JP2024065386A - Moving image recording device, control method of moving image recording device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To generate metadata that includes information associated with an image of a scene which is identified during moving image recording while reducing a load for moving image recording processing.SOLUTION: A video camera 100 stores timing of an event that is detected during moving image recording, in a RAM 102. The video camera 100 comprises: first generation means that generates metadata associated with moving image during recording; and second generation means that generates a frame image of timing stored in the RAM 102 from moving image during recording. The second generation means does not generate the frame image until recording of the moving image during recording is finished, and generates the frame image of the timing stored in the RAM 102 from the moving image after recording of the moving image is finished. In addition, the first generation means generates metadata that includes information associated with the frame image which is generated by the second generation means after recording of the moving image is finished.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a video recording device, a control method for a video recording device, and a program.

In the news workflow of broadcasting stations, news agencies, etc., metadata generated for video content shot during reporting is utilized to improve the efficiency of post-shooting content editing and content management. The metadata records text information such as the photographer, shooting location, and report title. In the management device that manages the content, content editors and managers search and identify desired content by relying on the text information in the metadata.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-133693 discloses a method for, when an operation on a camera is received during video shooting, adding a tag to a frame image around the timing at which the operation was received.

JP 2020-182164 A

By including information about thumbnail images that visually represent an overview of the content in addition to text information in the metadata, it is expected that the searchability of the content will be improved. By adapting the method described in Patent Document 1 above, it is possible to generate frame images of scenes around the timing when an operation is accepted during video shooting, and include information about the generated frame images in the metadata. However, since it is expected that important scenes will occur multiple times and consecutively, a process of generating frame images of the scene and a process of adding to the metadata are executed each time an important scene appears. If these processes are performed in parallel with the process of recording the video content, the processing load increases, which may hinder the process of recording the video content.

The present invention aims to generate metadata that includes information about images of scenes identified during video recording while reducing the load on the video recording process.

The present invention is a video recording device having a means for storing the timing of an event detected during recording of a video, a first generating means for generating metadata associated with the video, and a second generating means for generating a frame image of the stored timing from the video, the second generating means not generating a frame image until recording of the video is completed, and generating a frame image of the stored timing from the video after recording of the video is completed, and the first generating means generating metadata including information about the frame image generated by the second generating means after recording of the video is completed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to generate metadata including information about images of scenes identified during video recording while reducing the load on the video recording process.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a video camera. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the video camera. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a metadata file. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a setting screen for a metadata file. 10 is a flowchart showing a moving image recording start/end process. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of storing timing information. 13 is a flowchart showing a video recording end process. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of important frame information. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a PTZ camera. 13 is a flowchart showing a process of storing timing information.

Below, the form for implementing the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
In this embodiment, a video camera will be described as an example of a video recording device. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of a video camera. In this embodiment, the video camera 100 is an entity that executes a video recording process for recording video images.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the video camera. In this embodiment, the video camera 100 includes a control unit 101, a RAM 102, a ROM 103, an image capture unit 104, an image processing unit 105, an image compression/expansion unit 106, a display unit 107, an operation unit 108, a wireless communication unit 109, a recording medium I/F 110, and a recording medium 111.

The control unit 101 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and is responsible for the overall control of the video camera 100. The control unit 101 controls the reading and writing of data from and to a recording medium such as the RAM 102. The RAM (Random Access Memory) 102 is used as a memory for temporarily storing the calculation results of the control unit 101 and as a destination for expanding programs to be executed by the control unit 101. The RAM 102 is also used as a frame buffer which is the writing destination of the imaging unit 104, image processing unit 105, and image compression/expansion unit 106. The RAM 102 may be configured as one block, or may be physically configured as multiple blocks. The ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 stores programs for the control unit 101 to execute control, and various setting values of the video camera 100. The control unit 101 executes the programs stored in the ROM 103 to realize various processes shown in the flowcharts described below.

The imaging unit 104 includes a lens, a shutter, an aperture, an imaging element, and an A/D (Analog/Digital) conversion circuit. The imaging unit 104 converts light captured through the lens into an electrical signal using the imaging element and the A/D conversion circuit, and writes the signal to the RAM 102 as image data. The image processing unit 105 is a logic circuit that performs various types of image processing, and performs image quality adjustments such as development processing, white balance adjustment, and application of a tone map to the image data written to the RAM 102 under the control of the control unit 101. The image processing unit 105 writes the image data that has undergone image quality adjustment to the RAM 102. The image compression/expansion unit 106 compresses and expands moving images and still images when recording or playing back moving images and still images under the control of the control unit 101. The image compression/expansion unit 106 compresses and expands the image data written to the RAM 102, and writes the image data back to the RAM 102.

The display unit 107 is a display device such as a display, and displays image data captured by the imaging unit 104 and a UI screen for setting the video camera 100 under the control of the control unit 101. The operation unit 108 is composed of members such as buttons and dials that accept user operations. The operation unit 108 accepts various operations such as instructions to start/stop recording to the video camera 100, adjustment of zoom/focus, and selection of UI parts displayed on the display unit 107, and outputs the accepted operation information to the control unit 101. The display unit 107 and the operation unit 108 may be composed of a touch panel display in which these functions are integrated. The wireless communication unit 109 is connected to an external network such as an intranet or the Internet, and transmits and receives various data, including video data and image data, between external devices under the control of the control unit 101. The recording medium I/F 110 connects the control unit 101 and the recording medium 111. The recording medium 111 is a readable/writable recording medium such as an SD card or a CFexpress card that is detachable from the video camera 100. The control unit 101 records the image data captured by the imaging unit 104 as a moving image on the recording medium 111.

<Operation of Video Camera 100>
The operation of the video camera 100 is realized by the control unit 101 controlling each part of the video camera 100 based on a program stored in the ROM 103. First, the initial operation of the video camera 100 will be described. The video camera 100 has a built-in battery (not shown). When the user instructs the video camera 100 to be turned on via the operation unit 108, power is supplied from the battery to each part by the instruction of the control unit 101, and each part is driven. When each part transitions to an operable state, the imaging unit 104 converts light taken in through the lens into an electric signal by the imaging element and the A/D conversion circuit, and sequentially writes the image data to the RAM 102. The image data written to the RAM 102 is subjected to various processes related to image quality adjustment by the image processing unit 105, and is written to the RAM 102 again. The control unit 101 controls the image data captured by the imaging unit 104 and written to the RAM 102 to be sequentially displayed on the display unit 107. When the image data is displayed on the display unit 107, the video camera 100 transitions to a steady state.

<Metadata file settings>
Next, a metadata file associated with a video image recorded by the video camera 100 during news gathering or the like will be described with reference to FIGS.
3 is a diagram showing an example of a metadata file. In this embodiment, the metadata file 300 is data written in the XML (Extensible Markup Language) format, and includes plan information 301 and record information 302.

Plan information 301 is made up of information about the moving images to be shot, and includes information about the rights holder to which the rights of the shot video content belong, a shooting overview, shooting details, the photographer, and shooting equipment ID. The elements that make up plan information 301 are described by the user before shooting. Recording information 302 is made up of information about the recorded moving images, and includes the recording date and time, recording file, recording time, related recording file names, information about important frames, and the like. When shooting according to a plan, such as in reporting for news reports, the user prepares a metadata file in which the contents of plan information 301 are described in advance. Then, video camera 100 starts shooting after setting plan information 301 in advance.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen for a metadata file. The setting screen 400 in Figure 4 is used when a user sets a metadata file including plan information 301 prepared in advance. The setting screen 400 is displayed on the display unit 107 under the control of the control unit 101. The setting screen 400 has a file name display area 401, a selection operation area 402, and a file content display area 403. The file name display area 401 displays the file name of the selected metadata file. The user stores the prepared metadata file in a predetermined hierarchy in the file system of the recording medium 111 and inserts the recording medium 111 into the video camera 100, whereby the metadata file is displayed in the file name display area 401 as an option. The selection operation area 402 accepts the operation of selecting a metadata file. The file content display area 403 displays the plan information 301 included in the selected metadata file. The user operates the selection operation area 402 using the operation unit 108 to select the desired metadata file and presses the decision button (not shown). When the control unit 101 accepts the above operation, it expands the contents of the plan information 301 contained in the selected metadata file into the RAM 102. This completes the presetting of the plan information 301. Thereafter, when recording of the video starts, the control unit 101 generates a metadata file that includes part of the plan information 301 and the recording information 302, associates the generated metadata file with the video, and stores it on the recording medium 111.

<Flow of video camera 100 video recording start/end process>
Next, a process executed when the video camera 100 starts/stops recording a moving image after the metadata file has been set will be described. Fig. 5A is a flowchart showing the process executed when the video camera 100 starts recording a moving image. The process of this flowchart is started when a user operation via the operation unit 108 instructs the start of recording a moving image. Before starting recording a moving image, the control unit 101 sets the plan information 301 based on the user operation using the setting screen 400. Each step of the flowchart will be described below with an S (step) added to the beginning of the reference numeral.

When the start of recording of moving images is instructed, in S101, the control unit 101 writes image data captured by the imaging unit 104 to the RAM 102. Next, the control unit 101 transfers the image data written to the RAM 102 to the image compression/expansion unit 106 via a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller (not shown) to obtain compressed image data. The method of compressing the image data is not limited. Encoding methods of standards such as MPEG4-AVC (Moving Picture Experts Group4-Advanced Video Coding) and HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) are applicable. After that, the control unit 101 forms a predetermined number of compressed image data into an elementary stream composed of a data string encoded in a format (not shown) and writes it to the RAM 102. Next, the control unit 101 integrates the formed elementary stream with the audio stream and the like using a multiplexer (not shown) to form stream data, and writes it to the RAM 102. Then, when the above stream data has been written out to a predetermined size, the control unit 101 writes it out to the recording medium 111 as moving image data. The process of this step is executed sequentially for image data captured sequentially by the imaging unit 104 until an instruction to stop recording of the moving image is given. As a result, the image data captured by the imaging unit 104 is recorded on the recording medium 111 as moving image content. In this way, the control unit 101 performs the recording process of the moving image.

Next, the metadata file generation process executed after the start of video recording will be described. First, in S102, the control unit 101 writes information about the video data for which recording has started to the RAM 102. The information written out here is information determined at the start of recording among the information shown in the recording information 302 in FIG. 3. Specifically, this information includes the recording date and time at the start of recording, the file type, and the file name. Note that by writing out part of the recording information 302 at the start of recording, it is possible to leave as much information as possible in the metadata file in case the recording end process is not performed normally, such as when the recording medium 111 is forcibly unmounted or the recording medium 111 itself is damaged.

Next, in S103, the control unit 101 generates a metadata file (XML file) associated with the video data being recorded, and saves the generated metadata file on the recording medium 111. Specifically, the control unit 101 reads out the plan information 301 that has been set on the setting screen 400 in FIG. 4 and expanded in advance in the RAM 102, and the recording information 302 that has been written out to the RAM 102 in S102, and writes them out to the RAM 102 in accordance with the XML format. The control unit 101 then saves the information written out to the RAM 102 as a metadata file (XML file) on the recording medium 111. After that, the processing of this flowchart ends.

As described above, in the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5(a), when video recording starts, the process of writing video data to the recording medium 111 starts, and the metadata file (XML file) is saved to the recording medium 111. This completes the process of starting recording of the video.

5B is a flowchart showing the process executed when the video camera 100 ends recording of a moving image. The process of this flowchart starts when a user operates the operation unit 108 to instruct the video camera 100 to stop recording of a moving image.
When an instruction to stop recording of a moving image is given during the execution of the moving image recording process, in S104, the control unit 101 controls the DMA controller to stop the transfer of image data to the image compression/expansion unit 106. When the transfer is stopped, writing of the compressed image data to the RAM 102 is stopped in conjunction with the stop of the transfer. Next, the control unit 101 adds header information and the like to the moving image data written to the recording medium 111, and converts it into a moving image file. In this manner, the control unit 101 ends the recording of the moving image.
Next, in S105, the control unit 101 reads out the metadata file (XML file) stored in the recording medium 111 at the start of recording of the moving image, into the RAM 102. The read information includes the plan information 301 and a part of the recording information 302.

Next, in S106, the control unit 101 writes information about the recorded video data to the RAM 102 in order to perform additional processing on the recording information 302 of the metadata file (XML file) read to the RAM 102 in S105. The information written here is information that is determined when the recording of the video is completed, among the information shown in the recording information 302 in FIG. 3. Specifically, it is the recording date and time, the recording time, the related recording file name, etc. In addition, in the item of the recording time, information on the unit and the period are respectively set. The unit is selected from minutes, seconds, milliseconds, time code format, etc. The period is calculated according to these units. In addition, the related recording file name is an item used when the video camera 100 can record two files of video data at the same time with different bit rates or formats. In the item of the related recording file name, when the video camera 100 has recorded different video data at the same time, the file name of the other file is set as the related file. This facilitates management of the two files.
Next, in S107, the control unit 101 generates a metadata file (XML file) including the plan information 301 and the recording information 302 by adding the information written out in S106 to the metadata file read out in S105. Then, the control unit 101 stores the generated metadata file in the recording medium 111. After that, the processing of this flowchart ends.

As described above, in the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5(b), when the recording of the video is completed, a file of the video data is formed, and the metadata file (XML file) is saved to the recording medium 111. This completes the process of ending the recording of the video.

<Generating metadata files containing important frame information>
Next, a process for generating a metadata file including information on important frames (also referred to as important frame information) will be described. An important frame refers to a frame image of a decisive or impressive scene in recorded video data. In this embodiment, a user operates the operation unit 108 (e.g., pressing an operation button) at a desired timing during recording of a video to specify an important frame. The control unit 101 controls to store timing information at which an instruction to specify an important frame is detected in the RAM 102. An instruction to specify an important frame by the operation unit 108 is an example of an event detected during recording of a video.

Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the process in which the video camera 100 according to this embodiment stores timing information of important frames while recording a moving image. Note that, as a prerequisite for executing the process of this flowchart, the RAM 102 stores, as frame numbers, the count values of the image data (frame images) captured by the imaging unit 104 from the start of recording the moving image. The frame number is a value that is counted each time the control unit 101 starts recording the moving image, the light captured through the lens by the imaging unit 104 is converted into an electrical signal by the imaging element and A/D conversion circuit, and written to the RAM 102 as image data.

When a user issues an instruction to specify an important frame via the operation unit 108 during the execution of the video recording process, in S201 the control unit 101 detects the instruction and reads out the frame number of the detected timing from the RAM 102. The control unit 101 determines the read frame number as the frame number of the important frame. Note that although the frame number is used to identify the important frame here, the method is not limited to using the frame number as long as the information is capable of identifying a frame image within the video image data. For example, time code information that the video camera 100 advances from the start of recording the video data or time information that can be obtained from an RTC (Real Time Clock) (not shown) may be used. The frame number of the important frame is an example of timing information of the important frame.

In S202, the control unit 101 stores the frame number of the important frame determined in S201 in the RAM 102. The control unit 101 sequentially executes the processes of S201 and S202 every time it detects an instruction to designate an important frame by the operation unit 108 during the execution of the moving image recording process.
In the process of the flowchart in FIG. 6 as described above, timing information capable of identifying important frames in the moving image data is stored while the moving image is being recorded.

Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the video recording end process when the frame number of an important frame has been stored. When the frame number of an important frame has been stored, the video camera 100 according to this embodiment generates a metadata file (XML file) including important frame information when performing the video recording end process. The video recording end process described using Figure 7 includes a process for writing out important frame information in addition to the process at the end of video data recording described using Figure 5(b). The following explanation focuses on the differences from Figure 5(b).

The processes in S301 to S303 are similar to the processes in S104 to S106 in FIG.
In S303, which is similar to the process in S106, the control unit 101 writes out to the RAM 102 information that is determined when the recording of the moving image ends, among the information shown in the recording information 302 in FIG.
Next, in S304, the control unit 101 refers to the frame number of the important frame stored in the RAM 102 in S202.
Next, in S305, the control unit 101 adds important frame information to the record information 302 written to the RAM 102 in S303, based on the frame number of the important frame referenced in S304.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of important frame information. Figure 8 shows an example in which important frame information is set in other items in the metadata file shown in Figure 3. In the type item, information indicating that it is an important frame is set. In the time item, time position information from the start of recording of the video image as a starting point is set in time code notation. The control unit 101 may calculate the time position information from the imaging frame rate of the video camera 100 and the frame number of the important frame. In addition, in the image file item, image file path information is set as storage destination information for the image file when the image file of the important frame is generated in the subsequent process (S306). In addition, in the image file item, the file name of the image file of the important frame is set. In the file type item, the file type of the image file of the important frame is set. Note that in the example shown in Figure 8, only information related to one important frame is set, but if the user issues an instruction to specify an important frame multiple times during recording of the video image, multiple pieces of information related to the important frame are set corresponding to multiple frame numbers.

The control unit 101 generates a metadata file (XML file) including the plan information 301 and the recording information 302 by adding the information written out in S303 and the above-mentioned important frame information to the metadata file read out in S302. The control unit 101 then stores the generated metadata file in the recording medium 111. With the above processing, the generation of the metadata file is completed.

Next, in S306, the control unit 101 generates an image file of the important frame from the frame number of the important frame referenced in S304 and the recorded video. First, the control unit 101 reads image data corresponding to the frame number of the important frame from the video data written to the recording medium 111 into the RAM 102. Next, the control unit 101 controls the DMA controller to transfer the read information to the image compression/expansion unit 106, which performs expansion and compression into image data. The control unit 101 writes the image data compressed by the image compression/expansion unit 106 into the RAM 102 and adds information required for the image file, thereby generating an image file of the important frame. At this time, the control unit 101 matches the file name of the generated image file with the file name of the important frame information included in the metadata file generated in S305.

Then, the control unit 101 saves the generated image file of the important frame in the recording medium 111. At this time, the control unit 101 saves the image file of the important frame in the position of the image file path information included in the metadata file generated in S305. Note that when the control unit 101 saves the image file of the important frame in the recording medium 111, the control unit 101 may add the image file path information of the important frame to the metadata file generated in S305. Specifically, the control unit 101 generates a metadata file that does not include the image file path information of the important frame but includes the time position information in S305, and adds the image file path information when the image file of the important frame is generated and saved in S306. Also, if the user issues an instruction to specify an important frame multiple times during shooting, in this step, the control unit 101 generates multiple image files of the important frame corresponding to multiple frame numbers. After that, the processing of this flowchart ends.

In the process of the flowchart in FIG. 7 as described above, the frame number at the time when the user instructs to designate an important frame during video recording is stored in RAM 102, and after video recording is completed, a metadata file containing information about the important frame is generated. The control unit 101 does not generate an image file of the important frame until video recording is completed, and generates a metadata file containing temporal position information of the frame image of the important frame, and then generates the frame image of the important frame.

According to the present embodiment described above, when a user instructs the system to specify an important frame while a video is being recorded, only the frame number with a relatively small amount of data is stored in RAM 102. Then, after the video recording is completed, a process for generating an image file of the important frame is performed. This makes it possible to generate a metadata file containing information about the important frame while reducing the processing load during video recording.

As a first modified example of this embodiment, in consideration of the high processing load while an image file of an important frame is being generated, the control unit 101 may discard the acceptance of an instruction to start recording the next video until the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 7 is completed. The control unit 101 may also notify the user that video recording cannot be started, for example by displaying on the display unit 107.

As a second modification of this embodiment, an upper limit may be set for the number of times a user may specify an instruction to designate an important frame. Specifically, when the number of times an instruction to designate an important frame received during one recording of a moving image reaches a predetermined upper limit, the control unit 101 may discard the reception of subsequent instructions to designate an important frame. The control unit 101 may also notify the user by, for example, displaying on the display unit 107 that the upper limit has been reached.

As a third variation of this embodiment, in S302 of FIG. 7, instead of the configuration in which the control unit 101 starts generating a metadata file immediately after the end of video recording, the control unit 101 may start generating a metadata file after a predetermined time interval has elapsed since the end of video recording. In this case, the control unit 101 may start generating a metadata file at a timing set by a user instruction after the end of video recording. The same applies to S105 of FIG. 5(b).

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, the video camera 100 is used as an example of a video recording device, but in this embodiment, a PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera is used as an example. Below, the description of the parts common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

Figure 9 shows the appearance of a PTZ camera. The PTZ camera 200 is a camera that can be controlled to swivel in the horizontal or vertical direction and to zoom in. The PTZ camera 200 is used for applications such as surveillance and observation, filming sports competitions, and program production, and has the function of detecting a specific event by analyzing images being filmed and recording the time information when the specific event was detected. Note that the above-mentioned specific event can be for the purpose of crime prevention, such as a person entering or leaving a specific area, in surveillance applications, or for the purpose of tagging highlight scenes, such as a specific player or a specific motion by a specific player, in sports competition applications.

In this embodiment, the PTZ camera 200 is the subject that executes the video image recording process. The following describes the functions of the PTZ camera 200, focusing on the differences from the video camera 100, with reference to FIG. 2. The control unit 101 has a function of sequentially analyzing image data captured by the imaging unit 104 using the image processing unit 105, and detecting a specific event in the image data. Specifically, a method using AI (Artificial Intelligence) detection is used. The control unit 101 may detect a specific event using output data indicating the presence or absence of a specific event, which is obtained by inputting image data captured by the imaging unit 104 into a trained model. In this case, information on the trained model that has been machine-learned using an image showing the specific event is stored in the ROM 103.

The control unit 101 may detect a predetermined event by performing rule-based processing such as an LUT, in addition to processing using a trained model. In this case, the relationship between input data and output data is created in advance as an LUT, and this LUT is stored in ROM 103. The control unit 101 may detect a predetermined event using output data obtained by inputting image data captured by the imaging unit 104 into the LUT stored in ROM 103. The control unit 101 may also perform processing to detect a predetermined event in cooperation with a GPU (not shown).

The processing flow when starting/ending recording with the PTZ camera 200 is the same as in embodiment 1, but there is a difference in the process of storing timing information of important frames during recording of moving images, and this difference will be explained using Figure 10.

Figure 6 is a flow chart showing the process in which the PTZ camera 200 according to this embodiment stores timing information of important frames while recording a moving image. The process for starting recording of a moving image is the same as that shown in Figure 5(a), and while recording a moving image, image data captured by the imaging unit 104 is compressed by the image compression/expansion unit 106 and written sequentially to the recording medium 111.

In S401, the control unit 101 uses the image processing unit 105 to sequentially input image data captured by the imaging unit 104 to the trained model, and determines whether or not a specific event has been detected based on the obtained output data. The determination process here may be performed by periodically monitoring the output data from the trained model. In addition, when the image processing unit 105 operates as the subject of the detection process, the determination may be performed based on an interrupt signal output to the control unit 101 when the image processing unit 105 detects a specific event. Note that, as described above, the specific event may be the identification of a specific person or object, the occurrence of a specific action by a person, etc. If the control unit 101 has not detected the specific event, it transitions the process to S403, and if it has detected the specific event, it transitions the process to S402.

In S402, the control unit 101 reads out the frame number at the timing when the predetermined event was detected in S401 from the RAM 102. The control unit 101 determines the read frame number as the frame number of the important frame. The frame number is the same as in the first embodiment.
In S403, the control unit 101 determines whether or not an instruction to stop recording of a moving image has been issued. The process returns to S401 until the control unit 101 detects an instruction to stop recording. If the control unit 101 detects an instruction to stop recording, the process of this flowchart ends. Then, the process of the flowchart showing the recording end process shown in FIG. 7 is executed.
In the process of the flowchart in FIG. 10 as described above, when a predetermined event is detected during recording of a moving image, the detected timing information is stored as information capable of identifying an important frame.

According to the present embodiment described above, frame images of the video being recorded are analyzed in sequence, and when a specific event is detected within a frame image, only the frame number with a relatively small amount of data is stored in RAM 102. Then, after the video recording is completed, a process for generating an image file of the important frame is performed. This makes it possible to generate a metadata file containing information about the important frame while reducing the processing load during video recording.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above based on its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these specific embodiments, and various forms within the scope of the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention. Parts of the above-mentioned embodiments may be appropriately combined. In addition, the present invention also includes a case where a software program that realizes the functions of the above-mentioned embodiments is supplied to a system or device having a computer that can execute the program directly from a recording medium or using wired/wireless communication, and the program is executed. Therefore, the program code itself that is supplied and installed to the computer in order to realize the functional processing of the present invention by the computer also realizes the present invention. In other words, the computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention is also included in the present invention. In that case, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program does not matter, such as object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to an OS, etc. Examples of recording media for supplying the program include magnetic recording media such as hard disks and magnetic tapes, optical/magneto-optical storage media, and non-volatile semiconductor memories. In addition, as a method of supplying the program, a method in which the computer program forming the present invention is stored in a server on a computer network, and a connected client computer downloads the computer program and programs it is also considered.

The disclosure of this embodiment includes the following configuration, method, and program.
(Configuration 1)
A moving image recording device,
means for storing the timing of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generating means for generating metadata associated with the video;
and a second generating means for generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image,
the second generating means does not generate frame images until recording of the moving image is completed, and generates frame images at the stored timing from the moving image after recording of the moving image is completed;
The video recording device according to claim 1, wherein the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images generated by the second generating means after recording of the video has been completed.
(Configuration 2)
2. The video recording device according to configuration 1, wherein the second generating means generates frame images after the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images.
(Configuration 3)
the first generating means generates metadata including storage destination information of the frame images generated by the second generating means;
3. The video recording device according to configuration 2, wherein the second generating means stores the generated frame images in a location indicated by the storage destination information.
(Configuration 4)
The video recording device according to configuration 1, wherein the first generation means adds storage destination information of the frame image generated by the second generation means to metadata after the frame image is generated by the second generation means.
(Configuration 5)
The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 4, wherein the first generation means generates metadata including temporal position information of the frame images generated by the second generation means, the temporal position information being based on the start time of recording of the video.
(Configuration 6)
The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 5, characterized in that the timing is stored as one of a frame count value counted from the start of recording of the video, a time code starting from the start of recording of the video, and time information.
(Configuration 7)
7. The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, wherein the event is an instruction from a user via an operation unit.
(Configuration 8)
7. The moving image recording apparatus according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, further comprising detection means for sequentially analyzing frame images of the moving image being recorded and detecting the event within the frame images.
(Configuration 9)
The method further includes a setting unit for setting plan information for shooting the moving image before starting to record the moving image,
The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, wherein the first generation means adds information about the frame images generated by the second generation means to the metadata in which the plan information is set after recording of the video is completed.
(Configuration 10)
10. The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 9, wherein the metadata is written in XML format.
(Configuration 11)
11. The moving image recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 10, wherein an instruction to start recording the next moving image is not accepted until a frame image is generated by said second generating means.
(Configuration 12)
12. The video recording device according to any one of configurations 1 to 11, wherein after the number of times the event is detected reaches a predetermined upper limit, the timing is not stored.
(Method)
A method for controlling a moving image recording device, comprising:
storing timings of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generation step of generating metadata associated with the video;
a second generation step of generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image,
In the second generating step, the generation of the frame image is not performed until the recording of the moving image is completed, and after the recording of the moving image is completed, the frame image of the stored timing is generated from the moving image;
A method for controlling a moving image recording device, characterized in that in the first generation step, after recording of the moving image is completed, metadata including information about the frame images generated in the second generation step is generated.
(program)
A computer of the video recording device,
means for storing the timing of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generating means for generating metadata associated with the video;
a second generating means for generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image;
Function as a
the second generating means does not generate frame images until recording of the moving image is completed, and generates frame images at the stored timing from the moving image after recording of the moving image is completed;
The program, wherein the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images generated by the second generating means after recording of the moving image is completed.

100: Video camera, 200: PTZ camera

Claims (14)

A moving image recording device,
means for storing the timing of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generating means for generating metadata associated with the video;
and a second generating means for generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image,
the second generating means does not generate frame images until recording of the moving image is completed, and generates frame images at the stored timing from the moving image after recording of the moving image is completed;
The video recording device according to claim 1, wherein the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images generated by the second generating means after recording of the video has been completed. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the second generating means generates frame images after the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images. the first generating means generates metadata including storage destination information of the frame images generated by the second generating means;
3. The video recording device according to claim 2, wherein the second generating means stores the generated frame images in a location indicated by the storage destination information. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first generating means adds storage destination information for the frame image generated by the second generating means to metadata after the frame image is generated by the second generating means. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the first generating means generates metadata including temporal position information of the frame images generated by the second generating means, the temporal position information being based on the start of recording of the video. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the timing is stored as one of a frame count value counted from the start of recording the video, a time code starting from the start of recording the video, and time information. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the event is an instruction from a user via an operation unit. The video recording device according to claim 1, further comprising a detection means for sequentially analyzing the frame images of the video being recorded and detecting the event within the frame images. The method further includes a setting unit for setting plan information for shooting the moving image before starting to record the moving image,
2. The video recording device according to claim 1, wherein the first generation means adds information about the frame images generated by the second generation means to the metadata in which the plan information is set after recording of the video is completed. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the metadata is written in XML format. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that an instruction to start recording the next video image is not accepted until a frame image is generated by the second generation means. The video recording device according to claim 1, characterized in that the timing is not stored after the number of times the event is detected reaches a predetermined upper limit. A method for controlling a moving image recording device, comprising:
storing timings of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generation step of generating metadata associated with the video;
a second generation step of generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image,
In the second generating step, the generation of the frame image is not performed until the recording of the moving image is completed, and after the recording of the moving image is completed, the frame image of the stored timing is generated from the moving image;
A method for controlling a moving image recording device, characterized in that in the first generation step, after recording of the moving image is completed, metadata including information about the frame images generated in the second generation step is generated. A computer of the video recording device,
means for storing the timing of events detected during recording of the video;
a first generating means for generating metadata associated with the video;
a second generating means for generating frame images at the stored timing from the moving image;
Function as a
the second generating means does not generate frame images until recording of the moving image is completed, and generates frame images at the stored timing from the moving image after recording of the moving image is completed;
The program, wherein the first generating means generates metadata including information about the frame images generated by the second generating means after recording of the moving image is completed.

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