System for producing time-independent virtual camera movement in motion pictures and other media
First Claim
1. A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium comprising:
- an array of cameras deployed along a preselected path with each camera focused on a common scene;
means for triggering each of said cameras to simultaneously record a still image of said scene; and
means for transferring said images from said cameras in a preselected order along said path onto a sequence of frames in said motion picture medium.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium in which an array of cameras is deployed along a preselected path with each camera focused on a common scene. Each camera is triggered simultaneously to record a still image of the common scene, and the images are transferred from the cameras in a preselected order along the path onto a sequence of frames in the motion picture medium such as motion picture film or video tape. Because each frame shows the common scene from a different viewpoint, placing the frames in sequence gives the illusion that one camera has moved around a frozen scene (i.e., virtual camera motion). In another embodiment, a two-dimensional array of video cameras is employed. Each camera synchronously captures a series of images in rapid succession over time. The resulting array of images can be combined in any order to create motion pictures having a combination of virtual camera motion and time-sequence images.
47 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium comprising:
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an array of cameras deployed along a preselected path with each camera focused on a common scene;
means for triggering each of said cameras to simultaneously record a still image of said scene; and
means for transferring said images from said cameras in a preselected order along said path onto a sequence of frames in said motion picture medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium comprising:
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a two-dimensional array of cameras with each camera focused on a common scene;
means for triggering each of said cameras to simultaneously record a still image of said scene; and
means for transferring said images from a selected sequence of said cameras along a selected path in said two-dimensional array to produce a sequence of frames in said motion picture medium. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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12. A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium comprising:
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a strip of photographic film;
a first magazine for holding said photographic film prior to exposure;
a second magazine for holding said photographic film after exposure;
an array of cameras deployed along a preselected path with each camera having a focal plane and a lens assembly for focusing an image of a common scene onto said focal plane;
means for triggering each of said cameras to simultaneously record a still image of said scene by exposing a portion of said film along said focal plane;
film feeding means for feeding said strip of film from said first magazine through each of said cameras so that a portion of said film is disposed at said focal plane of each camera, and for feeding said strip of film from each of said cameras into said second magazine; and
means for transferring said images from said film in a preselected order along said path onto a sequence of frames in said motion picture medium.
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16. A system for producing virtual camera motion in a motion picture medium comprising:
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an array of video cameras deployed along a preselected path with each camera focused on a common scene;
means for triggering each of said video cameras to simultaneously store a still image of said scene in a video frame; and
processor means for receiving said video frames from said video cameras and for generating said motion picture medium containing said images from a series of said video frames in a preselected order along said path.
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Specification