JP2002112167A - Video data editing device and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A video data editing device capable of properly preventing video data from being reproduced by appropriately processing video data having a short continuous time, and a device therefor. Providing a storage medium for realizing. SOLUTION: As shown in (a), (b) and (c),
The cut point is detected while playing the video tape, and the time code and date and time information of the IN point and the OUT point are stored for each shot divided by the cut point. Shot number 2
If there is a short shot such as the shot corresponding to, the material number to be added to the shot is the same as the immediately preceding (shot number 1) or the immediately following (shot number 3), whichever is closer in time (C). With this processing, in the subsequent processing such as encoding, the shot of shot number 2 and the shot of shot number 3 are treated as a series of linked shots.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention reads out video data and date and time data representing the recording time from a recording medium,
The present invention relates to a video data editing device that divides the video data into a plurality of continuous video data, and a storage medium that realizes the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, video data input from a video tape such as VHS or 8 mm has been edited, and a DVD (Division) has been edited.
(Gital Versatile Disc) and the like. In this case, for example, the video data is
Digital encoding may be performed based on a method defined in a standard such as EG (Moving Picture Experts Group) and recorded in a predetermined format.

[0003] However, a video tape or the like can be wound around an arbitrary position and can be played back from that position. However, when playing back compressed video data such as a DVD, it is necessary to change the playback position. It is necessary to read and process data appropriately. This is because, for example, in the case of MPEG2, which is a representative standard of moving image compression data, since the compression efficiency is increased by using the difference between consecutive images, it is necessary to accurately control the data reading position. . For DVDs and the like, high-speed reproduction such as fast-forwarding is also difficult for the same reason.

Therefore, in this type of video data editing apparatus, read means for reading video data to be written on a DVD or the like from a storage medium together with date and time data indicating the recording time, and discontinuous positions of the date and time data read by the read means And a dividing unit that divides the video data into a plurality of continuous video data by detecting the video data as a cut point. In this case, a menu for designating desired video data for each of the divided video data is created by detecting a discontinuous position of the date and time data as a cut point and dividing the video data at that point. be able to. Then, by performing an operation based on the display of the menu (for example, clicking a desired button displayed on the menu), a desired shot (continuous video separated by cut points) can be easily reproduced, and fast forward and the like can be performed. This makes it easy to search for a desired position without performing high-speed playback. The applicant of the present application has proposed that such video data is divided based on a time code attached to the input video data (for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 11-93631).

However, if all discontinuous positions in the date and time data are detected as cut points, shots as short as several seconds are detected, and the operability of the menu may be worsened. Then, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-22
No. 0689 proposes that a short shot is connected to a shot before the short shot to form a series of video materials.

[0006]

However, according to the above method, it is not determined whether the short shot is deeply related to the shot before or to the subsequent shot. Connected. Therefore, an unnatural video may be reproduced in the following cases. That is, a short shot may have no relation to the preceding shot at all, and may have a deep relation to subsequent shots. Then, in this case,
An unrelated shot is linked to the end of the preceding shot, and a video having a different content is suddenly reproduced during the reproduction of the shot.

Therefore, the present invention provides a video data editing apparatus and a video data editing apparatus capable of appropriately preventing video data from being reproduced by appropriately processing video data having a short continuous time. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a storage medium for realizing the above.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention To achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is a reading means for reading video data and date and time data indicating the recording time from a recording medium, and the reading means. A video data editing apparatus, comprising: a dividing unit that divides the video data into a plurality of continuous video data by detecting a discontinuous position of the date and time data read by the unit as a cut point. Further comprising a linking means for linking the video data whose time is equal to or less than a predetermined time with the temporally closer one of the continuous video data immediately before or immediately after the video data to form new continuous video data. It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, the reading means reads out the video data and the date and time data representing the recording time from the recording medium. When the reading means reads out the discontinuous position of the date and time data read by the reading means. Is detected as a cut point, thereby dividing the video data into a plurality of continuous video data. Then, the connecting means connects the video data having a continuous time equal to or less than a predetermined time to the temporally closer one of the continuous video data immediately before or immediately after the video data and newly connects the video data. And

That is, according to the present invention, video data having a short continuous time can be linked to the temporally closer one of the video data immediately before or immediately after it.
For example, a short shot can be linked to a temporally closer one of the preceding and following shots. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform processing for linking short video data to video data on a more closely related side, and it is possible to satisfactorily prevent reproduction of unnatural video. Further, if the present invention is applied to an apparatus for creating a menu for the video data after the division and the connection, the operability of the menu can be improved satisfactorily.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the connecting means determines that the date and time data indicating the end of the immediately preceding video data and the start of the video data of the predetermined time or less. Based on the difference between the date and time data, and the difference between the date and time data indicating the end time of the video data for the predetermined time or less and the date and time data indicating the start time of the video data immediately after, based on the immediately preceding or immediately following It is characterized by judging which of the continuous video data is close to the above.

[0012] In the present invention, the connecting means may include a difference between the date and time data indicating the end of the immediately preceding video data and the date and time data indicating a start of the video data for a predetermined time or less, and Based on the difference between the date and time data indicating the end time of the following video data and the date and time data indicating the start time of the immediately following video data, which of the consecutive video data immediately before or immediately follows is closer to Judge. As described above, according to the present invention, since the short video data is determined to be connected to the video data based on the date and time data indicating the start time or the end time of the video data, the processing is simplified. Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that the processing related to the connection is simplified, thereby reducing the processing load and improving the processing speed.

[0013] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In addition to the configuration described above, if the continuous time of the video data connected by the connecting means is still equal to or shorter than the predetermined time, the connecting means sets the continuous video data immediately before or immediately after the connected video data. Of these, any one that is temporally closer is further connected to form new continuous video data.

In the present invention, when the continuous time of the video data connected by the connecting means is still equal to or less than the predetermined time, the connecting means sets the continuous video immediately before or immediately after the connected video data. Of the data, any one that is closer in time is further connected to form new continuous video data. Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the present invention, there is an effect that short video data can be more effectively reduced. Therefore, if the present invention is applied to an apparatus for creating a menu for the video data after the division and connection, the operability of the menu can be further improved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to third aspects, a menu creating means for creating menu information for individually designating the continuous video data is further provided. It is characterized by. In the present invention, the menu creating means creates menu information for individually designating the continuous video data. Therefore, the operability of the menu is further improved by connecting the short video data to other video data as described above. Therefore, in the present invention, the effects of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3 are more remarkably exhibited.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, an encoding unit for compressing and encoding the video data read by the reading unit is further provided. Features. In the present invention, the encoding means comprises:
The video data read by the reading means is compressed and encoded. Therefore, according to the present invention, the read video data can be satisfactorily compressed and can be written to another storage medium. Therefore, in the present invention, claims 1 to 4
In addition to the effects of the invention described in any one of the above, there is an effect that video data read from a storage medium such as a video tape can be directly edited into digital data and written to a storage medium such as a DVD.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reading means for reading video data and date and time data representing the recording time from a recording medium, and detecting a discontinuous position of the date and time data read by the reading means as a cut point. By
A dividing unit for dividing the video data into a plurality of continuous video data, wherein the video data having a continuous time equal to or less than a predetermined time is the same as the immediately preceding continuous video data. If the continuous video data immediately after that is separated by more than a second predetermined time,
A deletion means for deleting the video data is further provided.

According to the present invention, the reading means reads out the video data and the date and time data indicating the recording time from the recording medium, and the dividing means sets the reading means in the same manner as in the first aspect. The video data is divided into a plurality of continuous video data by detecting a discontinuous position of the read date and time data as a cut point. In the present invention, when the short video data whose continuous time is shorter than the predetermined time is separated from the immediately preceding continuous video data and the immediately following continuous video data by the second predetermined time or more, the deleting means sets the video to be deleted. Delete data.

When the video data having a short continuous time is greatly separated from the video data immediately before it and the video data immediately after it (at least a second predetermined time), it is not linked to any video data. desirable. In addition, when such short video data exists sporadically, there is often no problem even if the video data is deleted. As an example of such video data, it is assumed that the operation state of the video camera or the like is checked, or the recording button of the video camera is accidentally touched. Therefore, in the present invention, the short video data that exists sporadically is deleted as described above. Therefore, in the present invention, by appropriately processing (deleting) the short video data, it is possible to properly prevent the reproduction of the unnatural video.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the sixth aspect, a menu creating means for creating menu information for individually designating the continuous video data is further provided. In the present invention, the menu creation means is:
Menu information for individually designating the continuous video data is created. Therefore, the operability of the menu is further improved by deleting the short video data. Therefore, in the present invention, the effect of the invention described in claim 6 is more remarkably exhibited.

The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6 or 7.
In addition to the configuration described above, an encoding unit for compressing and encoding the video data read by the reading unit is further provided. In the present invention, the encoding means compresses and encodes the video data read by the reading means.
Therefore, according to the present invention, the read video data can be satisfactorily compressed and can be written to another storage medium. Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 6 or 7, video data read from a storage medium such as a video tape can be directly edited into digital data and written on a storage medium such as a DVD. There is an effect that it can be done.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a software program so as to be readable by a computer, wherein the computer executes the processing as the reading means, the dividing means, and the connecting means. A software program is stored.

If a computer reads the software program stored in the present invention, the computer can execute the processing as the reading means, the dividing means, and the connecting means. Therefore,
According to the present invention, there is an effect that the video data editing apparatus according to claim 1 can be easily realized. Also,
When the processing as the connecting means also functions as the connecting means according to the second or third aspect, the video data editing apparatus according to the second or third aspect can be easily realized.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing a software program so as to be readable by a computer, wherein the computer executes the processing as the reading means, the dividing means, and the deleting means according to the sixth aspect. A software program is stored.

When the computer reads the software program stored in the present invention, the computer can execute the processing as the reading means, the dividing means, and the deleting means. Therefore,
According to the present invention, there is an effect that the video data editing apparatus according to claim 6 can be easily realized.

[0026]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
27 will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a video data editing apparatus that creates a content on a multimedia optical disc such as a DVD using image data or audio data as video data recorded on a video tape as a material. .

The processing in the video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a processing for inputting scenario information for determining the outline and structure of the content, and a multimedia optical disc for reproducing the image data or the audio data in accordance with the scenario information. A process for creating management information in accordance with a logical format defined in the standard, a process for encoding and multiplexing the image data or audio data into a format in accordance with the multimedia optical disc standard, and a process for multiplexing image data and audio data. Output on the hard disk in the order according to the logical format, and form a so-called disk image.

Hereinafter, the configuration and each processing of the video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. First, before describing these, the logical format will be described. In the following description, "video information"
This is a concept that includes both image data and audio data. There are cases where only image data exists and cases where both image data and audio data exist.

[Logical Format of Multimedia Optical Disk] First, a management unit of a content such as a movie on a multimedia optical disk such as a DVD will be described. In the present embodiment, a unit of content such as a movie to be written on a multimedia optical disc is referred to as a title. For example, when the content is a movie, one movie is assigned to one title. Therefore, three movies are written on a multimedia optical disc on which three titles are written.

As a general concept of a title, there is a title set including a plurality of titles sharing video information. For example, if there are three versions of the same movie, an uncut version, a theater release version, and a television version, which share much of the video information with each other, these are collectively referred to as one title set.

The multimedia optical disk of this embodiment can write a plurality of title sets. For example, for each of movie A, movie B and movie C,
When writing the movie version and the uncut version, 2
Three title sets composed of one title are written.

Each title is composed of a scene and scene reproduction path information. The scene includes video information, that is, image data and audio data. It should be noted that the term "voice data" used in the present specification includes not only original human voice but also sound data other than voice, or sound data such as music, and data indicating no sound. It is a thing.

The reproduction path information of a scene includes reproduction path information having a branch, and reproduction path information of continuous reproduction without a branch is referred to as program chain (PGC) information in this embodiment. These pieces of program chain information are connected to each other, and constitute the playback path information of the title set as a whole.

Next, the logical format of the multimedia optical disk will be described. 21 to 27 mainly describe information necessary for realizing the present invention, and other parts are omitted. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a data structure of recording information written on a multimedia optical disc as an information recording medium. Record information 50
1 is a disk information file 50 as overall management information.
2 and a plurality of video files 503. The disk information file 502 includes volume information that is information on the entire multimedia optical disk. The disc information file 502 also includes menu information for the user to select a title set at the start of playback of the multimedia optical disc.

The video file 503 contains individual title sets. The video file 503 includes video file management information 504 as entity management information and video file data 505 as entity information. The video file data 505 includes video information of all scenes constituting the title set and sub-video information. The video file management information 504 includes a video file management table 506 and title management information 5.
07 and the program chain information table 5 in the title
08 and the program chain information table 5 in the menu
09. Video file management table 5
06 includes header information for the video file 503. The title management information 507 includes information for managing a plurality of titles constituting the title set.
The in-title program chain information table 508 includes information that defines all the program chain information in the title in the title set. The in-menu program chain information table 509 includes information that defines all the program chain information in the menu in the title set.

FIG. 22 shows the video file management table 5
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of the present invention. The video file management table 506 stores a pointer 60 to the title management information 507.
1 and the program chain information table 50 in the title
8, a pointer 603 to a menu program chain information table 509, a menu video attribute table 604, a menu sub video attribute table 605, and a title video attribute table 606.
And a title sub-picture attribute table 607 and the like.

The menu video attribute table 604 includes:
Includes the number of image or audio streams used in the menu, and the attributes of the image or audio streams. Menu sub-image attribute table 60
5 includes the number of sub-video streams used in the menu and the attributes of the sub-video streams. The title video attribute table 606 includes the number of image streams or audio streams used in the title, and the attributes of the image streams or audio streams. The title sub-picture attribute table 607 includes the number of sub-picture streams used in the title and the attributes of the sub-picture streams.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the structure of the title management information 507. The title management information 507 is a table of a title search pointer 701 for quickly searching for a title included in the video file data 505. The title search pointer 701 includes a PGC number 702 which is a number of program chain (PGC) information,
A PG number 703, which is the number of a program (PG) constituting the program chain, is included.

FIG. 24 shows the data structure of the in-title program chain information table 508. The in-title program chain information table 508 includes a plurality of entries of the program chain information 801 that respectively define all the program chains (PGC) in the title set. Each program chain information 801 includes the number of stored programs 803 and the PGC
Reproduction time 804 and direct access information table 805
, Stored cell number 806, and cell reproduction information table 807
And

The number of stored programs 803 includes information on the number of programs managed by one piece of program chain information 801. Also, in the PGC playback time 804,
Information on the time required to reproduce one piece of program chain information 801 is included. Direct access information table 805
Contains the program number at the head of the cell. The storage cell number 806 includes information on the number of cells constituting one program for the number of programs. In the encoding process and the multiplexing process described later, this cell is used as a processing break,
This is performed for each cell.

The next cell playback information table 807 of the information in the program chain information table 508 in the title
For other information except for the video file data 50
5 is information that can be set in advance before creation. The capacity of the recording area for each piece of information is determined in advance. The cell reproduction information table 807 includes one or more stored cell information 8.
08 entries. Storage cell information 808
Are provided for the number of programs. The storage order of the storage cell information 808 in the cell reproduction information table 807 follows the cell reproduction order.

Further, the storage cell information 808 includes, for each cell to be reproduced, cell attribute information 809, cell reproduction time 810, and offset indicating the recording position of the cell data stored in the video file data 505 on the optical disk. 811 and the number of logical blocks occupied by cell data 812
And

The cell attribute information 809 includes a cell block mode 813 and a cell block type 814.
The cell block mode 813 includes information as to whether or not the cell forms a multi-angle block, and, if a cell forms a multi-angle block, information on whether the cell is at the head, end, or any other position. The cell block type 814 includes information on whether or not the cell is included in a multi-angle block. Among these pieces of information, the cell reproduction time 810 and the number of logical blocks 812 indicate the data amount of image data or audio data after encoding processing and multiplexing processing described later are performed. The offset 811 is index information for accessing a cell.

FIG. 25 shows the data structure of the in-menu program chain information table 509. Multimedia optical discs often have menus corresponding to a plurality of languages. Therefore, program chain information 901 for each language is written in the menu program chain information table 509 as a unit called a menu language unit 902. The program chain information 901 for each language has the same configuration as the program chain information 801 for the title included in the program chain information within title table 508 shown in FIG. These pieces of information are information that can be set in advance before creating the video file data 505.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the data structure of the video file data 505. Video file data 50
5 is composed of a plurality of system streams. In the present embodiment, this system stream is also referred to as a cell 1001. The cell 1001 has a configuration in which a 2-KB block is formed into one pack, and image data (video) 1002, audio data (audio) 1003, sub-picture 1004, and management information (management pack) 1005 are interleaved. The image data 1002 is a GOP (Group Of
Picture), which is a compression / decompression unit for inter-frame moving image data compression. GOP is the minimum unit that can be controlled during reproduction. Management information 10
05 is interleaved as a management pack prior to the GOP. The management information 1005 is search information for accessing the GOP, but information for menu information called highlight information is also written. In addition,
The GOP unit of the image data 1002 is a data amount of 12 to 15 pictures in the frame mode.
006, an I-picture (Intra-coded picture) 1007, and a plurality of B-pictures (Bidire pictures).
ctionally predictive-coded picture).

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of a system stream. The system stream 1101 includes a header 1102 as management information, video data (video) 1104 included in the video data string 1103, and audio data (audio) 1106 included in the audio data string 1105. It is configured in an interleaved state. The system stream in FIG. 27 includes a video data sequence 1103 and an audio data sequence 11
05 indicates an interleaved system stream, and audio data 1 is included in the system stream.
106 and the like may not be included.

The logical format of the record information 501 to be processed by the information processing apparatus of the present embodiment, which is written on the multimedia optical disk, has been described above. [Schematic Configuration of Video Data Editing Apparatus] Next, the schematic configuration of the video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the front view of FIG. 1 and the block diagram of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a video data editing apparatus main body (hereinafter, simply referred to as a main body) 1 composed of a personal computer or the like, and C
A display 2 is provided as a display unit composed of an RT or the like, a keyboard 3 and a mouse 4 are provided as input units, and a video deck 5 is provided as a playback unit that plays back video data such as audio and images recorded on a video tape. I have. The video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment has a D as a storage medium.
An optical disk writing device 6 for writing information to a multimedia optical disk such as a VD can be connected. When the optical disk writing device 6 is connected, it can be used as an information recording device. An encoder 7 for encoding the video information reproduced by the video deck 5 is mounted on the main body 1 as an extension board. The encoder 7 is mounted inside the main body 1, but is illustrated outside the main body 1 in FIG. 1 for convenience of description.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 1
ROM 11 storing a BIOS program and the like;
A RAM 12 for temporarily storing data, a hard disk 13 for storing various programs for realizing each of the above-described processes in the video data editing apparatus, and a disk unit for storing disk image data;
A SCSI interface 14, which is an interface to the optical disk writing device 6, and the encoder 7
And

The optical disk writing device 6 is, for example, a DV
A device for writing to a DR (DVD-Recordable) is used. That is, in the present embodiment, a DVD-R disc that can be written only once is used as a multimedia optical disc. However, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, instead of the optical disk writing device 6, a digital tape recording device is used, and once information is recorded on a digital tape, press working or the like is performed. It may be configured to write information to a multimedia optical disc via the optical disc.

The encoder 7 includes an MPEG2 encoder 16 and an AC-3 encoder 17 for encoding video information reproduced by the video deck 5. The MPEG2 encoder 16 and the AC-3 encoder 17 are means for compressing and encoding image data according to the MPEG2 standard and compressing and encoding audio data according to the Dolby AC-3 standard, respectively.

In FIG. 2, the components of the main body 1 as described above are shown in a region surrounded by a dotted line. Further, the respective components as described above, and the display 2, the keyboard 3, and the mouse 4 also shown in FIG. 1 are connected via a bus 18. Further, the bus 18 includes a well-known 1394 control board and a 1394 control board (not shown).
The CPU 1 is connected to the video deck 5 via a cable.
It is also possible to control the driving state of the video deck 5 by a command from 0.

The main body 1 is composed of a general computer device such as a personal computer as described above. However, FIG. 2 omits components of a general computer device that are not necessary for the description of the present embodiment. Components other than the components shown in FIG. 2 include, for example, Floppy (registered trademark).
A disk drive device or a CD-ROM drive device may be used. A program for each processing in the video data editing apparatus of the present embodiment is recorded on, for example, a CD-ROM as an information recording medium.
By installing the program on the hard disk 13 using the drive device, the program becomes executable. FIG. 2 shows a multiplexing program 20, a control program 21, a cut point information generation program 22, a menu creation program 24, a scenario information input program 26, a management information creation program 29, and an output program 30 as such programs. Installed.

The disk image file 41 set on the hard disk 13 is used as storage means for storing information to be written on a multimedia optical disk such as a DVD before writing on the optical disk. FIG. 2 shows that the disk image file 41 includes a disk management information file 42, a system stream management information file 43, and a system stream file 4.
5 is recorded.

CPU 10, ROM 11, and RAM 12
Is the same as that used for a general computer device, and thus the detailed description is omitted. The display 2, the keyboard 3, and the mouse 4 have the same configuration as those used in a general computer device, and thus detailed description is omitted.

[Video Data Editing Processing] Next, video data editing processing by the video data editing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
18 will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the video data editing apparatus as described above in terms of functions. The video playback device 51 corresponds to the video deck 5, and the video data editing device main body 1 controls the video playback device 51 via a video information capturing unit 53 (corresponding to S101, S103, and S109 described later) and outputs the video tape. The recorded video data is captured together with the date and time information and the time code by reproducing the video. The video information capturing unit 53 is realized by the CPU 10 executing the control program 21 installed on the hard disk 13.

The division candidate point detection unit 60 (S described later) realized by the execution of the cut point information generation program 22 installed on the hard disk 13 by the CPU 10.
1) includes a discontinuity determination unit 61, a reproduction time calculation unit 63, a connection determination unit 65, a connection destination determination unit 67, and a cut point information generation unit 69 as described below.

The discontinuity determination unit 61 (S105 to S1 to be described later)
21 corresponds to a cut point of video data (a point at which the date and time information is discontinuous) based on the date and time information attached to the video data.
Is detected. The reproduction time calculation unit 63 (S125, S
153) calculates the reproduction time of the video (hereinafter, referred to as a shot) between the cut points detected by the discontinuity determination unit 61 based on the time code, and calculates the connection determination unit 65 (S described later).
127, S155) determines that the shot should be connected to another shot when the calculated reproduction time is equal to or shorter than a predetermined value.

If connection is to be made, the connection destination determination unit 67 (corresponding to S137 to S151 and S157 to S167 described later)
Determines the other shot to be connected to the shot whose reproduction time is equal to or less than the predetermined time as follows. That is, the difference between the date and time information at the IN point (start position) of the shot and the date and time information at the OUT point (end position) of the previous shot, the date and time information at the OUT point of the shot, and the IN and the next shot The difference is compared with the date and time information, and the shot is connected to the side having the smaller difference.

For the shots for which the connection processing has been completed in this way, the cut point information generation unit 69 (S171 to be described later)
(Corresponding to S193) generates cut-point information in the form of a list, and stores it in the storage unit 71 (RAM 12
Storage area). On the other hand, the CP of the menu creation program 24 installed on the hard disk 13
In response to the execution by U10, a menu design or the like desired by the user is input from an input unit 79 including the keyboard 3 or the like. Therefore, the division point calculation unit 73 (corresponding to S13 described later) calculates the division point of the video data based on the input information and the cut point information. Then, the video data generation unit 75 (corresponding to S15 to S21 to be described later) performs encoding and multiplexing for each video material divided at the division point, generates video data for a multimedia optical disc, and writes The video data is output to a video recording device 77 such as the recording device 6.

Here, the scenario information created corresponding to the menu and the like will be described. Scenario information is
This is realized by the CPU 10 executing the scenario information input program 26 installed on the hard disk 13. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a part of scenario information 400 as an example, and includes menu information 401 and title information 406 as title configuration information.
Other information included in the scenario information 400 includes:
The information includes a type of the multimedia optical disc, information about a creator of the content to be recorded, and the like. However, the description is not necessarily required in the description of the present embodiment, and thus a detailed description is omitted.

The menu information 401 is based on the input from the input unit 79 as described above, and the menu creation program 2
4 is executed by the CPU 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the menu information 401 includes menu limit size information 402, background information 403, button number information 404, and button information 405.
The menu information 401 is information related to a menu displayed on a screen of a television or the like when a multimedia optical disc such as a DVD is reproduced. The user can reproduce a desired title or the like by specifying the title or the like based on the menu display.

The menu limit size information 402 includes D
It contains information on the upper limit of the capacity that can be used by the data for composing the menu among the total recording capacity of a multimedia optical disc such as a VD.
The title image data and audio data are recorded as video file data 505 as shown in FIG. 21 and managed by the video file management information 504. Such a configuration is the same for a menu. In other words, the image data or audio data for composing the menu is
It is recorded as menu video file data 505, and the menu video file data 505 is managed by menu video file management information 504. Therefore, in order to construct the menu, an area for recording the video file management information 504 for the menu and the video file data 505 for the menu are required.
And an area for recording the information. Therefore, the input form for allowing the user to input the scenario information 400 is provided with a column for inputting the upper limit of the size to be allocated as these recording areas, and the CPU 10 determines the menu size limit information based on the information based on this input. 402 is created.

The background information 403 includes information of an image serving as a background when a button is displayed. In other words, the menu displayed on the television or the like is displayed on the background image,
A button with a title name or the like is displayed, and the background image is selected from a large number of patterns prepared in advance by a layout pattern selection process (S
It is selected according to 9). The button number information 404 includes
Information on the number of buttons to be displayed as a menu is included. This information is used as a video division point determination process (S13) described later.
Is created according to the number of divisions of the video determined by the.

The button information 405 includes display information of the button on the screen and information on reproduction control such as designation of an operation performed by selecting the button.
These pieces of information are created in advance using a menu creation tool or the like. Then, such information is input as scenario information, and the CPU 10 creates the button information 405 based on the information based on the input.

The title information 406 includes title number information 407, a title size limit list 408,
A video image selection information list 409, a video image time position list 410, a video image time length list 411,
A video encoding method list 412, a video bit rate list 413, and a chapter information list 414 are included. Here, “video” is a concept including both images and sounds, and “video encoding method” includes one or both of the image encoding method and the audio encoding method. It is.

The number-of-titles information 407 includes the number of titles, that is, the number of continuous reproduced videos to be written on a multimedia optical disc such as a DVD. This number can be freely set by the user, and is input as scenario information, and the CPU 10 creates number information 407 of titles based on the information based on this input.

The limited size list 408 of titles including the maximum size information of the entity information includes, in the total recording capacity of a multimedia optical disc such as a DVD, the upper limit of the capacity that data for forming each title can use. It is included. That is, a material group of image data or audio data for forming one title is recorded in the area of the video file data 505, and the video file data 5
05 is the video file management information 5
Since it is recorded in the area No. 04, an area for recording such video file management information 504 and an area for recording video file data 505 are required to compose a title. Therefore, the input form for allowing the user to input the scenario information 400 is provided with a column for inputting the upper limit of the size to be allocated as these recording areas. 408 is created. here,
The limitation size list of the title is used instead of the limitation size information of the title, because the limitation size information of the title can be set for each title and is created for each title.

The video video selection information list 409 as the designation information is information relating to the reproduced video of the title.
Information for specifying a video image source in which an image or audio to be encoded is recorded is included. For example,
When a video image source is stored on a plurality of video tapes, an identification number such as an ID number is assigned to each video tape, and the video image source can be specified by the identification number. Therefore, this identification number is input as scenario information, and the CPU 10 creates a video image selection information list 409 based on the information by this input. This video image selection information is also created and listed for each title.

The video video time position list 410 and the video video time length list 411 as the designation information and the time delimiter information are information for specifying the encoding of an arbitrary part of the video video source. For example, if the position on the video tape specified by the identification information is 10 minutes from the beginning and the end position is 30 minutes from the beginning, the time position information is 10 minutes and the time length information is 20 minutes. Enter minute information. As scenario information,
The CPU 10 inputs a time and a time length of the start position, and the CPU 10 creates a video image time position list 410 and a video image time length list 411 based on the information based on the input. This video image time position information is also created and listed for each title.

The video image time length list 411 is
This is information equal to the playback time of the video image for each title, and is also information on the playback time length of the entity information. The video encoding system list 412 as encoding information is information for specifying the video encoding system. For example,
The image encoding method includes an image ratio, a frame rate, and the like. The audio encoding method includes a sampling frequency and the like. These information can be freely set by the user. The CPU 10 inputs this information as scenario information, and the CPU 10 generates a video encoding method list 4 based on the input information.
12 is created. Information on the video encoding system is also created and listed for each title.

A video bit rate list 413 as the other coded information is information for specifying a bit rate at the time of encoding according to the MPEG2 or AC-3 standard. This information can be freely set by the user. This information is input as the scenario information, and the CPU 1
0 creates a video bit rate list 413 based on this input information. The bit rate information of this video is also created and listed for each title.

The chapter information list 414 is information for further dividing a title into an arbitrary reproduction section and treating it as a chapter, and includes a time position of a division point. This information can be freely set by the user.
The CPU 10 inputs the time position information of the division point as the scenario information, and the CPU 10 creates the chapter information list 414 based on the information based on the input. This chapter information is also created and listed for each title.

Next, processing in the video data editing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a main routine of a process executed by the main body 1. When the process is started, the main body 1 first generates cut point information based on the cut point information generation program 22 in S1 (S represents a step: the same applies hereinafter) as follows.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the details of S1. In this process, first, in step S101, the video deck 5 is controlled to start playing a video tape, and then in step S10
At 3, the user inputs the date and time information and the time code attached to the reproduced video. The date and time information and the time code are stored in the RAM 12 as the IN point of the first shot (S
105) Then, in S107, it is determined whether or not the reproduction of the video tape has been completed.

If the reproduction has not been completed (S107:
NO), and inputs the next date and time information and time code (S1).
09), it is determined whether or not there is a predetermined date and time difference from the previously input date and time information (S121). If the difference is not more than the predetermined date and time (S121: NO), the video data corresponds to a continuous video. So, in this case,
The process proceeds to S107, and if the reproduction of the video tape is not completed (S107: NO), the next date / time information and time code are further input (S109).

While reproducing the video tape, this S107
When the position (cut point) where the difference between the date and time information is equal to or greater than the predetermined date and time difference is detected (S12)
1: YES), and then proceeds to S123. This S123
Then, the previous date and time information and the time code are stored as the OUT point of the shot, and the next date and time information and the time code are stored as the IN point of the next shot. By this processing, as shown in FIG. 15 (a), (b), and (c) described later, the time code and the date and time information of the IN point and the OUT point are stored for each shot divided by the cut point. Go.

In S125, the reproduction time of the shot is calculated, and in S127, it is determined whether or not the reproduction time is shorter than a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds). If the shot is longer than the predetermined time (S127: NO), S
The process proceeds to 131, and it is determined whether or not the shot is a linked shot. As will be described later, in this process, a process of linking a shot shorter than the predetermined time to a shot immediately before or immediately after the predetermined time is performed. Initially, no connection is made, so a negative determination is made in S131, and a material number obtained by adding 1 to the material number of the previous shot is assigned to the shot (S1).
33), the process proceeds to S107 described above.

As described above, in the processing of S105 to S133, the cut point at which the date and time information is discontinuous is detected (S10).
9, S121), if the shots separated by the cut point are all normal shots having a reproduction time longer than the predetermined time (S127: NO), the IN point and the OUT point are stored for each shot. (S123), a material number that increases by one for each shot is assigned (S133).

On the other hand, if there is a shot whose reproduction time is equal to or shorter than the predetermined time during the above processing (S127: YE
S), the process proceeds to S135, and determines whether or not the shot is a linked shot. When such a shot is detected for the first time, since no connection has been made yet, a negative determination is made in S135, and the process proceeds to S137. In S137, the date and time difference T1 between the OUT point of the previous shot and the IN point of the current shot is calculated. Following S13
In 9, the OUT point of the current shot and the I
The time difference T2 from the N point is calculated. Then, in S141, it is determined whether or not both the calculated T1 and T2 are equal to or longer than a second predetermined time (for example, one day).

If at least one of T1 and T2 is shorter than the second predetermined time (S141: NO), the subsequent S
At 143, the two sizes are compared. And T1 ≤ T
In the case of No. 2 (S143: NO), the shot is assigned the same material number as the previous shot, and the process proceeds to S107 (S145). By this process, the shot is linked to the previous shot.

On the other hand, if T1> T2 (S143: Y
ES), the shot is assigned a material number obtained by adding 1 to the material number of the previous shot (S147), the same material number is assigned to the next shot (S149), and the process proceeds to S107. By this processing, the shot is linked to the next shot.

That is, in the processing of S143 to S149, the shots shorter than the predetermined time are linked to the temporally closer one of the preceding and succeeding shots.
Then, the connection to the next shot (S147, S149)
Is performed, a shot number (next shot) between the next shot point and the cut point detected in S121 is already assigned a material number. Therefore, in this case, the aforementioned S13
That is, a positive determination is made at 1 and the process of S133 is skipped.

On the other hand, if the shot shorter than the predetermined time is separated from the immediately preceding shot and the next shot by the second predetermined time or more (S141: YES), S151 is performed.
Then, the shot is erased, and the routine goes to S107. This processing can be executed by, for example, assigning a material number 0 to the shot and ignoring the shot of the material number 0 in encoding or the like described later. When such a special material number is used, the S
The processing of 133, S145, or S147 is performed based on the material number of the previous shot.

Further, when the shots determined to be shorter than the predetermined time in S127 are linked shots, such as when the shots shorter than the predetermined time are continuous (S135: YES), the process proceeds to S153. To calculate the total playback time of shots with the same material number. If the total playback time is longer than the predetermined value (S155: NO), the process proceeds to S107 to process the next shot, but if the total playback time is equal to or less than the predetermined value (S155: YES), the process continues. The process moves to S157 and S159 sequentially.

In S157, the date and time difference T1 between the IN point of the first shot of the same material number and the OUT point of the immediately preceding shot is calculated. In S159, the date and time difference T2 between the OUT point of the current shot and the IN point of the next shot is calculated. Then, T1 and T2 are compared (S163),
If T1> T2, the same material number is assigned to the next shot, and the process proceeds to S107 (S165). If T1 ≦ T2, all connected shots are changed with the same number as the previous material number and the process proceeds to S107. The process is shifted (S167). Then, the process of connecting such short shots is performed on all the video data, and when the reproduction of the video tape is completed (S1).
07: YES), processing S401 for the last shot
Move to.

That is, at the reproduction end point of the last shot after the reproduction of the video tape is completed, the date and time information and the time code attached to the reproduced video are input (S40).
1). The date and time information and the time code are stored in the RAM 12 as the OUT point of the last shot (S403).
In subsequent S405, it is determined whether or not the shot is a linked shot.

In the case of unconnected shots (S40
5: NO), and calculate the reproduction time of the shot (S40).
7) In S409, it is determined whether or not the reproduction time is shorter than a predetermined time. If the shot is shorter than the predetermined time (S409: YES), the flow shifts to S411,
A date and time difference is calculated from the OUT point of the previous shot and the IN point of the shot (S411), and in S413, it is determined whether the date and time difference is equal to or longer than a second predetermined time.

If the date and time difference is less than the second predetermined time (S413: NO), there is no shot after the shot, so that the shot is unconditionally linked with the same material number as the previous shot (S415). . If the date and time difference is greater than or equal to the second predetermined time (S413: YES), the shot is deleted in S417, and the flow shifts to S171.

In the determination of the reproduction time in S409, if the shot is longer than the predetermined time (S409: NO),
Since there is no need to link the shots, a material number obtained by adding 1 to the material number of the previous shot is assigned. S40
In the case of the shot that has already been linked in the judgment of S5 (S4
05: YES), the total playback time is calculated from the shots of the connected material numbers (S421), and in S423, it is determined whether or not the playback time is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time.

If the linked shots of the same material number including the shot are shorter than the predetermined time (S423: YE
In S), since there is no shot after the shot,
Unconditionally change the material numbers of all the connected shots with the same number as the previous material number and perform the connection processing (S42).
5). If the linked shots of the same material number including the shot are longer than the predetermined time (S423: NO), the process directly proceeds to S171.

When the processing shifts to S171 through the above processing,
The cut point information is generated as follows using the material number. First, after setting the shot number S to 1 in S171, the time code at the IN point of the shot number S is read (S173), and written in the list of cut point information together with date and time information (S175). Next, the material number of the shot is read (S177), and similarly written in a list of cut point information (S179).

In the following S181, it is determined whether or not the next shot exists. If so, (S181: YE
S), the material number of the shot, that is, the shot number S + 1, is read (S183). Continue S18
In 5, it is determined whether or not the material number of the shot (S + 1) is the same as the current shot (S). And
If the material numbers are different (S185: NO), the OUT point of the current shot (S) is written in the column of the material number in the cut point information list (S187), and the processing is performed by substituting S + 1 for the shot number S. After moving to the next shot (S
189), and proceeds to S173 described above. by this,
For shots corresponding to different material numbers,
The time code and date and time information of the N point and the OUT point are written.

On the other hand, if the material number of the next shot (S + 1) is the same as the current shot (S) (S18)
5: YES), the process directly proceeds to the next shot (S191), and the process proceeds to S181 described above. Then, when it is determined that the material numbers of the next shot are different (S
185: NO), the OUT point of the shot at that time is written in the column of the material number in the list of cut point information (S18).
7). As a result, for a series of shots belonging to the same material number, the IN point of the first shot and the OUT point of the last shot are recorded. When the processing has been completed for all shots and the next shot no longer exists (S181: NO), the OUT point of the last shot (shot number S) is set to the corresponding material in the list of cut point information. Write it in the number column (S193), and then proceed to S3
Move to (FIG. 5).

Here, prior to the description of the processing after S3,
The process of S1 will be described with a specific example. FIG.
3 (a) shows the shooting date and time of the video. Shooting 1 was performed from 9:00:00 to 10:10 on May 25, 2000, and shooting 2 was performed at 10: 20: 0 on the same day. From the same day to 10: 25: 3 on the same day.
It was done until 0 minutes and 3 seconds. These shot images are recorded in series on a video tape, and the reproduction time is 10 minutes, 3 seconds, and 5 minutes, respectively, as shown in FIG. Further, the videotape includes date and time information indicating the shooting date and time, hour,
A time code in which the minute, second, and frame are continuously counted from the head of the tape is recorded. As shown in FIG. 13C, in recording 2 corresponding to shooting 2, the time code at the IN point is 00: 10: 01: 00 and the time code at the OUT point is 00: 10: 03: 15. I have.

As shown in FIG. 14, at the boundary between recording 1 corresponding to photographing 1 and recording 2, the time difference between the date and time information is 1
You have 10 minutes. At the boundary between the recording 2 and the recording 3 corresponding to the shooting 3, there is a time difference of 5 minutes between date and time information. Thus, for example, when the time of the predetermined date and time difference is set to 5 seconds, these are divided into shots 1, 2, and 3 by the processing of S103 to S123.

The time code and the date and time information at the IN point and the OUT point of each shot are sequentially stored as shown in FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C as the video tape is reproduced (S105). , S123). The shot 2 is extremely short, 3 seconds (S127: YES), and the date and time difference T2 between the OUT point of the shot 2 and the IN point of the shot 3
Is smaller than the date and time difference T1 between the OUT point of shot 1 and the IN point of shot 2 (S143: YES). For this reason,
As shown in FIG. 15C, the same material number is assigned to shot 2 and shot 3.

Then, based on this material number, S171
By performing the processing of S193 to S193, FIG.
A list of cut point information as shown in (d) is generated.
FIGS. 16A to 16C show the above-described recording 1 to recording 3
Is divided into a video material A corresponding to the material number 1 and a video material B corresponding to the material number 2.

Returning to FIG. 5, S following S1 described above
3 is a process for setting a division decision point that is a division point of a video when a menu is created, and a division candidate point that can be a division point of the video, the details of which are shown in FIG. FIG.
As shown in (1), in this processing, first, the cut point information generated by the processing of S1 is read (S30).
1) Subsequently, the feature amount of each video material is calculated (S30)
3). As the feature amount, various feature amounts such as an average brightness value of a video pixel and a loudness of a sound can be considered. In the present embodiment, the date and time information at the IN point and the OUT point of each video material is read, and the feature amount is read. Amount.

In the next step S305, the amount of change in the characteristic amount is calculated. In this case, the date and time difference between the OUT point of the immediately preceding video material and the IN point of the video material are calculated as the amount of change in the feature amount. In subsequent S307, it is determined whether or not the amount of change is greater than a candidate point threshold value (for example, 5 minutes). If the amount of change is equal to or less than the candidate point threshold value (S307: NO), adjacent positions are interposed. Then, the process goes to S311. In S311, it is determined whether or not the processing has been performed on the cut point information to the end. If the cut point information remains (S311: NO), the process proceeds to S301 and the above-described processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if the change amount of the feature amount is larger than the candidate point threshold value (S307: YES), S31
At 3, it is determined whether or not the amount of change in the feature amount is larger than a decision point threshold value (for example, 30 minutes (1800 seconds)). If it is larger than the decision point threshold, the position is set as a division decision point (S315). If it is smaller than the decision point threshold, the position is set as a division candidate point (S31).
7) The process proceeds to S311 described above. Thus,
When the above processing is completed for all the video materials of the cut point information (S311: YES), the process proceeds to subsequent S5 (FIG. 5).

Here, the process of S3 will be described with a specific example. Video materials A to A shown schematically in FIG.
G (irrelevant to the video material illustrated in FIGS. 13 to 16), and the cut point information for the video material is shown in FIG.
(B) When given (video material A,
B,... Correspond to the material numbers 1, 2,.
The amount of change in the feature amount (gap at the date and time) is 4 minutes (240 seconds).
c), and the amount of change in the feature amounts of the video materials E and F is 1 minute (60 seconds). Since these are smaller than the candidate point threshold value of 5 minutes (300 sec), the video materials C and D and the video materials E and F are connected by the processing of S309. Table 1 shows the time code and date / time information at the IN point and the OUT point of each video material after connection. In Table 1, for example, a new video material obtained by connecting the video material C and the video material D is represented as a video material CD.

[0103]

[Table 1]

Subsequently, when the amount of change in the characteristic amount at the position where each video material is adjacent is calculated, as shown in Table 2, the position where video material A and video material B are adjacent (position A
−B: the same applies to other cases), the change amount of the feature amount is 10 minutes (600 seconds), and the position B-CD is 18 minutes (1080 seconds).
sec), 1 hour 21 minutes (4860) at position CD-EF
sec), at the position EF-G, 15 minutes (900 sec). Since only the position CD-EF is longer than the decision point threshold value of 30 minutes (1800 sec), it is a division decision point. Since the positions AB, B-CD, and EF-G are all smaller than the decision point threshold value, the division is made. It becomes a candidate point. as a result,
Table 2 below.

[0105]

[Table 2]

Returning to FIG. 5, once the division decision point and the division candidate point are set in S3, in the subsequent S5, the reproduction from the video tape is performed based on the number of the division decision point and the division candidate point. Of the video data to be divided (cut number range) is determined. This cut number range is a range in which the number of division decision points + 1 is the minimum value, and the number of division decision points + number of division candidate points + 1 is the maximum value. For example, in the example of Table 2, since the data must be divided at least at the position CD-EF, the minimum value of the number of cuts is 2, and the position A
If the data is also divided at all of the division candidate points of -B, B-CD, and EF-G, the number of cuts is 5 (maximum value).
Therefore, it can be seen that the video data composed of the video materials exemplified in Table 2 can be divided in the range of 2 to 5 cuts.

At S 7, a menu layout pattern suitable for the number of cuts is detected and presented on the display 2. The video data editing apparatus according to the present embodiment is configured as shown in FIG.
Various menu layout patterns are prepared as illustrated in (a) to (f). For each layout pattern, the most appropriate number of buttons (the number of cuts) and the most appropriate number of buttons (the number of cuts) are determined. Each range is set. Therefore, in S7, only the layout pattern in which the cut number range determined in S5 and the appropriate button number range (appropriate button range) overlap is presented on the display 2. For example, since the range of the number of cuts is 2 to 5 in the above example, only (a), (e), and (f) are presented in the layout pattern illustrated in FIG.

In S9, the user selects a desired layout pattern based on the user's mouse operation or the like.
In S11, the number of cuts is determined based on the selected layout pattern. In this case, if the optimum number of buttons of the layout pattern is included in the cut number range, the number is closest to the number. If the optimum button number is not included, the number is closest to the cut number range and the appropriate button range. The number determines the number of cuts. And the following S1
In 3, the image division point corresponding to the number of cuts is determined by selecting the division determination point and an appropriate division candidate point. For example, when the layout pattern shown in FIG. 18E is selected in the above example, one image is determined by setting one division determination point and two of the three candidate division points as division points. Divide into four cuts.

In this case, as shown in Table 2 above, the amount of change in the characteristic amount at the position AB as a division candidate point is smaller than that of the other division candidate points. Therefore, as shown in Table 3, positions AB are continuous points, positions B-CD and CD-E.
F and EF-G each become a division point. Then, by dividing the video data at each of the division points, final video materials AB, CD, EF, and G as shown in Table 4 are formed.

[0110]

[Table 3]

[0111]

[Table 4]

At S15, encoding is performed for each of the divided video materials. Details of this encoding process are shown in the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, in this process, first, in S501, the MPEG2 encoder 16 and the AC-3 encoder 17 are operated to encode image data and audio data. The encoded data is sequentially stored in the RAM 12 or the hard disk 13.

In S503, the stored encoded image data and audio data are multiplexed and converted into a system stream that can be output to the optical disk writing device 6. By this multiplexing, as described above, the image data 1
A system stream having a configuration in which 002, audio data 1003, sub-picture 1004, and management information 1005 are interleaved (see FIG. 26) is generated. In addition,
In this system stream, a portion from one management information 1005 to a portion before the next management information 1005 is a minimum unit of reproduction, and access to the middle or reproduction from the middle is impossible. The minimum unit that can be reproduced is called a VOBU, and the length of one VOBU is set in the range of 0.4 to 1.2 seconds according to the standard.

In the multiplexing process (S503), VOBUs are sequentially output in accordance with the progress of the encoding (S501) process, and the multiplexed data provided for the multiplexing is converted to the R data.
Erase from the AM 12 or the hard disk 13. Then, in S505, the output VOBU is stored in the system stream file 45, and the process proceeds to the main routine.

Returning to FIG. 5, in S17, menu data as menu information is created. Here, S
An index corresponding to the divided video material is formed on a button corresponding to the layout pattern already selected in the process of No. 9. In the above-described example, the index corresponding to the video material AB is assigned to the button 1, the index corresponding to the video material CD is assigned to the button 2, and the video material E is assigned to the button 3.
An index corresponding to F and an index corresponding to the video material G are formed on the button 4 respectively. In step S19, the menu data is encoded in the same manner as in step S15 and stored in the system stream file 45. In step S21, the optical disk writing device 6 is driven to transfer the data of the disk image file 41 to the multimedia optical disk. Write it and end the process.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the video data is divided at the division points obtained by appropriately adding the division candidate points to the division decision points (S11, S13), and the number of divisions is determined by the selected menu. Has a consistency with the layout pattern. For this reason, the number of divisions of the video data can be appropriately controlled to provide consistency between the number of divisions and the menu. Therefore, the menu is excellent in aesthetics and operability. Moreover, each menu has an optimal number of buttons and an appropriate button range,
If possible, the above-mentioned number of divisions is made so as to have the optimum number of buttons, and if not possible, the number of divisions is made so as to be within the appropriate button range. For this reason, it is possible to further improve the consistency between the number of divisions of the video data and the menu, and to create a menu with more excellent appearance and operability.

In this embodiment, only layout patterns that can be used according to the range in which video data can be divided are presented (S7), and the user is allowed to select a desired layout pattern from among them (S9). ). For this reason, the user does not need to be aware of the number of video data that can be divided,
An appropriate menu can be created only by selecting a desired one from the layout patterns displayed on the display 2. Therefore, a menu can be created very easily according to the user's desire.

Further, in the above embodiment, short shots or video materials are connected to the temporally closer one of the preceding and succeeding shots (S145, S149, S165, S1).
67) When the above division is performed and the division is performed,
The adjacent video materials are connected (S309). For this reason, shots or video materials can be linked to each other with higher relevance, and the reproduction of an unnatural video can be favorably prevented. Moreover, by linking short shots and video materials that are temporally close to each other and associating them with buttons, it is possible to prevent buttons from being individually created for short video materials and video materials that are temporally close together. The operability of the menu can be further improved.

If the short shot is temporally separated from any of the preceding and following shots, the shot has been erased (S151), so that the operation state of the video camera or the like can be checked or the video camera can be erroneously checked. When the recording button is touched, the recorded video is removed, so that the reproduction of an unnatural video can be more favorably prevented.

In the present embodiment described above, S10
1, S103, and S109 are the reading means, and S12
1, S123 is a dividing means, and S137 to S149, S1
57 to S167, S415, and S425 correspond to the connection means, S17 corresponds to the menu creation means, and S151 corresponds to the deletion means.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment at all, and can be implemented in various forms as follows without departing from the gist of the present invention. (1) In the above embodiment, the layout pattern of the menu is configured to be selectable. However, the layout pattern may be fixed or the menu may not be used. Even when the present invention is applied to an apparatus that does not use a menu, when the reproduction is controlled using the cut point information, the effect of the present invention such as preventing an unnatural video from being reproduced is produced.

(2) In the above embodiment, the case where encoding and multiplexing are performed in the main body 1 has been described. However, these need not necessarily be performed in the main body 1, and only cut point information may be created. Even if the cut point information created in this way is provided to another device that performs encoding and multiplexing, the above-described effects of the present invention are obtained. However, in the above embodiment, since encoding and multiplexing are performed by the main unit 1, there is an effect that video data such as video and audio input from the video deck 5 or the like can be directly edited into digital data to be written on a DVD or the like. .

(3) In the above embodiment, the short shot is linked to one of the preceding and following shots, but all the short shots may be deleted. In this case, the processing of the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 to 9 may be replaced with the processing of the flowcharts of FIGS. 19 and 20. In FIGS. 19 and 20, the same reference numerals are used for the same processes as those in FIGS. 6 to 9, and therefore only different points will be described.

In this processing, when the reproduction time of the shot is shorter than the predetermined time (S127: YES), the shot is deleted (S151), and the routine goes to S107. When the reproduction of the video tape is completed (S107: YES), date and time information and a time code attached to the reproduced video are input at the reproduction end point of the last shot in which the reproduction of the video tape is completed (S401). The date and time information and the time code are stored in the RAM 1 as the OUT point of the last shot.
2 (S403), the playback time of the shot is calculated (S407), and it is determined in S409 whether the playback time is equal to or shorter than a predetermined time.

If the shot is shorter than the predetermined time (S409: YES), the shot is erased in S417, and the flow shifts to S171. In the determination of the reproduction time in S409, if the shot is longer than the predetermined time (S4
09: NO), a material number obtained by adding 1 to the material number of the immediately preceding shot is assigned, and the flow shifts to S171. In this processing, since no connection is made, S131, S405, S411-
The processing of S415, S421 to S425 and the like can be omitted, and the processing is extremely simplified. In addition, since short shots are often unnecessary, such a process does not cause much problem. In this case, S18 in FIG.
5, S191 may be omitted.

(4) The present invention is not limited to DVDs, and can be applied to all types of multimedia optical disks or other storage media. In addition, the present invention can be applied not only to a so-called authoring apparatus but also to, for example, a home multimedia optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus.

(5) In the above embodiment, the hard disk 13 is used as the storage medium according to the ninth or tenth aspect. However, the storage medium of the present invention is not limited to elements such as a ROM and a RAM, but also includes a CD-ROM, It may be a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a file server on the Internet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a video data editing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the video data editing device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the video data editing apparatus of FIG. 1 from a functional aspect.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of scenario information created by the video data editing device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a main routine of a process executed by the video data editing device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of cut information generation processing in the flowchart of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a continuation of the cut information generating process of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a continuation of the cut information generating process of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a further continuation of the cut information generating process of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a continuation of the cut information generating process of FIG. 9;

11 is a flowchart showing details of a division determination point and division candidate point setting process in the flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of an encoding process in the flowchart of FIG. 5;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a shooting date and time and video recording data.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of cut point detection in the data.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing data stored when the cut point is detected.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of shot connection and cut point information.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another example of a video material and cut point information.

18 is an explanatory diagram showing a layout pattern of a menu prepared by the video data editing device in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a modification of the cut point information generation processing of FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating the continuation of the processing of the modified example.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a logical format in a multimedia optical disc.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail for a video file management table.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail with respect to title management information.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail with respect to a program chain information table in a title.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail for a program chain information table in a menu.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail for video file data.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing the logical format of FIG. 21 in more detail for a system stream.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Video data editing device body 2. Display
3 ... keyboard 4 ... mouse 5 ... VCR 6 ...
Optical disk writing device 7 Encoder 10 CPU 11
ROM 12 ... RAM 13 ... Hard disk 16
... MPEG2 encoder 17 ... AC-3 encoder 20 ... Multiplexing program 21 ... Control program 22 ... Cut point information generation program 24 ... Menu creation program 26 ... Scenario information input program 29 ... Management information creation program 30 ... Output program 41 ... Disk image File 42 Disc management information file 43 System stream management information file 45 System stream file 51 Video playback device 53 Video information capture unit 60 Division candidate point detection unit 61 Discontinuity determination unit 63 Playback time calculation unit
65: connection determination unit 67: connection destination determination unit 69: cut point information generation unit
71 storage unit 73 division point calculation unit 75 video data generation unit
77: video recording device 79: input unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page F term (reference) 5C053 FA14 FA24 GB06 GB09 GB38 JA22 LA11 5C059 KK36 MA00 PP04 RB02 RC04 SS13 5D110 AA04 AA27 AA29 CA05 CA09 CA16 CB01 CB06 CC03 CD15 CJ03 CK26 DA11 DA17 DB05 DC06 DC16 DE06 EA08

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A reading means for reading out video data and date and time data indicating the recording time from a recording medium, and detecting the discontinuous position of the date and time data read out by the reading means as a cut point, so that the video data is read out. Dividing means for dividing the video data into a plurality of continuous video data, the video data editing apparatus comprising: A video data editing apparatus, further comprising a linking means for linking to a temporally closer one to generate new continuous video data. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means is configured to determine a difference between the date and time data indicating the end time of the immediately preceding video data and the date and time data indicating a start time of the video data for a predetermined time or less. Based on a difference between the date and time data indicating the end time of the video data and the date and time data indicating the start time of the immediately following video data, it is determined which of the immediately preceding or immediately following continuous video data is closer. 2. The video data editing device according to claim 1, wherein 3. If the continuous time of the video data connected by the connecting means is still equal to or less than the predetermined time, the connecting means determines whether or not the continuous video data immediately before or immediately after the connected video data is continuous. 3. The video data editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein any one of the temporally closer video data is further connected to generate new continuous video data. 4. The video data editing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a menu generating means for generating menu information for individually designating the continuous video data. 5. The video data editing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an encoding unit that compresses and encodes the video data read by said reading unit. 6. A reading means for reading out video data and date and time data representing the recording time from a recording medium, and detecting the discontinuous position of the date and time data read out by the reading means as a cut point, thereby converting the video data. Dividing means for dividing the video data into a plurality of continuous video data, wherein the video data having a continuous time equal to or less than a predetermined time is the video data having a continuous time equal to or shorter than a predetermined time. A video data editing apparatus, further comprising a deletion unit for deleting video data when continuous video data is separated from the video data by a second predetermined time or more. 7. The video data editing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a menu generating means for generating menu information for individually designating the continuous video data. 8. The video data editing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising encoding means for compressing and encoding the video data read by said reading means. 9. A storage medium storing a software program so as to be readable by a computer, wherein the software program causes the computer to execute the processing as the reading unit, the dividing unit, and the connecting unit according to claim 1. A storage medium characterized by the above-mentioned. 10. A storage medium storing a software program so as to be readable by a computer, wherein the software program causes the computer to execute the processing as the reading unit, the dividing unit, and the deleting unit according to claim 6. A storage medium characterized by the above-mentioned.