Controller, control method, program, and information processing system

Abstract

To automatically transfer, to a predetermined server, only a portion designated for moving image data held in a photographing device.SOLUTION: A photographing device selects untransferred image data as image data to be transferred, and when the selected image data is moving image data and there is moving image editing associated with the moving image data, extracts partial moving image data corresponding to a time section indicating a start point and an end point designated in editing information. The photographing device transfers only the extracted partial moving image data. The photographing device sets a value indicating "for moving image editing" as attribute information to image data information of the extracted partial moving image data. The photographing device transmits, to a mediation server, image data information including the image data to be transferred and its attribute information. The mediation server transfers moving image data whose attribute information is "for moving image editing" to a storage server for moving image editing to which "for moving image editing" is set as the purpose of use.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for transferring image data including video data. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, an increasing number of cameras have been equipped with the function of connecting directly to the Internet via Wi-Fi or other means and automatically transferring and saving image data stored on the camera's internal storage media to specific storage services on the Internet. Furthermore, intermediary servers have also appeared that have the function of mediating the transfer and saving of image data to pre-set storage servers. By setting multiple storage servers and transfer conditions, etc., in this intermediary server, image data can be transferred and saved to specific storage servers simply by transferring it from the digital camera to the intermediary server.

[0003] The image data transferred in this manner includes not only still images but also videos, but because the volume of video data is large, transferring it takes time and costs. Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which a camera transmits proxy data, which is low-resolution video data that facilitates video editing, to an external terminal, and the external terminal then performs video editing on the proxy data. In this method, after video editing is performed on the proxy data, necessary portions of the high-resolution video data held by the camera are clipped based on the editing results, and only the clipped portions are transferred from the camera to a server. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-110435 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, with the technology described in Patent Document 1, if video editing cannot be performed on the proxy data immediately, high-resolution video data is not transferred to the storage server, and large amounts of video data remain in the imaging device, putting pressure on the recording capacity of the imaging device.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to automatically transfer only a designated portion of video data held by a photographing device to a predetermined server. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention is a control device for a photographing device equipped with a transmission means for transferring image data obtained by photographing to an external device, and comprises a transmission control means for causing the transmission means to transmit the image data to the external device, an acquisition means for acquiring section information specifying a specific time section of video data contained in the image data, and an extraction means for extracting partial video data for the time section specified in the section information from the video data, wherein when the transmission control means causes the video data for which the section information is set to be transmitted to be transmitted, the transmission control means causes the transmission means to transmit to the external device the partial video data extracted based on the section information instead of the video data for which the section information is set, and attribute information for the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, only a designated portion of video data held by a photographing device can be automatically transferred to a predetermined server. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a network configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a software configuration according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of image transfer processing in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of a UI screen of the photographing device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating details of an image transfer process in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] 10 shows image data information used in the image transfer process in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart illustrating details of an image transfer process according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration of an information processing system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of processing for transferring still images and moving images according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiments do not limit the present invention, and all of the configurations described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential means for solving the problems of the present invention.

[0011] First Embodiment Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Overall configuration] Fig. 1 shows an example of the network configuration of an information processing system according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, this embodiment is configured with an image capture device 101, an intermediary server 102, a storage server 103, a video editing storage server 104, and a network 105 that enables communication between them.

[0013] The photographing device 101 is a device capable of photographing still images, moving images, and the like, such as a digital camera, and has a function of transmitting photographed image data by using a network 105 .

[0014] The intermediary server 102 has the function of receiving image data captured by the image capturing device 101 via the network 105, temporarily storing the data, and transferring the data to a storage server 103 for data storage and a storage server 104 for video editing.

[0015] The storage server 103 provides storage services on the network 105, and has functions such as storing uploaded image data and the like, and browsing and searching for images.

[0016] The video editing storage server 104 has the function of editing images on uploaded image data, and also provides storage services similar to the storage server 103 so that the image data to be edited and the edited image data can be saved and shared.

[0017] In this embodiment, the network 105 is configured assuming a combination of a general public mobile network and the Internet, but various other communication modes can also be used in the present invention, such as a wireless LAN, a fixed telephone network, a wired LAN, etc. It is also possible to perform communication using two or more of these networks.

[0018] In addition, the intermediary server 102, storage server 103, and video editing storage server 104 can also be accessed via network 105 by PCs, smartphones, tablets, etc. with communication functions (not shown).

[0019] Furthermore, although the number of each of the image capturing device 101, the intermediary server 102, the storage server 103, and the video editing storage server 104 is one, the number is not limited to this, and there may be a plurality of each.

[0020] [Hardware configuration] FIG. 2 shows an example of a schematic hardware configuration according to this embodiment.

[0021] FIG. 2(a) shows the hardware configuration of the image capturing device 101 shown in FIG.

[0022] The CPU 201 realizes most of the control and processing of various systems in this embodiment by executing programs stored in the ROM 202 and RAM 203, which will be described later. Furthermore, the CPU 201's own functions and the program mechanisms can process multiple programs in parallel. The ROM 202 stores programs and data that store control procedures by the CPU 201. The RAM 203 stores control programs to be processed by the CPU 201, and also provides a work area for various data when the CPU 201 executes various controls.

[0023] The input unit 204 is a keyboard, mouse, camera, microphone, etc. that provide various input operation environments for the user, and may be a touch panel, stylus pen, infrared image sensor, etc. that provide various input operation environments for the user. It may also be a device that allows input by voice recognition or gesture operation.

[0024] The bus 205 is an address bus, a data bus, etc. connected to each part of the internal configuration, and provides a function for mutual information exchange and communication between each part, thereby enabling each part to operate in cooperation with each other.

[0025] The external storage unit 206 is a storage device that stores various data, and is composed of storage media such as a hard disk, flexible disk, optical disk, magnetic disk, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, etc., as well as drives that write information to these storage media, etc. The stored programs and data are called up in whole or in part onto the RAM 203 when necessary in response to instructions from the user via a keyboard or the like, or instructions from various programs.

[0026] The NCU (Network Control Unit) 207 is a communication device for communicating with other computer devices and the like. The NCU 207 communicates with devices (not shown) located in remote locations via a network (such as a LAN or WAN) to enable sharing of the programs and data of this embodiment. This communication device may be a wired communication device such as RS232C, USB, IEEE1394, P1284, SCSI, modem, or Ethernet, or a wireless communication device such as Bluetooth, infrared communication, or IEEE802.11a / b / n. In other words, any device that has a means of communication with devices connected to the device of the present invention may be used.

[0027] The image capturing unit 208 is a device for capturing still images and videos. It is composed of optical sensors and other optical devices, and also has the function of controlling these devices and performing image processing on image signals output from the optical sensors. The captured still image and video data is stored in the RAM 203 or external storage unit 206 via the bus 205. At this time, the CPU 201 may also perform processing, as necessary, to process and manage the still image and video data.

[0028] The output unit 209 is composed of a display, a speaker, etc., and presents the status of various input operations and the corresponding calculation results to the user. Via the CPU 201 and the bus 205, the output unit 209 draws the instructed display content on the display, plays music, voice, etc., and outputs them from the speaker.

[0029] 2(b) shows this hardware configuration for the intermediary server 102, storage server 103, and video editing storage server 104. The contents of FIG. 2(b) will be explained below.

[0030] The CPU 211 realizes most of the control and processing of various systems in this embodiment by executing programs stored in the ROM 212 and RAM 213, which will be described later. Furthermore, the CPU 211's own functions and the program mechanisms can process multiple programs in parallel. The ROM 212 stores programs and data that store control procedures by the CPU 211. The RAM 213 stores control programs to be processed by the CPU 211, and also provides a work area for various data when the CPU 211 executes various controls.

[0031] The input unit 214 is a keyboard, mouse, camera, microphone, etc. that provide various input operation environments for the user, and may be a touch panel, stylus pen, infrared image sensor, etc. that provide various input operation environments for the user. It may also be a device that allows input by voice recognition or gesture operation.

[0032] The bus 215 is an address bus, a data bus, etc. connected to each part of the internal configuration, and provides a function for mutual information exchange and communication between each part, thereby enabling each part to operate in cooperation with each other.

[0033] The external storage unit 216 is a storage device that stores various data, etc., and is composed of storage media such as a hard disk, flexible disk, optical disk, magnetic disk, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, etc., as well as drives that write information to these storage media, etc. The stored programs and data are called up in whole or in part onto the RAM 213 when necessary in response to instructions from the user via a keyboard, etc., or instructions from various programs.

[0034] The NCU 217 is a communication device for communicating with other computer devices, etc., and enables communication with devices (not shown) located in remote locations via a network (such as a LAN or WAN) to share the programs and data of this embodiment. This communication device may be a wired communication device such as RS232C, USB, IEEE1394, P1284, SCSI, modem, or Ethernet, or a wireless communication device such as Bluetooth, infrared communication, or IEEE802.11a / b / n. In other words, any device that has means for communicating with devices connected to the device of the present invention may be used.

[0035] The GPU 218 performs calculations in accordance with given display instructions and calculation instructions via the bus 215 with the CPU 211 and the like to create images of the display content, calculate the display position, and the like, and displays the calculation results on the output unit 219. The GPU 218 also performs similar calculations for music, voice, and the like, and reproduces the calculation results on the output unit 219. Alternatively, the calculation results may be returned to the CPU 211 via the bus 215, thereby performing calculation processing in cooperation with the CPU 211.

[0036] The output unit 219 is composed of a display, a speaker, and the like, and presents the status of various input operations and corresponding calculation results to the user.

[0037] The above-described configuration is merely an example of this embodiment, and the present invention is not particularly limited to this. This internal configuration and its constituent parts are not limited to so-called hardware, and may be virtually created using software. Furthermore, instead of using the above-described internal configuration alone, multiple configurations shown in FIG. 2 may be used to configure an imaging device, server, etc., by linking them through information exchange and sharing via an NCU. In other words, in this case of multiple use, each configuration may be located in a different location and operate in conjunction with each other via a LAN or the Internet, or may include virtual software-created components. Furthermore, a single configuration may be shared to operate all or part of an imaging device, multiple servers, etc.

[0038] [Software configuration] FIG. 3 shows an example of a schematic configuration of the main software according to this embodiment. Unless otherwise specified, the following processes are realized by the CPUs 201 and 211 executing programs stored in the external storage units 206 and 216 or the ROMs 202 and 212 shown in FIG. 2 while using the RAMs 203 and 213. Data to be processed during execution is read from the external storage units 206 and 216, the ROMs 202 and 212, the RAMs 203 and 213, etc. Data resulting from the processing is stored in the external storage units 206 and 216, the RAMs 203 and 213, etc. During this processing, programs and data are exchanged via the buses 205 and 215. When communication is performed using the NCUs 207 and 217 shown in FIG. 2, the communication is realized via the network 105 shown in FIG. 1.

[0039] FIG. 3( a ) shows an example of the software configuration of the image capturing device 101 .

[0040] The image processing unit 311 acquires the output data output from the image capturing unit 208 and performs image processing to generate high-quality image data, which is then stored in the image storage unit 313 in response to an instruction from the image management unit 312 .

[0041] The image management unit 312 manages a large amount of image data, and stores the provided image data in the image storage unit 313 and manages it.

[0042] The image storage unit 313 stores image data individually in the external storage unit 206 in accordance with instructions from the image management unit 312, and also makes it possible to retrieve and use the image data individually.

[0043] The communication unit 314 uses the NCU 207 to communicate with the intermediary server 102 shown in FIG. 1, extracts image data obtained from the image management unit 312 or the image edit management unit 315, and transmits the image data to the intermediary server 102.

[0044] The image editing management unit 315 manages editing information for image data stored in the image storage unit 313, and saves and manages user editing instructions as editing information in the editing instruction storage unit 316. It also has an image editing function for image data. Image editing here refers to cutting out a part of a still image, cutting out a time section of a video, changing the color of a still image or video, etc.

[0045] The editing instruction storage unit 316 stores the editing information of the image data individually in the external storage unit 206 in accordance with instructions from the image editing management unit 315, and also makes it possible to retrieve and use the information individually.

[0046] FIG. 3( b ) shows an example of the software configuration of the intermediation server 102 .

[0047] The communication unit 321 communicates with the image capturing device 101 using the NCU 217, specifies and identifies the user based on authentication information stored in the user / device information storage unit 322, and passes the received image data together with the specified authentication information to the image management unit 323. In addition, in order to communicate with the storage server 103 and the video editing storage server 104, the communication unit 321 acquires information about the storage server to be transferred from the storage server information storage unit 325. Then, based on the storage server information, the communication unit 321 uses the NUC 217 to communicate with the storage server 103, the video editing storage server 104, etc., and transfers the image data.

[0048] The user / device information storage unit 322 registers and stores authentication information for authenticating users who use the intermediation server 102 and the image capturing devices 101 used by those users.

[0049] The image management unit 323 stores and manages the image data received from the communication unit 321 in the image storage unit 324, distinguishing them for each user. Furthermore, for processing that uses image data, the image data associated with the user can be retrieved from the image storage unit 324 and used.

[0050] The image storage unit 324 stores and reads image data in the external storage unit 206 shown in FIG.

[0051] The storage server information holding unit 325 stores and manages information on the storage server 103 and the video editing storage server 104 shown in FIG.

[0052] The transfer destination setting unit 326 sets the information in the storage server information holding unit 325 in accordance with instructions from the user.

[0053] The image editing management unit 327 manages editing information for image data, and allows the user's editing instructions to be saved and managed in the editing instruction storage unit 328. It also has an image editing function for image data. Image editing here refers to cutting out a part of a still image, cutting out a time section of a video, changing the color of a still image or video, etc.

[0054] The editing instruction storage unit 328 stores and reads editing information for image data in the external storage unit 206 shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with instructions from the image editing management unit 327 .

[0055] It should be noted that the intermediation server 102 in this embodiment may not be provided with the image edit management unit 327 and the edit instruction storage unit 328, and may be provided with a configuration that allows image data transfer processing.

[0056] FIG. 3( c ) shows an example of the software configuration of the storage server 103 .

[0057] 2, the communication unit 331 specifies and identifies the user based on the authentication information stored in the user / device information storage unit 332, and passes image data received from other servers, services, devices, etc. together with the authentication information to the image management unit 333. Also, the communication unit 331 uses the NCU 217 shown in Fig. 2 to communicate with a PC, smartphone, tablet, or other server or service specified by the user, and transfers the specified image data.

[0058] The user / device information storage unit 332 registers and stores authentication information that identifies users who use the storage server 103 and devices used by those users.

[0059] The image management unit 333 stores and manages the image data received from the communication unit 331 in the image storage unit 334, distinguishing them for each user. Furthermore, for processing that uses image data, the image data associated with the user can be retrieved from the image storage unit 334 and used.

[0060] Based on instructions from the image management unit 333, the image storage unit 334 stores and reads image data in the external storage unit 206 shown in FIG.

[0061] Fig. 3(d) shows an example of the software configuration of the video editing storage server 104 shown in Fig. 1. The communication unit 341, user / device information storage unit 342, image management unit 343, and image storage unit 344 have the same functions as the communication unit 331, user / device information storage unit 332, image management unit 333, and image storage unit 334 shown in Fig. 3(c). Therefore, their explanation will be omitted here.

[0062] When image editing management unit 345 is instructed to apply image processing based on the editing information to image data, it retrieves the target image data from image storage unit 344 via image management unit 343 and applies image processing based on the editing information to the image to generate edited image data. Image editing here refers to cutting out a partial area of ​​a still image, cutting out a time section of a video, changing the color tone within a still image or video, etc. The edited image data is stored in image storage unit 344 via image management unit 343.

[0063] The software configuration described above is merely an example of this embodiment, and the present invention is not particularly limited to this. In particular, the functions of one configuration may be shared among multiple configurations, or the same processing may be distributed among multiple configurations.

[0064] [Settings process flow] 4(a) shows a flowchart for explaining the processing for setting up a storage server in intermediary server 102. This processing is started when a user accesses intermediary server 102 and instructs intermediary server 102 to perform the setting.

[0065] In S401, the intermediation server 102 acquires information about available storage servers from the storage server information holding unit 325 via the transfer destination setting unit 326. This storage server information includes both unconfigured storage servers and configured storage servers.

[0066] In S402, the intermediation server 102 presents the storage server information acquired in S401 to the user, and allows the user to select which storage server to set.

[0067] In S403, the intermediation server 102 determines whether the storage server selected by the user has already been set up based on whether access information is available. If access information is available, it is determined that the storage server has already been set up, and the process proceeds to S407. If access information is not available, it is determined that the storage server has not yet been set up, and the process proceeds to S404.

[0068] In S404, the intermediation server 102 acquires from the user the user name and access information of the storage server selected by the user, and causes the storage server to authenticate the user based on the acquired user name and access information.

[0069] In S405, the intermediary server 102 checks whether the authentication of the user in S404 was successful. If the authentication was successful, the process proceeds to S406, and if the authentication was unsuccessful, the process ends.

[0070] In S406, the intermediary server 102 acquires information necessary for using the storage server from the storage server, and stores the acquired information together with the user name and access information in the storage server information holding unit 325 by the transfer destination setting unit 326. By using this information, the intermediary server 102 can cooperate with the storage server selected by the user within the scope of the authority granted to the user.

[0071] In S407, the intermediary server 102 acquires the storage server's intended use information from the user via the transfer destination setting unit 326. Some storage servers have a predetermined intended use, and for example, if the storage server also provides a video editing service, such as the video editing storage server 104 shown in FIG. 3, "video editing" is acquired as the intended use information. If the storage server only provides a data storage function, such as the storage server 103 shown in FIG. 3, "normal" is acquired as the intended use information. Alternatively, the intended use information may be acquired by having the user specify the intended use. In this way, the intended use information of the storage server is acquired.

[0072] In S408, the intermediation server 102 stores the storage server usage purpose information acquired in S407 in the storage server information holding unit 325 via the transfer destination setting unit 326.

[0073] In this way, the storage server is set up in the intermediation server 102 .

[0074] [Image transfer process flow] 4(b) shows a flowchart for explaining the process of transferring image data from the intermediary server 102 to the storage server when the image data is uploaded from the photographing device 101 to the intermediary server 102. This process is started when the user instructs the photographing device 101 to upload image data. In addition, if the photographing device 101 is set in advance to automatically upload data when connected to the network, this process is also started when there is image data that has not been uploaded and the photographing device 101 is connected to the network.

[0075] In S411, the image capturing device 101 transmits authentication information of the user or device to the relay server 102, requesting authentication. If the relay server 102 has corresponding authentication information in the user / device information storage unit 322 shown in Fig. 3(b) and authentication is successful, the image capturing device 101 and relay server 102 can cooperate within the scope of the authority set for that user or device.

[0076] In S412, the image management unit 323 of the intermediary server 102 compares the content and status of the image data held in the image holding unit 313 of the imaging device 101 with the image data held in the image holding unit 324 of the intermediary server 102. The intermediary server 102 then detects image data that has not yet been uploaded in the image holding unit 313, and selects the detected image data as the image to be uploaded.

[0077] In S413, if the intermediary server 102 detects image data to be uploaded in S412, the process proceeds to S414, and if the intermediary server 102 does not detect image data to be uploaded, the process ends.

[0078] In S414, the intermediary server 102 communicates with the communication unit 314 of the image capturing device 101 via the communication unit 321, and transfers the image data to be uploaded from the image capturing device 101 to the intermediary server 102 together with image data information including editing information and intended use information. The intermediary server 102 stores the transferred image data in the image storage unit 324 via the image management unit 323. If the image data information includes editing information, the image editing management unit 327 stores the editing information in the editing instruction storage unit 328. Furthermore, the intermediary server 102 determines, via the transfer destination setting unit 326, the storage server to which the image data to be uploaded should be transferred based on the intended use information of the image data to be uploaded. This is performed in cooperation between the communication unit 321 of the intermediary server 102 and the communication unit 331 of the storage server 103 or the communication unit 341 of the video editing storage server 104. That is, when image data to be uploaded is transferred to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 determined as the transfer destination, the user is authenticated and identified using pre-set access information for the storage server, and then the transfer is performed. The transferred image data is stored in the image holding unit 334 or the image holding unit 344 by the image management unit 333 or the image management unit 343 in the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104. In this way, the image data is uploaded from the imaging device 101 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 via the intermediary server 102. This process will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 6.

[0079] In this manner, the image data is transferred from the photographing device 101 to the various storage servers via the intermediary server 102 .

[0080] [UI screen] 5(a) shows an example of a UI screen displayed on the output unit 209 in response to a user operation in the image capturing device 101. This is a UI screen that displays a list of image data stored in the image storage unit 313 of the image capturing device 101 and allows the user to select specific image data from the list, and is generated by processing in the image management unit 312. In this example, the target image data is selected by displaying this UI screen and operating the user. After capturing an image with the image capturing device 101, the user can perform operations using this UI screen until the image data is uploaded from the image capturing device 101 as shown in FIG. 4(b).

[0081] The UI screen 500 is a screen that displays a list of image data displayed on the output unit 209 of the image capturing device 101 .

[0082] The screen title 501 is a title display indicating that the UI screen 500 is displaying a list of image data. When there are multiple such screens, each of them is a window, and each window has its own title.

[0083] Area 502 is an area on the screen where a list of thumbnail images 504 of individual image data is displayed, and the corresponding image data can be selected by selecting a thumbnail image 504. If there is more image data than the number of thumbnail images 504 that can be displayed at one time in area 502, all the image data can be displayed by operating scroll bar 503.

[0084] Icon 505 is an icon that is displayed when the image data is a moving image, and is not displayed when the image data is a still image. This makes it possible to identify whether the image data being displayed is moving image data or still image data.

[0085] Icon 506 indicates image data that has not yet been transferred. When the image data is selected for upload from the image capturing device 101 in FIG. 4(b) and the image data is transferred, this icon is no longer displayed.

[0086] A frame 507 is a display that indicates image data that has been selected by a user's operation.

[0087] Menu 508 presents a selection of processes that can be performed on image data that has been selected by the user, allowing the user to select them. The processing content for the selected image data is displayed as menu items in menu 508, and the user can select a specific menu item to instruct the processing for the image data indicated by that menu item.

[0088] The video editing item 509 is one of the menu items in the menu 508, and is a menu item for performing "video editing" on video data. By selecting this, the screen transitions to a video editing UI screen 520 shown in Fig. 5(b), allowing you to edit the video.

[0089] Transfer destination designation item 510 is one of the menu items in menu 508, and is a menu item for "designating a transfer destination" for video data. By selecting this, the screen transitions to a transfer destination designation UI screen 540 shown in Fig. 5(c), where the transfer destination can be designated.

[0090] In this way, the user can select the video data to be edited on the UI screen 500 that displays a list of image data as shown in Fig. 5(a), and edit the specific video data. In addition, the user can specify the transfer destination of the video data to be edited.

[0091] 5(b) shows an example of a UI screen for video editing that is displayed on the output unit 209 in response to a user operation in the image capturing device 101. This is a UI screen that is displayed when the user selects video data to be edited on the UI screen 500 shown in FIG. 5(a) and selects video editing item 509 for that video data from menu 508, and is generated by processing of the image editing management unit 315.

[0092] The UI screen 520 is a UI screen for performing video editing on specific video data displayed on the output unit 209 of the image capturing device 101, and receives video editing instructions from the user.

[0093] Screen title 521 is a title display that indicates that the screen is currently editing a moving image. When there are multiple such screens, each of them is a window, and each window has its own title.

[0094] Area 522 is an area on the screen where the contents of the video data to be edited and the contents of the video editing instructions are displayed. Scroll bar 523 indicates the position within the video data of a specific frame, and by operating scroll bar 523, a frame at any time position within the video data can be displayed in area 524.

[0095] Area 524 is an area on the screen that displays specific frames from the target video data in chronological order, allowing the user to grasp the contents of the video data. In addition, by selecting a specific frame from this area, the selected frame can be displayed in area 525.

[0096] Area 525 is an area on the screen that displays a specific frame of the video data selected in area 524 .

[0097] Frames 526 are the frames in the video data arranged in chronological order in area 524 .

[0098] Indicator 527 indicates within scroll bar 523 the time interval within the video that has already been designated by the user as being used in video editing.

[0099] Start point specification button 528 is a button for specifying the start point for video editing. The user can select a specific frame in the video data using scroll bar 523 and area 524 and press start point specification button 528 to specify that frame as the start point.

[0100] The end point specification button 529 is a button for specifying the end point for video editing. The user can select a specific frame within the video data using the scroll bar 523 and area 524 and press the end point specification button 529 to specify that frame as the end point. When the end point is specified, a time interval up to the nearest start point before the specified time is set. The time interval set in this way is displayed on the scroll bar 523 as an indicator 527.

[0101] The end button 530 is a button for instructing the user to end video editing. When the user presses the end button 530, information on the start and end points of the time section within the specified video is stored in the editing instruction storage unit 316 via the image editing management unit 315 in association with the selected video data, and the screen returns from the UI screen 520 to the UI screen 500.

[0102] In this way, the user can use the UI screen 520 shown in FIG. 5(b) to perform video editing for each selected video data.

[0103] 5(c) shows an example of a UI screen displayed on the output unit 209 in response to a user operation in the image capturing device 101. This is a UI screen that is displayed when the user selects image data on the UI screen 500 shown in FIG. 5(a) and then selects a transfer destination specification item 510 for that image data from the menu, and is generated by processing in the image management unit 312.

[0104] The UI screen 540 is a screen for setting a transfer destination for specific image data displayed on the output unit 209 of the image capturing apparatus 101 .

[0105] Screen title 541 is a title display indicating that the screen is displaying a list of image data transfer destinations. When there are multiple such screens, each of them is a window, and each window has its own title.

[0106] Area 542 is an area on the screen that displays a list of image data transfer destinations. Information about each individual transfer destination is displayed within this area. In the example shown in FIG. 5(c), four transfer destinations are displayed: one "image storage," one "video editing," and two "image sharing." Each transfer destination also displays the purpose of use ("normal," "video editing," or "sharing"), the URL of the destination server, and the user's account information. The user can specify the transfer destination of the image data selected on UI screen 500 by selecting a specific transfer destination from among the transfer destinations displayed in area 542. If there are more transfer destinations than can be displayed at one time in area 542, all of the transfer destinations can be displayed by operating scroll bar 543.

[0107] A frame 544 is a display that indicates a transfer destination that has been selected by a user's operation.

[0108] The end button 545 is a button for instructing to end the transfer destination setting. When the user presses the end button 545, the information of the selected transfer destination is associated with the image data by the image management unit 312 and stored in the image storage unit 313, and the screen returns from the UI screen 540 to the UI screen 500.

[0109] In this way, the user can use the UI screen 540 shown in FIG. 5(c) to set the transfer destination for each selected video data.

[0110] [Image data transfer flow] Fig. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating the details of the image data transfer process in S414 shown in Fig. 4(b). This transfer process is a process for transferring image data from the image capturing device 101 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 via the intermediary server 102. Of this transfer process, the process in the image capturing device 101 is shown in Fig. 6(a), the process in the intermediary server 102 is shown in Fig. 6(b), and the process in the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 is shown in Fig. 6(c).

[0111] Here, it is assumed that the image data to be transferred includes video data that has been edited using the UI screen 520 shown in Fig. 5(b) or the like, but the process shown in Fig. 6 operates even if the image data does not include video data that has been edited. Also, this transfer process is configured so that the image management unit 312 of the imaging device 101 detects image data to be transferred and performs transfer processing on the detected image data, and this is a detailed example of each of the processes.

[0112] The image data transfer process performed by the image capturing device 101 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 6(a).

[0113] In S601, the photographing apparatus 101 selects untransferred image data as image data to be transferred by the image management unit 312. Note that the image data to be transferred may not be limited to untransferred image data.

[0114] In S602, the photographing apparatus 101 determines whether the image data to be transferred selected by the image management unit 312 is still image data or video data. If the selected image data is video data, the process proceeds to S603, and if it is still image data, the process proceeds to S606.

[0115] In S603, the image capturing apparatus 101 determines whether or not the selected video data has been edited by the image editing management unit 315. The image editing management unit 315 refers to the editing instruction storage unit 316, and if there is editing information associated with the selected video data, the process proceeds to S604, and if there is no editing information, the process proceeds to S606.

[0116] In S604, the image editing management unit 315 of the image capturing device 101 acquires editing information for the selected image data from the editing instruction storage unit 316. The image management unit 312 then extracts partial video data corresponding to the time interval indicating the start and end points specified in the editing information. The image capturing device 101 then transfers only the extracted partial video data. If multiple time intervals are specified, partial video data for all of the specified time intervals is extracted.

[0117] In S605, the image capturing apparatus 101 sets a value indicating "for video editing" as attribute information of the partial video data extracted in S604 by the image management unit 312. This attribute information setting is performed on image data information used by the image management unit 312 to manage image data stored in the image storage unit 313.

[0118] In S606, the photographing device 101 controls transmission by the communication unit 314 to transmit image data information including the image data to be transferred and its attribute information to the intermediary server 102. As a result, if the image data to be transferred includes video data, the attribute information added in S605 is also transmitted to the intermediary server 102. Note that prior to transmitting this image data information, authentication information of the photographing device 101 is transmitted to the intermediary server 102, and collated and authenticated in the user / device information storage unit 322 (S411 in FIG. 4), and it is assumed that the authentication is successful.

[0119] In S607, the image capturing device 101 controls reception of the communication unit 314 to receive from the intermediary server 102 the result of the image data transmitted in S606 being transferred by the intermediary server 102 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104. The received transfer result is used by the image capturing device 101. An example of how the transfer result is used is when the image capturing device 101 controls the display of the icon 506 on the UI screen 500 based on the transfer result.

[0120] The process performed by the intermediary server 102 in the image data transfer process of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 6(b).

[0121] In S611, the intermediation server 102 receives the image data information transmitted from the image capturing apparatus 101 in S606 via the communication unit 321.

[0122] In S612, the intermediation server 102 stores the image data and image data information received in S611 in the image storage unit 324 by the image management unit 323. As a result, the image data and the image data information are temporarily stored and become targets for management by the image management unit 323.

[0123] In S613, if the attribute information included in the image data information received in S612 is set to "for video editing," the intermediary server 102 proceeds to S615; if "for video editing" is not set, the intermediary server 102 proceeds to S614.

[0124] In S614, the intermediation server 102 refers to the storage server information holding unit 325 by the image management unit 323, and selects the storage server 103 for which "normal" is set as the purpose of use as the transfer destination.

[0125] In S615, the intermediation server 102 refers to the storage server information holding unit 325 via the image management unit 323, and selects the video editing storage server 104, for which "video editing" is set as the purpose of use, as the transfer destination.

[0126] In S616, the intermediation server 102 transfers the image data (still image data or video data) to be transferred by the communication unit 321 to the storage servers designated in S614 and S615, respectively.

[0127] In S617, the intermediation server 102 receives the results of the image data transfer in S616 from each storage server, and stores the results in the storage server information holding unit 325.

[0128] In S618, the intermediation server 102 transmits the transfer result acquired in S617 to the image capturing apparatus 101.

[0129] Hereinafter, the processing performed by the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 in the image data transfer processing according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6(c).

[0130] In S621, the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 receives the image data transferred in S616 from the intermediation server 102, and stores the received image data in the image holding unit 334 or the image holding unit 344.

[0131] In S622, the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 transmits information indicating whether the image data transferred in S621 was received and saved as a transfer result to the intermediary server 102. This transfer result is received by the intermediary server 102 in S617.

[0132] In this way, image data is transferred from the image capturing device 101 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 via the intermediary server 102. First, by the processing of S604 to S606 in the image capturing device 101, for video data whose start and end points have been specified, only partial video data for a time period within that video data is extracted and transferred to the intermediary server 102. Also, by the processing of S613 to S615 in the intermediary server 102, a storage server to be used as a transfer destination is selected for each piece of image data, and the image data is transferred to and stored in the storage server selected by the processing of S616 to S618 and S621 to S622.

[0133] By transferring image data in this manner, it is possible to transfer only the video data extracted from the time section specified by the start point and end point of the video data that has been edited to the video editing storage server 104.

[0134] The screen and operations in FIG. 5 and the image data transfer process flow in FIG. 6 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

[0135] [Storage server information example] Fig. 7(a) shows an example of storage server information that is set in the transfer destination storage server setting process (S404 to S406 in Fig. 4(a)) in the intermediary server 102 and stored in the storage server information holding unit 325. This storage server information is also referenced and used in the storage server selection process (S613 to S615 in Fig. 6) in the intermediary server 102. Each item included in the storage server information shown in Fig. 7(a) will be explained below.

[0136] The destination ID stores identification information for identifying each storage server. The service name stores a character string representing a predetermined name according to the service provided by each storage server. The server URL stores a character string representing a URL for accessing each storage server via the Internet or the like.

[0137] The user name stores a character string for identifying the user registered in the user account created on each storage server. The access information stores information used when accessing each storage server as a specific user. By using this information, the intermediary server 102 presents this information to the storage server, allowing the user to cooperate with the storage server as a specific user.

[0138] The purpose of use stores information indicating the main purpose of use of the storage server. Each storage server has various services, and the usage methods and billing details vary, so the purpose of use is selected from the predetermined purposes based on these.

[0139] The user name and access information are obtained from the user in S404, and the purpose of use is obtained from the storage server in S406.

[0140] For storage servers that are likely to be used, the contents of the information such as the transfer destination ID, service name, and server URL may be set in advance in the intermediary server 102 .

[0141] [Example of captured image data information] Fig. 7(b) shows an example of image data information in the photographing device 101 for managing image data photographed by the photographing device 101. Image data with image data ID "D4" has been edited using the UI screen 520 for video editing shown in Fig. 5(b), and includes start and end point information, which is stored in the image storage unit 313 and the editing instruction storage unit 316. Below, the contents of the photographed image data information in Fig. 7(b) will be individually explained.

[0142] The image data ID is identification information for identifying each image data. The image data file name is the file name when the image data is saved as a file. The image type is information indicating whether the image data is a still image or a video. The attribute information is information about the intended use of the image data. In this example, no attribute information is set for any of the image data.

[0143] The start and end point information is information that only video data has (no content is set for still image data), and only has a value when the video is edited by the user using the UI screen shown in Figure 5(b). Specifically, two sets of time intervals within the video, the start and end points, are set for the image data ID "D4" as a result of video editing.

[0144] [Image data information when transferred from the imaging device to the intermediary server] Figure 7(c) shows an example of image data information transferred from the photographing device 101 to the intermediary server 102. This is information related to the image data sent from the photographing device 101 in S606 of Figure 6 and received by the intermediary server 102 in S611. The contents of Figure 7(c) will be explained below.

[0145] The transfer image data ID is identification information for identifying each image data to be transferred. The transfer image data file name is the file name when the transferred image data is saved as a file. The image type is information indicating whether the image data is a still image or a video. The attribute information is information regarding the purpose of use of the image data.

[0146] The transfer destination ID is the transfer destination ID of the storage server to which the image data is to be transferred. Specifically, in the example of each image data information in FIG. 7(b), the image data ID "D1" corresponds to the transfer image ID "T1." Similarly, "D2" and "T2" correspond to each other. Since these were still images, the video data processing of S603 to S605 was not applied, and the attribute information is set to "(none)." For image data ID "D3," although it was video data, it was not edited and there was no information about the start and end points, so the processing of S604 to S605 was not applied, and the attribute information is set to "(none)." In contrast, for image data ID "D4," video editing was performed on the video data, and two sets of time intervals were specified, so the processing of S604 to S605 was applied, and two image data IDs, "T4" and "T5," were created. Furthermore, the attribute information for these is set to "for video editing."

[0147] Each transfer image data ID has a transfer destination ID, but the content is "(none)" and is blank because the transfer destination has not yet been selected by the intermediary server 102 in S614 and S615. When the user selects a transfer destination using the UI screen 540 for setting the transfer destination shown in Fig. 5(c) and specifies the transfer destination, the transfer destination ID is set.

[0148] In this way, when the image is transferred from the camera device 101 to the intermediary server 102, the image is edited in the camera device 101, and only the partial image data for the time interval specified by the start and end points is extracted. Then, in S606, the image data is transferred from the camera device 101 to the intermediary server 102 together with the image data information for which attribute information has been set in S605.

[0149] [Image data information when transferred from the intermediary server to the storage server] Figure 7(d) is an example of image data information transferred from intermediary server 102 to storage server 103 or video editing storage server 104. This is image data information transferred together with image data from intermediary server 102 to storage server 103 or video editing storage server 104 in S616. Below, the contents of the image data information transmitted from intermediary server 102 in Figure 7(d) by storage server 103 or video editing storage server 104 will be individually explained.

[0150] The transfer image data ID, transfer image data file name, image type, attribute information, and transfer destination ID are the same as those in FIG. 7(c), and therefore will not be described here.

[0151] The image data information shown in Fig. 7(d) is obtained by adding destination ID information to each piece of transferred image data through the processing of S613 to S615 by the intermediary server 102 in comparison with the image data information in Fig. 7(c). These destination IDs are determined according to the storage server information shown in Fig. 7(a) and the attribute information of each piece of image data in the image data information.

[0152] Specifically, for the transferred image IDs "T1," "T2," and "T3," the attribute information is set to "(none)," so the storage server "S1" with the intended use of "normal" in Figure 7(a) is selected as if no particular specification had been made. For the transferred image IDs "T4" and "T5," the attribute information is set to "video editing," so the storage server "S2" with the intended use of "video editing" in Figure 7(a) is selected.

[0153] As described above, in this embodiment, when transferring image data, the image capturing device 101 first extracts only partial video data of a specified time interval from video editing and transfers it to the intermediary server 102 (S601 to S606).The intermediary server 102 then transfers each received image data to the storage server 103 or video editing storage server 104 selected based on its attribute information (S613 to S616).

[0154] In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to automatically transfer only the video data to be used to a storage service for video editing by performing simple video editing on the image capturing device 101. This reduces unnecessary data transfer, thereby saving time and costs, and also eliminates the need to select a storage service to transfer each piece of image data to, reducing the effort required for the user when uploading image data from the image capturing device 101 to a storage service.

[0155] In this embodiment, a time interval is specified using a start point and an end point in video editing, and partial video data for the specified time interval is extracted and transferred, but partial video data for an interval other than the specified time interval may also be extracted and transferred. That is, when a user specifies a time interval in video editing on the image capturing device 101, the user may specify a time interval to be transferred, or may specify a time interval not to be transferred.

[0156] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the processing shown in FIG. 6(a) is configured to be performed by the image capturing device 101, but this processing may also be performed by an external control device that can control the image capturing device 101.

[0157] <Second embodiment> In the first embodiment, when video editing is performed by the imaging device 101, video editing is performed directly on high-resolution original video data captured by the imaging device 101. In contrast, in the second embodiment, video editing is performed using proxy video data that has a smaller data volume than the original video data.

[0158] In recent years, there has been an increase in configurations in which low-resolution proxy video data is generated in addition to high-resolution video data during video shooting, and this proxy video data is used for simple playback and video editing. Proxy video data is low-resolution video data with a small data size that can be used as a substitute for the original high-resolution video data, which would otherwise be large. Specifically, the amount of data is reduced by techniques such as reducing the image size of each frame within the video, allowing for video playback and editing with less processing effort.

[0159] Because the proxy video data has a small data size, one possible configuration is to transfer the proxy video data to intermediary server 102, and then perform video editing on the proxy video data in intermediary server 102. In this case, the user performs video editing using the proxy video data on intermediary server 102, and the editing information generated during this process is applied to the original video data to complete the video editing process. This process requires a certain amount of processing load and time, but essentially no user operation is required during this process, allowing the user to perform other tasks.

[0160] [Image data transfer flow] Fig. 8 shows a flowchart illustrating details of image data transfer processing when video editing is performed using proxy image data in the intermediary server 102 with the same configuration as in the first embodiment. That is, after proxy video data is transferred from the image capture device 101 to the intermediary server 102 and video editing is performed on the intermediary server 102, partial video data of the original video data is transferred from the image capture device 101 to the storage server via the intermediary server 102. Of this transfer processing, the processing in the intermediary server 102 is shown in Fig. 8(a), the processing in the image capture device 101 is shown in Fig. 8(b), and the processing in the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 is shown in Fig. 8(c).

[0161] The process performed by the intermediary server 102 in the image data transfer process of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 8(a).

[0162] The following explanation is based on the premise that the functions and services of the intermediary server 102 can be accessed using a PC, smartphone, tablet, etc. This allows the video editing function of the intermediary server 102 to be used, and in this case, it is assumed that video editing can be performed using the image editing management unit 327 shown in Fig. 3 and the UI screen 520 shown in Fig. 5(b) of the first embodiment.

[0163] As a result, it is assumed that the captured video has been edited and the start and end points have been specified. Note that the process shown in Fig. 8 operates even if the image data to be transferred does not include edited video data. This process is performed when video editing is performed using proxy video data in the image management unit 323 of the intermediary server 102. This is an example of a processing flow in which processing is performed individually on the original video data to be transferred as a result of the video editing.

[0164] In S801, the intermediation server 102 causes the image editing management unit 327 to obtain editing information of the proxy video data from the editing instruction storage unit 328.

[0165] In S802, the intermediary server 102 determines whether or not there is original video data corresponding to the proxy video data edited by the image management unit 323. If there is original video data, the process proceeds to S803, and if there is no original video data, the process proceeds to S805.

[0166] In S803, the intermediary server 102 acquires editing information for the proxy video data from the editing instruction storage unit 328 via the image editing management unit 327. If the acquired editing information specifies a start point and an end point, the intermediary server 102 extracts partial video data for the specified time interval from the corresponding original video data. The extracted partial video data is then subject to transfer. Since there may be multiple start points and end points, partial video data for the time interval specified by each of these start points and end points is extracted.

[0167] In S804, the intermediation server 102 sets a value indicating "for video editing" as attribute information for the partial video data extracted in S803. This attribute information is set for image data information used by the image management unit 323 to manage the image data stored in the image storage unit 324.

[0168] In S805, the intermediary server 102 acquires the editing information acquired in S801 from the editing instruction storage unit 328 via the image editing management unit 327. If the acquired editing information includes designation of a start point and an end point, the intermediary server 102 transmits to the image capture device 101 section information indicating the start point and the end point and information specifying the target video data.

[0169] In S806, the intermediary server 102 receives the partial image data and image data information extracted by the image capturing device 101 based on the section information sent in S805, and stores them in the image storage unit 324 by the image management unit 323.

[0170] In S807, the intermediary server 102 stores the partial video data and image data information extracted in S804 or received in S806 in the image storage unit 324 using the image management unit 323. As a result, the partial video data and its attribute information are temporarily stored and become a target for management by the image management unit 323.

[0171] In S808, if the attribute information of the partial video data received in S807 is set to "for video editing," the intermediary server 102 proceeds to S810; if "for video editing" is not set, the intermediary server 102 proceeds to S809.

[0172] In S809, if the attribute information is not "for video editing," the intermediary server 102 causes the image management unit 323 to refer to the storage server information storage unit 325 and selects the storage server 103 for which the intended use is set to "normal" as the transfer destination.

[0173] In S810, if the attribute information is "for video editing," the intermediary server 102 causes the image management unit 323 to refer to the storage server information holding unit 325, and selects the video editing storage server 104, which has "for video editing" set as the purpose of use, as the transfer destination.

[0174] In S811, the intermediation server 102 transfers the image data (still image data or video data) to be transferred by the communication unit 321 to the storage servers designated in S809 and S810, respectively.

[0175] In S812, the intermediation server 102 receives the results of the image data transfer in S811 from each storage server, and stores the results in the storage server information holding unit 325.

[0176] In S813, the intermediation server 102 transmits the transfer result acquired in S812 to the image capturing apparatus 101.

[0177] The following describes the image data transfer process performed by the image capturing device 101 in this embodiment, with reference to FIG. 8(b).

[0178] In S821, the image capturing apparatus 101 receives the editing information transmitted by the relay server 102 in S805 by controlling reception of the communication unit 314. This editing information includes information specifying the start point, end point, and target video data, and this information is stored in the editing instruction storage unit 316 by the image editing management unit 315.

[0179] In S822, the image capturing apparatus 101 uses the image management unit 312 to identify the target video data from the editing information received in S821, extracts partial video data for the time interval specified by the start and end points, and transfers the extracted video data. If there are multiple start and end points, multiple partial video data corresponding to the multiple time intervals specified by each start and end point are extracted.

[0180] In S823, the image capturing apparatus 101 sets the value of "for video editing" as the attribute information of the partial video data extracted in S822 by the image management unit 312. The image management unit 312 sets this attribute information for the image data information stored in the image storage unit 313.

[0181] In S824, the image capturing apparatus 101 controls the communication unit 314 to transmit the partial video data to be transferred and the image data information including the attribute information thereof to the relay server 102.

[0182] In S825, the photographing device 101 controls the communication unit 314 to receive data, thereby receiving from the intermediary server 102 the result of the intermediary server 102 transferring the image data sent in S824 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104.

[0183] Hereinafter, the processing performed by the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 in the image data transfer processing according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8(c).

[0184] In S831, the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 receives the image data (still image data or video data) transferred by the intermediation server 102 in S811, and stores the received image data in the image holding unit 334.

[0185] In S832, the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 transmits to the intermediary server 102, as a transfer result, information indicating whether or not the image data transferred by the intermediary server 102 in S811 was received and saved.

[0186] In this way, the process of transferring image data from the image capturing device 101 to the storage server 103 or the video editing storage server 104 via the intermediary server 102 is completed.

[0187] As described above, in this embodiment, proxy video data is first transferred from the image capture device 101 to the intermediary server 102, where video editing is performed and section information for the time section to be extracted from the proxy video data is generated (S801). The intermediary server 102 then transmits the section information and information for identifying the target video data to the image capture device 101 (S805). The image capture device 101 extracts partial video data for the time section from the original video data based on the received section information, and transfers image data information including the partial video data and its attribute information to the intermediary server 102 (S821-S824). Then, as in the first embodiment, the intermediary server 102 transfers each piece of image data to the storage server 103 or video editing storage server 104 selected based on the attribute information (S808-S810).

[0188] This makes it possible to automatically transfer to the storage server for video editing only the partial video data of the original video data corresponding to the time section specified in video editing of the proxy video data. This reduces unnecessary data transfer, thereby saving time and costs, and also eliminates the need to select a storage service to transfer each piece of image data to. This reduces the effort required for the user to upload image data from the image capture device 101 to a storage service.

[0189] <Third embodiment> In the first and second embodiments, the image capturing device 101 and each server are connected and operate via the Internet, a network, etc. In contrast, in this embodiment, the image capturing device 101 is configured to transfer image data by serial communication or the like, without using Internet communication such as TCP / IP.

[0190] [Usage environment for device collaboration between imaging devices and image processing devices] Fig. 9 shows an example of the network configuration of an information processing system according to the third embodiment. As shown in Fig. 9(a), there is an image capturing device 901, an information processing device 902, a storage 903, and a video editing storage 904. Furthermore, 905, 906, and 907 that realize communication between these devices are configured from a communication environment that performs serial communication or the like using a cable, a wireless network, a bus, or the like.

[0191] The photographing device 901 is a device capable of photographing images such as still images and videos, such as a digital camera, and has a function of transmitting photographed image data to an information processing device 902 by utilizing a communication environment 905. As shown in Fig. 9(b), the photographing device 901 has, as its software configuration, an image processing unit 911, an image management unit 912, an image storage unit 913, a communication unit 914, an image editing management unit 915, and an editing instruction storage unit 916. These are the same as the image processing unit 311, the image management unit 312, the image storage unit 313, the communication unit 314, the image editing management unit 315, and the editing instruction storage unit 316 of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 3(a), and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0192] The information processing device 902 can acquire image data captured by the image capturing device 101 using a communication environment 905. It also has a function of transferring the image data to a storage 903 or a video editing storage 904 using communication environments 907 and 908. As shown in FIG. 9B, the information processing device 902 has, as its software configuration, a communication unit 921, an image management unit 922, an image storage unit 923, a transfer destination setting unit 924, and a storage information storage unit 925. These are the same as the communication unit 321, image management unit 323, image storage unit 324, and transfer destination setting unit 326 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3B, except for the storage information storage unit 925, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. The storage information storage unit 925 saves and manages information on the storage 903, video editing storage 904, etc. shown in FIG. 9A.

[0193] The storage 903 and the video editing storage 904 are storage devices that combine HDDs or SSDs, or storage media and storage drives, for storing various types of data. Data can be exchanged with the information processing device 902 using communication environments 906 and 907. As shown in FIG. 9(b), the storage 903 and the video editing storage 904 have, as software configurations, a communication unit 931, an image management unit 932, and an image holding unit 933. These are the same as the communication unit 331, image management unit 333, and image holding unit 334 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3(c), and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0194] Although the number of each of the image capturing device 901, the information processing device 902, the storage 903, and the video editing storage 904 is one, the number is not limited to this.

[0195] [Image data transfer flow] Fig. 10 shows a flowchart for explaining the details of the image data transfer process in the environment shown in Fig. 9. That is, image data is transferred from the image capturing device 901 shown in Fig. 9 to the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 via the information processing device 902.

[0196] The process performed by the image capturing device 901 in the image data transfer process of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. 10(a).

[0197] For ease of understanding, it is assumed that the image data to be transferred includes video data for which video editing has been performed using the UI screen 520 (FIG. 5(b)) in the first embodiment and the start and end points have been specified. Note that even if the image data to be transferred does not include video data that has been video-edited, the process shown in FIG. 10 will still work.

[0198] In S1001, the photographing device 901 selects untransferred image data as image data to be transferred by the image management unit 912. Note that the image data to be transferred may not be limited to untransferred image data.

[0199] In S1002, the photographing device 901 determines whether the selected image data to be transferred is video data or still image data using the image management unit 912. If the selected image data is video data, the process proceeds to S1003, and if it is still image data, the process proceeds to S1006.

[0200] In S1003, the image capturing apparatus 901 determines whether or not the video data to be transferred has been edited by the image editing management unit 915. The image editing management unit 915 refers to the editing instruction storage unit 916, and if there is editing information associated with the selected video data, the process proceeds to S1004, and if there is no editing information, the process proceeds to S1006.

[0201] In S1004, the image editing management unit 915 of the imaging device 901 acquires editing information for the selected image data from the editing instruction storage unit 916. Then, the image management unit 912 extracts partial video data for the time interval specified by the start and end points of the editing information, and the extracted video data is subject to transfer. If multiple time intervals are specified, partial video data for all time intervals is extracted.

[0202] In S1005, the image capturing device 901 sets a value indicating "for video editing" as attribute information of the partial video data extracted in S1004 by the image management unit 912. This attribute information setting is performed on image data information used by the image management unit 912 to manage image data stored in the image storage unit 913.

[0203] In S1006, the photographing device 901 transmits image data information including image data and its attribute information to the information processing device 902 via the communication environment 905 by controlling the communication unit 914 to transmit the image data.

[0204] In S1007, the image capturing device 901 controls the communication unit 914 to receive the image data transmitted in S1006, and receives from the information processing device 902 the result of the image data being transferred by the information processing device 902 to the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904.

[0205] The process of image data transfer performed by the information processing device 902 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0206] In S1021 , the information processing device 902 receives image data and the image data information from the image capturing device 901 using the communication environment 905 .

[0207] In S1022, if the attribute information included in the image data information for the image data received in S1021 is set to "for video editing," the information processing device 902 proceeds to S1024; if "for video editing" is not set, the information processing device 902 proceeds to S1023.

[0208] In S1023, the information processing device 902 refers to the storage information holding unit 925 by the image management unit 922, and selects the storage 903 for which "normal" is set as the purpose of use as the transfer destination.

[0209] In S1024, the information processing device 902 refers to the storage information holding unit 925 by the image management unit 922, and selects the video editing storage 904, for which "video editing" is set as the purpose of use, as the transfer destination.

[0210] In S1025, the information processing device 902 uses the communication environment 906 or 907 to transfer the image data to be transferred to the storage 903 or video editing storage 904 selected in S1023 or S1024.

[0211] In S1026, the information processing device 902 receives the result of the image data transfer in S1025 from the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904.

[0212] In S1027, the information processing device 902 transmits the transfer result received in S1026 to the image capturing device 901.

[0213] Hereinafter, the processing in the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 among the image data transfer processing in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10(c).

[0214] In S1031, the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 receives the image data transferred from the information processing device 902 in S1025 using the communication environments 906 and 907.

[0215] In S1032, the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 transmits information indicating whether or not the image data was received and saved in S1031 to the information processing device 902 as a transfer result.

[0216] In this way, the process of transferring image data from the image capturing device 901 to the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 via the information processing device 902 is completed.

[0217] As described above, in this embodiment, when transferring image data, the image capturing device 901 first extracts only partial video data of a specified time interval from video editing data and transfers it to the information processing device 902 (S1004 to S1006).The information processing device 902 then transfers each received image data to the storage 903 or video editing storage 904 selected based on its attribute information (S1022 to S1025).

[0218] In this way, in this embodiment, it is possible to automatically transfer only the video data to be used to a storage device for video editing by performing simple video editing on the image capturing device 101. This reduces unnecessary data transfer, thereby saving time and costs, and also eliminates the need to select a storage service to transfer each piece of image data to, reducing the effort required for the user to transfer image data from the image capturing device 901 to storage.

[0219] In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, the information processing device 902 may perform video editing on the proxy video data to generate editing information, and the image capturing device 901 may extract and transfer partial video data from the original video data based on the editing information. In this case, the information processing device 902 must further include an image editing management unit and an editing instruction storage unit.

[0220] Furthermore, the information processing device 902 may be a storage server in which either the storage 903 or the video editing storage 904 is accessed using TCP / IP as in the first embodiment. In this case, the information processing device 902 needs to further include a user / device information storage unit.

[0221] (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program.The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0222] The present disclosure includes the following configurations and methods.

[0223] [Configuration 1] A control device for a photographing device that includes a transmission means for transferring image data obtained by photographing to an external device, a transmission control means for causing the transmitting means to transmit the image data to the external device; an acquisition means for acquiring section information that designates a specific time section of the video data included in the image data; extraction means for extracting partial video data for a time period designated in the section information from the video data; Equipped with When the transmission control means causes the video data for which the section information is set to be transmitted to be transmitted, the transmission control means causes the transmission means to transmit to the external device, instead of the video data for which the section information is set, the partial video data extracted based on the section information and attribute information for the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data. A control device characterized by:

[0224] [Configuration 2] the acquiring means uses an input accepting means for accepting an input from a user to accept a start point and an end point that designate a time period of the video data from the user, and acquires the time period designated by the start point and the end point as the period information. 2. The control device according to configuration 1,

[0225] [Configuration 3] further comprising a generating means for generating proxy video data from the video data; the transmitting means transmits proxy video data corresponding to the video data to the external device; the acquiring means acquires, from the external device, section information specifying a specific time section of the proxy video data as section information of the video data corresponding to the proxy video data; 3. The control device according to configuration 1 or 2.

[0226] [Configuration 4] the attribute information is referenced by the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data; 4. The control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 3.

[0227] [Configuration 5] the partial video data with the attribute information set thereon is transferred to a video editing server via the external device; 5. The control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 4.

[0228] [Configuration 6] The image data for which the attribute information is not set is transferred to a data storage server via the external device. 6. The control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 5.

[0229] [Configuration 7] the partial video data with the attribute information set thereon is transferred to a storage device for video editing via the external device; 7. The control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 6.

[0230] [Configuration 8] The image data for which the attribute information is not set is transferred to a storage device for saving data via the external device. 8. The control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 7.

[0231] [Configuration 9] An imaging device comprising the control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 8.

[0232] [Configuration 10] an imaging device including the control device according to any one of configurations 1 to 8; the external device that transfers the image data received from the photographing device to a predetermined server in accordance with the attribute information; An information processing system comprising:

[0233] [Configuration 11] the external device holds authentication information of the predetermined server for each of the photographing devices, and transfers the image data to the predetermined server based on the authentication information. 11. The information processing system according to configuration 10.

[0234] [Configuration 12] A control method for a photographing device having a transmission means for transmitting image data obtained by photographing to an external device, comprising: causing the transmitting means to transmit the image data to the external device; acquiring section information that specifies a specific time section of video data included in the image data; extracting partial video data of a time interval specified in the interval information from the video data; Equipped with In the transmitting step, when the video data for which the section information is set is transmitted, the transmitting means transmits to the external device, instead of the video data for which the section information is set, the partial video data extracted based on the section information and attribute information for the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data. A control method comprising:

[0235] [Configuration 13] 13. A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 12.

Claims

1. A control device for a photographing device that includes a transmission means for transferring image data obtained by photographing to an external device, a transmission control means for causing the transmitting means to transmit the image data to the external device; an acquisition means for acquiring section information that designates a specific time section of the video data included in the image data; extraction means for extracting partial video data for a time period designated in the section information from the video data; Equipped with When the transmission control means causes the video data for which the section information is set to be transmitted to be transmitted, the transmission control means causes the transmission means to transmit to the external device, instead of the video data for which the section information is set, the partial video data extracted based on the section information and attribute information for the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data. A control device characterized by:

2. the acquiring means uses an input accepting means for accepting an input from a user to accept a start point and an end point that specify a time period of the video data from the user, and acquires the time period specified by the start point and the end point as the period information.

2. The control device according to claim 1.

3. further comprising a generating means for generating proxy video data from the video data; the transmitting means transmits proxy video data corresponding to the video data to the external device; the acquiring means acquires, from the external device, section information specifying a specific time section of the proxy video data as section information of the video data corresponding to the proxy video data; 2. The control device according to claim 1.

4. the attribute information is referenced by the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data; 2. The control device according to claim 1.

5. the partial video data with the attribute information set thereon is transferred to a video editing server via the external device; 2. The control device according to claim 1.

6. The image data for which the attribute information is not set is transferred to a data storage server via the external device.

2. The control device according to claim 1.

7. the partial video data with the attribute information set thereon is transferred to a storage device for video editing via the external device; 2. The control device according to claim 1.

8. The image data for which the attribute information is not set is transferred to a storage device for saving data via the external device.

2. The control device according to claim 1.

9. An imaging device comprising the control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An imaging device including the control device according to any one of claims 1 to 8; the external device that transfers the image data received from the photographing device to a predetermined server in accordance with the attribute information; An information processing system comprising:

11. the external device holds authentication information of the predetermined server for each of the photographing devices, and transfers the image data to the predetermined server based on the authentication information.

11. The information processing system according to claim 10.

12. A control method for a photographing device having a transmission means for transmitting image data obtained by photographing to an external device, comprising: causing the transmitting means to transmit the image data to the external device; acquiring section information that specifies a specific time section of video data included in the image data; extracting partial video data of a time interval specified in the interval information from the video data; Equipped with In the transmitting step, when the video data for which the section information is set is transmitted, the transmitting means transmits to the external device, instead of the video data for which the section information is set, the partial video data extracted based on the section information and attribute information for the external device to determine a transfer destination of the partial video data. A control method comprising:

13. A program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 12.

Images