User definable windows for selecting image processing regions

Claim 2

A computer-implemented process for selectively applying image processing to a selected region of a target image provided by an image source, the process being carried out in a computer system coupled to the image source, comprising the steps of: obtaining a key frame image from an image provided by an image source; in response to user commands, defining a key from the key frame image, the key corresponding to the selected region of interest for applying image processing to the target image; automatically vectorizing the region of interest in the key to derive a user defined window; and applying image processing within the region of the target image corresponding to the user defined window of the key.

Claim 3

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the image processing is selected from the group color correction, image compression, noise reduction, colorization, and animation.

Claim 4

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the step of automatically vectorizing comprises drawing a continuous polygon drawn around the selected region of interest in the key, the continuous polygon comprising a predetermined number of points specified by the user.

Claim 5

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the step of: in response to user commands, editing characteristics of the user defined window to allow the user to adapt the window to the key.

Claim 6

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: in response to a user command, capturing the luminance characteristics of the key frame image from the image source in a key frame buffer; in response to user commands, adjusting video parameters of the key frame image in the key frame buffer to isolate a region of interest according to video characteristics; and in response to user commands, adjusting regions of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to geometric characteristics.

Claim 7

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: in response to user commands, defining a first user defined window for a first frame of a scene comprising a plurality of images; in response to user commands, defining a second user defined window for a last frame of the scene; automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene; applying the image processing within the region defined by the user defined windows for each frame of the scene during playback on a real time basis.

Claim 8

The computer-implemented process of claim 6, wherein the step of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window comprises linearly transforming corresponding points of the first user defined window to corresponding points of the second user defined window successively for each frame of the plurality of frames in the scene.

Claim 9

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the step of applying a softness filter to boundaries of the user defined window so as to apply image processing on a predetermined gradient.

Claim 10

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, wherein the user defined window created in the step of automatically vectorizing is limited to a predetermined number of points that can be devectorized on a real time basis to create a digital matte for applying the image processing.

Claim 11

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the step of deriving a plurality of user defined windows corresponding to a plurality of regions of interest for applying image processing.

Claim 12

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the step of applying a different type of image processing to regions of the image outside the user defined window.

Claim 13

The computer-implemented process of claim 11, wherein the step of applying image processing within the region of the image defined by the user defined window comprises applying a first set of color corrections in a scene-by-scene color corrector; and wherein the step of applying image processing to regions of the image outside the user defined window comprises applying a second set of color corrections.

Claim 16

The system of claim 13, further comprising: a component for capturing and storing a key frame image from one of the frames of the scene, and a component for isolating a bit map key from the stored key frame image, the key corresponding to the selected region for applying image processing; and a component for automatically vectorizing the key to derive a user defined window.

Claim 17

The system of claim 14, further comprising: user controls for adjusting video parameters of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to video characteristics; user controls for adjusting regions of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to geometric characteristics.

Claim 18

The system of claim 13, further comprising user controls for editing characteristics of the user defined window to allow the user to adapt the window to the region of interest.

Claim 19

The system of claim 16, wherein the user controls for editing characteristics of the user defined window include a tool for adjusting the number of points representing the vector representation of the window.

Claim 20

The system of claim 13, wherein the user controls for editing characteristics of the user defined window include a tool for adjusting the location of one or more selected points of a window.

Claim 21

The system of claim 13, wherein the component for applying image processing comprises: a circuit responsive to the user defined window for devectorizing the window to obtain a digital matte; an image processing device; and a keyer for applying image processing via the image processing device in accordance with regions corresponding to the digital matte.

Claim 22

The system of claim 19, wherein the digital matte comprises an array of digital values of a predetermined resolution, and wherein the image processing is applied in accordance with the values of the array of the digital values.

Claim 23

The system of claim 20, further comprising a softness filter operative for applying image processing on a predetermined gradient to boundaries of the user defined window.

Claim 24

The system of claim 19, wherein the image processing device is a digital scene-by-scene color corrector.

Claim 25

A computer-implemented process for creating a user defined window for applying image processing to a target image, the process being carried out in a computer system coupled to an image source, comprising the steps of: in response to a user command, capturing in a key frame buffer the luminance characteristics of a key frame image corresponding to a target image obtained from the image source; in response to user commands, adjusting video parameters of the key frame image in the key frame buffer to define a region of interest according to video characteristics; in response to user commands, adjusting regions of the key frame image to define the region of interest according to geometric characteristics; in response to a user command, vectorizing the region of interest to derive a user defined window comprising a continuous polygon drawn around the key frame image, the continuous polygon comprising a predetermined number of points specified by the user; in response to user commands, editing characteristics of the user defined window to allow the user to adapt the continuous polygon to an outline of the region of interest in the key frame image; and applying image processing to the target image within the region defined by the user defined window.

Claim 26

A computer-implemented process for creating a user defined window for applying image processing to a target image, the process being carried out in a computer system coupled to an image source, comprising the steps of: in response to a user command, capturing in a key frame buffer the luminance characteristics of a key frame image corresponding to a target image obtained from the image source; in response to user commands, adjusting video parameters of the key frame image in the key frame buffer to define a region of interest according to video characteristics; in response to user commands, adjusting regions of the key frame image to define the region of interest according to geometric characteristics; in response to a user command, vectorizing the region of interest to derive a user defined window comprising a continuous polygon drawn around the key frame image, the continuous polygon comprising a predetermined number of points specified by the user; in response to user commands, editing characteristics of the user defined window to allow the user to adapt the continuous polygon to an outline of the region of interest in the key frame image; and applying image processing to the target image within the region defined by the user defined window.

Claim 27

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the video parameters of the key frame image comprise the luminance values of the image.

Claim 28

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the step of adjusting parameters of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to video characteristics is effected in response to the use of gain, clip, and limit user controls.

Claim 29

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the key frame image is stored as an array of 10-bit luminance values, and further comprising the step of converting the 10-bit luminance values to a 1-bit high contrast image prior to the step of vectorizing.

Claim 30

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the step of adjusting regions of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to geometric characteristics is effected in response to the use of a brush tool by the user.

Claim 31

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the step of editing characteristics of the user defined window comprises adjusting the number of points representing the window.

Claim 32

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the step of editing characteristics of the user defined window comprises adjusting the location of one or more selected points of the window.

Claim 33

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, further comprising the step of storing the 1-bit key image in memory for later recall, further editing, or use.

Claim 34

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, further comprising the step of storing the edited user window in memory for later recall, further editing, or use.

Claim 35

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, further comprising steps for: in response to user commands, defining a first user defined window for a first frame of a scene comprising a plurality of images; in response to user commands, defining a second user defined window for a last frame of the scene; automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene; applying the image processing within the region defined by the user defined window for each frame of the scene.

Claim 36

The computer-implemented process of claim 32, wherein the step of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene comprises linearly transforming corresponding points of the first user defined window to corresponding points of the second user defined window successively for each frame of the plurality of frames in the scene.

Claim 37

The computer-implemented process of claim 32, wherein the step of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene is carried out at a real time rate.

Claim 38

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the process is carried out in a computer-based workstation associated with a scene-by-scene color corrector.

Claim 39

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, wherein the image source is associated with a scene-by-scene color corrector.

Claim 40

The computer-implemented process of claim 23, further comprising the steps of applying a softness filter to boundaries of the user defined window so as to apply image processing on a predetermined gradient.

Claim 43

The system of claim 38, wherein the video parameters of the key frame image comprise the luminance values of the target image.

Claim 44

The system of claim 38, wherein the at least one user control for adjusting at least one parameter of the key frame image to define the region of interest comprise video gain, clip, and limit controls.

Claim 45

The system of claim 38, wherein the key frame image is stored as an array of 10-bit luminance values and further comprising a component for converting the 10-bit luminance values to a 1-bit high contrast image prior to provision to the vectorizing component.

Claim 46

The system of claim 38, wherein the user controls for adjusting regions of the key frame image to define the region of interest according to geometric characteristics include a software brush tool.

Claim 47

The system of claim 38, wherein the user controls for adjusting regions of the key frame image according to geometric characteristics include tools for adjusting the number of points representing a window.

Claim 48

The system of claim 38, wherein the user controls for adjusting regions of the key frame image according to geometric characteristics include tools for adjusting the location of one or more selected points of a window.

Claim 49

The system of claim 38, further comprising a component storing the key frame image in memory for later recall, further editing, or use.

Claim 50

The system of claim 38, further comprising a component for storing the user defined window in memory for later recall, further editing, or use.

Claim 51

The system of claim 38, wherein the component for applying image processing comprises: a circuit responsive to the user defined window for devectorizing the window to obtain a digital matte; an image processing device; and a keyer for applying image processing via the image processing device in accordance with regions corresponding to the digital matte.

Claim 52

The system of claim 47, wherein the digital matte comprises an array of digital values of a predetermined resolution, and wherein the image processing is applied in accordance with the values of the array of the digital values.

Claim 53

The system of claim 47, further comprising a softness filter operative for applying image processing on a predetermined gradient to boundaries of the user defined window.

Claim 54

The system of claim 47, wherein the image processing device is a scene-by-scene color corrector.

Claim 55

The system of claim 50, wherein the system is operative for: defining a first user defined window for a first frame of a scene comprising a plurality of images; defining a second user defined window for a last frame of the scene; automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene; applying the image processing within the region defined by the user defined window for each frame of the scene.

Claim 56

The system of claim 51, wherein the operation of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene comprises linearly transforming corresponding points of the first user defined window to corresponding points of the second user defined window successively for each frame of the plurality of frames in the scene.

Claim 57

The system of claim 51, wherein the operation of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene is carried out at a real time rate.

Claim 58

A computer-implemented process for applying image processing to a scene of images comprising a plurality of frames, the process being carried out in a computer system coupled to an image source, the computer system including a processor, a display and a memory, comprising the steps of: obtaining a first key frame image from an image provided by an image source; defining a first user defined window comprising a continuous polygon corresponding to a region of interest in the key frame image; storing the first user defined window in the memory; obtaining a second key frame image from an image provided by the image source; defining a second user defined window comprising a continuous polygon corresponding to a region of interest in the second key frame image; storing the second user defined window in the memory; retrieving the first user defined window from the memory; displaying the first user defined window on the display; in response to user commands, modifying the first user defined window to adapt the first user defined window to a region of interest in a first frame of the scene; retrieving the second user defined window from the memory; displaying the second user defined window on the display; in response to user commands, modifying the second user defined window to adapt the second user defined window to a region of interest in a final frame of the scene; automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during playback of the scene from the first frame of the scene to the final frame of the scene; and applying the image processing within the region defined by the user defined window for each frame of the scene during playback of the scene.

Claim 59

A computer-implemented process for applying image processing to a scene of images comprising a plurality of frames, the process being carried out in a computer system coupled to an image source, the computer system including a processor, a display and a memory, comprising the steps of: obtaining a first key frame image from an image provided by an image source; defining a first user defined window comprising a continuous polygon corresponding to a region of interest in the key frame image; storing the first user defined window in the memory; obtaining a second key frame image from an image provided by the image source; defining a second user defined window comprising a continuous polygon corresponding to a region of interest in the second key frame image; storing the second user defined window in the memory; retrieving the first user defined window from the memory; displaying the first user defined window on the display; in response to user commands, modifying the first user defined window to adapt the first user defined window to a region of interest in a first frame of the scene; retrieving the second user defined window from the memory; displaying the second user defined window on the display; in response to user commands, modifying the second user defined window to adapt the second user defined window to a region of interest in a final frame of the scene; automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during playback of the scene from the first frame of the scene to the final frame of the scene; and applying the image processing within the region defined by the user defined window for each frame of the scene during playback of the scene.

Claim 60

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, further comprising the steps of: in response to a user command, capturing the key frame image from a selected image of the scene in the memory; in response to user commands, defining the region of interest in the key frame image; and in response to a user command, vectorizing the region of interest the key image to derive the user defined window.

Claim 61

The computer-implemented process of claim 55, wherein the step of defining the region of interest in the key frame image comprises adjusting video parameters of the key frame image to isolate the region of interest according to video characteristics.

Claim 62

The computer-implemented process of claim 56, wherein the step of adjusting video parameters of the key frame image is effected in response to the use of gain, clip, and limit user controls.

Claim 63

The computer-implemented process of claim 55, wherein the key frame image is stored as an array of 10-bit luminance values, and further comprising the step of converting the 10-bit luminance values to a 1-bit high contrast image prior to the step of vectorizing.

Claim 64

The computer-implemented process of claim 55, wherein the step of defining the region of interest in the key frame image comprises adjusting regions of the key frame image according to geometric characteristics.

Claim 65

The computer-implemented process of claim 59, wherein the step of adjusting regions of the key frame image according to geometric characteristics is effected in response to the use of a brush tool by the user.

Claim 66

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, further comprising the steps of: in response to user commands, editing characteristics of the user defined window to allow the user to adapt the continuous polygon to the outline of the region of interest.

Claim 67

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, wherein the steps of modifying a user defined window comprises adjusting the number of points representing a window.

Claim 68

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, wherein the steps of modifying a user defined window comprises adjusting the location of one or more selected points of a window.

Claim 69

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, wherein the step of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during playback of the scene comprises linearly transforming corresponding points of the first user defined window to corresponding points of the second user defined window successively for each frame of the plurality of frames in the scene.

Claim 70

The computer-implemented process of claim 64, wherein the step of automatically transforming the first user defined window into the second user defined window during the plurality of images during a playback of the scene is carried out at a real time rate.

Claim 71

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, wherein the process is carried out in a computer-based workstation associated with a scene-by-scene color corrector.

Claim 72

The computer-implemented process of claim 54, further comprising the steps of applying a softness filter to boundaries of the user defined windows so as to apply image processing on a predetermined gradient.

Claim 73

The computer-implemented process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: deriving a matte corresponding to the user defined window, the matte including a processing region, and wherein the step of applying image processing within the region of the target image corresponding to the user defined window comprises image processing within the processing region.

Claim 74

The system of claim 38, wherein the parameters of the key frame image comprise video parameters.

Claim 75

The system of claim 38, wherein the parameters of the key frame image comprise geometric characteristics.

Claim 76

The system of claim 38, wherein the parameters of the key frame image comprise geometric parameters.