Virtual Videography

这是三年持续奖的第一年资助。数字视频正在给通信带来革命性的变化。然而，尽管这项技术提供了捕获、存储和交付视频的手段，但它并没有充分解决内容创建的问题。有效利用视频媒体仍然是一项资源和人才密集型任务。在这项提案中，PI将通过开发虚拟视频摄影来解决这一问题，这是一种帮助自动化制作交流视频的系统。他将开发方法，使事件能够以最小的干扰被记录下来，并在没有专家干预的情况下处理成信息丰富的视频。实施虚拟摄像的计划是基于这样一种观察，即摄像的很大一部分挑战是摄像人员必须精通的一系列不同的任务。这种将视频分解为其子任务的传统方法提出了一种方案，其中每个任务都由一个系统组件模拟。PI将开发一种软件体系结构，其中传统的视频制作流程由软件组件取代从业者，生产管道由一个中央存储库扩充，不仅用于存储视频数据，还用于对视频内容进行注释。由图像分析组件创建的这种注释将指导：(A)计算电影摄影师指向使用基于图像的绘制方法综合创建新视图的虚拟摄像机；(B)选择镜头的虚拟剪辑师；以及甚至(C)使用视觉效果来增加额外强调的虚拟效果监督者。PI将把他的努力集中在一个特定的领域：捕捉和呈现大学演讲。他将演示一个系统，该系统自动将报告厅中固定摄像机拍摄的视频处理为编辑后的视频，显示多个视角、编辑和特殊效果。他不仅将开发建造此类系统所需的技术，还将评估结果的实用性。该项目将有助于深入了解如何在教学中使用视频的先进功能；它将为传播讲座和教育科学研究提供有用的工具，并为这项工作所利用的许多领域作出技术贡献。

This is the first year funding of a three year continuing award. Digital video is revolutionizing communication. However, while the technology has provided a means to capture, store, and deliver video, it has not adequately addressed the issue of content creation. Effectively utilizing the medium of video is still a resource- and talent-intensive task. In this proposal, the PI will address this issue by developing Virtual Videography, systems that help automate the production of communicative video. He will develop methodologies that enable events to be recorded with minimal intrusion and processed without expert intervention into informative video. The plan for implementing Virtual Videography is based on the observation that a good portion of the challenge of videography is the range of disparate tasks that a videographer must be proficient at. This traditional decomposition of video into its subtasks suggests a scheme where each task is mimicked by a system component. The PI will develop a software architecture where the traditional video production process has practitioners replaced by software components, and the production pipeline is augmented by a centralized repository for not only video data, but also for annotations about the video's content. Such annotations, created by an image analysis component, will guide: (a) a computational cinematographer in pointing a virtual camera that synthetically created novel views using image-based rendering methods; (b) a virtual editor in selecting shots; and even (c) a virtual effects supervisor in using visual effects to add additional emphasis. The PI will focus his efforts on a specific domain: capturing and presenting university lectures. He will demonstrate a system that automatically processes video recorded by stationary cameras in a lecture hall into edited video, showing multiple viewpoints, editing, and special effects. He will not only develop the technology required to construct such systems, but will also evaluate the utility of the results. This project will contribute insight into how the advanced features of video may be used in pedagogy; it will provide useful tools for disseminating lectures and for educational science research, as well as making technical contributions to the many fields that the effort draws upon.