Television – Image signal processing circuitry specific to television – Special effects
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-03
2001-05-29
Hsia, Sherrie (Department: 2614)
Television
Image signal processing circuitry specific to television
Special effects
C348S581000, C348S583000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06239846
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns the processing of digital video images and relates more especially to an improved method and means for achieving digital video effects.
It is well known to effect the transformation of a digital video image in such a manner that image information from one video source can be combined with that from another in order to achieve a variety of special effects. For example a frame containing a first image can be caused to move around within the frame of a second image by defining a desired trajectory within the second image frame. By defining parameters such as position, size, rotation and border size of the moving image further effects can be achieved. As will be understood by one skilled in the art of video editing such effects require the selection and manipulation of many different image parameters as made available for control in any given digital video effects apparatus. Effects such as turning pages, trails, textures, 3-D solid shapes, chroma keys, wraps, defocus, and shatters can all be achieved, and in a typical apparatus as many as four hundred different image parameters may be available for control by the editor. To edit such parameters for each frame of a moving image would be extremely labour intensive, and therefore in known digital effects apparatus controls are provided to enable the editor to set the values of selected parameters at critical points in the running time of a scene involving a given effect. Between the critical points at which the parameters are fixed, the values of the parameters are interpolated by the digital video effects apparatus in order to produce the desired course of the relevant effect. Such interpolation need not necessarily by linear but may proceed according to a function that has itself been defined by selection of an appropriate parameter.
This process is known as keyframe editing and virtually all currently used digital video effects apparatus are based on this system. The system does however have disadvantages in that unless the editing of a desired effect is very carefully planned in advance difficulty may arise when a sequence of events defined by consecutive keyframes is to be modified. This is because when a keyframe has been defined during the editing process the values of the parameters defined thereby have been fixed in the manner of a snapshot and thus the keyframe defines a limit of particular stage of interpolation for all parameters set thereby. If it should be desired to change the value of one parameter of a keyframe in order to vary a selected effect, for example, it my not therefore be possible to avoid undesirable changes in the course of interpolation of this parameter because the values of this parameter have been fixed by adjacent keyframes that may have been inserted only with the intention of governing the interpolation of other parameters. For this reason the editing of an existing stored effect may require laborious revision of many adjacent keyframes in order to achieve a desired charge.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
There is therefore a requirement for a digital video effects apparatus that allows editing of effects to be achieved in a simpler, more versatile and intuitive manner than has hitherto been possible and it is an object of the invention to provide an answer to this problem.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a method for processing a digital video image to provide a desired video effect, which comprises selecting values of parameters that are to govern the course of said effect during the time period of the corresponding scene to be displayed, storing the said values of said parameters with reference to time, at defined points in said time period spaced from one another in such a manner that the desired course of each said parameter can be interpolated from the stored values for the reproduction of video image frames occurring between the defined point of said time period, and causing said stored values to be retrieved and interpolated by a digital video effects apparatus during reproduction of a digital video signal in order to display the desired effect, characterised in that the values of each of at least some of said parameters are stored independently of other parameters in a timeline exclusive to that parameter, whereby the position of the defined point at which said value is stored in the timeline, and/or the value of the parameter stored at said point can be adjusted independently of the other parameters.
The invention further provides a digital video effects apparatus for use in said method. Such an apparatus may provide conventional video effects but is organised in such a manner as to enable independent selection and storage of values of parameters governing the effects to be achieved in order to obtain the advantages of the method defined above. The apparatus is further organised to enable retrieval and interpolation of the stored values in such a manner that the signals ultimately derived for reproduction of the effect are comparable with those provided in the conventional apparatus operating on the keyframe basis and therefore the hardware required for reproduction of the effect will not be described further.
It will be appreciated that given defined requirements for the provision of manual controls for selection and storage of data, for a corresponding display for organising the data to be stored and for the manner in which data is to be stored and retrieved, it will be within the routine skills of one versed in the art to provide corresponding software to enable the required functions to be achieved. Thus the invention lies not in any resultant software programme that may be so derived and that will not therefore be further described in detail, but in the functional interrelationship of features provided by the machine embodying such software.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will therefore be described in these terms below.
REFERENCES:
patent: 6028645 (2000-02-01), Reid
Hsia Sherrie
Jacobson Price Holman & Stern PLLC
Questech Limited
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