is designated as the special effect E2, three-dimensional image conversion is designated as the special effect E3, and trail processing is designated as the special effect E4. Clip MC-0 specified in the video area
04 can be subjected to the four special effect processes.

When a special effect is to be set in the special effect designation area, a range in which the special effect is to be applied is specified by designating an editing point in advance, and then a desired command button in the effect selection window 40 is set. If clicked, a cell indicating the selected special effect is displayed. If the cell is placed in the special effect designation area, the special effect is automatically set.

When a clip is set in the video area, the clip to be edited is first clicked on the clip displayed on the library window 33 or by clicking on the clip displayed on the clip tree window 31. select. When such processing is performed, a cell indicating the selected clip is displayed. If this cell is placed at a desired position in the video area,
Clips can be set for the video area.

When key processing is set in the key area, first, when the "Key" portion of the key area is clicked, the effect selection window 40 is switched to the key window 32 described above. Click the key button to select key processing. When such a process is performed, a cell indicating the selected key process is displayed. If the cell is placed in the key area,
The key processing is set automatically.

When the result clip already placed in the video area and displayed is double-clicked and selected, the module (ie, the composite module CM, the special effect module SM, or the editing module EM) that created the clip is activated. As a result, the edited contents applied to the clip are displayed in the GUI of the corresponding module.
In addition to being displayed in the upper timeline window, the parameters set for the clip are displayed in the parameter setting window.

The parameter setting window 42 is an area for setting parameters in the special effect processing designated by the operator. This parameter setting window 42
In, when the command button of the effect selection window 40 is clicked, a parameter setting screen relating to the clicked special effect is displayed. For example, when a 3D button is clicked in the effect selection window 40 to specify a three-dimensional image conversion, a parameter setting screen relating to the three-dimensional image conversion is displayed in the parameter setting window 42 as shown in FIG.

As parameters in the three-dimensional image conversion, as shown in FIG. 11, the position (X, Y, Z) in the three-dimensional space, the rotation direction (X, Y, Z) in the three-dimensional space, An aspect ratio (Asp) indicating the aspect ratio of an image and a skew (Sk) which is a parameter of distortion
ew) and a perspective value (Per
s). The values of these parameters can be set to any values between the maximum setting range MAX and the minimum setting range MIN based on the default value (= "0").

The horizontal axis (that is, the time axis) of the parameter setting window 42 and the above-described time line window 41 coincide with each other. You can now decide. By the way, in the horizontal direction, that is, in the left-right direction, the graphic image in the parameter setting window 42 can be scrolled in the left-right direction by operating the scroll button 42A at the lower side of the parameter setting window 42. . At this time, since the horizontal axis of the timeline window 41 and the parameter setting window 42 correspond to each other, the graphic image in the timeline window 41 and the graphic image in the parameter setting window 42 are simultaneously moved in the horizontal direction. Scrolled. By operating the scroll button 42B at the right side of the parameter setting window 42, the graphic image in the parameter setting window 42 can be scrolled in the vertical direction.

Here, when actually setting the parameters of the three-dimensional image conversion, first, the parameter setting window 4
A desired item is clicked from the parameter items displayed in the left corner of 2 and an item to be parameter-set is specified. Subsequently, the point at which the parameter is changed is determined while observing the contents specified in the timeline window 41, and the setting value is determined. Click the position corresponding to the set value. As a result, the parameter value and the parameter change point corresponding to the clicked position are automatically registered in the clip database CDB.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, if the position in the X-axis direction is gradually moved in the minus direction from the edit point EP4, the desired value is automatically clicked by sequentially clicking the desired value. Registered in. Similarly, if the position in the Y-axis direction is gradually moved in the plus direction from the edit point EP6, the desired values are automatically registered by clicking the desired values in order. Similarly, if the position in the Z-axis direction is gradually moved in the plus direction from the edit point EP2, the desired values are automatically registered by clicking the desired values in order. It should be noted that between the points designated by the operator, a value such that the video image continuously moves is automatically set by the interpolation processing.

Further, in the range from the edit point EP2 to the edit point EP5, a rotation process is performed such that the video image is gradually rotated in the minus direction around the X axis, and is gradually rotated again in the reverse direction after the edit point EP5. Then, if a desired value is clicked at the edit points EP5 and EP7, the value is automatically registered. In this case as well, between the points designated by the operator, a value such that the video image is continuously rotated is automatically set by the interpolation processing. Incidentally, whether to interpolate linearly or with a spline curve can be arbitrarily determined by setting. In this example, since the rotation processing is set to be interpolated by the spline curve, values between points designated by the operator are set to values along the spline curve.

Thus, the parameter setting window 4
In step 2, when a desired value is set for the parameter of the special effect, the value of the parameter is registered in the clip database CDB, and based on the value of the registered parameter, a special value is set for the video data of the clip to be edited. The effect is given. In this parameter setting window 42, as shown in FIG. 11, the set parameter values are made to correspond to the edit points, and the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents parameter values. Thus, the operator can visually recognize at a glance what value has been set for which parameter for which parameter by looking at the display.

(4-3) GUI When Activating Editing Module Next, this section describes the GUI when the editing module EM is activated. In this editing system 1,
When the editing module EM is activated, the display 2B of the workstation 2 displays the G of the editing module EM.
A graphic display as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed as the UI.

As shown in FIG. 12, the GUI of the editing module EM is roughly divided into a menu window 30, a clip tree window 31, an effect selection window 50, and a library window 33.
, A timeline window 51, a parameter setting window 52, and a preview screen display window 36
, A device control window 37, an editing content display window 38, and a control command window 39.

In the area displayed on the GUI of the editing module EM, the menu window 3
0, clip tree window 31, preview screen display window 36, device control window 37
The control command window 39 is the same as that in the case of the above-described composite module CM, and the description is omitted here.

First, the effect selection window 50 is an area for selecting a transition effect to be used when switching the video data of the clip specified as the editing target. Command buttons for various transition effects are displayed. You. In this case, the displayed command button may be a wipe button for designating a wipe effect for switching the image by wiping the currently displayed image with a new image, or by sliding an old image such as a picture-story show. A slide button to specify the slide effect to switch the new image, a split button to specify the split effect to split the old image and switch to the new image by sliding the split image, A squeeze button for designating a squeeze process for switching an image so as to expand a new image, a page turn button for designating a page turn process for switching an image by turning a page of an old image, and the like are provided.

In the effect selection window 50, a horizontal scroll button 50A is displayed at the lower side of the area, and the scroll button 50A is displayed.
By operating, the displayed command button can be scrolled in the left-right direction. Similarly, an up / down scroll button 50B is displayed at the right side position of the effect selection window 50. By operating this scroll button 50B, the displayed command button can be scrolled up / down. I have.

Such an effect selection window 50
When a desired transition effect is selected, an edit point to which the transition effect is applied is specified in the timeline window 51, and a command button corresponding to the desired transition effect is clicked. The transition effect is automatically specified.

[0107] The library window 33 is an area for displaying a list of material clips or result clips registered in the clip database CDB. In the library window 33, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, only the title bar is normally displayed. By clicking the title bar to expand the window area, the library window 33 shown in FIG. Thus, the entire library window 33 is displayed.

In the library window 33,
As shown in FIG. 12, each clip is displayed by the card graphic display 33A. In this case, the card graphic display 33A includes a still image display section 33B, an attribute display section 33C, and a clip name display section 33D. The still image display section 33B displays a still image at the IN point or the OUT point of the clip, whereby the operator can view the still image display section 33B.
It is possible to easily grasp what kind of video data the clip is formed by looking at the screen displayed on the screen.

In the attribute display section 33C, characters “FC” or “MC” indicating the attribute of the clip are displayed.
In this case, "FC" indicates that the clip is a result clip generated as a result of the editing process, and "MC" indicates that the clip is simply a material clip extracted from the source video data. By displaying the information indicating the attribute in this manner, the operator can easily grasp whether the clip is a result clip or a material clip by looking at the display. The clip name display section 33D displays a clip name added by the operator when the clip was generated. The clip name is registered in the clip database CDB as clip management data as described later.

As described above, in the library window 33, the clips registered in the clip database CDB are displayed in a list, so that the clip to be edited can be easily selected from the already registered clips. can do.

At the right side of the library window 33, a scroll button 33E is displayed. By operating the scroll button 33E, the library window 33 can be scrolled up and down. All the clips registered in the rally window 33 can be displayed.
As a result, even if the clip is not currently visible, the clip can be selected.

The timeline window 51 is an area for arranging clips to be edited on a time axis and designating editing contents. As the timeline window 51 displayed on the editing module EM, the one related to the editing process is naturally displayed. This timeline window 51
Is divided into two sections: time code display area (Time Code) and edit point display area (Edit Point)
, A preview range display area (Preview), a video and effect designation area (V), and an audio designation area (A).

[0113] The time code display area is an area where the time code at the editing point is displayed. The time code is a time code on the time line of the result clip generated based on the editing content specified in the time line window 51.

The edit point display area is an area in which points set as edit points are indicated by triangular marks. For example, when the editing processing as shown in FIGS. 4 and 9 is designated, the editing points EP1 to EP5 are indicated using triangle marks. However, in FIG. 12, since only the vicinity of performing the transition effect is displayed in the timeline window 51,
Only the editing points EP2 to EP4 are displayed. When the edit points EP1 and EP5 are displayed, the graphic image in the timeline window 51 can be scrolled in the left and right directions by operating the left and right scroll buttons in the parameter setting window 52, as described later. Thus, the editing points EP1 and EP5 can be displayed.

The preview range display area is an area indicating the range of video data displayed on the preview screen display window 36 when the preview button or the view button is operated. In this example, edit point E
Edit point EP4 and edit point EP from between P1 and edit point EP2
Since a range up to 5 is set as the display range, a bar indicating the section is displayed.

The video and effect designation areas include a first and a second video area (Video-L1 and Video-L2) for designating a clip to be edited, and a transition effect to be applied to the clip to be edited. It is divided into an effect area (Effect) for specifying an effect.

When a clip to be edited is specified in the first or second video area, a desired clip is clicked in the library window 33 or the clip tree window 31, and a cell indicating the clip is displayed. If the cell is placed in the first or second video area, the clip is set in the first or second video area and registered as a clip to be edited. For example, click on the result clip FC-008 and place the cell in the first video area,
If C-009 is clicked and its cell is placed in the second video area, as shown in FIG. 12, the resulting clips FC-008 and F-008 are placed in the first and second video areas, respectively.
C-009 is set. The video data of the clip set in the first video area becomes old video data, and the video data of the clip set in the second video area becomes video data to be newly switched.

Similarly, when a transition effect is designated in the effect area, a desired effect button is clicked in the effect selection window 50, and a cell indicating the effect is displayed. If the effect is placed in the effect area, the effect is set as an effect to be applied to the clip to be edited. For example, the effect selection window 50
When the wipe button is clicked in the above, a cell indicating the wipe is displayed. If the cell is placed in the effect area, the result clip FC-0 is displayed as shown in FIG.
A wipe process is set as a process of switching between the value 08 and the result clip FC-009.

The audio designation area is an area for designating audio data to be transmitted together with the video data. In this case, the area is divided into a first and a second audio area (Audio-1ch, Audio-2ch). . In addition,
In the case of setting audio data in the first and second audio areas, the same method as the setting method in the video area is used. By clicking a desired clip and placing the cell in the first or second audio area, The audio data of the clip is set as the audio data to be transmitted. Incidentally, the audio data set in the first audio area is sent to the first channel of the stereo broadcast, and the audio data set in the second audio area is sent to the second channel of the stereo broadcast.

When the result clip already placed and displayed in the first or second video area is double-clicked and selected, the module that created the result clip (that is, the composite module CM, the special effect module SM, or the special effect module SM) is selected. The editing module EM) is started, and as a result, the editing contents applied to the clip are displayed in the timeline window on the GUI of the corresponding module, and as a result, the parameters set for the clip are displayed as parameters. Displayed in the settings window.

The parameter setting window 52 is an area for setting transition effect parameters designated by the operator. In this parameter setting window 52, when an effect button of the effect selection window 50 is clicked, a parameter setting screen relating to the clicked effect is displayed.
For example, when a wipe button is clicked in the effect selection window 50 to specify a wipe process, a parameter setting screen relating to the wipe process is displayed in the parameter setting window 52 as shown in FIG.

As parameters in the wipe processing,
As shown in FIG. 12, an aspect ratio (Aspect) indicating the aspect ratio of the wipe pattern, an angle (Angle) defining the angle of the wipe pattern, and a speed (Spee) defining the speed of the wipe pattern at the time of screen switching.
d) and a horizontal modulation (H Mod) for defining the fluctuation given to the wipe pattern edge in the horizontal direction;
There is a vertical modulation (H Mod) that defines the fluctuation applied to the wipe pattern edge in the vertical direction. The values of these parameters can be set to any values between the maximum setting range MAX and the minimum setting range MIN based on the default value (= "0"). However,
As for the speed parameter, the default value is set in the minimum setting range MIN, and the variable range is from the default value to the maximum setting value MAX.

The horizontal axis (that is, the time axis) of the parameter setting window 52 and the above-mentioned time line window 51 coincide with each other. You can do it. By the way, in the horizontal direction, that is, in the horizontal direction, the graphic image in the parameter setting window 52 can be scrolled in the horizontal direction by operating the scroll button 52A located at the lower side of the parameter setting window 52. . At this time, since the horizontal axis corresponds to the timeline window 51 and the parameter setting window 52, the timeline window 51
And the graphic image in the parameter setting window 52 are simultaneously scrolled in the left and right direction in conjunction with each other. By operating the scroll button 52B at the right side of the parameter setting window 52, the graphic image in the parameter setting window 52 can be scrolled in the vertical direction.

Here, when actually setting the parameters for the wipe process, first, a desired item is clicked from the parameter items displayed in the left corner of the parameter setting window 52, and the item for which the parameter is to be set is specified. Subsequently, the point at which the parameter is changed is determined while observing the contents specified in the timeline window 51, and the setting value is determined. Click the position corresponding to the set value. As a result, the parameter value and the parameter change point corresponding to the clicked position are automatically registered in the clip database CDB.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, if it is desired to gradually increase the aspect ratio of the wipe pattern from the edit point EP2 to the edit point EP4, the desired values can be automatically clicked by clicking on the desired values. Registered. In addition, between the points designated by the operator, a value such that the aspect ratio of the wipe pattern continuously changes is automatically registered by the interpolation processing.

Similarly, it is desired to gradually increase the angle of the wipe pattern from the edit point EP2 to the edit point EP3, and to gradually incline the wipe pattern in the reverse direction from the edit point EP3 to the edit point EP4. For example, if you click on the desired value in order, the value is registered automatically. Also in this case, between the points designated by the operator, a value such that the wipe pattern continuously changes is automatically registered by the interpolation processing. By the way, linear interpolation or
Whether to interpolate using a spline curve can be arbitrarily determined by setting. In this example, the angle is set to interpolate with the spline curve, so
Between points designated by the operator, values are set along the spline curve.

The speed of the wipe pattern is changed to the edit point E.
If you want to keep the speed constant from P2 to the editing point EP3 and gradually increase the speed from the editing point EP3 to the editing point EP4, click on the desired value in order and the value will be automatically changed. be registered. Also in this case, between the points designated by the operator, a value such that the speed of the wipe pattern continuously changes is automatically registered by interpolation processing.

The parameter setting window 5
In step 2, when a desired value is set for the parameter of the transition effect, the value of the parameter is registered in the clip database CDB, and the video data of the clip to be edited is stored based on the registered parameter value. The transition effect is given.
In the parameter setting window 52,
As shown in FIG. 12, the set parameter values are displayed in a graph with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing parameter values in association with the edit points, whereby the operator can display the display. At a glance, it is possible to visually grasp at a glance what value is set for which parameter for which parameter.

[0129] The editing content display window 38 is an area for displaying the editing content specified by the timeline window 51 as a graphic image as described above. As described above, the two clips FC-008 and FC-0 in the timeline window 51 are used.
In the case where an editing process in which 09 is switched by a wipe process is designated, a graphic image is displayed in which a graphic image indicating the wipe process is sandwiched between bar graphic images indicating the respective clips. . This allows the operator to see this display and
It is possible to easily grasp what kind of editing content is instructed as a whole. In particular, as shown in FIG. 12, when only a part of the range is displayed in the timeline window 51, the entire processing content is difficult to understand, but the editing content display window 38 makes it easy to grasp the entire processing content. can do.

(5) Method for Managing Clip Management Data in Clip Database In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, all material clips and the result clips generated by editing the material clips are registered in the clip database CDB. It has been made to be. Clip Database CDB
The data to be registered are mainly classified into clip video data of a material clip or a result clip and clip management data for managing the clip video data. In this section, a method of managing the clip management data will be described.

FIG. 13 is a database for clip management data formed in the clip database CDB (mainly the RAM 21B) when the editing processing shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 is instructed, for example. The database for managing the clip management data is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, it is roughly composed of a clip ID code, a clip name, an attribute, a pointer to image data, a duration, an upper link destination ID code, a lower link destination ID code, a valid / invalid flag, and work data. .

The clip ID code is an identification number of a serial number automatically assigned to the clip in the order in which the clip was registered. Therefore, the registered clip can be identified based on the clip ID code.

The attribute of the clip is data for identifying whether the clip is a mere material clip or a result clip generated by editing the material clip. In the case of a material clip, a code "M" is registered at the attribute of the clip, and in the case of a result clip, a code "F" is registered.

The clip name is a clip identification name given to the clip. In this example, when the clip ID code is "001" and the attribute of the clip is "M", the name "MC-001" is automatically given as the clip name. . The clip name can be given an arbitrary name according to the user's taste. By the way,
Clip name display section 33D of library window 33
Is the clip name.

The pointer to the image data is composed of 8-byte data and is a pointer indicating the start address of the clip video data recorded in the video disk recorder 5. In the editing system 1, the clip video data is stored in the video disk recorder 5 having a plurality of hard disks, so that the pointer to the image data points to the logical address of the hard disk array.

The duration is a time code representing the reproduction period of the clip video data of the clip.
That is, it is a time code representing the time from the beginning to the end of the clip video data.

The upper link destination ID code is a clip ID code of a clip linked to the clip as an upper clip. For example, the material clip MC-001 having the clip ID code “001” is the result clip FC-00 having the clip ID code “008”.
As a result, the clip FC-00
8 is the upper link destination ID
Registered as a code.

In the case of a clip having no upper clip because it is the highest clip, "000" is registered as an upper link destination ID code. For example, the connection clip FC-010 does not have a high-order clip.
Is registered. As a result, if the upper link destination ID code is “000”, it can be easily grasped that the clip is the highest clip.

The lower link destination ID code is a clip ID code of a clip linked as a lower clip to the clip. For example, the result clip FC-008 whose clip ID code is "008" has a material clip MC-00 as a lower clip.
1, MC-002 and MC-003 are linked.
At this time, the material clip MC-001 is in the third layer L3
The material clip MC-002 is specified as the second layer L2, and the material clip MC-003 is specified as the first layer L1. Therefore, the lower clip of the result clip FC-008 and the first clip
Clip ID of the clip specified in the layer L1
“003” is registered as the code and the result clip FC
-008 lower clip and the second layer L
“002” is registered as the clip ID code of the clip designated as No. 2 and “00” is registered as the clip ID code of the clip designated as the lower clip of the result clip FC-008 and designated as the third layer L3.
1 "is registered. By managing the lower clips linked to the lower layers in association with the layers in this manner, it is possible to easily grasp which lower clip is designated to which layer.

In the case of a clip having no lower clip, no data is registered as a lower link destination ID code. For example, the material clip MC-001 is a mere material clip and does not have a lower clip, so that the lower link destination ID code is blank.

The valid / invalid flag is a flag indicating whether the clip is a valid (Enable) clip or an invalid (Disable) clip. In this case, if the clip is valid, the code "E" is registered, and if the clip is invalid, the code "D" is registered. By the way,
When the specified editing content is executed and the clip video data as the editing result is generated, a valid flag is registered, and when the editing content is not executed, the clip video data is not generated. , Once executed the edit contents to generate clip video data,
Thereafter, when the actual edited content does not match the clip video data because the edited content or the clip used as the material is changed, an invalid flag is registered. By having such a valid / invalid flag as clip management data, it is possible to easily grasp whether the clip is valid or invalid by referring to the database for the clip management data.

The work data is data indicating the editing content specified for the clip. Therefore, the result clips FC-008 and FC-0 generated by editing are created.
Although some work data is registered in 09 and FC-010, nothing is registered as work data in the material clips MC-001 to MC-007 which are not generated by editing. Not.

The work data is, as shown in FIG.
It is roughly divided into a module ID code, edit point data, and image processing data. Of these, the module ID code is an identification number indicating the module used in the editing work for creating the resulting clip. In this case, if the composite module CM is used, the code “C” is registered. If the special effect module SM is used, the code “S” is registered, and the edit module EM is used. If there is, the code of “E” is registered.

The edit point data is data consisting of all the edit points designated for the resulting clip and the time code corresponding to the edit point. The image processing data is composed of composite (composite) data, special effect (special effect) data, and edit (edit) data. Among them, the composite data is data composed of the parameter values specified in the composite processing, the special effect data is data composed of the parameter values specified in the special effect processing, and the edit data is the data composed of the parameter values specified in the edit processing. Data.

When the contents of the editing process are corrected, the contents of the clip management data are rewritten as needed based on the new contents of the editing. However, the past clip management data is not erased, and another clip ID code and a clip name are added and held for backup. For example, when the content of the special effect processing for the result clip FC-009 is modified, the clip management data before modification is held as a backup as shown in FIG.

That is, when a new special effect process is instructed to the result clip FC-009, the edited edit point data and the corrected special effect data are modified based on the contents of the new special effect process. Are generated, each of which is the clip before modification (ie, the clip ID).
The data is registered as work data at “009”. On the other hand, the edit point data before correction and the special effect data before correction, which were registered as work data before the new special effect processing was instructed, have a new clip ID code “009BK1” and a new clip name “FC-009B”.
After being assigned "K1", it is registered in another area of the database as clip management data for backup based on the identification information. However, in the clip management data registered as a backup, the valid / invalid flag is modified to a code of "D" indicating invalid.

By leaving the clip management data before correction as a backup in this way, even if the user does not like the result clip FC-009 after correction,
The result clip FC-009BK before correction based on the clip management data before correction left as a backup.
1 can be easily returned.

The edit point data, composite data, special effect data, and edit data registered as the work data will be described below with reference to specific examples. First, the editing point data will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 7 shows the result clip FC-008.
When the combining process as shown in FIG. 15 is instructed, edit point data as shown in FIG. 15 is registered. As shown in FIG. 15, the edit point data is data for designating which part of the clip data of the lower clip is to be used for the clip video data of the upper clip, and specifies the start position of the lower clip. It consists of an in-point time code and an out-point time code indicating its end position.

As shown in FIG. 7, the time code of the in point of the material clip MC-003 designated as the first layer L1 is “00:00:00:
31:02 ", and the position of the in point corresponds to the time code" 00: 00: 00: 00 "on the time line t8 of the result clip FC-008. Therefore, in the editing point data, as shown in FIG. 15, the time code "00: 00: 00: 00" of the result clip FC-008 and the time code "00:00" of the in-point of the material clip MC-003 are displayed.
00:31:02 ”is registered in association with the edit point EP1. Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the first layer L1
The time code of the out point of the material clip MC-003 designated as “00:
05:18:02 ", and the position of the out point corresponds to the time code" 00: 04: 47: 00 "on the time line t8 of the result clip FC-008. Accordingly, in the editing point data, as shown in FIG. 15, the time code "00: 04: 47: 00" of the result clip FC-008 is used.
And the time code "00: 05: 18: 02" of the out point of the material clip MC-003 are registered in association with the edit point EP8. The edit point of the material clip MC-003 designated as the first layer L1 is determined by the time codes of the IN point and the OUT point.

Similarly, the time codes "00: 00: 51: 00" and "00:03:04:" of the IN point and the OUT point of the material clip MC-002 designated as the second layer L2.
20, "result clip F" as shown in FIG.
It is registered in association with the time code of C-008. Similarly, the time code “0” of the IN point and the OUT point of the material clip MC-001 designated as the third layer L3
“0: 01: 40: 03” and “00: 02: 45: 48” are also registered in association with the time code of the result clip FC-008, as shown in FIG.

In addition, for the result clip FC-009,
When the special effect processing as shown in FIG. 8 is instructed,
Edit point data as shown in FIG. 16 is registered. As shown in FIG. 16, even in the case of the special effect processing, in the editing point data, the time code of the lower clip and the time code of the upper clip are registered in association with each other. That is, the time codes “00: 10: 12: 00” and “00: 12: 18: 00” of the in-point and out-point of the material clip MC-004 designated as the first layer L1 are:
As shown in FIG. 16, the result is registered in association with the time code of the result clip FC-009.

In addition, for the result clip FC-010,
When an editing process as shown in FIG. 9 is instructed, FIG.
Edit point data as shown in FIG. 7 is registered. This FIG.
As shown in (1), even in the editing process, the time code of the lower clip and the time code of the upper clip are registered in the editing point data in association with each other. That is, the time code “0” of the IN point and the OUT point of the result clip FC-008 specified as the first layer L1
“0: 01: 01: 20” and “00: 04: 43: 00” are registered in association with the time code of the result clip FC-010 as shown in FIG. 17 and designated as the second layer L2. The time codes "00: 00: 00: 50" and "00:" of the in-point and out-point of the clip FC-009 are displayed.
02:06:00 "is registered in association with the time code of the result clip FC-010, as shown in FIG.

Next, the composite data will be described with reference to FIG. The composite data is data representing a composite ratio (gain) when the video data of the clip specified for each layer is composited, and has a value of "0" to "100".
It is made possible to take values up to. If the value of the combined data is “0”, the video data to be combined is set to 0.
This means that the images are combined at a percentage rate, in which case the lower layer video data is completely visible. If the value of the combined data is "50", it means that the combined video data is combined at a rate of 50%. In this case, the lower layer video data is seen through at a rate of about half. Means that. Furthermore, if the value of the combined data is “100”, it means that the combined video data is combined at a rate of 100% .In this case, the lower layer video data is completely hidden and cannot be seen. Means.

FIG. 18 shows a specific example of the synthesized data. FIG. 18 shows the parameter setting window 3 shown in FIG. 10 after designating the synthesizing process as shown in FIG.
5 is a database of the composite data generated when the composite data (gain) is designated using No. 5.

When the gain “100” is specified at the position of the edit point EP1 and the position of the edit point EP8 for the material clip MC-003 specified for the first layer L1,
As shown in FIG. 18, the editing points EP1 and EP
The gain “100” is registered in the column corresponding to “8”. Also, between the edit point EP1 and the edit point EP8, the edit point EP1
Since the linear interpolation is performed based on the values using the key points EP and EP8, the gain "100" is automatically registered (in the figure, "-" indicates that the interpolation value is registered).

For the material clip MC-002 specified for the second layer L2, a gain of "59" is specified at the position of the edit point EP2, and a gain of "100" is specified at the position of the edit point EP3. When the gain "0" is designated at the position of the edit point EP6, as shown in FIG. 18, the gains "59", "100" and "0" are sequentially entered in the columns corresponding to the edit points EP2, EP3 and EP6, respectively. Is registered. Also in this case, between the edit point EP2 and the edit point EP3 and between the edit point EP3 and the edit point EP6, the edit point EP2,
Using EP3 and EP6 as key points, linear interpolation based on the values is performed, and gain values that are linearly continuous are automatically registered. Further, for the material clip MC-001 specified for the third layer L3, a gain of "100" is specified at the position of the edit point EP4, and the edit point EP5
When the gain “67” is designated at the position of “” and the gain “51” is designated at the position of the editing point EP7, as shown in FIG.
Gains “100”, “67” and “51” are registered in the columns corresponding to the edit points EP4, EP5 and EP7, respectively. Also in this case, similarly, the editing point EP4 to the editing point EP
5, and between the editing points EP5 and EP7, the interpolation points EP4, EP5 and EP7 are used as key points to perform linear interpolation based on the values, and a gain value that is linearly continuous is automatically registered. Is done.

Thus, when such composite data is registered and an editing operation is performed, the value of the composite data is sequentially switched at the timing of each edit point, and the interpolated value is sequentially switched between each edit point. As a result, the video image of the material clip MC-002 specified for the layer L2 gradually appears on the video image of the material clip MC-003 specified for the layer L1 from the time of the editing point EP2, and the video image after the editing point EP3. Material clip MC
The video image of the material clip MC-001 designated as the layer L3 at the time of the editing point EP4 appears as a video image in which the video image of -002 gradually fades, and thereafter the material clip MC-00.
A video image in which one video image gradually fades can be obtained.

Next, the special effect data will be described with reference to FIG. The special effect data is basically composed of effect ID data indicating the type of special effect processing to be performed on the clip to be edited, each parameter value of the specified special effect processing, and a period for performing the special effect processing. It is composed.

Here, a specific example of the special effect data is shown in FIG. FIG. 19 relates to the three-dimensional image conversion shown in FIG. 8 and is a database of special effect data generated when parameters are set using the parameter setting window 42 shown in FIG. .

In FIG. 19, “1025” registered as effect ID data is an effect identification number assigned to three-dimensional image conversion. It can be seen that dimensional image conversion is specified. Also, "Lo
“c X”, “Loc Y”, and “Loc Z” indicate positions (X, Y, Z) that are parameters of three-dimensional image conversion, and “Rot X”, “Rot Y”, and “Rot”.
“Z” indicates a rotation direction (X, Y, Z) that is a parameter of three-dimensional image conversion, “Asp” indicates an aspect ratio that is a parameter of three-dimensional image conversion,
“Skew” indicates a skew which is a parameter of three-dimensional image conversion, and “Pers” indicates a perspective value which is a parameter of three-dimensional image conversion. These parameters correspond to the edit point EP2 as shown in FIG.
To the edit point EP7, and as a period during which the three-dimensional image conversion is specified, it is easy to see that the edit point EP2 is the start point and the edit point EP7 is the end point. I understand. The specific values of the start point and end point of the three-dimensional image conversion, that is, the time code can be easily grasped by referring to the edit point data of FIG. 16 described above.

Here, in the parameter setting window 42 shown in FIG. 11, the coordinate values "0", "0", "-1.6" at the edit points EP2, EP4, EP6 and EP7 for the parameter "Loc X", respectively. And `` -1.
When "6" is specified, as shown in FIG.
Coordinate values “0”, “0”, “−1.6”, and “−1.6” are registered in columns corresponding to P2, EP4, EP6, and EP7, respectively. In this case, edit point EP2 to edit point EP
4. Between the edit points EP4 and EP6, and between the edit points EP6 and EP7, the edit points EP2, EP4, EP
Linear interpolation is performed based on the values of the key points 6 and EP7 as key points, and coordinate values that are linearly continuous are automatically registered.

Similarly, when the coordinate values “0”, “0”, and “+2” are designated at the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7 for the parameter “Loc Y”, the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7 correspond to the editing points EP2, EP6, and EP7. When the coordinate values corresponding to the parameter “Loc Z” are registered and the coordinate values “0”, “+2.2” and “+2.2” are designated at the edit points EP2, EP6 and EP7, respectively, Coordinate values corresponding to the columns of the edit points EP2, EP6, and EP7 are registered.

If the rotation angles "0", "-180" and "-102" are designated at the edit points EP2, EP5 and EP7 for the parameter "Rot X", the edit points EP2, EP5 and EP7 are corresponded. The corresponding rotation angle is registered in the corresponding field. In this case, since the interpolation by the spline curve is set, the editing point EP2 is set.
To edit point EP5 and edit point EP5 to edit point EP7
During this period, successive values along the spline curve are automatically registered. Unspecified parameters “Rot Y”, “Rot Z”, “Asp”,
For “Skew” and “Pers”, “0” is automatically registered as a default value.

When the editing operation is performed by registering the parameters relating to such three-dimensional image conversion, the parameter values are sequentially switched at the timing of each editing point, and the interpolated values are sequentially changed between the editing points. As a result, while rotating around the X axis,
It is possible to obtain a video image as if moving in a dimensional space.

Subsequently, the edited data will be described with reference to FIG. The editing data basically includes effect ID data indicating the type of transition effect to be applied to the clip to be edited, parameter values relating to the specified transition effect, and a period during which the transition effect is applied. It is composed by

FIG. 20 shows a specific example of the edit data. FIG. 20 shows a database of edit data generated when the wipe process as shown in FIG. 9 is designated as the transition effect and parameters are set using the parameter setting window 52 shown in FIG. It is.

In FIG. 20, “0001” registered as effect ID data is switched from left to right on the screen when switching from the first video data image to the second video data image. This is an effect identification number assigned to a replacement wipe process, and this effect identification number “0001” means that this type of wipe process is designated as a transition effect.

If the effect identification number “1300” is registered as effect ID data, the first
Means that a type of wipe processing in which the image is switched from both ends of the screen toward the center when switching from the image of the video data to the image of the second video data is designated, and effect identification is performed as effect ID data. When the number “2123” is registered, it means that the page turn processing in which the image of the first video data is switched just like turning a page is specified.

“Aspect” is a parameter indicating the aspect ratio of the transition effect wipe pattern, “Angle” is a parameter indicating the angle of the wipe pattern, “Speed” is a parameter indicating the switching speed, “H-Mod” and “V-Mod” are parameters indicating the fluctuation of the wipe pattern, respectively. As shown in FIG. 20, these parameters are specified from the edit point EP2 to the edit point EP4. As a result, the edit point EP2 is the start point for the period in which the wipe process is specified. It is easy to see that point EP4 is the end point. The specific values of the start point and end point of the wipe process, that is, the time code can be easily grasped by referring to the edit point data of FIG. 17 described above.

Here, in the parameter setting window 52 shown in FIG. 12, when the values "0" and "+25" are designated at the editing points EP2 and EP4 for the parameter "Aspect", respectively, as shown in FIG. , And the values corresponding to the edit points EP2 and EP4 are registered. In this case, between the editing points EP2 and EP4, linear interpolation based on the values is performed using the editing points EP2 and EP4 as key points,
Values that are linearly continuous are automatically registered.

When the values "20", "20" and "100" are designated at the editing points EP2, EP3 and EP4 for the parameter "Speed", respectively, as shown in FIG.
As shown in the table, values corresponding to the edit points EP2, EP3, and EP4 are registered in the corresponding columns. In this case, similarly, between the editing point EP2 and the editing point EP3, and between the editing point EP3 and the editing point EP4, the editing point EP2,
Using EP3 and EP4 as key points, linear interpolation based on the values is performed, and values that are linearly continuous are automatically registered.

On the other hand, when the values "0", "+180" and "-180" are designated at the editing points EP2, EP3 and EP4 for the parameter "Angle", as shown in FIG. , EP3 and EP4
Are registered in the fields corresponding to. In this case, since the interpolation by the spline curve is set, the edit points EP2 to EP3 and the edit points E3
Between P3 and the edit point EP4, continuous values along the spline curve are automatically registered. Note that the parameters “H Mod” and “V
For “Mod”, “0” is automatically registered as a default value.

When the parameters relating to such a wipe process are registered and the editing operation is performed, the parameter values are sequentially switched at the timing of each editing point, and are sequentially switched to the interpolated values between the editing points. As a result, it is possible to obtain a transition effect video image in which the shape and angle of the wipe pattern and the switching speed are sequentially changed.

(6) Various Processing Procedures in the Editing System In this section, the operation procedures of each processing in the editing system 1 will be described using a flowchart. The contents of the operation procedure described below are all performed by the operation of the CPU 21 based on the application program.

First, when a predetermined start-up process is performed in the editing system 1, the CPU 21 activates the control module CNTM in step SP1 shown in FIG.
At the next step SP2, a top menu is displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2.

At the next step SP3, the CPU 2
1 determines whether any menu item is selected in the top menu, and as a result, if any menu item is selected, the selected menu item is determined in the following steps SP4 to SP7.

If the result of the determination in step SP4 is that the start command of the editing module EM has been selected,
The CPU 21 proceeds to step SP8 to perform the activation processing of the editing module EM. If the result of the determination in step SP5 is that the activation command for the composite module CM has been selected, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP9 and proceeds to step SP9.
If the start command of the special effect module SM is selected as a result of the determination in step SP6, the process proceeds to step SP10 to start the special effect module SM.

On the other hand, as a result of the judgment in step SP7, if the command for opening the file of the already registered result clip is selected, the CPU 21 is used for the result clip selected in the next step SP11. Recognize the existing module, and execute the next step SP12
In the module (ie, the editing module EM, the synthesizing module CM, or the special effect module S)
Start M). In step SP11,
The CPU 21 performs module recognition of the selected result clip by referring to the work data registered in the clip database CDB.

FIG. 22 specifically shows the process of starting the editing module EM in step SP8. When the activation of the editing module EM is instructed, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP21 entered from step SP20.
First, the GUI of the editing module EM is displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2. Next step SP2
In step 2, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the activation of the editing module EM has been instructed through the previous step SP12. If the activation of the editing module EM has been instructed through the step SP12, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP23. ,
The contents of the editing process of the designated result clip are read out based on the clip management data registered in the clip database CDB, and the contents of the editing process are displayed on the timeline window 51 of the above-mentioned editing module GUI.

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step SP22 is not activation via step SP12, but a new activation, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP24,
Preparations for registering clip management data are made in preparation for a new editing process. More specifically, an area for registering the clip management data is secured on the clip database CDB in preparation for a newly instructed editing process. These steps SP23 or SP2
When the processing of step 4 is performed, the CPU 21 proceeds to the next step S
The process proceeds to P25 and shifts to actual editing processing.

FIG. 23 specifically shows the process of activating the composite module CM in step SP9. When the start of the composite module CM is instructed, the CPU 21 first displays the GUI of the composite module CM on the display 2B of the work station 2 in step SP31 entered from step SP30. Next step SP32
In step (2), the CPU 21 determines whether or not the activation of the composite module CM has been instructed via the previous step SP12. If the activation of the composite module CM has been instructed via the step SP12, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP33. Based on the clip management data registered in the clip database CDB, the content of the designated result clip is read out based on the clip management data, and the content of the composition process is displayed in the timeline window 34 of the above-described GUI for the composition module.

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step SP32 is not activation via step SP12 but a new activation, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP34,
Preparations for registering the clip management data are made in preparation for a new combining process. Specifically, an area for registering the clip management data is secured on the clip database CDB in preparation for the newly instructed synthesis processing content. These steps SP33 or SP3
When the processing of step 4 is performed, the CPU 21 proceeds to the next step S
Proceeding to P35, the flow shifts to actual combining processing.

FIG. 24 specifically shows the activation processing of the special effect module SM in step SP10. When the activation of the special effect module SM is instructed, the CPU 2
In step SP41 entered from step SP40, first, the GUI of the special effect module SM is displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2. In the next step SP42, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the activation of the special effect module SM has been instructed through the previous step SP12, and if the activation of the special effect module SM has been instructed through the step SP12. Then, the process proceeds to step SP43, where the special effect contents of the designated result clip are read out based on the clip management data registered in the clip database CDB, and the special effect contents are displayed in the time line window 41 of the GUI for the special effect module described above. Is displayed.

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step SP42 is not activation via step SP12 but a new activation, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP44,
Preparations for registering clip management data are made in preparation for a new special effect process. More specifically, an area for registering the clip management data is secured on the clip database CDB in preparation for a newly instructed special effect process. These steps SP43 or S
When the processing in P44 is performed, the CPU 21 proceeds to the next step SP45 and shifts to actual special effect processing.

Here, the details of the editing process shown in step SP25 in FIG. 22 are shown in FIG. Although not shown here, the synthesizing process shown in step SP35 of FIG. 23 and the special effect process shown in step SP45 of FIG. 24 are almost the same as the editing process shown in FIG.
The only difference is that the processing content replaces the synthesis processing or the special effect processing.

As shown in FIG. 25, the CPU 21 first determines whether or not an input for instructing an editing process has been made in step SP51 entered from step SP50 (for example, an operation using the timeline window 51 or a parameter setting window 52). It is determined whether or not an operation has been performed by using, for example). If such an input has been made, the process proceeds to step SP52, where edit data corresponding to the input is created, and the edited data is clipped as clip management data. The data is appropriately written in the database CDB, and as a result, the valid / invalid flag of the clip is set to invalid. In the case where the input is for reading the already registered result clip and correcting the content, the CPU 21 does not simply overwrite the result clip, but uses another clip ID code for the clip management data before correction. And keep it in another area. As a result, the clip management data before correction can be read later.

When the processing in step SP52 is completed,
The CPU 21 proceeds to the next step SP53. In step SP53, the CPU 21 determines whether or not there is a higher order clip for the result clip created in step SP52 by referring to the upper link destination ID code of the clip management data. As a result, if there is no upper clip, the process returns to step SP51. If there is an upper clip, the process proceeds to step SP54, and all the valid / invalid flags of the clip management data for managing the upper clip are invalidated. After setting, the process returns to step SP51. In most cases, the process proceeds to step SP54 when the already registered result clip is corrected. Also, the top clips are
This includes not only the upper clip with the result clip created in step SP52 as the lower clip, but also the result clip with the upper clip further as the lower clip, and at least all the result clips that use the resulting clip as a material (hereinafter referred to as “all clips”). , Which is also called the related clip).

For example, it is assumed that the relationship between each registered material clip and the result clip has a relationship as shown in FIG. That is, material clips MC-G1 and MC
-The result clip FC-G is generated by G2, and the result clip FC-E is generated by the result clip FC-G.
G and the material clips MC-E1 and MC-E2 are generated as materials. The result clip FC-C is generated using the result clip FC-E and the material clip MC-C1 as a material.

The result clip FC-F is generated using the material clips MC-F1, MC-F2, and MC-F3 as the material, and the result clip FC-D is formed as the result clip FC-F and the material clip MC-D1. MC-D2 and the result clip FC-E are generated as materials.
The result clip FC-B is generated using the result clips FC-D and FC-C and the material clip MC-B1, and the result clip FC-A is generated as the result clip FC-A.
-B as a material.

When there is such a relationship between clips,
As long as no special correction is made after the clip video data of the result clip is generated once, the valid / invalid flag of the clip management data for managing these clips is normally set to valid. However, for example, when the contents of the editing process of the result clip FC-E are modified, the valid / invalid flag of the result clip FC-E is naturally changed to invalid, but the result clip FC-E is changed.
Not only that, the result clips FC-C and FC-D having the result clip FC-E as the lower clip, the result clip FC-B having the result clips FC-C and FC-D as the lower clip, and the result clip Clip FC
As a result, the valid / invalid flag of all the clips FC-A is changed to invalid as a result of setting -B as the lower clip.

Returning to the description of the flowchart shown in FIG. If the result of determination in step SP51 is that no edit processing has been input, the flow advances to the next step SP55. In step SP55, the CPU
21 determines whether or not the result clip displayed in the video area of the timeline window 51 has been selected, and if the displayed result clip has been selected, the module that created the result clip in step SP56. (Ie, the composite module CM or the special effect module SM) is activated, and if the displayed clip is not selected, the step SP58 is executed.
Proceed to. The details of step SP56 will be described later.

At step SP58, the CPU 21
Determines whether a re-execution command has been input, and if a re-execution command has been input, proceeds to step SP59 to perform re-execution processing. If no re-execution command has been input, step SP26 Return to the original flow chart via. Here, the re-execution command means that the view button or the all-view button displayed on the GUI screen is clicked with the mouse 2D, and the instruction of the view or the all-view is input. In the case of "view" or "all view", the specified editing processing is actually executed, and as a result, video clip data of the clip is generated.

Here, the specific processing of step SP56 described above (ie, the module activation processing) will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. As shown in FIG. 27, when the displayed result clip is selected, the CPU 21 reads out the clip management data of the selected result clip at step SP61 entered from step SP60. Next, in step SP62, the CPU 21
With reference to the module ID code registered in the clip management data, in the next step SP63,
Module corresponding to the module ID code (ie, composite module CM or special effect module SM)
Is started, and the result of editing the clip is displayed in the timeline window on the GUI.

FIG. 28 shows a specific process (that is, a re-execution process) of step SP59 described above.
However, in FIG. 28, it is assumed that there is a relationship between the clips as shown in FIG. 26, and the result clips FC-E and FC are obtained by the processing of step SP54 described above.
-Assume that D, FC-C, FC-B and FC-A are all invalidated.

As shown in FIG. 28, when the re-execution command is instructed, the CPU 21 first proceeds to step SP71 entered from step SP70, and then to RAM 21B.
A stack memory is formed thereon, and the clip management data of the result clip at the top of the clip tree is pushed into the stack memory. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 26, since the result clip FC-A is at the top, the clip management data of the result clip FC-A is pushed to the stack memory. Here, the push refers to stacking data in the stack memory space.

In the next step SP72, the CPU
21 judges whether or not the contents of the stack memory are empty. In this case, in step SP71, since the clip management data has been pushed into the stack memory, the data exists, and a negative result is obtained. For this reason C
The PU 21 proceeds to the next step SP74.

In step SP74, the CPU 21
Pops the clip management data for one clip from the stack memory, and judges whether or not the clip is valid based on the valid / invalid flag of the clip management data.
In the example shown in FIG. 26, since the result clip FC-A is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the step SP75
Proceed to. Here, the term "pop" means that data stacked in the stack memory space is read from the top one.

In step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In this case, the CPU 21
As a result, referring to the lower link destination ID code registered in the clip management data of the clip, the lower clip is determined based on the clip ID code registered therein,
By referring to the valid / invalid flag of the lower clip from the clip database, it is determined whether or not all the lower clips are valid. In the example shown in FIG. 26, since the result clip FC-B, which is the lower clip of the result clip FC-A, is invalid, a negative result is obtained.
Proceed to the next step SP77.

In step SP77, the CPU 21
Pushes the clip management data of the clip to the stack memory again as a result of the
Proceed to 78. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the result clip FC
The clip management data of -A is pushed again to the stack memory. In step SP78, C
The PU 21 pushes one clip management data of a clip which is invalid among the lower clips of the clip as a result of the re-push at the step SP77 to the stack memory. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the result clip FC-A
Since the lower clip FC-B is invalidated, the clip management data of the clip FC-B is pushed to the stack memory.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since the clip management data exists in the stack memory, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21
, Pops one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid as a result based on the valid / invalid flag in the clip management data. In the example shown in FIG. 26, the result clip FC-B
Is read out. As a result, since the clip FC-B is invalidated, a negative result is obtained, and the routine proceeds to the next step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the result clip FC-B that is a lower clip of the result clip FC-B
Since C and FC-D are invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP77.

At step SP77, the CPU 21
Pushes the clip management data of the clip to the stack memory again as a result of the
Proceed to 78. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-B is re-pushed. In the next step SP78, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP77.
As a result of re-pushing, among the lower clips of the clip,
One clip management data of the invalidated clip is pushed to the stack memory. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-C is pushed.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-C is read. As a result, the clip FC-C is invalid, so that a negative result is obtained, and the next step SP7 is executed.
Go to 5.

In step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the result clip FC-C, which is a lower clip of the result clip FC-C.
Since E is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the flow advances to the next step SP77.

At the step SP77, the CPU 21
Pushes the clip management data of the clip to the stack memory again as a result of the
Proceed to 78. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-C is re-pushed. In the next step SP78, the CPU 21 proceeds to step SP77.
As a result of re-pushing, among the lower clips of the clip,
One clip management data of the invalidated clip is pushed to the stack memory. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-E is pushed.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the result clip FC-E is read. As a result, since the clip FC-E is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip MC-E which is a lower clip of the result clip FC-E
Since 1, MC-E2 and FC-G are all valid, a positive result is obtained, and the process proceeds to step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21
Performs the editing process using the clip video data of the clip designated as the material based on the work data registered in the clip management data, thereby creating the clip video data of the clip,
As a result, the validity of clip management data
Change the invalid flag to valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip video data of the result clip FC-E is created by performing the editing process using the clips FC-G, MC-E1, and MC-E2 designated as the material, and the result clip FC-E is generated. Change the valid / invalid flag of -E to valid.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-C is read. As a result, the clip FC-C is invalid, so that a negative result is obtained, and the next step SP7 is executed.
Go to 5.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, since the clips FC-E and MC-C1, which are lower clips of the result clip FC-C, are each valid, a positive result is obtained, and the process proceeds to step SP76.

[0212] In step SP76, the CPU 21
Performs the editing process using the clip video data of the clip designated as the material based on the work data registered in the clip management data, thereby creating the clip video data of the clip,
As a result, the validity of clip management data
Change the invalid flag to valid. In the example of FIG. 26, editing processing using the clips FC-E and MC-C1 is performed.
The clip video data of the result clip FC-C is created, and as a result, the valid / invalid flag of the clip FC-C is changed to valid.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-B is read. However, since the clip FC-B is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the next step SP7 is executed.
Go to 5.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, since the result clip FC-D which is the lower clip is invalidated, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to step SP77.

At step SP77, similarly, C
As a result, the PU 21 pushes the clip management data of the clip to the stack memory again, and the next step SP7.
At step 8, the clip management data of the invalid lower clip is pushed to the stack memory.

Then, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data.
In the example of FIG. 26, the result clip FC-D is read. As a result, since the clip FC-D is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP75.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, a clip FC-E, which is a lower clip of the result clip FC-D,
Since FC-F, MC-D1, and MC-D2 are all valid, an affirmative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21
Performs the editing process using the clip video data of the clip designated as the material based on the work data registered in the clip management data, thereby creating the clip video data of the clip,
As a result, the validity of clip management data
Change the invalid flag to valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the editing process using the clips FC-E, FC-F, MC-D1, and MC-D2 is performed, and the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-D is created. The -D valid / invalid flag is changed to valid.

Then, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-B is read. However, since the clip FC-B is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the next step SP7 is executed.
Go to 5.

[0220] In step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, since the result clips FC-C and FC-D, which are lower clips, are valid, a positive result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21
Performs the editing process using the clip video data of the clip designated as the material based on the work data registered in the clip management data, thereby creating the clip video data of the clip,
As a result, the validity of clip management data
Change the invalid flag to valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the editing process using the clips FC-C and FC-D is performed, the clip video data of the resultant clip FC-B is created, and the valid / invalid flag of the clip FC-B is set as a result. Changed to valid.

Next, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since it is not empty, a negative result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP74. In step SP74, the CPU 21 pops up one clip of the clip management data from the stack memory, and determines whether or not the clip is valid based on the clip management data. In the example of FIG. 26, the clip management data of the result clip FC-A is read. As a result, since the clip FC-A is invalid, a negative result is obtained, and the next step SP7 is executed.
Go to 5.

At step SP75, the CPU 21
Determines, based on the clip management data read in the previous step SP74, whether or not all lower clips of the resulting clip are valid. In the example of FIG. 26, since the result clip FC-B, which is the lower clip, is valid, a positive result is obtained, and the process proceeds to the next step SP76.

At step SP76, the CPU 21
Performs the editing process using the clip video data of the clip designated as the material based on the work data registered in the clip management data, thereby creating the clip video data of the clip,
As a result, the validity of clip management data
Change the invalid flag to valid. In the example of FIG. 26, the editing process using the result clip FC-B is performed, the clip video data of the result clip FC-A is created, and as a result, the valid / invalid flag of the clip FC-A is changed to valid. Is done.

Then, the CPU 21 returns to step SP72 again.
Then, it is determined whether or not the stack memory is empty. In this case, since all the data up to the uppermost result clip has been read out by the previous popping process, the stack memory is empty, and a positive result is obtained. Therefore C
The PU 21 proceeds to step SP73 and ends the re-execution processing.

If it is determined in step SP74 that the clip of the clip management data read from the stack memory is valid, the process proceeds to step SP7.
Return to 2. For example, if the highest result clip is valid in the clip tree, the clip management data is pushed into the stack memory by the processing of step SP71, but a positive result is obtained by the subsequent determination of step SP74. Then, the re-execution processing ends immediately since a positive result is obtained. As described above, when the highest-order result clip is valid, the re-execution processing is not substantially executed.

FIG. 29 schematically shows the contents of the flowchart of the re-execution processing described above.
In the editing system 1 according to the present invention, when the uppermost result clip FC-A is invalid, it is checked whether or not the lower result clip FC-B is valid. , And as a result clip F
It is checked whether the lower clip FC-C of CB is valid. As a result, if the clip FC-C is invalid, it is further determined whether or not the lower clip FC-E of the clip FC-C is valid. As a result, the clip FC-E is invalid. In this case, it is further checked whether or not the lower clip FC-G of the clip FC-E is valid.

As a result, if the result clip FC-G is valid, the clip video data of the result clip is transferred, and the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed, whereby the result corresponding to the upper clip is obtained. The clip video data of the clip FC-E is created. When the clip video data of the result clip FC-E is created, the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed to create the clip video data of the result clip FC-C corresponding to the upper clip. . When the clip video data of the result clip FC-C is created, the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed. However, the other result clip FC-D which is the lower clip is still invalid. Therefore, as a result, the result clip F which is a lower clip of the clip FC-D is obtained.
Check whether CE is valid.

When the result clip FC-E is valid, the clip video data of the clip FC-E is transferred as a result. Also, it is checked whether or not the other result clip FC-F, which is the lower clip of the result clip FC-D, is valid. If so, the clip video data of the result clip FC-F is also transferred. When the clip video data from the lower clips FC-E and FC-F is transferred, the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed, whereby the clip video of the resulting clip FC-D corresponding to the upper clip is transmitted. Create data. Next, when the clip video data of the result clip FC-D is created, the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed to create the clip video data of the result clip FC-B corresponding to the upper clip. .
Next, when the clip video data of the result clip FC-B is created, the editing process based on the clip video data is re-executed to create the clip video data of the result clip FC-A corresponding to the upper clip. .

As described above, in the editing system 1 according to the present invention, for example, when the content of the editing process of the result clip FC-E is modified, the identification flag of the result clip FC-E is changed to invalid, and the result is changed. Result clip FC linked higher than result clip FC-E
The identification flags of -C, FC-D, FC-B and FC-A are all changed to invalid. When the re-execution processing is designated by selecting the view or all-view command, it is checked whether or not the clip is valid from the highest result clip FC-A to the lower clip to check whether the clip is valid. When all the linked clips reach a valid clip, the editing process of the clip is re-executed to change the clip to a valid clip, and to edit a clip linked higher than the clip. Are sequentially executed again to change all the clips linked to the higher rank to valid clips. Thus, in the editing system 1 according to the present invention, by performing such processing, the editing result once created can be easily corrected even if the operator does not remember the relationship between the clips as in the related art.

(7) Operation and Effect of Editing System In the above configuration, when the editing system 1 is started up, a top menu is displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2. The operator selects a desired module activation command in the top menu, and activates a module suitable for an editing operation to be performed. When the module is activated, a GUI for editing is displayed on the display 2B of the workstation 2.

For example, when the composite module CM is activated, a GUI as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display 2B. In the GUI for the synthesizing process, a timeline window 34 dedicated to the synthesizing process is displayed. By performing an operation according to the screen of the timeline window 34, a clip as a material can be easily designated or a desired one can be designated. Or the synthesis process of that time,
In this GUI, the clips registered as the clip database CDB are displayed in the clip tree window 31 and the library window 33, so that a material to be used for editing can be easily selected from the registered clips. . If a desired clip selected from the clip tree window 31 or the library window 33 is placed in the video area in the timeline window 34, the material to be used for the composition processing can be easily specified.

When setting the parameters of the synthesis processing specified in the time line window 34, the same GU
If the user sets parameters while viewing the screen using the parameter setting window 35 displayed on the screen I, the desired composite parameters can be set. Further, in the parameter setting window 35, the set parameter values are displayed in a graphical graphic display, so that the operator can easily see what timing and what value has been set by looking at the graphical display. You can figure out. When the already registered result clip is read, the parameter setting window 35 displays the value of the parameter that has been set for the result clip. It can be easily grasped.

In the clip tree window 31, a clip tree is displayed so that the relationship between the clips registered in the clip database CDB can be understood. By looking at the clip tree, it is possible to find out what clip each clip has. It can be easily grasped whether it is generated as a material.

When the result clip placed in the video area in the timeline window 34 is double-clicked, a module (ie, a composite module CM, a special effect module SM, or an edit module EM) that matches the edited contents of the clip is obtained. It automatically starts up, and a GUI suitable for the module is displayed on the screen. The edited contents of the selected clip are displayed in the GUI.
Displayed in the upper timeline window. When the result clip is selected on the timeline window 34 in this manner, the module corresponding to the result clip is automatically activated. Therefore, the operator does not bother to check the edited contents of the clip and thereby does not activate the corresponding module. The work load on the operator can be reduced, and the corresponding module can be quickly activated.

Similarly, when the special effect module SM is activated, a GUI as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display 2B. In the GUI of the special effect processing, a timeline window 41 dedicated to the special effect is displayed. By performing an operation according to the screen of the timeline window 41, a clip as a material can be easily specified or a desired one can be designated. Or special effect processing can be designated. Also in the GUI of the special effect processing, the clip tree window 31 and the library window 33 are displayed.
Is provided, and the clip database C
A desired clip registered in the DB can be easily selected as a material.

Similarly, when the editing module EM is started, a GUI as shown in FIG. 12 is displayed on the display 2B.
Will be displayed. Also in the GUI of the editing process, a timeline window 51 dedicated to the editing process is displayed. By performing an operation according to the screen of the timeline window 51, a clip as a material can be easily specified or a desired one can be designated. You can specify the editing process.

Thus, in the editing system 1,
A desired editing operation can be easily performed by designating desired materials and editing contents while viewing the GUI for each function displayed on the display 2B of the work station 2. Further, in the editing system 1, all instructions relating to the editing work can be input via the work station 2, so that the editing work can be easily performed without the operator having to operate each device as in the related art. it can.

[0239] Thus, the editing system 1 can perform editing work easily and at high speed as compared with the conventional one, and can edit a wide variety of materials registered in the clip database CDB to edit complex and advanced video. Data can be obtained easily.

On the other hand, in the editing system 1, each clip as a material is managed in a hierarchical structure based on the relationship between the clips. In other words, it knows which clip is linked to which clip. In addition, if the edited content is changed after the editing work is performed, the clip is invalidated, and the clip linked to the upper level of the clip is invalidated based on the relationship between the clips. . If the operator memorizes and manages the relationship between the clips as in the past, when the lower clip is invalidated, the operator searches for the clip linked to the upper level of the lower clip and searches for it. Although it had to be invalidated, in the editing system 1 of the present invention,
Since the clip linked to the upper level is also automatically invalidated, the operator does not need to perform such complicated work, and the work load at the time of editing can be reduced.
Further, it is possible to prevent the upper clip from being used without being modified even though the lower clip is corrected.

In this editing system 1, when the editing contents for such a lower clip are corrected and executed, a clip linked to a higher order of the clip (that is, a correction) based on the relation between the clips. In the same manner, the editing contents of the clip using the clip obtained as the material are re-executed and automatically changed. For this reason, the operator searches for a clip that is linked to the higher-ordered clip that has been modified as in the past, and easily changes the clip that is linked to the upper-order without the operator having to re-edit the upper-level clip. Therefore, the work load on the operator can be reduced.

As described above, in the editing system 1 according to the present invention, each clip is managed in a hierarchical structure based on the vertical relation between the clips. Can be easily changed and the editing work can be performed efficiently without storing the. Even when the edited content is changed, the original work data relating to the editing is left, so that the original state can be easily restored even after the edited content is changed. Further, since the relationship between the clips is managed in a hierarchical structure, a complicated editing operation can be easily performed by sequentially performing the editing operation based on the relationship between the clips managed in the hierarchical structure.

According to the above configuration, the relationship between the clips is managed in a hierarchical structure, and the clip tree indicating the link state of each clip is displayed in the clip tree window 31 based on the relationship between the clips. By doing so, the operator can easily grasp which clip the result clip was generated as a material.

In the above embodiment, FIG.
The case where the relationship between the lower clip and the upper clip is managed by a format as shown in the above is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and if at least the link destination of each clip is managed in a hierarchical structure so as to be understood, The same effect as in the above case can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the editing system 1 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to a display device or a computer device. The same effect as in the case can be obtained.

[0246]

As described above, according to the present invention, the edit result clips and the edit target clips are managed in a hierarchical structure, and the link state between these clips is displayed on the display as a tree window. By
Since the link state between the clips is displayed on the display, it is possible to easily grasp from which material the editing result clip was generated from this display.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an editing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a workstation which is a main configuration of the editing system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing each module and clip database provided in the editing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating hierarchical management of clips;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram used to explain an image of a combining process.

FIG. 6 is a screen image diagram for explaining a video image generated by the combining process.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram used for explaining the principle of the combining process.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of special effect processing.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of editing processing;

FIG. 10 is a screen image diagram showing a GUI screen displayed when a synthesis module is activated.

FIG. 11 is a screen image diagram showing a GUI screen displayed when a special effect module is activated.

FIG. 12 is a screen image diagram showing a GUI screen displayed when an editing module is activated.

FIG. 13 is a table showing a database for clip management data registered in the clip database.

FIG. 14 is a table for explanation when the already registered clip management data is corrected.

FIG. 15 is a table showing edit point data at the time of a synthesis process.

FIG. 16 is a table showing edit point data during special effect processing.

FIG. 17 is a table showing editing point data at the time of editing processing.

FIG. 18 is a table showing combined data at the time of combining processing.

FIG. 19 is a table showing special effect data during special effect processing.

FIG. 20 is a table showing editing data at the time of editing processing.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the control module is activated.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the editing module is activated.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the synthesis module is activated.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when the special effect module is activated.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of editing processing.

FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram for explanation when editing contents for an arbitrary result clip are corrected.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining an operation when another module is activated while a predetermined module is activated.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart for explaining the operation at the time of re-execution processing;

FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a re-execution process.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Editing system, 2. Work station, 2A
... Main unit, 2B ... Display, 2C ... Keyboard, 2D ... Mouse, 2E ... Pen tablet, 3 ...
… Device controller, 4 …… Dedicated controller, 5
... Video recorder, 6 Video tape recorder, 7 Switch, 8 Video camera, 9
Digital multi-flecta, 10 monitor, 11 monitor
... audio mixer, 20 ... system bus, 21 ...
CPU, 21A ROM, 21A RAM, 22
... Video processor, 23 ... Display controller, 24
… HDD interface, 25… FDD interface, 26… Pointing device interface, 27… External interface, 30… Menu window, 31… Clip tree window,
32 ... key window, 33 ... library window, 34, 41, 51 ... timeline window,
35 ... parameter setting window, 36 ... preview screen display window, 37 ... device control window, 38 ... edit contents display window, 39 ...
Control command window, 40, 50 ... Effect selection window, 42, 52 ... Parameter setting window.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/91

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. An editing system for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, comprising: a plurality of processing modules for editing a clip to be edited, the editing system corresponding to a processing module selected from the plurality of processing modules. Editing means for generating an edit result clip by applying the edited processing to the edit target clip, and the edit means for indicating from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. Management means for managing the result clip and the plurality of editing target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a tree for indicating a link state of the plurality of clips managed by the management means so as to have the hierarchical structure. Window and a timeline window for indicating the editing section of the clip to be edited on the time axis Editing system characterized by comprising a display control means for displaying a graphical user INTERFACE including a window to Deisupurei. 2. The display control means, when a clip displayed in the tree window is selected, displays the selected clip as the clip to be edited in the timeline window. 2. The editing system according to 1. 3. The editing system according to claim 1, wherein said management means has a clip database for registering information on each clip for each clip. 4. The editing system according to claim 3, wherein said clip database includes link information indicating a link state of a clip managed according to said hierarchical structure. 5. The link information registered for each clip includes lower link destination information indicating a lower clip linked below the clip, and an upper link destination indicating a higher clip linked above the clip. 5. The editing system according to claim 4, wherein the editing system comprises information. 6. A display device for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, comprising a plurality of processing modules for editing the clip to be edited, and corresponding to a processing module selected from the plurality of processing modules. Editing means for generating an edit result clip by applying the edited processing to the edit target clip, and the edit means for indicating from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. Management means for managing the result clip and the plurality of editing target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a tree for indicating a link state of the plurality of clips managed by the management means so as to have the hierarchical structure. Window and a timeline window for showing the editing section of the clip to be edited on the time axis Display device characterized by comprising a display control means for displaying a graphical user INTERFACE to Deisupurei containing a. 7. The display control means, when a clip displayed in the tree window is selected, displays the selected clip as the clip to be edited in the timeline window. 7. The display device according to 6. 8. The display device according to claim 6, wherein said management means has a clip database for registering information on each clip for each clip. 9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein the clip database includes link information indicating a link state of the clip managed by the hierarchical structure. 10. The link information registered for each clip includes lower link destination information indicating a lower clip linked below the clip, and an upper link destination indicating a higher clip linked above the clip. The display device according to claim 9, comprising: information. 11. A computer device for editing a plurality of clips to be edited, comprising: a plurality of processing modules for editing the clip to be edited, the computer corresponding to a processing module selected from the plurality of processing modules. Editing means for generating an edit result clip by applying the edited processing to the edit target clip, and the edit means for indicating from which edit target clip the edit result clip is generated. Management means for managing the result clip and the plurality of editing target clips in a hierarchical structure, and a tree for indicating a link state of the plurality of clips managed by the management means so as to have the hierarchical structure. A window and a timeline for showing the editing section of the clip to be edited on the time axis Computer apparatus characterized by comprising a display control means for displaying a graphical user INTERFACE including a guiding in Deisupurei. 12. The display control means, when a clip displayed in the tree window is selected, displays the selected clip as the clip to be edited in the timeline window. 12. The computer device according to item 11. 13. The computer device according to claim 11, wherein said management means has a clip database for registering information on each clip for each clip. 14. The computer device according to claim 13, wherein said clip database includes link information indicating a link state of a clip managed by said hierarchical structure. 15. The link information registered for each clip includes lower link destination information indicating a lower clip linked below the clip, and an upper link destination indicating a higher clip linked above the clip. 15. The computer device according to claim 14, comprising information.