Sony Corporation

Nobuyuki Minami

Masafumi Kurashige

Akihiro Takashima

Nariyasu Hamahata

Takao Kumagai

Seisuke Oba

Hitoshi Fukudome

Humiki Higashi

Glenn Steven Hill

Yutaka Sasaki

Nobuo Sasaki

Hiroyuki Sugimoto

Katsuakira Moriwake

Sensaburo Nakamura

Tetsuro Nakata

Tetsuzo Kuragano

Takeo Ugai

Motomu Ueta

Toshimasa Kakihara

Kazuhiro Maruyama

Tetsuya Harada

Ryosuke Hayashi

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program for realizing an intuitive operation to issue an instruction to move an object in a virtual three-dimensional space or the like, to an operator who performs operations while looking at an image of the virtual three-dimensional space. The information processing device in this disclosure includes a control unit that controls a CG image generating unit in response to an input of parameters of three axial directions through a three-dimensional operating unit. The control unit changes the amount of control of the CG image generating unit in accordance with the input parameters, to cause an image of the virtual three-dimensional space to vary between where a virtual camera is associated with the three-dimensional operating unit and where an object is associated with the three-dimensional operating unit. This disclosure can be applied to a video editing device for editing broadcast video images.

Information processing device, information processing method, and program

An image processing unit of an image switching apparatus includes main circuit blocks (), () and () and sub circuit blocks (), () and (). An operation unit in the image switching apparatus includes a unit for designating one of or both of the main circuit blocks and the sub circuit blocks. When the main circuit block is designated, the operation unit transmits a signal to designate the operation of the main circuit block. When the sub circuit block is designated, the operation unit transmits a signal to designate the operation of the sub circuit block. When both of the main circuit block and the sub circuit block are designated, the operation unit transmits a signal to designate operations of the main circuit block and the sub circuit block. The image switching apparatus can be constructed by a few circuits and such circuits can be efficiently used without waste in response to the change of purposes.

Image switching apparatus and method of controlling image processing unit thereof

The present invention provides an image switching apparatus allowing a operator to easily operate a plurality of special effect apparatuses through different interfaces by using a common operation. The image switching apparatus includes a first image output interface, a first image input interface, a second image output interface, a second image input interface, a type storage section, a routing instruction section, one or more image synthesis/switching section, a synthesis/switching operation input section, and an assignment management section which refers to the type storage section in response to an instruction from the routing instruction section and outputs the image in the image synthesis/switching section to the first image output interface as well as acquires the image from the first image input interface to input the acquired image to the image synthesis/switching section when the setting is the first path, whereas outputs the image in the image synthesis/switching section to the second image output interface as well as acquires the image from the second image input interface to input the acquired image to the image synthesis/switching section when the setting is the second path, and refers to the type storage section in response to an input image selection instruction from the synthesis/switching operation input section and selects an image to be directed to the first image output interface when the setting is the first path, whereas selects an image to be directed to the second image output interface when the setting is the second path.

Image switching apparatus, image switching method, and program recording medium

A main operation unit () is connected to a control unit () which controls image processing units () to (), the main control unit () includes a setting means for setting the image processing units () to () to which a sub operation means () is connected to the standard mode or the half-divide mode, the control unit () controls the image processing units () to () in response to instruction from the main operation unit () upon the standard mode, the control unit () controls the image processing units () to () in response to instruction from the main operation unit () upon the half-divided mode and the control unit () controls sub circuit blocks () to () within the image processing units () to () in response to instruction from the sub operation unit (). Thus, the image switching apparatus can be composed of lesser circuits and such circuits can be used separately without waste as their uses are changed.

A video signal processing device includes an address generator to calculate a transformation matrix for three-dimensionally transforming an image to a &ldquo;blue board&rdquo; area. The transformation is based on corner positions of the blue board area of a video signal and those of an image area of a source video signal to be inserted. Address information is calculated for reading the source video signal from a memory based on an inverse matrix of the transformation matrix. In this way, the image area to be inserted can be three-dimensionally transformed and automatically inserted into the blue board area, without requiring an operator to input parameters indicative of a post-transformation state.

Video signal processing device and method employing transformation matrix to generate composite image

Specified image transformation is applied to a first source video signal to generate a main image and symmetric image transformation is applied to a second source video signal same as or different from the first source video signal in accordance with the image transformation applied to the main image and the point, line, or plane specified as a symmetry yardstick to generate a symmetric image point-symmetric, line-symmetric, or plane-symmetric to the main image. Thereby, it is possible to easily obtain a symmetric image symmetric to a main image to which image transformation is applied only by specifying a point, line, or plane serving as a symmetry yardstick.

Special effect system, image processing method, and symmetrical image generating method

The transform arithmetic operations by spatial image transform matrixes and perspective transform matrixes to a screen surface thereon are executed on source video signal representing two-dimensional image so as to generate left-eye and right-eye video signals. It is possible to realize the stereoscopic image generation apparatus capable of setting the visual difference between a left eye and a right eye easily.

Stereoscopic image generation method and apparatus thereof

Imaging processing method for mapping video source information onto a

Since the corner detection means (7, 9) to detect each position of the blue board area from video signal, the conversion address generation means (11) to generate the conversion address based on the position information detected and the position information showing each corner position of the image area of video signal to be inserted and the image conversion means (16) to form conversion source video signal based on the conversion address are provided and the source video signal is to be inserted to the video signal, the operator's operation adjustment as the conventional device becomes unnecessary when inserting the source video signal into the prescribed frame of the video signal, and the operation of the operator can be further decreased. Thus, a video signal processing device capable of further decreasing the operator's operation can be realized.

Video signal processing device and its method

Special effect device, image processing method, and shadow generating

Special effect apparatus

A method and system for effecting a transformation of video image on a video screen applicable to a system for producing a special visual effect on, e.g., a television screen, in which a two-dimensional address plane is defined within a memory area, input video image is stored within the memory area, a cylinder shaped virtual image is placed on the address plane, a part of the address plane is wound on the cylinder shaped image, and when the cylinder shaped image is displaced along a predetermined direction on the address plane with a radius of a circle in vertical section thereof being varied with time, the address plane can be viewed as if it were turned over. If the input address data within the memory area is read out on the basis of output address data indicating the above-described displacement of the address plane, the output video image on the video screen can be viewed therethrough as if the video image were being turned over.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Nobuyuki Minami