US3595987A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electronic composite photography
Assignee: The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers Inc
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Filing: 1969-02-20
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Granted: 1971-07-27
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Expires: 1989-02-20
Abstract
Abstract Separate foreground and background scenes are combined to form a composite color television picture or color motion picture film by electronic manipulation of respective sets of color component video signals, one set representing the foreground scene with an illuminated backing, typically blue, and the other set representing the background scene. Blue from the foreground backing is eliminated from the composite picture by electronically limiting the foreground blue signal to a selected function of the green signal. Portions of the background that are covered by foreground objects are eliminated in the composite picture by gating the background video signals under control of color discriminating circuitry which compares the foreground blue and green (or red) color component signals. Both the discriminating circuits and the gating circuits act proportionally, so that partially transparent objects of the foreground are correctly distinguished, making the background scene partially visible through such objects in the composite picture.
Inventors
- 👤 Petro Vlahos
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 20:52
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03B; G03B15/00; G03B15/08; G03B15/12; H; H04; H04N; H04N25/00; H04N25/10; H04N5/00; H04N5/76; H04N5/84; H04N9/00; H04N9/64; H04N9/74; H04N9/75
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 21
Claim 1
Independent Claim
276 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a background scene, said systeM comprising in combination color responsive means for electronically scanning simultaneously the foreground scene against an illuminated backing and the background scene to produce foreground and background sets of color component video signals corresponding to at least three distinct wavelength regions of the visible spectrum, the backing illumination being essentially confined to one of said wavelength regions, discriminating means responsive to the foreground color component video signals for said one wavelength region and for a selected one of the other wavelength regions, and acting to develop an electrical control signal that represents essentially the portion of the light received from the foreground scene that is derived from the backing, mixing means for electrically mixing foreground and background input signals for the respective wavelength regions to produce a set of composite output signals, gating means responsive to the control signal and acting to supply as background input signals to the mixing means a variable fraction of the respective background color component video signals, said variable fraction varying directly with said portion represented by the control signal, means for limiting the foreground color component video signal for said one wavelength region to a maximum value that varies directly with the foreground color component video signal for said selected wavelength region, means for supplying the limited foreground color component video signal and the other foreground color component signals as foreground input signals to the mixing means, and output means for utilizing the output signals from the mixing means as composite color component video signals for producing said composite color picture.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
276 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a background scene, said systeM comprising in combination color responsive means for electronically scanning simultaneously the foreground scene against an illuminated backing and the background scene to produce foreground and background sets of color component video signals corresponding to at least three distinct wavelength regions of the visible spectrum, the backing illumination being essentially confined to one of said wavelength regions, discriminating means responsive to the foreground color component video signals for said one wavelength region and for a selected one of the other wavelength regions, and acting to develop an electrical control signal that represents essentially the portion of the light received from the foreground scene that is derived from the backing, mixing means for electrically mixing foreground and background input signals for the respective wavelength regions to produce a set of composite output signals, gating means responsive to the control signal and acting to supply as background input signals to the mixing means a variable fraction of the respective background color component video signals, said variable fraction varying directly with said portion represented by the control signal, means for limiting the foreground color component video signal for said one wavelength region to a maximum value that varies directly with the foreground color component video signal for said selected wavelength region, means for supplying the limited foreground color component video signal and the other foreground color component signals as foreground input signals to the mixing means, and output means for utilizing the output signals from the mixing means as composite color component video signals for producing said composite color picture.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
70 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 1, and in which said limiting means include means for producing a reference signal that represents essentially the product of the foreground color component video signal for said selected wavelength region and a factor that is normally greater than unity, and means for limiting the maximum value of the foreground color component video signal for said one wavelength region to the reference signal.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 2, and including also means for adjustably varying the value of said factor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
71 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 1, and in which said discriminating means include means for producing a reference signal that represents essentially the product of the foreground color component video signal for said selected wavelength region and a factor that is normally greater than unity, and said control signal equals essentially the excess of the foreground color component video signal for said one wavelength region over the reference signal.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
33 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 1, and in which said output means comprise means for utilizing said output signals as composite color component video signals for producing a composite television picture.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
34 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 1, and in which said output means comprise means for utilizing said output signals as composite color component video signals for producing a composite motion picture film.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
132 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 1, and in which said foreground scene with its backing and the background scene comprise respective color motion picture films, said scene-scanning means act to scan the motion picture films in synchronism frame by frame, scanning each frame successively once for each wavelength region, and said output means comprise means for producing a light beam and for causing the light beam to scan distinct photograph motion picture emulsions for the respective wavelength regions to expose the emulsions frame by frame in synchronism with the scene-scanning means, means for varying the intensity of the light beam under control of the corresponding output signal as composite color componEnt video signal during each scan, and means for processing the exposed emulsions to produce a composite color motion picture.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
20 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 7, and in which said emulsions comprise respective layers of a color film.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
32 words
An electronic system as defined in claim 7, and in which said emulsions are emulsions of respective black and white photographic films, and the exposed and developed emulsions represent color separation records.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
226 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color motion picture film corresponding to a foreground color motion picture film carrying a foreground scene photographed before a blue backing, and a background color motion picture film carrying a background scene, said system comprising in combination color responsive means for electronically scanning simultaneously the foreground film and the background film frame by frame to produce foreground and background sets of color component video signals corresponding to the blue, green and red color components, respectively, mixing means for electrically mixing foreground and background input signals for the respective color components to produce a set of composite output signals, limiting means acting to limit the foreground blue signal to a maximum value that varies with the foreground green signal, and to supply the limited foreground blue signal and the foreground green and red signals as foreground input signals to the mixing means, gating means responsive to the foreground blue and green signals and acting to supply as background input signals to the mixing means a variable fraction of the respective background color component video signals, said fraction corresponding to the excess of the foreground blue signal over a selected function of the foreground green signal, and means for utilizing the output signals from the mixing means as composite color component video signals for producing a composite color motion picture film.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
226 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color motion picture film corresponding to a foreground color motion picture film carrying a foreground scene photographed before a blue backing, and a background color motion picture film carrying a background scene, said system comprising in combination color responsive means for electronically scanning simultaneously the foreground film and the background film frame by frame to produce foreground and background sets of color component video signals corresponding to the blue, green and red color components, respectively, mixing means for electrically mixing foreground and background input signals for the respective color components to produce a set of composite output signals, limiting means acting to limit the foreground blue signal to a maximum value that varies with the foreground green signal, and to supply the limited foreground blue signal and the foreground green and red signals as foreground input signals to the mixing means, gating means responsive to the foreground blue and green signals and acting to supply as background input signals to the mixing means a variable fraction of the respective background color component video signals, said fraction corresponding to the excess of the foreground blue signal over a selected function of the foreground green signal, and means for utilizing the output signals from the mixing means as composite color component video signals for producing a composite color motion picture film.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
38 words
A system as defined in claim 10, and in which said limiting means act to limit the foreground blue signal to a maximum value substantially equal to the product of the foreground green signal and a selected factor.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
A system as defined in claim 11, and in which said selected factor has a value between unity and about 1.5.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
95 words
A system as defined in claim 10, and in which said gating means comprise means for developing a control signal representing the excess of the foreground blue signal over the product of the foreground green signal and a selected factor having a value between unity and about 1.5, means for effectively multiplying the background color component signals by a fraction that varies directly with the control signal and is zero for zero value of the control signal, and means for supplying the resulting background color component signals as background input signals to the mixing means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
160 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a background scene, said system comprising in combination means for producing foreground color component video signals that correspond to the blue, green and red components of the foreground scene with a blue backing, means for producing background video signals that are synchronized with the foreground video signals and represent the background scene, discriminating means responsive to the foreground blue and green signals for producing an output that represents the degree to which the blue backing is concealed by the foreground scene, gating means for attenuating the background video signals in accordance with the output of the discriminating means, means for modifying the foreground blue signal to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, and means for combining the modified foreground blue signal, the foreground green and red signals and the modified background video signals to produce thE composite color picture.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
160 words
An electronic system for producing a composite color picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a background scene, said system comprising in combination means for producing foreground color component video signals that correspond to the blue, green and red components of the foreground scene with a blue backing, means for producing background video signals that are synchronized with the foreground video signals and represent the background scene, discriminating means responsive to the foreground blue and green signals for producing an output that represents the degree to which the blue backing is concealed by the foreground scene, gating means for attenuating the background video signals in accordance with the output of the discriminating means, means for modifying the foreground blue signal to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, and means for combining the modified foreground blue signal, the foreground green and red signals and the modified background video signals to produce thE composite color picture.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
243 words
In combination with a motion picture camera and an illuminated blue backing at a distance therefrom sufficient to accommodate a foreground scene and filling the entire field of view of the camera not occupied by the foreground scene, a television camera mounted with respect to the motion picture camera with the fields of view of the cameras essentially coinciding and including means for producing a set of foreground color component video signals corresponding to the blue, green and red color components of the foreground scene and blue backing, means for producing a corresponding set of background color component video signals synchronized with said foreground signals and corresponding to the blue, green and red color components of a selected background scene, means for attenuating the background color component video signals under control of the foreground color component video signals substantially in accordance with the degree to which the foreground scene effectively obscures the blue backing, means for limiting the foreground blue video signal to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, electronic means responsive to the attenuated background signals, the limited blue foreground signal and the foreground green and red color component video signals and acting to produce a set of composite color component video signals corresponding to a composite of the foreground scene and the selected background scene, and electronic display means for displaying in real time the composite picture represented by the set of composite video signals.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
243 words
In combination with a motion picture camera and an illuminated blue backing at a distance therefrom sufficient to accommodate a foreground scene and filling the entire field of view of the camera not occupied by the foreground scene, a television camera mounted with respect to the motion picture camera with the fields of view of the cameras essentially coinciding and including means for producing a set of foreground color component video signals corresponding to the blue, green and red color components of the foreground scene and blue backing, means for producing a corresponding set of background color component video signals synchronized with said foreground signals and corresponding to the blue, green and red color components of a selected background scene, means for attenuating the background color component video signals under control of the foreground color component video signals substantially in accordance with the degree to which the foreground scene effectively obscures the blue backing, means for limiting the foreground blue video signal to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, electronic means responsive to the attenuated background signals, the limited blue foreground signal and the foreground green and red color component video signals and acting to produce a set of composite color component video signals corresponding to a composite of the foreground scene and the selected background scene, and electronic display means for displaying in real time the composite picture represented by the set of composite video signals.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
210 words
The method of producing a composite motion picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a selected background scene, said method comprising photographing with a color motion picture camera the foreground scene before a blue backing, to produce a photographic foreground record, simultaneously operating a color television camera with essentially the same field of view as the motion picture camera to produce a set of foreground color component video signals, modifying the foreground signals to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, producing a corresponding set of background color component video signals synchronized with the foreground video signals and representing the selected background scene, mixing the modified foreground signals and a portion of the background signals that corresponds substantially to the effective transparency of the foreground scene to produce a set of composite color component video signals, producing electronically under control of the composite video signals and in synchronism therewith a visible composite picture corresponding to the foreground scene that is in the common field of view of the cameras and the selected background scene, utilizing the visible composite picture as a guide in photographing the foreground scene, and combining the resulting photographic foreground record with the selected background scene to produce the composite motion picture.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
210 words
The method of producing a composite motion picture corresponding to a foreground scene and a selected background scene, said method comprising photographing with a color motion picture camera the foreground scene before a blue backing, to produce a photographic foreground record, simultaneously operating a color television camera with essentially the same field of view as the motion picture camera to produce a set of foreground color component video signals, modifying the foreground signals to substantially eliminate the portion thereof due to light from the blue backing, producing a corresponding set of background color component video signals synchronized with the foreground video signals and representing the selected background scene, mixing the modified foreground signals and a portion of the background signals that corresponds substantially to the effective transparency of the foreground scene to produce a set of composite color component video signals, producing electronically under control of the composite video signals and in synchronism therewith a visible composite picture corresponding to the foreground scene that is in the common field of view of the cameras and the selected background scene, utilizing the visible composite picture as a guide in photographing the foreground scene, and combining the resulting photographic foreground record with the selected background scene to produce the composite motion picture.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-07-26 | 1975-01-25 | 1975-07-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-07-26 | 1979-01-25 | 1979-07-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-07-26 | 1983-01-25 | 1983-07-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |