VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHING DEVICE AND VIDEO IMAGE RECORDING METHOD

Abstract

To provide a video photographic device and a video recording method which are reduced in storage data amount necessary for recording a video for a long period of time with a 360-degree camera and suppressed in power consumption.SOLUTION: A video photographic device comprises: a 360-degree camera which is composed of a plurality of video cameras; an object detector which performs object detection and category determination for a frame image output from the video camera; a video camera decision unit which determines whether or not the category of the object detected by the object detector belongs to a prescribed category, and records in a memory identification information on the video camera that outputs the frame image when the category belongs to the prescribed category; an image generation unit which acquires only a frame image output from the video camera specified by the identification information recorded in the memory, and generates a recording image by coupling the frame images captured at the same time; and a video storage unit which records the recording image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for processing image data during video recording. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a system such as that described in Patent Document 1 that captures a golf game played during a round with a 360-degree camera and provides a digest video image to the player after the game.

[0003] The video data captured here is ultra-high resolution data captured by a 4K or 8K video camera, so it was possible to identify the player and view high-quality images by cutting out the area containing the target subject from the 360-degree video data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-88855 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-55204 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, even if 4K or 8K resolution video data covering 18 holes with a 360-degree field of view is encoded and recorded at high speed using Motion JPEG, the data volume is so large that a large-capacity storage device is required.In addition, the encoding process consumes a lot of power, which poses the problem of requiring a large-capacity battery for the imaging device.

[0006] Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for objectively analyzing video scenes in recording and playing back such long video, reducing and compressing the amount of data without missing any important video.

[0007] This invention was able to reduce the amount of data stored by gradually changing the compression rate according to the importance of the scene, but it was not able to reduce power consumption.

[0008] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide a video shooting device and a video image recording method that reduce the storage capacity of the storage device required for long-term shooting with a 360-degree camera and also keep power consumption low. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The video shooting device of the present invention, which solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, comprises a 360-degree camera consisting of multiple video cameras, an object detector that detects objects and determines the category of frame images output from the video cameras, a video camera determination unit that determines whether the category of the object detected by the object detector belongs to a predetermined category or not, and if it does, records in memory the identification information of the video camera that output the frame image, an image generation unit that acquires only the frame images output from the video camera identified by the identification information recorded in memory and combines the frame images shot at the same time to generate a recorded image, and a video memory unit that records the recorded images.

[0010] This means that frame images that do not show objects in the category being recorded (for example, people) are not recorded on a video camera basis without image processing such as cropping, thereby reducing the amount of data stored and also reducing power consumption due to image processing.

[0011] In addition, the video shooting device of the present invention further has a timer that outputs a trigger signal at predetermined intervals, and the object detector and video camera determination unit perform processing only when the trigger signal is received, and update the identification information recorded in the memory.

[0012] This means that if the specified time is a few seconds, object detection, category determination processing, and frame image synthesis processing do not need to be performed every time a frame image is received (for example, 30 times per second if the frame rate is 30 frames per second), which can significantly reduce the power required for these processes.

[0013] In addition, the video camera determination unit of the video shooting device of the present invention further records in memory the identification information of the video camera combined with the video camera identified by the recorded identification information, based on a combination of video cameras specified in advance.

[0014] As a result, images output by a video camera that has not detected a target object but has a high probability of detecting the target object are also recorded, so that even if the target object moves beyond the angle of view of one video camera within a predetermined time, the possibility of recording the movement of the target object without interruption is increased.

[0015] In addition, the video footage recording method of the present invention is a method for recording frame images output from a 360-degree camera consisting of multiple video cameras into a storage device, and includes an object detection step for performing object detection and category determination for each frame image output from the multiple video cameras; a category determination step for determining whether the category of the object detected in the object detection step belongs to a predetermined category; an image generation step for selecting only frame images output from the video camera that output the frame image and combining the frame images taken at the same time to generate a recorded image, while not selecting frame images from other video cameras; and a recording step for recording the recorded images generated by the image generation step into a storage device.

[0016] This means that frame images that do not show objects in the category being recorded (for example, people) are not recorded on a video camera basis without image processing such as cropping, thereby reducing the amount of data stored and also reducing power consumption due to image processing. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the present invention, even when recording moving images for a long period of time, the video shooting device does not require a large-capacity storage device, and there is no need to prepare a large-capacity battery. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video shooting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 shows the arrangement and shooting range of six video cameras forming a 360-degree camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 1A is a flowchart showing an image acquisition operation of a control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1B is a flowchart showing an operation of determining camera identification information; [Figure 4] FIG. 1A is a flow diagram showing a frame image input operation of a video storage device according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1B is a flow diagram showing a moving image data storage operation; [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video shooting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the camera identification information determination operation of the control device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1)

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video shooting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] This video shooting device consists of a 360-degree camera 10 installed above the roof of the golf cart in a position that offers a 360-degree field of view, a control device 11 that checks the frame images output from the 360-degree camera and determines which of the video cameras that make up the 360-degree camera to record, and a video storage device 12 that selects and stores only the images from the determined video camera. After the round is over, the video data shot by the video shooting device and the audio data from the sound-collecting microphone are analyzed to create a digest of the highlights of the game.

[0022] The 360-degree camera of this video shooting device is composed of six video cameras A, B, C, D, E, and F arranged so that their optical axes (dashed lines in the figure) are radial, as shown in Figure 2. Each video camera 101 is equipped with a lens with a 75-degree angle of view, an image sensor with a resolution of 4K (3,840 pixels x 2,160 pixels) or 8K (7,680 pixels x 4,320 pixels), and a signal processing circuit that performs signal processing from AD conversion of the image sensor output signal to lens distortion correction. This distortion correction is processed in real time by an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) incorporating a known algorithm.

[0023] The angle of view of each video camera overlaps with the angle of view of adjacent video cameras by 15 degrees, as shown in Figure 2. This reduces the blind spots shown by the diagonal lines in Figure 2 when configuring a 360-degree camera using multiple video cameras.

[0024] Each video camera 101 then generates images continuously and outputs them to the image acquisition unit 102 and the image input unit 108 . Next, the hardware configuration of the control device 11 will be described.

[0025] 1, the control device 11 comprises six image acquisition units 102, a timer unit 103, an object detector 104, a class storage unit 105, a video camera determination unit 106, and a frame memory (not shown) corresponding to each image acquisition unit 10. This frame memory is called a first frame memory to distinguish it from the frame memory of the video storage device 12.

[0026] The image acquisition unit 102 is provided in one-to-one correspondence with each video camera 101, and upon receiving a trigger signal from the timer unit 103, writes one frame of image data sent from the video camera 101 into the first frame memory corresponding to itself, with the video camera's identification number attached.

[0027] The timer unit 103 is a timer according to the present invention, which outputs a trigger signal at predetermined time intervals, and the time interval is six seconds in this embodiment. This is because, in golf, it is unlikely that a person will move to the ball position and complete a shot or putt within six seconds.

[0028] The object detector 104 performs object detection and class determination processing (processing to determine the object category) for all frame images in the first frame memory, and writes the object's coordinate values, the object's class information (information indicating the object's category), its likelihood, the frame number of the frame image being inspected, and the identification information of the video camera that output the frame image into the class memory unit 105.

[0029] This object detection and class determination process can be performed using a trained model that uses deep learning object detection and class determination technologies such as well-known technologies YOLO (title: YOLOv3: An Incremental Improvement, developers: Joseph Redmon, Ali Farhadi / University of Washington) and SSD (title: Single Shot MultiBox Detector / developers: Wei Liu, Dragomir Anguelov, Dumitru Erhan, Christian Szegedy, Scott Reed, Cheng-Yang Fu, Alexander C. Berg).

[0030] It should be noted that the person detection process can also be performed using a machine learning model that has been generated by acquiring HOG (Histogram of Oriented Gradients) features or Haar-like features related to people from an image set database in advance, rather than relying on deep learning.

[0031] The class storage unit 105 is a RAM that stores the output data from the object detector 104 .

[0032] When the class information of an object stored in the class memory unit 105 is a person, the video camera determination unit 106 determines whether the likelihood and the area of ​​the object are greater than a predetermined value, and if so, extracts the identification information of the video camera.

[0033] The control device 11 is a computer device that includes a CPU, RAM, nonvolatile storage, frame memory, and an input / output interface, all of which are connected by a bus. The control program stored in the nonvolatile storage is loaded into the RAM and executed to realize the above-mentioned functional blocks.

[0034] Next, the image acquisition operation and camera identification information determination operation performed by the control device 11 will be described.

[0035] 3(a) is a flow diagram showing the image acquisition operation, in which all image acquisition units 102 first wait until they receive a trigger signal from timer unit 103 (step S101), and upon receiving the signal, write the frame image output from each video camera 101 into their respective first frame memories (step S302). Then, upon completion of writing one frame of image, they notify object detector 104 of the completion of writing (step S103). Thereafter, all image acquisition units 102 again wait until they receive a trigger signal (step S101).

[0036] Figure 3(b) is a flow diagram showing the camera identification information determination operation. First, when the object detector 104 receives a notification of completion of writing from the image acquisition unit 102 (step S201), it performs object detection and class determination processing for the frame image, and writes the video camera identification number attached to the frame image, the coordinate values ​​of the area surrounding the object, and the class determination result, i.e., the presence or absence of a person and the likelihood of person determination, into the class memory unit 105 (step S202).

[0037] The object detector 104 performs this process in turn for notifications from all image acquisition units 102, and upon completion of the process, deletes the notification record and then notifies the video camera determination unit 106 that the object detection and class determination process has been completed (step S204).

[0038] Upon receiving this notification, video camera determination unit 106 refers to class storage unit 105 and determines whether the size of the area determined to be a person is equal to or larger than a predetermined size and the likelihood of person determination is equal to or larger than a predetermined value (step S205), and if any of the areas satisfies the conditions, records the identification number of the video camera corresponding to the class information in camera identification information storage unit 107 of video storage device 12 (described later) (step S206). Then, when video camera determination unit 106 has completed the determination process for all the information recorded in class storage unit 105, it deletes all the information from class storage unit 105 and terminates the process (step S207), and then returns to the state of waiting for a notification from image acquisition unit 102 by object detector 104 (step S201).

[0039] The above is the operation of the control device 11 of the video shooting device, which checks the frame images output by each video camera every predetermined time (6 seconds in this embodiment) and performs a process to determine the identification number of the video camera that outputs a frame image containing a person.

[0040] Next, the hardware configuration of the video storage device 12 will be described.

[0041] 1, the video storage device 12 comprises a camera identification information storage unit 107, an image input unit 108, a synchronization signal generator 109, a stored image generation unit 110, a video storage unit 111, and a frame memory (not shown) corresponding to each image acquisition unit 10. This frame memory is called a second frame memory to distinguish it from the one in the control device 11.

[0042] The camera identification information storage unit 107 is a shared memory (RAM) that can be written to and read from the control device 11 .

[0043] Image input units 108 are provided in one-to-one correspondence with the six video cameras 101, receive synchronization signals, and write image data from the video cameras into the second frame memory. At this time, image input units 108 refer to the camera identification information recorded in camera identification information storage unit 107 to determine whether or not to perform this writing.

[0044] The synchronization signal generator 109 is used to synchronize the frame image inputs of the six image input units 108, and outputs a synchronization signal at intervals of 30 frames per second.

[0045] The stored image generation unit 110 acquires frame images and the camera identification information attached to those frame images from the second frame memory, and combines the frame images so that the images are connected based on the camera identification information. At this time, frame images from adjacent video cameras overlap as shown in Figure 2, and these overlapping portions are superimposed to generate a single frame image. Techniques for joining frame images with overlapping areas in this way include the technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-178564, and image synthesis processing is realized in real time using an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) incorporating these known algorithms.

[0046] If the frame images to be combined are not from adjacent video cameras 101, the frame images are simply combined without combining the overlapping portions.

[0047] The video storage unit 111 is a non-volatile storage device that uses a large-capacity hard disk or semiconductor memory card as a recording medium, and stores the frame images generated by the stored image generation unit 110 continuously at a rate of 30 frames per second.

[0048] The video storage device 12 is a computer device that includes a CPU, RAM, a nonvolatile storage unit, a large-capacity nonvolatile storage unit, an ASIC that performs high-speed image processing, a frame memory, and an input / output interface, all of which are connected by a bus. The above-mentioned functional blocks are realized by loading a control program stored in the nonvolatile storage unit into the memory and executing it.

[0049] The image input unit 108 and the stored image generation unit 110 in this embodiment correspond to the image generation unit according to the present invention.

[0050] Next, the frame image input operation and moving image data storage operation performed by the video storage device 12 will be described.

[0051] 4A is a flow diagram showing the frame image input operation. First, when the image input unit 108 receives a synchronization signal from the synchronization signal generator 109 (step S301), it reads the camera identification information from the camera identification information storage unit 107 and determines whether the identification information matches the identification number of the video camera 101 to which it is connected (step S302). If they match, the image input unit 108 writes one frame of image data transmitted from the video camera 101 to the second frame memory with the video camera's identification number attached (step S303) and notifies the stored image generation unit 110 that the writing is complete (step S304). On the other hand, if the identification numbers do not match, the image input unit 108 does not write the data to the second frame memory and only notifies the stored image generation unit 110 that the processing has ended (step S304). All image input units 108 perform this operation simultaneously, and when complete, they again wait for the reception of a synchronization signal (step S301).

[0052] 4(b) is a flow diagram showing the operation of storing moving image data, in which the recorded image generation unit 110 first waits for a notification from the image input unit 108 (step S401). Then, when notifications are received from all the image input units 108, the recorded image generation unit 110 performs processing such as parallax correction on the overlapping portions of the frame images written in the second frame memory, and then performs synthesis processing (step S402), and transfers and stores the entire single frame image in the video storage unit 111 (step S403).

[0053] The above is the operation of the video recording device 12 of the video shooting device, in which only the frame images corresponding to the camera identification numbers recorded by the control device 11 are synthesized at a rate of 30 frames per second and stored in the video recording device 111.

[0054] As described above, the video shooting device in this embodiment records frame images output from a 360-degree camera made up of multiple video cameras in a storage device, and the video footage recording method involves the control device 11 acquiring each frame image output from the multiple video cameras (steps S101 to S103 in Figure 3a), performing object detection and category determination for those frame images (steps S201 to S204 in Figure 3b), and then determining whether the category of the detected object belongs to a predetermined category.If the determination result in the category determination step is that the object belongs to the predetermined category, in this embodiment, a person, the control device 11 communicates the identification information of the video camera that output the frame image to the video storage device 12 (steps S205 to S207 in Figure 3b). Then, the video storage device 12 selects only the frame images output from the video camera indicated by the identification information (steps S301 to S304 in Figure 4a), combines the frame images taken at the same time to generate a recorded image, and records the generated recorded image in the storage device without selecting any other frame images from the video camera (steps S401 to S403 in Figure 4b).

[0055] As described above, in this embodiment, the video shooting device stores only the footage from the video camera that outputs the frame image that detects the target object (person) from among the 360-degree cameras that are made up of multiple video cameras, and therefore the amount of video data can be significantly reduced compared to storing all the video data from the 360-degree cameras.

[0056] Furthermore, object detection and class determination processing, which requires a lot of power consumption from the CPU and other components, is performed once every few seconds, and in this embodiment, it is reduced to once every six seconds, meaning that even when the video recording device is battery-powered, a large-capacity battery is not required.

[0057] Furthermore, by providing a rotary switch in the control device 11 and having the timer unit 103 read its rotation angle and set the timer period, it is possible to adjust the battery consumption taking into account the recording time and other factors for each video recording subject and purpose.

[0058] In this embodiment, the video camera determination unit 106 determines whether all objects detected by the object detector 104 are persons to be recorded. For example, in FIG. 2, if person P is detected, the identification number of video camera A is recorded in the camera identification information storage unit 107. If person Q is detected, the identification numbers of both video camera A and video camera B are recorded. This allows an image centered on a person who is near the edge of the video camera's angle of view (angle of view β) to be extracted when creating a digest. Furthermore, even if player Q moves into the angle of view α of video camera B within the object detection period (6 seconds in this embodiment), recording can continue without missing player Q. In this embodiment, the angle of view α is 60 degrees, and the angle of view β is 7.5 degrees.

[0059] Note that person R is within the angle of view α of video camera A, but is also within the angle of view β of video camera B. Even in such a case, continuing to record images captured by video camera B in addition to video camera A would be wasteful. Therefore, when the video camera determination unit 106 determines whether to record camera identification information, it converts the person's address information into polar coordinates based on the video camera's identification number. If there is a video camera that detects a person with the same address within the angle of view α and another video camera that detects a person with the same address within the angle of view β, it deletes the person information within the angle of view β. Then it determines whether to record camera identification information. This determines that person R was captured only by video camera A, making it possible to avoid recording frame images from video camera B.

[0060] Furthermore, the video shooting device in this embodiment is configured to have separate frame memories for object detection and class determination processing, i.e., a first frame memory provided in the control device 11, and frame memories for storing frame images that become moving image data to be accumulated in the video storage unit 111, i.e., a second frame memory provided in the video storage device 12.Therefore, regardless of the object detection and class determination processing time, the processing can be performed using frame images simultaneously captured by all video cameras that form the 360-degree camera.

[0061] This makes it possible to avoid problems such as the same object being detected by multiple video cameras when processing fast-moving objects due to the object detection and class determination process being unable to keep up with the 30 frames per second speed when using a 360-degree camera with extremely high resolution. (Embodiment 2)

[0062] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a video shooting device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which differs from the first embodiment in that the control device 11 includes a camera combination information storage unit 201.

[0063] This camera combination information storage unit 201 stores the combination of identification numbers to be recorded together with the identification number of the video camera determined by the video camera determination unit 106 when the video camera determination unit 106 determines the identification number to be recorded in the camera identification information storage unit 107.

[0064] For example, in Figure 2, when 360-degree camera video cameras A to C are set on the golf cart so that they capture the right side of the golf cart in the direction of travel, and video cameras D to F capture the left side of the golf cart in the direction of travel, camera combination information storage unit 201 stores camera combination information in which A, B, and C are one set and D, E, and F are another set.

[0065] This is because, in most golf courses, cart paths are laid at the edge of the course, and players are present only on the right or left side of the direction of travel of the cart. In this way, when one of the video cameras in the combination set in the camera combination information storage unit 201 detects a target object, it is paired with a video camera that is highly likely to have the target object present.

[0066] The operation of the video shooting device of this embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment in the operation of determining camera identification information.

[0067] FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing the camera identification information determination operation.

[0068] In FIG. 6, processing steps S501 to S504 are the same as processing steps S201 to S204 in the first embodiment.

[0069] Thereafter, upon receiving notification from the object detector 104 that the object detection and class determination process is complete, the video camera determination unit 106 refers to the class storage unit 105 and determines whether or not there is an area determined to be a person whose size is equal to or larger than a predetermined size and whose likelihood of person determination is equal to or larger than a predetermined value (step S505). If there is an area that satisfies the conditions, the video camera determination unit 106 records the identification number of the video camera corresponding to that frame image in the camera identification information storage unit 107 of the video storage device 12 (step S506). Furthermore, the video camera determination unit 106 reads camera combination information from the camera combination information storage unit 201 (step S507) and determines whether or not there is identification information of another video camera combined with the identification number recorded in the camera combination information storage unit 201 in step S506 (step S508). If there is, the video camera determination unit 106 extracts the video camera identification number and records it in the camera identification information storage unit 107 (step S509).

[0070] For example, if video camera determination unit 106 determines video camera C based on information from object detector 104, video camera A, video camera B, and video camera C form a pair in camera combination information storage unit 201, and therefore the identification numbers of video cameras A and B are also recorded in camera identification information storage unit 107. After that, when video camera determination unit 106 has finished processing all the information recorded in class storage unit 105, it deletes all the information in class storage unit 105 and terminates (step S510), and then returns to the state where object detector 104 waits for a notification from image acquisition unit 102 (step S501).

[0071] The above are the differences from the control device 11 of the first embodiment, but the operations of the 360-degree camera 10 and the video storage device 12 are the same as those of the embodiment.

[0072] As described above, the video shooting device in this embodiment records frame images output from a 360-degree camera made up of multiple video cameras in a storage device, and the video footage recording method involves the control device 11 acquiring each frame image output from the multiple video cameras (steps S101 to S103 in Figure 3a), performing object detection and category determination for those frame images (steps S501 to S504 in Figure 6), and then determining whether the category of the detected object belongs to a predetermined category.If the determination result in the category determination step is that the object belongs to the predetermined category, in this embodiment, a person, the control device 11 communicates the identification information of the video camera that output the frame image to the video storage device 12 (steps S505 to S506 in Figure 6). At this time, in this embodiment, the control device 11 also transmits to the video storage device 12 the identification information of the video camera to be combined from the pre-set video camera combination information (steps S507 to S510 in Figure 6), and the subsequent processing is the same as the method in embodiment 1.

[0073] In this way, in addition to the effects of the embodiment, the video shooting device of this embodiment will also record video from video cameras that do not currently detect people, using camera combination information to determine which video camera to record, so although the amount of video stored will be slightly greater than with the video shooting device of embodiment 1, if even one player can be correctly detected, there is a higher chance of recording a video that captures all players without omission.

[0074] Furthermore, if a player moves beyond the 75-degree field of view of one video camera in a short period of time (within 6 seconds), in embodiment 1 there is a possibility that the connection of movement to other adjacent video cameras will be interrupted, but this embodiment can avoid such a problem.

[0075] In this embodiment, the camera combination information storage unit 201 has three video cameras on the left and three on the right side of the traveling direction, but this is not limiting and any combination can be used, and the user can also set any combination. For example, the control device 11 of the video shooting device can be equipped with an input / output interface and provide a setting mode for this video camera combination as one of various setting functions such as time setting, thereby allowing any combination to be stored in the camera combination information storage unit 201. This allows the user to set any combination of video cameras depending on the object and purpose of shooting and recording, thereby minimizing the risk of missing an object from being recorded. [Industrial Applicability]

[0076] The present invention is useful for video shooting devices using 360-degree cameras, and is suitable for reducing storage capacity and power consumption. [Explanation of symbols]

[0077] 10. 360-degree camera 11 Control device 12 Video storage device 101 Video Camera 102 Image acquisition unit 103 Timer section 104 Object Detector 105 Class Memory 106 Video Camera Decision Section 107 Camera identification information storage unit 108 Image input unit 109 Synchronization Signal Generator 110 Memory image generation unit 111 Video storage unit 201 Camera combination information storage unit

Claims

1. a 360-degree camera consisting of multiple video cameras; an object detector that detects objects and determines categories of frame images output from the video camera; a video camera determination unit that determines whether the category of the object detected by the object detector belongs to a predetermined category, and if it does, records in a memory the identification information of the video camera that output the frame image; an image generating unit that acquires only frame images output from the video camera identified by the identification information recorded in the memory, and combines the frame images captured at the same time to generate a recorded image; a video storage unit for recording the recorded image; A video shooting device comprising:

2. a timer that outputs a trigger signal at predetermined time intervals; The object detector and the video camera determination unit perform processing only upon receiving the trigger signal, and update the identification information recorded in the memory.

2. The video recording device according to claim 1.

3. The video camera determination unit further records in the memory, based on the combination information of the video cameras designated in advance, the identification information of the video cameras combined with the video camera specified by the identification information recorded in the memory.

3. The video recording device according to claim 2.

4. A video image recording method for recording frame images output from a 360-degree camera configured with a plurality of video cameras into a storage device, comprising: an object detection step of detecting an object and determining a category for each frame image output from the plurality of video cameras; a category determination step of determining whether or not the category of the object detected in the object detection step belongs to a predetermined category; an image generation step of selecting only frame images output from the video camera that output the frame image if the determination result in the category determination step belongs to a predetermined category, combining the frame images taken at the same time to generate a recorded image, and not selecting frame images from other video cameras; a recording step of recording the record image generated by the image generating step in a storage device; A video image recording method comprising:

Images