PICTORIAL SUMMARY FOR VIDEO

• US 20150382083A1
• Filed: 03/06/2013
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: CHEN, ZHIBO, LIU, DEBING, GU, XIAODONG, ZHANG, FAN
• Application Number:
  US14/770,071
• Publication Number:
  US 20150382083A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/739 in form of a video summary, e.g. the video summary being a video sequence, a composite still image or having synthesized frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8549 Creating video summaries, e.g. movie trailer retrieval in video databases by using presentations in form of a video summary G06F16/739

Abstract

Various implementations relate to providing a pictorial summary, also referred to as a comic book or a narrative abstraction. In one particular implementation, a first portion in a video is accessed, and a second portion in the video is accessed. A weight for the first portion is determined, and a weight for the second portion is determined. A first number and a second number are determined. The first number identifies how many pictures from the first portion are to be used in a pictorial summary of the video. The first number is one or more, and is determined based on the weight for the first portion. The second number identifies how many pictures from the second portion are to be used in the pictorial summary of the video. The second number is one or more, and is determined based on the weight for the second portion.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing a first portion in a video, and a second portion in the video;

determining a weight for the first portion;

determining a weight for the second portion;

determining a first number, the first number identifying how many pictures from the first portion are to be used in a pictorial summary of the video, wherein the first number is one or more, and is determined based on the weight for the first portion; and

determining a second number, the second number identifying how many pictures from the second portion are to be used in the pictorial summary of the video, wherein the second number is one or more, and is determined based on the weight for the second portion.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the first number is further based on a value for total number of pages in the pictorial summary.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the value for total number of pages in the pictorial summary is a user-supplied value.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing a first picture within the first portion and a second picture within the first portion;

determining a weight for the first picture based on one or more characteristics of the first picture;

determining a weight for the second picture based on one or more characteristics of the second picture; and

selecting, based on the weight of the first picture and the weight of the second picture, one or more of the first picture and the second picture to be part of the first number of pictures from the first portion that are used in the pictorial summary.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein selecting one or more of the first picture and the second picture comprises selecting a picture with a higher weight before selecting a picture with a lower weight.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein selecting one or more of the first picture and the second picture comprises selecting one or fewer pictures per shot in the first portion.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more characteristics of the first picture comprises signal-to-noise ratio, sharpness level, color harmonization level, or aesthetic level.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting one or more pictures from the video for inclusion in the pictorial summary; and

providing the pictorial summary.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein providing the pictorial summary comprises one or more of (i) presenting the pictorial summary, (ii) storing the pictorial summary, or (iii) transmitting the pictorial summary.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the first number is based on a proportion of (i) the weight for the first portion and (ii) a total weight of all weighted portions.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein determining the first number is based on a product of (i) a user-supplied value for total number of pages in the pictorial summary and (ii) the proportion of the weight for the first portion and the total weight of all weighted portions.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first number is based on a user-supplied value for total number of pages in the pictorial summary.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein:

when the weight for the first portion is higher than the weight for the second portion, then the first number is at least as large as the second number.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a weight for the first portion is based on input from a script corresponding to the video.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein determining a weight for the first portion is based on one or more of (i) a prevalence in the first portion of one or more main characters from the video, (ii) a length of the first portion, (iii) a quantity of highlights that are in the first portion, or (iv) a position of the first portion in the video.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein:

the prevalence in the first portion of one or more main characters from the video is based on a number of appearances in the first portion of main characters from the video.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein:

main characters are indicated by a higher appearance frequency over the video, and

the prevalence in the first portion of a first main character is determined, at least in part, by multiplying (i) an appearance frequency over the video of the first main character and (ii) a number of occurrences in the first portion of the first main character.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein:

an appearance frequency over the video for the first main character is based on a number of appearances over the video of the first main character divided by a total number of appearances over the video for all characters.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein a highlight includes one or more of a highlight action or a highlight object.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the portion of the video is a scene, a shot, a group of scenes, or a group of shots.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the weight for the first portion is based on user input.

22. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining whether to represent the first portion in the pictorial summary by comparing the weight for the first portion with respective weights of other portions of the video.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

accessing one or more parameters from a configuration guide that includes one or more parameters for configuring the pictorial summary of the video; and

generating the pictorial summary for the video, wherein the pictorial summary conforms to the one or more accessed parameters from the configuration guide.

24. (canceled)

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26. (canceled)

27. (canceled)

28. (canceled)