JPH11284956A - Video server system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To provide a video server system capable of quickly finding a material to be edited and downloading it. Kind Code: A1 A video server system in which a plurality of materials are stored in a predetermined storage medium and a specific material is selectively taken out according to a request. The video server system represents a recorded image file and has a standard format. A video server 1 that creates image data in the form of reduced image data as a top still image, a disk array (RAID) 6 for storing the created top still image in association with each image file, and an input unit A video server 1 for searching for a specific head still image from a plurality of head still images stored in the disk array 6 in accordance with a keyword input via the PC, and a non-linear editing terminal for displaying the searched head still image 7 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video server system, and more particularly to a news bank used in a broadcasting station.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Video and audio obtained by shooting in a studio or outside the office are first recorded on a material tape for each scene or cut. After that, editing work (post-production) is performed to connect such separately recorded video and audio to make one program.
The edited content is recorded on the VTR as broadcast material.

On the other hand, a disk array (RAI) capable of randomly accessing a large number of materials instead of recording them on a VTR.
D), a video server system has been developed which selectively retrieves and provides a specific material in response to a request.

[0004]

However, in the conventional video server system described above, for example, when a target material is searched from a large number of materials stored in a disk array from a non-linear editing terminal, an Ethernet is used. It takes a lot of time since video and audio data must be downloaded via such a network.

In order to find a material to be edited, there is a method of displaying a thumbnail image obtained by reducing video data in a standard format as a leading still image. Conventionally, such a thumbnail image is edited. Since it was created each time, it took a lot of time before the thumbnail image was displayed on the screen.

[0006] The video server system of the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a purpose thereof is to provide a video server system capable of quickly finding and downloading a material to be edited at the time of editing. It is to provide a server system.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a video server system according to a first aspect of the present invention stores a plurality of materials in a predetermined storage medium, and stores a plurality of specific materials in response to a request. A video server system for selectively retrieving an image file, representing a recorded image file,
Creating means for creating image data in a reduced form of standard format image data as a top still image, a storage medium for storing the leading still image created by the creating means in advance in association with each image file, Searching means for searching for a specific head still image from a plurality of head still images stored in the storage medium in accordance with a keyword input via the section, and displaying the head still image searched by the searching means. And a display unit.

[0008] A video server system according to a second invention is the video server system according to the first invention, wherein the display section is a screen of a non-linear editing terminal.

A video server system according to a third aspect of the present invention is the video server system according to the first aspect, wherein the non-linear editing terminal edits an image file corresponding to a leading still image retrieved by the retrieval means. It has a storage unit for storing as an object.

[0010]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a video server system according to one embodiment of the present invention. The video server 1 includes an MPEG2 decoder 2, an MPEG2 encoder 4, other video I / Fs 3 and 5, such as motion JPEG and DVCPRO, and a disk array (RAID) 6.
And the non-linear editing terminal 7 are connected.

The MPEG2 encoder 4 receives the input N
A video signal such as TSC is encoded and output to the video server 1. The video server 1 converts this into a file and stores it in the disk array 6. Similarly, the other video I / F5
The video signal of NTSC or the like encoded in the above is filed by the video server 1 and stored in the disk array 6.

The non-linear terminal 7 stores the video captured from the VTR in a randomly accessible disk, reads the video from the disk, and looks at the displayed video while also taking advantage of the effects such as wipe and dissolve. Editing is performed on a computer basis.
The complete package program (complete packet) obtained by such editing is stored in the disk array 6 via the video server 1 via Ethernet. Video server 1
Reads a specific program from the disk array 6 when an instruction to read a specific program is received from an APC (automatic programming control) of a broadcasting station described later. The read program is decoded by, for example, the MPEG2 decoder 2 and transmitted to the outside.

All broadcast materials are stored in the disk array 6. The VTR is also connected to the non-linear editing terminal 7, and the news that has been collected is temporarily stored and edited in the VTR of the non-linear editing terminal 7, and the edited material is transmitted via the video server 1 to the disk array as broadcast material. 6 is stored.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration when the above-described video server system is applied to a news bank 100. In FIG. 2, those having the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are the same and will not be described.

An OTC (one-touch switcher controller) 10 switches to a switcher (a device for switching between two input images to be broadcast for broadcasting and performing a wipe process at the time of switching). Here, the control terminal gives an instruction for selecting an arbitrary material from the broadcast materials (news materials) stored in the disk array 6 via the control network 17. The OTC 10 is composed of, for example, a personal computer and has a touch panel type OTC display unit, and a plurality of cut materials can be displayed on a screen of the OTC display unit. The material to be sent to the main line is switched according to the operation of the TAKE button on the console. The operator can perform editing such as changing the order of the materials or inserting a material to be sent urgently while viewing the OTC display unit.

An APC (automatic programming control) 11 mainly controls the transmission timing of a material such as a drama. For the material such as a drama, the content and time to be transmitted are programmed in advance, and are written in a chart called a cue sheet. The APC 11 automatically sends out the material according to the cue sheet.

A DS (data server) 12 stores data relating to what information the APC 11 operates on.

In the case of news, the news support system 13 is a server for inputting a manuscript and for inputting the news broadcasting order and configuration in advance. The OTC 10 determines the news menu to be broadcast by referring to the data stored in the news report support system 13, and the actual operation is performed by a TAKE button.

FPU (field point unit) 2
Reference numeral 0 denotes a unit for taking in data obtained by field relay, and the taken-in video is directly stored in the disk array 6 by the video server 1.

The VTR 21 is different from the VTR connected to the non-linear terminal 7-n, and is a VTR for storing materials edited to be broadcastable.

Recording control terminal (hereinafter referred to as recording terminal)
Reference numeral 14 reads and records the edited material stored in the VTR 21 or displays it on the preview monitor 15 for previewing.

A control terminal for OA (ON AIR)
The OA terminal 16 is actually broadcasting (ON AI)
R) is monitored. It has an emergency console when the OTC 10 goes down.

Reference numeral 18 denotes Ethernet, and 19 denotes Fast Ethernet.

Hereinafter, various functions of the news bank 100 will be described. First, the recording function will be described.

All materials are managed by material id and broadcast date. The recording of the material is performed when the edited material is directly recorded from the VTR 21 or the FPU 20 to the news bank 100 using the recording terminal 14, or when the material edited by the non-linear editing terminal 7-n is recorded on the news bank 100 via the network. May be forwarded to

First, the sequence of recording from the VTR 21 by the recording terminal 14 will be described with reference to FIG. Newsbank 100 uses the news support system 1 when recording materials.
3 refers to the recording list transmitted (S1). As a result, since the id, title, and scheduled broadcast date of the unrecorded material can be grasped, recording is performed according to the unrecorded list (S2). That is, the operator manually performs the cueing, starts the VTR 21 at the start from the recording terminal 14, and starts recording in the news bank 100.
Then, the recorded material id is notified to the news report support system 13 each time (S3, S4, S5). The material being recorded is displayed on the CRT of the recording terminal 14 as an overlay and also on the preview monitor 15. After the recording is completed, the preview and the In point and the Out point of the material can be changed.

Next, an emergency recording and OA sequence will be described with reference to FIG. The emergency material is recorded by the recording terminal 14 of the news bank 100, and the news bank 100 notifies the OTC 10 of the provisional number of the material id, for example, in the 9000s (S11). OTC1
In the case of 0, 9001 is managed as emergency frame 1 and 9002 is managed as emergency frame 2, and at the time of broadcasting (OA), standby and TAKE are performed with each emergency material without regard to material id (S12, S13). When the end of the broadcast is received from the OTC 10 (S14), the news bank 100
The first recording is notified to the news report support system 13. Next, the news bank 100 has the news support system 13 formally issue the provisionally issued id (S15), and the news bank 100 receives the result.

Next, referring to FIG.
The OA sequence will be described. The start and end of the recording of the FPU 20 are also performed by the recording terminal 14 of the news bank 100. Also in this case, the news bank 100 notifies the material id as, for example, the 8001 tentative number and notifies it (S
21). During broadcast (OA), standby and TAKE are performed with each FPU material without being aware of the material id (S
22, S23). When the end of the broadcast is received from the OTC 10 (S24), the news bank 100 notifies the news report support system 13 of the 8001 recording. Next, the news bank 100 has the news support system 13 formally issue the provisionally issued id (S25), and the news bank 100 receives the result.

Next, the transfer of the material from the non-linear editing terminal 7-n will be described. Non-linear editing terminal 7-n
The material edited in is transmitted to the news bank 100 via the network. In this case, the edited material is designated and transmitted. In each case, News Bank 10
0 notifies the news support system 13 that the recording has been made.

If a material id is sent without being specified, it is treated as a common material for editing (when searching for a material, it can be searched by file name).

In the editing terminal, during recording from the VTR, it is possible to check on the preview monitor 15 and the CRT of the recording terminal 14. In the recording terminal 14, the length of the material already recorded in the news bank 100 can be adjusted to the program frame.

Next, material management will be described. The recorded material or the material to be recorded is searched by the material id, title, and scheduled broadcast date, and the result is displayed.
The display contents include the top still image of the material, the material id, the title, the scheduled broadcast date, the material length, and the presence / absence of recording. The material displayed in the search result enables preview and change of the In point and the Out point of the material.

The news support system 13 periodically (1
A list of materials to be deleted is sent to the news bank 100 about once a day (variable). Referring to this list, the corresponding material is deleted.

Next, OA (on-air) control (OA sequence) will be described with reference to FIG. First, the OTC 10 and the news bank 10
A cue sheet is sent to 0 (S31, S32). Then, the news bank 100 creates a playlist based on the cue sheet received from the news support system 13 (S33). OTC10 again when the program is on standby
When the cue sheet is sent to the news bank 100 (S34), the news bank 100 similarly creates a playlist based on the cue sheet (S35).

Next, the OTC 10 sends the NEXT transmission channel and the material id to the news bank 100 (S36). Here, the news bank 100 is in a transmission standby state. OA, Newsbank 100 is OTC
10 and the TAKE is received (S3
9) Start broadcasting. Subsequently, the transmission channel of NEXT and the material id are received. Thereafter, this operation is repeated.

During the OA of a program, the OA terminal 16 of the news bank 100 sends the material id, material title, and material length (HH.MM.SS.F) for each transmission channel.
F), information such as the remaining time of the material in the OA (HH.MM.SS) is displayed.

Next, an OA sequence when the OTC 10 goes down will be described with reference to FIG. OTC1
If 0 goes down for some reason, NEXT standby and TAKE control for each transmission channel can be performed on the console of the news bank 100 based on the playlist (S41, S42).

Next, an example of a recording operation using the recording terminal 14 will be described. First, when the material recording 50 is selected from the material recording 50, the material management 51, the archive 52, the OA monitoring 5, and the CLOSE 54 in the main menu on the recording terminal screen in FIG. 8, the screen is switched to the material recording screen 59 as shown in FIG. The operator sees this screen and selects the source to be recorded from the VTR 60, the FPU 61, and the emergency material 62. The default is VTR60. The cue of the VTR 60 is manually performed. Material id63
Is input, and when the recording start 64 is selected, the recording starts. When the FPU 61 and the emergency material 62 are selected, the material id (8001, 9001, etc.) is automatically assigned.

When the unlisted list 67 is selected, FIG.
The unrecorded list (unrecorded material list) 68 shown in FIG. The operator can select a desired material from the unrecorded list 68. When OK is selected, the screen returns to the material recording screen 59 of FIG. When CANCEL 70 is selected, the selected unrecorded material is canceled.

The material being recorded is a preview monitor 15
And an overlay display is also provided on the recording terminal 14.

When the user selects CLOSE 65 on the screen shown in FIG. 9, the screen returns to the main menu shown in FIG. When the preview 66 is selected after the recording is completed, a preview display as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed.
1), +1 frame button (72), Mark In button (7
3) By operating the Mark Out button (74), trimming in frame units can be performed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of the recording terminal 14 during recording. End recording or pause button 7
Click 5 to return to the top of the recording screen.

Next, material management will be described. When a material management button 51 in FIG. 8 is clicked, a material management screen as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. On this screen, a material list is displayed, and a material id, a title, a scheduled broadcast portion, a material length, and a status (whether recorded or not) are displayed together with a head still image of each material. On this screen, when all of the buttons 76 for today are clicked, all the materials for today's broadcast are displayed. When the button 77 of the condition search is clicked, FIG.
Is displayed. Preview button 7
Clicking 8 displays a preview screen. CL
Clicking the OSE button 79 returns to the main menu of FIG. By clicking the right mouse button, the recorded status can be changed to unrecorded.

In the material condition search screen shown in FIG. 14, a condition search is performed by inputting material id 80, title 81, broadcast schedule section 82, and status (recording presence / absence) 83 as keys. After inputting the key, OK button 84
Click to display the search results on the material management screen.
Clicking the CANCEL button 85 returns to the material management screen.

FIG. 15 is a screen for displaying a list of materials on the recording terminal 14 to unify (archive) the materials. When the unification start button 86 is clicked, the unification starts after the confirmation dialog is displayed. That is, a material to be archived is searched and displayed, and the archive output to the VTR is performed. When the delete button 87 is clicked, the selected material is deleted from the unification target. Clicking the condition search button 88 will bring up a condition search screen. When the preview button 89 is clicked after selecting the material, a preview screen is displayed, and the start and end points of the editing can be trimmed. Clicking the CLOSE button 90 returns to the main menu of FIG.

Next, OA monitoring will be described. When the OA monitoring button 53 is clicked on the screen of FIG.
A screen of a broadcast program list as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.
When the broadcast start button 91 is clicked here, FIG.
As shown in (1), information on programs in OA (92) and NEXT (93) is displayed for each channel (V1, V2).

When the manual operation button 94 is clicked when the OTC 10 is down, the operation is switched to the manual operation by the emergency console after the confirmation dialog is displayed. That is, when the OTC 10 is down, the TAKE button 9 for each channel is operated from the emergency console 92 as shown in FIG.
Press 2a or 92b. When the standby of each channel is performed, the “list of subsequent playlists” 96
The material moves to one output or V2 output.

Next, the operation of the nonlinear editing terminal 7 will be described. FIG. 19 shows a main menu of the nonlinear terminal 7. On this screen, when a button 110 for uploading a material to the server is clicked, a screen for uploading a material as shown in FIG. 20 is displayed. On this screen, the complete packet file name 11 on the non-linear terminal 7 is displayed.
4 and the material id 113 are specified and the registration button 116 is clicked to start uploading. If the material id 113 is unknown, clicking on the unrecorded material list 115 will display a screen of a non-recorded material list as shown in FIG. If the material already exists, confirmation of overwriting is performed. OK button 11 on the screen of FIG.
Clicking 7 returns to the screen of FIG.

The common material before editing is transferred to the video server 1.
Is uploaded without specifying the material id 113. In this case, the file name in the video server 1 is the same as the file name in the non-linear editing terminal 7, but if a file with that name already exists, a warning is issued and the file name is changed. The name of the uploaded file is the material id. avi.

Next, download of a material from the server will be described. When the button 111 for downloading a material from the server is clicked on the screen in FIG. 19, a screen for downloading the material as shown in FIG. 22 is displayed. On this screen, the complete package file name 121 and the material id 120 in the non-linear terminal 7 are designated, and the download button 123 is clicked to start the download. Clicking the CLOSE button 124 returns to the main menu of FIG. When downloading a common material, a file name is specified and downloaded.

If the file name is unknown, a condition search can be performed. That is, when the search button 122 is clicked, a material condition search screen as shown in FIG. 23 is displayed. On this screen, a desired material can be searched by inputting a material id 125, a file name 126, a title 127, a scheduled broadcast date 128, and a status 129 as keys and clicking an OK button 130. When downloading a material that has already been edited, a file is specified using the material id 125.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the result of the condition search.
Thus, the top still image (thumbnail image) 1 for each material
40, material id 141, file name 142, title 1
43, the scheduled broadcast date 144, and the material length 145 are displayed.
When a desired material is selected on this screen and a download button 132 is clicked, the download is started. When the CLOSE button 133 is clicked, the screen returns to the material upload screen.

The download by the above-described condition search will be further described below. FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining how to search for a material from the non-linear terminal 7-1. Here, the thumbnail image as the top still image is
It is assumed that the image data is created as a representation of the recorded image file by reducing the image data in the standard format. The created top still image is stored in the material D / B 6a at the time of recording in association with each image file.

When the video server 1 requests the video server 1 to search for a material by a keyword from the material condition search screen of the non-linear terminal 7-1, the video server 1
To search for the material D / B 6a. When the target material is searched, the video server 1 returns this to the non-linear editing terminal 7-1 as a search result. As a result, a top still image (thumbnail image) as shown in FIG. 26 is displayed on the screen of the nonlinear editing terminal 7-1. At the same time, the file obtained by the search is added to the project on the disk 7-1a of the nonlinear editing terminal 7-1 (FIG. 2).
7).

As described above, in the present embodiment, a thumbnail image is created at the time of recording, and the material D / B
6a, thumbnail images can be retrieved in a short time and displayed on the screen of the nonlinear editing terminal 7-1.

[0057]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a video server system which can quickly find and download a material to be edited at the time of editing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a video server system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration when the video server system shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a news bank.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a recording sequence.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an emergency recording and OA sequence.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing recording and OA sequences of an FPU.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an OA sequence.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an OA sequence at the time of OTC down.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a main menu of a recording screen.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a material recording screen of a recording terminal.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a screen of an unrecorded material list.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a preview screen.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen during recording of the recording terminal.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a material management screen.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a material condition search screen.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a material list screen.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a broadcast program list.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an emergency console.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a unified screen.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a main menu of the non-linear terminal.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a material upload screen.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a screen of an unrecorded material list.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a screen for downloading a material.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a material condition search screen.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a search result display screen.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining how to search for a material from a non-linear terminal.

FIG. 26 is a display screen of a thumbnail image as a search result.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating how a search result is added to the disc of the non-linear editing terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 video server, 2 MPEG2 decoder, 3 video I / F (decoder), 4 MPEG2 encoder, 5 video I / F (encoder), 6 disk array (RAID), 7 non-linear editing terminal.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A video server system in which a plurality of materials are stored in a predetermined storage medium, and a specific material is selectively retrieved according to a request. Creating means for creating image data in the form of reduced form image data as a top still image, a storage medium for storing the leading still image created by the creating means in association with each image file, and an input unit Searching means for searching for a specific head still image from a plurality of head still images stored in the storage medium in accordance with a keyword input through the storage medium; and displaying the head still image searched by the searching means. A video server system, comprising: a display unit. 2. The video server system according to claim 1, wherein said display unit is a screen of a non-linear editing terminal. 3. The video server according to claim 1, wherein the non-linear editing terminal includes a storage unit for storing an image file corresponding to the first still image searched by the search unit as an editing target. system.