(12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 6,449,009 B1 Grace Et Al
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
US006449009B1 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent N0.: US 6,449,009 B1 Grace et al. (45) Date of Patent: Sep. 10, 2002 (54) IMAGE TRANSFER METHOD FOR 5,170,154 A * 12/1992 Mead ....................... .. 348/102 TELECINE 5,276,522 A * 1/1994 Mead . .. 348/101 5,469,209 A * 11/1995 Gunday et al. ..... .. 348/96 (75) Inventors: Paul Grace, HaultWich; Aine 5,671,008 A * 9/1997 Linn . .. 348/97 Marsland, North?eet, both of (GB) 5,917,987 A * 6/1999 Neyman .................... .. 386/42 (73) Assignee: Pandora International Limited (GB) FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this EP 0438299 * 7/1991 ....... .. G11B/27/034 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 GB 2244626 * 12/1991 ........ .. H04N/4/253 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. GB 2254518 * 10/1992 ......... .. G06F/15/68 (21) Appl. No.: 08/737,869 OTHER PUBLICATIONS (22) PCT Filed: May 19, 1995 High—Resolution Electronic Intermediate System for PCT No.: (86) PCT/GB95/01135 Motion—Picture Film, B. Hunt, G. Kennel, L. DeMarsh, and § 371 (6X1), S. Kristy, SMPTE Journal, pp. 156—161, Mar. 1991.* (2), (4) Date: Jul. 7, 1997 (87) PCT Pub. No.: WO95/32582 * cited by examiner PCT Pub. Date: Nov. 30, 1995 Primary Examiner—Nhon Diep (30) Foreign Application Priority Data (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—McDonnell Boehnen May 19, 1994 (GB) ........................................... .. 9410093 Hulbert & Berghoff (51) Int. Cl.7 ........................ .. H04N 5/253; H04N 9/11; (57) ABSTRACT H04N 9/47 Amethod for transferring images from cinematographic ?lm (52) US. Cl. ....................................................... .. 348/97 to video media. The method uses a telecine machine Which (58) Field of Search ................. .. 348/97—105, 107—109; 386/131, 42; H04N 5/253, 9/11, 9/47 is associated With a digital storage device and a modi?cation device is used to modify image data during transfer to video (56) References Cited media. Accordingly, an operator may select a sequence of frames on the ?lm and modify the image. U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4,514,769 A * 4/1985 Gallo ........................ .. 348/97 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets TELECINE VIDEO 'SERVER' TO VIDEO TAPE MACHINE VIDEO 5 'L ------ - DATA L ---- " (POSSIBLY'HIPPI' FORMAT) VIDEO POSSIBLE i EDITING ADDITIONAL i TERMINAL VET i _______ ___|_____-__. | l | _ _ J. _ _ MONITOR U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2002 Sheet 1 0f 5 US 6,449,009 B1 FIG. 1 O_O TELECINE VIDEO PROCESSING TO VIDEO TAPE MACHINE [3 PROGRAMMER U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2002 Sheet 2 0f 5 US 6,449,009 B1 FIG. 2 w [ VIDEO DAIA TELECINE STILL STORE < VIDEO PROCESSING _ TO VIDEO TAPE MACHlNE H ‘CONTROL’ DATA [:1 PROGRAMMER ‘CONTROL' DATA U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2002 Sheet 3 0f 5 US 6,449,009 B1 FIG. 3 IELECINE VIDEO 'SERVER' TO VIDEO TAPE MACHINE VIDEO I DATA (POSSIBLY ‘HIPPI' FORMAT) I Y VIDEO POSSIBLE EDITING ADDITIONAL TERMINAL VET. MONITOR U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2002 Sheet 4 0f 5 US 6,449,009 B1 FIG. 4 O_O TELECINE VIDEO ‘SERVER’ TO VIDEO TAPE lVIACI-IINE LOCATION 1 Y l LOCATTONZ ?INMKQXSYNCHRONOUSTRANFERMODE) VIDEO EDITING TERMINAL (\lET.) U.S. Patent Sep. 10, 2002 Sheet 5 0f 5 US 6,449,009 B1 FIG. 5 (LG GRAPHICS TELECINE ENGINE DIGITAL VIDEO HIPPI l _ DISK STORE REMOVABLE DRIVE TO FEED NON-LINEAR SYSTEM SCSI-2 HIPPI STANDARDPLATPORM OOMPUTER C] MONITOR US 6,449,009 B1 1 2 IMAGE TRANSFER METHOD FOR Currently available systems have a ‘close coupling’ of TELECINE video around the telecine machine. The programmer to telecine link is a ‘control’ link, meaning that control data This disclosure relates to image processing and in par only passes doWn this link. No true video information is ticular to improving the ef?ciency or facilities offered in the available at the programmer. Reference is made to FIG. 1, creative process of transferring ?lm originated material into Which shoWs a telecine machine With a video processing a TV or Video medium. unit, a programmer and a monitor, and output to a video tape Conventionally, the process of ?lm to video transfer is machine. accomplished on a ‘Telecine’ machine, and a number of Even for systems Where a ‘still store’ system is additional control and editing systems. Examples of such 10 employed, there has to be a ‘close coupling’ betWeen the telecine machines are the Rank Cintel URSAmachine, or the BTS FDL 90 machine. Such machine transfer the ?lm to telecine and the still store. Reference is made to FIG. 2 video in ‘real time’. This means that a ?lm that has a one Which shoWs a telecine machine With a video processing hour vieWing duration takes one hour to transfer to video. unit, a programmer and a monitor, output to a video tape Telecine machines are inevitably very expensive and this is machine, and a still store Which exchange video data With unlikely to be changed by forthcoming technology. This is 15 the telecine and receives control data from the programmer. because of the large amount of precision mechanics neces According to one aspect of the present invention there is sary to transport ?lm With great stability and Without putting provided a method of transferring material from cinemato undue stress on, or damaging, the ?lm. graphic ?lm to video media using a telecine machine, in Making editorial decisions on the reproduction cannot be Which an operator selects a sequence of frames to be accomplished in real time, and thus there exist a number of operated upon, the telecine supplies digitised versions of programmer, machines, Which alloW decisions to be made in those frames to digital storage means, the operator accesses non real time, stored, and replayed in real time. Examples of the digitised versions of the frames on the digital storage such programming systems are the POGLE (Trade Mark), means and makes a decision as to modi?cation of the available from Pandora International, or the DA VINCI material to be carried out during the transfer from cinemato (Trade Mark), from Colorgraphics in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 25 graphic ?lm to video media, data corresponding to the The technique of ‘scene by scene programming’ is disclosed decision is created, if desired further sequences of frames are in US. Pat. No. 4,096,523. In a typical operation, colour operated upon and the corresponding modi?cation data grading is carried out. Film resolution material has a much created, the data corresponding to the or each modi?cation Wider range of colours than are used in video material. One is transmitted to means for modifying the material during task of the programmer is to adjust the colours so that they transfer from cinematographic ?lm to video media, and the Will be suitable for the video environment. Thus, in one transfer is effected and the material modi?ed. scene there may be a red item Whose colour needs to be VieWed from another aspect of the invention there is adjusted for the video material, and the appropriate grading provided apparatus for transferring material from cinemato operation Will be carried out for that scene. graphic ?lm to video media, comprising a telecine machine, Such telecine systems usually have a ‘reference’ store. 35 means for modifying the material during transfer from This alloWs a comparison betWeen one image and another, cinematographic ?lm to video media, digital storage means quite often on a ‘split screen’ basis. Such facilities are quite communicating With the telecine machine to receive digi often used to compare the colour consistency of a given tised versions of frames therefrom, a video editing terminal object betWeen several scenes. communicating With the digital storage means to receive the Extensions to the reference store can be accomplished by digitised versions of the frames, the video editing terminal techniques disclosed in US. Pat. No. 4,857,994. This dis comprising means for recording data corresponding to closes a method for adding an additional ‘still store’ to the operator decisions as to modi?cation of the material, and telecine grading system, and controlling the available means for committing the data from the video editing images on this still store from the programming system. terminal to the means for modifying the material during Examples of such systems are the ‘Matchbox’ (Trade Mark) 45 transfer to video media. system from Rank Cintel Ltd., or the still store from Thus Whilst in a conventional telecine the grading system ACCOM, in Menlo Park, Calif. USA. gives ‘command’ data to the telecine for the execution at the In a separate series of developments, there noW exist a telecine, in a preferred edit the proposed novel architecture number of systems for the ‘non-linear’ editing of video here actually transfers the video data to the video Worksta material. Typically, video material (normally shot as video, tion for modifying of the data, Which is eventually returned although the systems do not preclude the use of ?lm origi back to the telecine ‘server’. This server Would consist of a nated material converted to video on a telecine type system) control computer, together With storage facilities in the form is digitised, i.e. captured into a digital computer type disc of large computer discs, and RAM store. These Would be ?le, compressed, i.e. meaning data compressed by such ?lled With ‘clips’ from the telecine as the telecine transfers techniques as the ISO standard JPEG system, and displayed 55 data from ?lm into the digital domain. When it is necessary on a loW cost video Workstation for the purpose of making to vieW a scene again later, this scene Will be recalled from ‘cut’ decisions These decisions are stored in a ‘cut list’ Which the server’s store instead of from ?lm.