|Publication number||US7312803 B2|
|Application number||US 10/856,872|
|Publication date||Dec 25, 2007|
|Filing date||Jun 1, 2004|
|Priority date||Jun 1, 2004|
|Also published as||US20050264583|
|Publication number||10856872, 856872, US 7312803 B2, US 7312803B2, US-B2-7312803, US7312803 B2, US7312803B2|
|Original Assignee||X20 Media Inc.|
|Export Citation||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (17), Classifications (24), Legal Events (5)|
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet|
This invention relates to computer graphics and more particularly to production of computer graphics suitable for compositing to a video feed signal to produce an output video signal that combines the computer graphics with the video feed signal
Video programming, such as broadcast video signals, frequently includes additional visual information in the video signal to provide further information or a context to the video signal. For example, a television station or network that is broadcasting a movie may include a graphic representation of the television station or network in some portion of the broadcast video signal to identify the station or network that is airing the movie.
Generally, specialized hardware equipment and broadcast specific technologies have been used to provide the facility to incorporate such additional graphics into the programming source video to produce an output video signal which includes both the programming source video and the graphic element which was introduced. Typically, systems such as these require purchase of specialized equipment and training of individuals to use the specialized equipment to provide the capability to produce a composite video stream. Outside of the video industry field, many computer based graphics programs are in common use by a great number of individuals such as, for example, CorelDraw (trademark) produced by Corel Corporation or PowerPoint (trademark) produced by Microsoft Corporation. These graphics programs have a large user base and many people have a working knowledge of how to produce graphics using these general purpose graphics applications. However, such graphics applications are not suitable for use in the broadcast environment to produce composite graphics overlays that can be integrated into a composite video signal.
With computer based graphics programs that are in wide spread use, an increased number of personnel that work in the broadcast industry, video enthusiasts or others can originate graphics, ideas and assets that can be readily incorporated into a broadcast program or a video output. The graphics can be incorporated without the need or requirement to purchase specialized equipment or provide specialized training on use of existing broadcast or video equipment. Consequently, there is a need to increase the availability of graphics authors that would promote the innovation and use of graphics in production of television signals.
The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a capability to graphics programs to produce graphics that can be readily incorporated into a broadcast signal or overlaid onto a video signal by using existing graphics authoring capabilities. In one of its aspects, the invention provides a method for combining a source video signal and one or more graphical elements using an existi rig computer-based graphics program to generate a composite video signal. The method comprises providing a work area in the computer-based graphics program to enable a user to add data objects thereto, the data objects being available from the computer-based graphics program and being associated with the one or more graphical elements; providing in the work area, a region for the source video signal; enabling the user to interact with the work area to control the location, size, and appearance of the one or more graphical elements in relation to the region for the source video signal; generating a graphical overlay using the graphical elements according to the current state of the work area; combining the graphical overlay and the source video signal to generate the composite video signal; and providing the composite video signal as an output to be used by a graphics engine; wherein the preexisting computer-based graphics program is a commercially available software program that is independently operable to provide stand-alone functionality for at least one use other than the method.
In another aspect, a method for adapting an existing computer-based graphics program for generating a composite video feed is provided comprising providing a software tool in the computer-based graphics program that enables a user to load an overlay interface for adding data objects available directly from the computer-based graphics program; providing in the overlay interface, a region for a source video signal; and enabling the user to generate a composite video signal using the software tool, the composite video signal comprising the source video signal and one or more graphical elements associated with the data objects; wherein the preexisting computer-based graphics program is a commercially available software program that is independently operable to provide stand-alone functionality for at least one use other than the method.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying description and drawings in which:
Various forms of editing can take place such as writing scripts for broadcasters to read relating to the news. The real time data feeds can include a graphics creation process for graphic artists to assemble various graphics to represent overlays for example, for a weather broadcast or ticker symbols to crawl across a broadcast screen. The various editing and composing steps are shown in the correspondingly labeled portions within the box labeled as the “Broadcast Television Facility”. The material to be broadcast is selected by personnel operating the production control equipment 30 and master control equipment 32, which encodes and processes the video produced for dissemination over satellite, terrestrial or internet based communication facilities 34, 36 and 38 respectively.
The step of graphics creation 22 serves a number of functions and can relate to a variety of sources of information. For example, the graphics creation step includes assembly of still pictures and appropriate overlay text for presentment as a still picture for broadcast. Also, the graphics creation step includes conversion of real time data feeds, representing for example ticker symbols, into a scrolling text presentation presented across a lower portion of the broadcast video signal. It is the graphics creation step 22 that is the particular broadcast function that this invention relates to.
In the past, the step of graphics creation required specific hardware platforms and graphics packages to incorporate the real time data feeds or to produce other graphics, for example, weather sequences relying on satellite imaging etc. all of which require specialized training, hardware and software acquisition.
The present invention provides a software component that inter-operates with a PowerPoint (trademark) application and the PowerPoint (trademark) data objects to produce an output that is adapted for use as overlay graphics as part of the graphics creation step 22. By relying on the widely available interface of PowerPoint (trademark) to produce the graphics, a larger user base including anyone who has experience in producing PowerPoint (trademark) presentations can use the familiar PowerPoint (trademark) construction and graphics creation tools to create graphics suitable for use as video or broadcast video graphics.
An overlay manager 58 operates under user control 60 to select one or more overlay objects 52 a through 52 n to provide graphics instructions to graphics engine 56. Graphics engine 56 operates to combine the inputs obtained from the overlay manager based on the selected overlay object or objects and the video programming stream 54 to produce an overlay video programming stream as output 62. In this manner, the PowerPoint (trademark) objects that a user has created are adapted to function as overlay objects that are overlaid on a video programming stream to produce an overlaid output video programming stream which incorporates the graphics elements produced by the user. Thus, the graphics capability of PowerPoint (trademark) is made available to annotate and enhance video sources. Examples of typical applications where this functionality could be used include live presentations, corporate information channels, cable television channels and community channels, closed circuit video network, hotel hospitality channels and electronic signage for public areas such as malls and airports.
In the example of
When an element is added to the slide or when an element that is in the slide is selected, the corresponding properties of that element for the purposes of the Video overlay are presented to the user in the overlay interface 70. The overlay interface 70 provides the user with the capability to control the presentation of that element in the output video stream that would be produced from the slide. The user control of includes the ability to provide a mask or alpha channel for the element that will control the opacity of the graphical image of the element and therefore the ability of that graphical element to cover or overlay the underlying video feed. The PDOP 50 produces and maintains the mask or alpha channel of the selected PowerPoint (trademark) object based on the user interaction with the user interface 51 as depicted in the process flow of
In this manner, a graphic can be constructed for composition with a video feed or live data feeds to produce an output composite image that contains visual presentation of each of these sources of information.
Each of these graphics and their corresponding data objects can be updated by a script that processes a data feed which is associated with a corresponding PowerPoint (trademark) graphic object that the PowerPoint (trademark) data object parser 50 has manipulated to produce an overlay object 52. In accordance with the process shown in
Now that the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment and drawings accompanying this description, the scope of the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.
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|U.S. Classification||345/629, 715/719, 715/700, 715/798, 345/630, 715/788, 345/650, 345/619|
|International Classification||G06F3/048, G06F3/00, G09G5/02, G09G5/37|
|Cooperative Classification||G09G2340/125, G09G2340/10, H04N21/8133, H04N21/23412, G11B27/034, G09G5/397, H04N5/272|
|European Classification||H04N21/234C, H04N21/81D1, G09G5/397, G11B27/034, H04N5/272|
|Jun 1, 2004||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: VERTIGOXMEDIA INC., CANADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:WILKINS, DAVID;REEL/FRAME:015426/0458
Effective date: 20040528
|Oct 24, 2006||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: X20 MEDIA INC., CANADA
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:VERTIGOXMEDIA INC.;REEL/FRAME:018427/0937
Effective date: 20060421
|Aug 20, 2009||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: X2O MEDIA INC., CANADA
Free format text: CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED ON REEL 018427, FRAME 0937;ASSIGNOR:VERTIGOXMEDIA INC.;REEL/FRAME:023119/0452
Effective date: 20060421
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Year of fee payment: 4
|Jun 25, 2015||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 8