If you don't see spiralization of the head in the ANIMATED GIF (240K) above, you can try download AVI (400K) or MPG (120K) file with the same.

Below you can read about method of Pixel Editing (4D Videoediting) or download freeware working demo version of accompanying program for making above mentioned spiralization as well as many other effects.



PATENT: METHOD OF NONLINEAR VIDEOEDITING

(European Patent Number: LV11845)


Click here to download (and unzip with command: pkunzip -d pixeditd.zip) archived working demo version (Freeware, 400K) of accompanying program.

(US Copyright Number: TXu000802493)



FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in video production and more particularly to digital video editing.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED

For proper description of the proposed method a definition of terms used in the present disclosure is given. These terms are based on the Glossary of Class 358 (Television) of the United States Patent Classification.

Frame - a static visual information of determined volume, fixed on any carrier of the information.

Pixel - smallest distinguishable and resolvable area in a frame, with help of which is determined volume of the information in the frame.

Row - an area in a frame, equal to set of pixels, located on one horizontal line.

Video - a dynamic visual information, submitted as a sequence of the frames.

Analog video - a video, submitted with the help of an electro-magnetic signal.

Digital video - a video, submitted with the help of digits.

Videoediting - a process of creating secondary video from primary video by, either changing of one video, or connecting of several videos, or changing and connecting several videos.

Smallest videoediting unit - a unit of measurements of video, with the help of which are defined the volume of a video or coordinates of the beginning and the end of a video.

Plan of videoediting - a plan for the creation of the secondary video, in which the author defines the transfer order of the primary video(s) with the instructions of required changes in it (them).

Linear videoediting - videoediting, carried out in the same order, as the transfer order of the primary video(s).

Non-linear videoediting - videoediting, carried out in any order.

Digitising - a process of transforming of an electro-magnetic signal into digits. In this process each pixel of the image is represented as a numeral which depends on the color, or hue, saturation and brightness thereof. These numerals are recorded consecutively, each frame and each row thereof being determined by a different set of numerals, the number of said numerals in each set remaining constant. This rule makes possible to transform the coordinates of a pixel in a frame and the number of the frame into a numeral N = (FN - 1)(RC)(PC) + (RN - 1)(PC) + (PN), wherein N - the sequential number of a pixel or a numeral, representing it, in video; FN - the sequential number of the frame; RC - the number of rows in a frame; PC - the number of pixels in a row; RN - the sequential number of the row in the frame; PN - the sequential number of the pixel in the row. The free access to any pixel in digital video in any given moment allows to edit the digital video in non-linear mode. Contrary to this the analog video is editable in linear mode only because in the analog video the sequence of the primary video elements is not rearrangable without creating the primary video anew.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among the known techniques disclosed for the field of the present invention the following should be mentioned: Method and apparatus for generating operation and operand databases and for employing them in the color image processing, EP patent No.94300002. Method and apparatus for electronically processing and rerecording recorded video signals, PCT application No. PCT/EP86/00385.

The disclosures in the above documents have a common drawback: the frame editing method is employed that is widely used in cinema and analog video but does not allow to make use of the advantages of the digital video. Said method allows to change the coordinates of an object in a frame while the sequence of pixels within the frame remains unchanged.

The functions of the proposed invention can be at least in part accomplished by non-linear video editing systems described in: System for non-linear video editing, US patent No.5539527. These systems are here taken as the state-of-art because they are polyfunctional and efficient. Nevertheless they have the drawback of being empirical and lacking the methodology of selecting the smallest videoediting value.

With known methods video editing was effected by the method wherein the smallest videoediting value was a single frame. This method did not provide for freely chosing the sequence of the pixels in frame of the edited video.

The present invention seeks to provide a method for freely chosing sequence in the edited video not only of frames but also of separate pixels and regions thereof. In other words the proposed method is characterized in that the smallest videoediting value is not a frame but a pixel, that is, the editing parameters relate not to a whole frame but to separate pixels or regions thereof. The pixel coordinates include not only the row number in frame and pixel number in row but also the frame number in video.

The known methods of videoediting employ the following coordinates for frames: HH:MM:SS:FF, where HH is the Hour Number, MM is the Minute Number, SS is the Second Number and FF is the Frame Number.

The method of the present invention employs the following coordinates for pixels: HH:MM:SS:FF:RRRR:PPPP, where the additional coordinate RRRR is Row Number and PPPP is Pixel Number. For example, address 00:00:00:00:0000:0000 gives coordinates of the first (the extreme left) pixel in the first (the upmost) row of the first frame of the first second, first minute, first hour of the video, that is, the first pixel of the video.

For the realization of the proposed method a system of non-linear editing (Fig. 1) is used. Said system includes a computer system with memory unit (1) capable of storing the digitized video data, a display (2) with appropriate resolution and color palette values, video image source (3) and processor or video controller (4) for joining the computer system with video image source. The computer system is controlled by a standard operating system supplemented with an original copyrighted software, developed by the author of the present invention and not further disclosed herewith.

The proposed method of video editing is a method of nonlinear videoediting, comprising defining of volume and coordinates of a beginnings and an end of the video with the help of the smallest videoediting unit and creation of secondary video, from primary video, characterized with: - as the mentioned smallest videoediting unit is use pixel; - volume of frames of mentioned video is determined with the help of the mentioned pixels; - the mentioned pixels is included into the mentioned secondary video in any given order; - the order of inclusion of mentioned pixels into the mentioned secondary video is defined with the help of coordinates of these pixels.

The proposed method allows videoediting in the known modes and use known effects as well as work in new modes and employ both bi- and tridimensional special effects with the use of lower resources compared to known methods or provide unique effects not possible before. The use of the method of the present invention allows to produce the edited image without loss of image quality because in contrast with the other methods the separate pixels or regions of the image are not changed, the change involves only coordinates thereof. The proposed method of video editing makes use of the advantages of the digital video where the advanced features of digital information storage when employed together with contemporary methods of video editing advantageously extend the possibilities of said methods.

The following examples serve for the better understanding of the present invention.

EXAMPLE 1

The accompanying program (US copyright #TXu000802493) with digital video demonstrates the vortex effect on the image of human head. The separate phases of the effect are shown in Fig. 2: Fig. 2A - the top of the head starts spinning; Fig. 2B - the spinning top starts dragging along the following lower section of the head; Fig. 2C - the top sections continue spinning and involve in the movement the next section; Fig. 2D - the head is in the vortex and resembles a spiral. This example video spectacularly demonstrates the positioning of the separate regions of the image in the newly created (secondary) video in an arrangement (sequence) differering from that in the primary video, namely with a delay equal to the address value of the corresponding region. This results in an illusion of a relative mutual displacement of separate regions of the image.

EXAMPLE 2

In the video advertising a drink the following effect is used. To take the glass on the right side of the image the human hand positioned on the left side of the image extends to the glass for a distance significantly exceeding the real length of a hand. Said stretching effect is realized as follows. 1 - the extreme right part of the hand starts moving to the right; 2 - the extreme right part of the hand keeps moving right while giving the impression of dragging forth the next part being to the left; 3 - the right part of the hand keeps moving forth and drags on the left part of the hand; 4 - the hand extends in full and takes the glass. This effect is produced by positioning of separate regions of the image in the newly created (secondary) video in an arrangement (sequence) differering from that in the primary video, namely with a delay equal to the address value of the corresponding region. This results in an illusion of a relative displacement of separate regions of the image.

CLAIM

Method of nonlinear videoediting, comprising folowing operations:

- defining of volume and coordinates of a beginnings and an end of the dynamic visual information with the help of the smallest videoediting unit;

- creation of secondary dynamic visual infformation, fixed on any carrier of information, from primary dynamic visual information;

characterized with:

- as the mentioned smallest videoediting uunit is use the smallest distinguishable area of the static visual information, of which the mentioned dynamic visual information consists;

- volume of mentioned static visual informmation is determined with the help of the mentioned smallest distinguishable areas of this static visual information;

- the mentioned smallest distinguishable aareas of the static visual information is included into the mentioned secondary dynamic visual information in any given order;

- the order of inclusion of mentioned smalllest distinguishable areas of the static visual information into the mentioned secondary dynamic visual information is defined with the help of coordinates of these smallest distinguishable areas of the static visual information.

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method for freely chosing the sequence in the edited video not only of frames but also of separate pixels and regions thereof. The smallest videoediting value is not a frame but a pixel, that is, the editing parameters relate not to the whole frame but to separate pixels or regions thereof. The pixel coordinates include not only the row number in frame and pixel number in row but also the frame number in video.










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