SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RE-CONFIGURING A LIGHTING ARRANGEMENT

• US 20150338722A1
• Filed: 05/18/2015
• Published: 11/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Woolfe, Geoffrey John, Bonnier, Nicolas Pierre Marie Frederic
• Granted Patent: US 10,120,267 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 15/07 Arrangements of lamps in studios

Abstract

A method of re-configuring a lighting arrangement (120-170) used to light a scene (100) which is to be captured by an image capture device (110), the method including the steps of: obtaining an initial image of the scene (100) using an initial configuration (190) of the lighting arrangement; developing an image content map identifying at least one scene characteristic of at least a part of the scene (100) captured in the initial image; determining a desired aesthetic effect for a further image to be captured based on the scene (100); in accordance with the at least one scene characteristic identified in the image content map, selecting from a plurality of aesthetic factors at least one aesthetic factor involving adjustment in order to achieve the determined desired aesthetic effect for the further image; and developing at least one lighting parameter for re-configuring the lighting arrangement (120-170), wherein the at least one lighting parameter corresponds with the at least one selected aesthetic factor.

Claims

1. A method of re-configuring a lighting arrangement used to light a scene which is to be captured by an image capture device, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an initial image of the scene using an initial configuration of the lighting arrangement;

developing an image content map identifying at least one scene characteristic of at least a part of the scene captured in the initial image;

determining a desired aesthetic effect for a further image to be captured based on the scene;

in accordance with the at least one scene characteristic identified in the image content map, selecting from a plurality of aesthetic factors at least one aesthetic factor involving adjustment in order to achieve the determined desired aesthetic effect for the further image; and

developing at least one lighting parameter for re-configuring the lighting arrangement, wherein the at least one lighting parameter corresponds with the at least one selected aesthetic factor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of developing at least one lighting parameter further comprises the steps of:

developing a plurality of lighting parameters that correspond with the at least one selected aesthetic factor; and

developing a combination of lighting parameters by combining at least two of the developed lighting parameters for re-configuring the lighting arrangement.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of developing a combination of lighting parameters further comprises the steps of:

determining multiple combinations of lighting parameters;

determining at least one preference measure that measures the degree to which an image will be selected over another image based on the desired aesthetic effect;

determining a relationship between the multiple combinations of lighting parameters and the at least one preference measure; and

developing a combination of lighting parameters based on the determined relationship.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

selecting a desired configuration of the lighting arrangement from one or more use-case specific predetermined lighting configurations;

identifying an initial configuration file associated with the selected desired configuration; and

developing lighting parameters for configuring the lighting arrangement using the initial configuration file so that the initial configuration of the lighting arrangement corresponds with the selected desired configuration.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining the initial configuration of the lighting arrangement by communicating with one or more light fixtures arranged to light the scene; and

obtaining lighting parameters associated with the one or more light fixtures.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

obtaining initial lighting parameters based on the initial configuration;

obtaining the at least one scene characteristic from the image content map;

determining the contribution of the at least one scene characteristic to the image of the scene;

determining the contribution of the initial lighting parameters to the image of the scene; and

developing one or more extracted scene characteristics by separating the contribution of the at least one scene characteristic from the contribution of the initial lighting parameters.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a desired aesthetic effect comprises the step of detecting a user input and selecting a predefined aesthetic model based on the detected user input, wherein the aesthetic model comprises values and weights associated with one or more of the plurality of aesthetic factors.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining a desired aesthetic effect comprises the steps of:

detecting a user input;

determining if a predefined aesthetic model is not stored based on the detected user input, and upon a positive determination; and

developing an aesthetic model that defines the desired aesthetic effect based on one or more images that comprise a tag identifying the one or more images as having the desired aesthetic effect, wherein the aesthetic model comprises values and weights associated with one or more of the aesthetic factors.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

determining at least one image characteristic from the image content map; and

determining a weighting value for the at least one determined image characteristic with reference to the at least one scene characteristic.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

selecting a plurality of aesthetic factors involving adjustment;

determining a plurality of weighting values for the selected aesthetic factors based on the aesthetic factor'"'"'s association with the desired aesthetic effect; and

ranking the selected aesthetic factors based on the determined weighting values.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of developing at least one lighting parameter comprises the steps of:

i) developing an initial lighting parameter;

ii) re-configuring the lighting arrangement;

iii) obtaining a further image of the scene using the re-configured lighting arrangement;

iv) developing a further image content map identifying the scene characteristic of at least a part of the scene captured in the further image;

v) determining from the further image content map whether one or more aesthetic factors involve adjustment in order to achieve the determined desired aesthetic effect in a subsequent image; and

vi) repeating steps i) to iv) based on a determination of whether one or more aesthetic factors involve adjustment.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one scene characteristic identified is a local scene characteristics and the at least one lighting parameter is developed for re-configuring the lighting arrangement based on local changes to the scene.

13. A light controller adapted to re-configure a lighting arrangement used to light a scene which is to be captured by an image capture device, the light controller adapted to:

obtain an initial image of the scene using an initial configuration of the lighting arrangement;

develop an image content map identifying at least one scene characteristic of at least a part of the scene captured in the initial image;

determine a desired aesthetic effect for a further image to be captured based on the scene;

in accordance with the at least one scene characteristic identified in the image content map, select from a plurality of aesthetic factors at least one aesthetic factor involving adjustment in order to achieve the determined desired aesthetic effect for the further image; and

develop at least one lighting parameter for re-configuring the lighting arrangement, wherein the at least one lighting parameter corresponds with the at least one selected aesthetic factor.

14. The light controller of claim 13 further adapted to:

select a desired configuration of the lighting arrangement from one or more use-case specific predetermined lighting configurations;

identify an initial configuration file associated with the selected desired configuration; and

develop lighting parameters for configuring the lighting arrangement using the initial configuration file so that the initial configuration of the lighting arrangement corresponds with the selected desired configuration.

15. The light controller of claim 13 further adapted to:

determine the initial configuration of the lighting arrangement by communicating with one or more light fixtures arranged to light the scene; and

obtain lighting parameters associated with the one or more light fixtures.

16. The light controller of claim 13 further adapted to:

obtain initial lighting parameters based on the initial configuration;

obtain the at least one scene characteristic from the image content map;

determine the contribution of the at least one scene characteristic to the image of the scene;

determine the contribution of the initial lighting parameters to the image of the scene; and

develop one or more extracted scene characteristics by separating the contribution of the at least one scene characteristic from the contribution of the initial lighting parameters.

17. The light controller of claim 13, wherein the light controller is adapted to determine a desired aesthetic effect by detecting a user input and selecting a predefined aesthetic model based on the detected user input, wherein the aesthetic model comprises values and weights associated with one or more of the plurality of aesthetic factors.

18. The light controller of claim 13, wherein the light controller is adapted to determine a desired aesthetic effect by:

detecting a user input;

determining if a predefined aesthetic model is not stored based on the detected user input, and upon a positive determination; and

developing an aesthetic model that defines the desired aesthetic effect based on one or more images that comprise a tag identifying the one or more images as having the desired aesthetic effect, wherein the aesthetic model comprises values and weights associated with one or more of the aesthetic factors.

19. The light controller of claim 13 further adapted to:

determine at least one image characteristic from the image content map; and

determine a weighting value for the at least one determined image characteristic with reference to the at least one scene characteristic.

20. The light controller of claim 13 further adapted to:

select a plurality of aesthetic factors involving adjustment;

determine a plurality of weighting values for the selected aesthetic factors based on the aesthetic factor'"'"'s association with the desired aesthetic effect; and

rank the selected aesthetic factors based on the determined weighting values.

21. The light controller of claim 13 wherein the light controller is further adapted to develop at least one lighting parameter by:

developing a plurality of lighting parameters that correspond with the at least one selected aesthetic factor; and

developing a combination of lighting parameters by combining at least two of the developed lighting parameters for re-configuring the lighting arrangement.

22. The light controller of claim 21 wherein the light controller is further adapted to develop a combination of lighting parameters by:

determining multiple combinations of lighting parameters;

determining at least one preference measure that measures the degree to which an image will be selected over another image based on the desired aesthetic effect;

determining a relationship between the multiple combinations of lighting parameters and the at least one preference measure; and

developing a combination of lighting parameters based on the determined relationship.

23. The light controller of claim 13 wherein the light controller is further adapted to develop at least one lighting parameter by:

i) developing an initial lighting parameter;

ii) re-configuring the lighting arrangement;

iii) obtaining a further image of the scene using the re-configured lighting arrangement;

iv) developing a further image content map identifying the scene characteristic of at least a part of the scene captured in the further image;

v) determining from the further image content map whether one or more aesthetic factors involve adjustment in order to achieve the determined desired aesthetic effect in a subsequent image; and

vi) repeating steps i) to iv) based on a determination of whether one or more aesthetic factors involve adjustment.

24. The light controller of claim 13 wherein the at least one scene characteristic identified is a local scene characteristics and the at least one lighting parameter developed for re-configuring the lighting arrangement is based on local changes to the scene.