Apple Inc.

Dan Candela

Daniel Pettigrew

Jean-Pierre M Mouilleseaux

Ron Brinkmann

Eric Larsen

Mike Stern

Mark Lee Kawano

George Wolberg

Mitch Middler

Some embodiments provide a method that provides a display area for displaying an image that includes several of edges. The method provides a border drawing tool that in response to cursor movement across the image displays a search window about the cursor. The search window specifies a region to be searched to identify edges for use in defining a border for the image. In some embodiments, the size of the search window varies based on the speed of the cursor. The search window is a square box in some embodiments and a circle in other embodiments. The search window is centered at the cursor in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the display area is also for displaying the defined border over the image.

Defining a border for an image

Some embodiments provide a method for selecting a portion of an image. The method identifies edges in the image. The method defines a border about the portion of the image by using the identified edges. The method represents the border as a deformable curve. In some embodiments, defining the border includes detecting a cursor moving over the image and defining the border along identified edges in the vicinity of the cursor. In some embodiments, the method searches for edges in the vicinity of the cursor and snaps the border to the edges. Identifying the edges of the image includes performing an edge detection algorithm in some embodiments. Identifying the edges further includes performing a de-noise algorithm in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the parametrizable curve is a bezier spline.

Some embodiments provide a method of selecting a section of interest in an image that includes numerous pixels. the method draws a curvilinear boundary about the section of interest. From the curvilinear boundary, the method generates a two-dimensional transition tunnel region about the section of interest. The method analyzes image data based on the tunnel region to identify a subset of pixels in the region that should be associated with the section of interest. In some embodiments, the tunnel region includes a pair of curves bounding the tunnel region. In some embodiments, the curvilinear boundary has a particular shape, and generating the tunnel region includes determining whether the tunnel can be generated at a specified width with both curves of the tunnel having the same particular shape as the defined border. In some embodiments, analyzing image data includes comparing pixels inside the transition tunnel region to pixels outside the transition tunnel region.

Selecting a section of interest within an image

Some embodiments provide a method of color correcting an image. Some such embodiments provide (1) a display area for displaying a modifiable graph correlating a first color attribute of the image to a set of second color attributes and (2) at least one tool that adjusts the graph in order to adjust color attributes in the image. The graph adjustment tool of some embodiments is a set of control points that specify the color correction adjustment over a parameterized curve representation of the graph. In some embodiments, the graphs are rasterized curves that are adjusted through the use of a Gaussian manipulator. The Gaussian manipulator distributes a second color attribute adjustment over a set of first color attribute values according to a Gaussian distribution. Moreover, some embodiments allow for the selective switching between the parameterized and rasterized curves or the control points and the Gaussian manipulator.

Color correcting method and apparatus

Some embodiments provide a method that provides a display area for displaying an image. Some embodiments provide a tool that when activated generates a deformable tunnel based on a cursor movement through the display area. The tunnel is for differentiating a region of interest of the image from the rest of the image. The method provides a moveable tool for determining a width for the tunnel region. The moveable tool is a slider tool in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the moveable tool is for determining the initial width at which the tunnel is generated. The moveable tool is further for modifying the width of the tunnel after the tunnel is generated in some embodiments.

Tools for selecting a section of interest within an image

The disclosed implementations relate generally to 3D histograms and other user interface elements for color correcting digital images. A color correction method includes: generating a user interface for display on a display device, the user interface including a display area; generating a three-dimensional cube representing a color space for display in the display area; and generating a plurality of spheres for display within the cube, where the spheres are sized to represent pixel densities in a digital image.

3D histogram for color images

The disclosed implementations relate generally to improved workflows for color correcting digital images. In some implementations, a method of correcting images includes: presenting a user interface on a display device, the user interface including a display area; presenting a digital image in the display area; overlaying a correction interface on the digital image; and performing a correction operation on at least a portion of the digital image in response to a user interaction with the correction interface, where the correction operation is performed with real-time responsiveness.

Workflows for color correcting images

3D histogram and other user interface elements for color correcting images

Some embodiments of the invention provide a user interface of editing video through a multi-stage editing process. The user interface selects a particular stage in the editing process. A particular editing operation is performed on a set of video images during the particular stage. After the selection of the particular stage, the user interface uses a background rendering process to render the result of the particular editing operation on the particular set of video images. The background rendering process is a process that the user interface performs separately from the multi-stage video editing process, so that a user may continue editing the video sequence while the rendering occurs. Some embodiments provide a preview of the rendering process in a preview window. Some of these embodiments update the preview in real time. In some embodiments, the rendering occurs to a temporary location and then stores to a persistent storage. In some of these embodiments, an entry for the stored render's location is logged in a list of entries that allows the stored render to be catalogued and retrieved from the persistent storage. The temporary location and the persistent storage can be part of a non-volatile memory such as a hard drive.

Visually encoding nodes representing stages in a multi-stage video compositing operation

A computer-implemented method includes displaying multiple color bins in a user interface, each color bin representing a segment of a color spectrum, each color bin having a representative color that resides in the associated color spectrum segment, wherein each color bin is selectable such that selecting a color bin enables varying colors in a content item corresponding to the color bin's associated segment, displaying in the user interface, a first user interface control configured to vary colors in the content item based on the selected color bin, and in response to input, displaying a plurality of user interface controls in the user interface, each user interface control associated with a segment of the color spectrum, each user interface control configured to vary colors in the content item corresponding to an associated color spectrum segment.

User interfaces for managing image colors

Some embodiments provide a method for locking in a mathematical relationship between a set of at least two parameters in a computer program. The method selects a first parameter. The method defines a mathematical relationship that ties the value of the first parameter to the value of a second parameter. In some embodiments, the mathematical relationship can be a mathematical function, a Boolean function, or a lookup table. The relationship could be directly entered by the user, or the computer program itself could derive it from the user's actions. In some embodiments, the first parameter can be locked to the mathematical relationship. The lock prevents the value of that parameter from being changed, except by changing the value of the second parameter. Some embodiments implement this method by using a GUI with an intuitive set of controls.

Locking relationships among parameters in computer programs

An efficient way to perform rendering operations in an image processing environment includes a warping engine having a warping module and a domain of definition (DOD) module. When an object is warped, a new DOD for the image is determined by the warping engine by comparing the location of certain pixels in the warped image with their corresponding locations in the original image. By maintaining a DOD for the warped images, only that portion of the DOD that intersects with a region of interest is computed, thus resulting in optimized performance.

Growing community of inventors

Beverly Hills, CA, United States of America

Dan Candela