JP5005782B2 - Image generation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image generation system, a screen definition device, an image generation device, a screen definition program, and an image generation program. The present invention particularly relates to an authoring tool and a moving image file generation server.

  Conventionally, when creating a movie file for weather forecasts, etc., create a series of pictures that slightly change the required animation movement in the same way as a flip book, display them one by one, and record them. Has realized video. Conventionally, techniques for producing multimedia contents such as moving images using an authoring tool are known (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

JP 2000-59724 A JP 2000-331465 A JP 2002-15333 A JP 2003-6555 A

  In the prior art, for example, when a high-definition video of 1920 × 1080 is created, a video file that switches and displays a 6 to 8 MB (megabyte) image every unit time is created. However, there is a problem that a huge storage capacity is required. Further, the conventional technique has a problem that it is difficult to efficiently create a moving image file such as a weather forecast using an authoring tool.

  For example, an object of the present invention is to efficiently create an image while suppressing a data amount of an image displaying a weather forecast.

An image generation system according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
An image generation system that generates a display image including a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A weather forecast data storage unit for storing weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast every predetermined unit time by a storage device;
A component storage unit for storing a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weathers as components by a storage device;
A component extraction unit for extracting the component group from the component storage unit;
A weather forecast data extraction unit for extracting the weather forecast data for each unit time in a predetermined period from the weather forecast data storage unit;
For each unit time in the period, image data representing the weather of the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit is acquired from the component group extracted by the component extraction unit, and acquired. And an image generation unit that arranges image data on the background image and generates a display image for displaying a weather forecast for the period by a processing device.

The component storage unit stores a plurality of the component groups,
The component extraction unit receives an operation for selecting one component group from a plurality of component groups stored in the component storage unit by an input device, and extracts the one component group from the component storage unit. To do.

  The component storage unit includes a plurality of image data representing different weather and a plurality of image data having a common predetermined attribute in the same component group, and is a plurality of image data representing the same weather and the predetermined attribute A plurality of image data different from each other are stored in separate component groups.

  The predetermined attribute is at least one of a vertical and horizontal length, resolution, and data size of image data.

  The plurality of image data are image data of a plurality of weather marks representing weather.

The plurality of image data are moving image data whose display contents change with time independently of the background image,
The image generation unit generates a moving image displaying a weather forecast for the period as a display image.

The image generation system further includes:
For each unit time in the period, the input device accepts an operation for designating a position for arranging image data on the background image, and includes a screen definition unit for generating screen definition data indicating the position by a processing device,
The image generation unit arranges the acquired image data at a position indicated by the screen definition data generated by the screen definition unit for each unit time in the period, and displays a weather forecast for the period Is generated.

The weather forecast data storage unit stores weather forecast data indicating weather forecasts of a plurality of regions for each unit time,
The image generation system further includes:
An operation for selecting one area from the plurality of areas is received by an input device, and a screen definition unit for generating screen definition data indicating the one area by a processing device is provided.
The weather forecast data extraction unit extracts, from the weather forecast data storage unit, weather forecast data of a region indicated by the screen definition data generated by the screen definition unit for each unit time in the period. To do.

The image generation system further includes:
An operation for specifying an arbitrary period is accepted by the input device, and a screen definition unit for generating screen definition data indicating the period by the processing device is provided.
The weather forecast data extraction unit extracts the weather forecast data for each unit time in the period indicated by the screen definition data generated by the screen definition unit from the weather forecast data storage unit.

A screen definition device according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A screen definition device that defines a screen of a display image composed of a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A component extraction unit that extracts the component group from a database that stores a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather as components;
A screen definition unit that accepts an operation for designating a position where image data is arranged on the background image for each predetermined unit time in a predetermined period by an input device, and generates screen definition data indicating the position by a processing device;
The component group and the screen definition extracted by the component extraction unit from the database that stores the weather forecast data indicating the weather forecast for each unit time to the image generation device that extracts the weather forecast data for each unit time in the period The weather forecast data extracted by the image generation device from the component group transmitted for each unit time in the period to the image generation device. Data for obtaining image data representing forecast weather, arranging image data obtained by the image generation device at a position indicated by the transmitted screen definition data, and generating a display image for displaying the weather forecast for the period And a transmission unit.

An image generation apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
An image generation device that generates a display image composed of a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A screen for transmitting a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather as components, and screen definition data indicating a position at which the image data is arranged on the background image every predetermined unit time in a predetermined period A data receiving unit for receiving the component group and the screen definition data from the definition device;
A weather forecast data extraction unit that extracts weather forecast data for each unit time in the period from a database that stores weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast for each unit time;
For each unit time in the period, the image data representing the weather of the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit is acquired from the component group received by the data reception unit, and acquired. An image generation unit that arranges image data at a position indicated by the screen definition data received by the data reception unit and generates a display image for displaying a weather forecast for the period by the processing device. .

A screen definition program according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
A screen definition program for defining a screen of a display image composed of a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A component extraction process for extracting the component group from a database storing a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weathers as components by a storage device;
Screen definition processing for accepting an operation for designating a position for arranging image data on the background image for each predetermined unit time in a predetermined period by the input device, and generating screen definition data indicating the position by the processing device;
The component group extracted by the component extraction process and the screen definition from the database that stores the weather forecast data indicating the weather forecast for each unit time to the image generation device that extracts the weather forecast data for each unit time in the period The weather defined by the weather forecast data extracted by the image generation device from the transmitted component group for each unit time in the period is transmitted to the image definition data generated by the processing. Data for obtaining image data representing forecast weather, arranging image data obtained by the image generation device at a position indicated by the transmitted screen definition data, and generating a display image for displaying the weather forecast for the period The transmission process is executed by a computer.

An image generation program according to an aspect of the present invention includes:
An image generation program for generating a display image composed of a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A screen for transmitting a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather as components, and screen definition data indicating a position at which the image data is arranged on the background image every predetermined unit time in a predetermined period A data reception process for receiving the component group and the screen definition data from the definition device;
A weather forecast data extraction process for extracting weather forecast data for each unit time in the period from a database storing weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast for each unit time;
For each unit time in the period, image data representing the weather of the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data extracted by the weather forecast data extraction process is acquired from the component group received by the data reception process, and acquired. The image data is arranged at a position indicated by the screen definition data received in the data reception process, and the computer is caused to execute an image generation process for generating a display image for displaying the weather forecast in the period by the processing device. Features.

  In one aspect of the present invention, in the image generation system, the component extraction unit extracts a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather from the component storage unit as components. The weather forecast data extraction unit extracts weather forecast data for each predetermined unit time in a predetermined period from the weather forecast data storage unit. Then, the image generation unit is an image representing the weather of the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit from the component group extracted by the component extraction unit for each unit time in the period Data is acquired, the acquired image data is arranged on a background image, and a display image for displaying a weather forecast for the period is generated. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently create the image while suppressing the data amount of the image displaying the weather forecast.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image generation system according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of each device that configures the image generation system according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the developer terminal according to the first embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a user terminal according to the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting items of image definition data according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the web server according to the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a moving image screen according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a moving image screen according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the viewer terminal according to Embodiment 1.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image generation system 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The image generation system 100 is a system that generates a display image composed of a background image and a plurality of components (screen constituent elements) arranged on the background image and outputs them as a still image file or a moving image file. Hereinafter, an example will be described in which the image generation system 100 generates, as a display image, a moving image that displays a weather forecast (prediction of weather, temperature, precipitation probability, etc.) for a predetermined period for the web. . In addition to the web, the image generation system 100 may generate a display image used for broadcasting (such as a TV program), digital signage (such as an advertisement), or other purposes. In addition to the moving image, the image generation system 100 may generate a still image as a display image and output a still image file.

  In this example, the image generation system 100 uses image data representing weather (weather, temperature, precipitation probability, etc.) as a component. The image generation system 100 uses other image data, audio data, and programs as components. The component can be implemented as, for example, a FLASH® component.

  1, the image generation system 100 includes a developer terminal 110, a component database 120, a weather forecast database 130, a user terminal 140, a database server 150 (DB server), a web server 160, and a viewer terminal 170.

  The developer terminal 110 is, for example, a PC (personal computer) and is used by the developer. The user terminal 140 is, for example, a PC and is used by a user. The user terminal 140 is an example of a screen definition device that defines a screen of a display image. The database server 150 and the web server 160 are server computers, for example. The web server 160 is an example of an image generation device that generates a display image. The viewer terminal 170 is a PC, for example, and is used by the viewer.

  Although not shown in FIG. 1, each device (developer terminal 110, user terminal 140, database server 150, web server 160, client terminal 170) constituting the image generation system 100 includes a processing device, a storage device, an input device, Hardware such as an output device is provided. Here, FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration of each device constituting the image generation system 100.

  In FIG. 2, each apparatus constituting the image generation system 100 is a computer, and includes an LCD 901 (Liquid / Crystal / Display), a keyboard 902 (K / B), a mouse 903, an FDD 904 (Flexible Disk / Drive), and a CDD 905 ( (Compact, Disc, Drive) and a printer 906 are provided. These hardware devices are connected by cables and signal lines. Instead of the LCD 901, a CRT (Cathode / Ray / Tube) or other display device may be used. Instead of the mouse 903, a touch panel, a touch pad, a trackball, a pen tablet, or other pointing devices may be used.

  Each device constituting the image generation system 100 includes a CPU 911 (Central Processing Unit) that executes a program. The CPU 911 is an example of a processing device. The CPU 911 includes a ROM 913 (Read / Only / Memory), a RAM 914 (Random / Access / Memory), a communication board 915, an LCD 901, a keyboard 902, a mouse 903, an FDD 904, a CDD 905, a printer 906, and an HDD 920 (Hard / Disk) via a bus 912. Connected with Drive) to control these hardware devices. Instead of the HDD 920, a flash memory, an optical disk device, a memory card reader / writer, or other storage medium may be used.

  The RAM 914 is an example of a volatile memory. The ROM 913, the FDD 904, the CDD 905, and the HDD 920 are examples of nonvolatile memories. These are examples of the storage device. The communication board 915, the keyboard 902, the mouse 903, the FDD 904, and the CDD 905 are examples of input devices. The communication board 915, the LCD 901, and the printer 906 are examples of output devices.

  The communication board 915 is connected to a LAN (Local / Area / Network) or the like. The communication board 915 is not limited to a LAN, but is an IP-VPN (Internet, Protocol, Private, Network), a wide area LAN, an ATM (Asynchronous / Transfer / Mode) network, a WAN (Wide / Area / Network), or the Internet. It does not matter if it is connected to. LAN, WAN, and the Internet are examples of networks.

  The HDD 920 stores an operating system 921 (OS), a window system 922, a program group 923, and a file group 924. The programs in the program group 923 are executed by the CPU 911, the operating system 921, and the window system 922. The program group 923 includes programs that execute the functions described as “˜units” in the description of the present embodiment. The program is read and executed by the CPU 911. The file group 924 includes data, information, and signal values described as “˜data”, “˜information”, “˜ID (identifier)”, “˜flag”, and “˜result” in the description of this embodiment. And variable values and parameters are included as items of “˜file”, “˜database”, and “˜table”. The “˜file”, “˜database”, and “˜table” are stored in a storage medium such as the RAM 914 or the HDD 920. Data, information, signal values, variable values, and parameters stored in a storage medium such as the RAM 914 and the HDD 920 are read out to the main memory and the cache memory by the CPU 911 via a read / write circuit, and extracted, searched, referenced, compared, and calculated. It is used for processing (operation) of the CPU 911 such as calculation, control, output, printing, and display. During the processing of the CPU 911 such as extraction, search, reference, comparison, calculation, calculation, control, output, printing, and display, data, information, signal values, variable values, and parameters are temporarily stored in the main memory, cache memory, and buffer memory. Remembered.

  The arrows in the block diagrams and flowcharts used in the description of this embodiment mainly indicate input / output of data and signals. Data and signals are recorded in memory such as RAM 914, FDD904 flexible disk (FD), CDD905 compact disk (CD), HDD920 magnetic disk, optical disk, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or other recording media Is done. Data and signals are transmitted by a bus 912, a signal line, a cable, or other transmission media.

  In the description of the present embodiment, what is described as “to part” may be “to circuit”, “to device”, “to device”, and “to step”, “to process”, “to” ~ Procedure "," ~ process ". That is, what is described as “˜unit” may be realized by firmware stored in the ROM 913. Alternatively, what is described as “˜unit” may be realized only by software, or only by hardware such as an element, a device, a board, and wiring. Alternatively, what is described as “to part” may be realized by a combination of software and hardware, or a combination of software, hardware and firmware. Firmware and software are stored as programs in a recording medium such as a flexible disk, a compact disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a DVD. The program is read by the CPU 911 and executed by the CPU 911. That is, the program causes the computer to function as “to part” described in the description of the present embodiment. Or a program makes a computer perform the procedure and method of "-part" described by description of this Embodiment.

  Each device constituting the image generation system 100 is connected via a network and can communicate with each other.

  In FIG. 1, the developer terminal 110 includes a component creation unit 111. The component creation unit 111 can be implemented as, for example, a development tool (application program) executed by the processing device on the developer terminal 110. A developer can operate a development tool to componentize images (still images, animations, etc.), sound, actions (buttons, etc.), and transitions (screen switching operations). Here, FIG. 3 shows the operation of the developer terminal 110.

In step S <b> 101 (component creation processing), the component creation unit 111 accepts an operation for creating or editing a new component from the developer using the input device, and registers the component in the component database 120. Specifically, the component creation unit 111 registers the following components in the component database 120.
(1) Image component: image data of an image in general, such as an image of a button and a weather mark. The image data may be still image data, or may be moving image data whose display content changes over time independently of the background image. In the case of moving image data, for example, it can be implemented as a FLASH (registered trademark) component with animation. The image data may be static data or dynamic data whose display contents can be changed according to property settings. In the case of dynamic data, a character string may be displayed as an image.
(2) Voice component: voice data such as narration, music, and sound effects.
(3) Action component: The image component on the screen is manipulated, such as how it moves when the button is pressed (for example, when the “Weekly forecast” button is pressed, the weekly forecast screen pops up) This is a function (program) describing what kind of processing is executed in the case of
(4) Transition component: Display the image component on the screen or on the screen, such as the effect of turning the page when switching screens, the effect of cutting and wiping (from the top, from the bottom, from the right, or from the left) It is a function (program) that describes what kind of animation effect is produced when it is hidden.

  Among image components, in particular, image data representing weather (weather, temperature, precipitation probability, etc.) is registered in the component database 120 as one component group. Each component group includes a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather. For example, image data of weather marks representing weather such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snowy is included for each weather. Further, for example, image data of characters representing the air temperature such as “10 ° C.” is included one by one in units of 1 ° C. Further, for example, character image data representing the probability of precipitation such as “50%” is included one by one in units of 1%.

  In FIG. 1, the component database 120 receives component registration from the component creation unit 111 of the developer terminal 110 and stores the component in a storage device. The component database 120 is an example of a component storage unit that stores a component group including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather as components as a component.

  The weather forecast database 130 holds actual weather forecast information (for example, information such as rain and snow on the 26th). In addition, the weather forecast database 130 also holds information such as temperature, precipitation probability, humidity, and warning. Specifically, the weather forecast database 130 shows weather forecasts for various parts of Japan (an example of a plurality of regions) for each day (an example of a predetermined unit time) from an external server (for example, a server of the Japan Weather Association). The weather forecast data is received constantly or periodically, and the weather forecast data is stored in the storage device. The weather forecast database 130 is an example of a weather forecast data storage unit that stores weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast every predetermined unit time by a storage device. The weather forecast database 130 may store weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast not only for each day but for every three hours or every other unit time. The weather forecast database 130 also provides weather forecasts for various Japanese cities, municipalities in specific prefectures, domestic leisure spots and landmarks, major cities around the world, and other regions. Meteorological forecast data indicating may be stored.

  In FIG. 1, the user terminal 140 includes a component extraction unit 141, a screen definition unit 142, and a data transmission unit 143. The component extraction unit 141, the screen definition unit 142, and the data transmission unit 143 can be implemented as, for example, an authoring tool (application program) executed by the processing device on the user terminal 140. The user can operate the authoring tool to freely combine the components created by the developer and define a moving image screen. Here, FIG. 4 shows the operation of the user terminal 140.

  In step S201 (component extraction processing), the component extraction unit 141 extracts the above-described component group and other components from the component database 120 by the processing device.

  In step S202 (screen definition processing), the screen definition unit 142 accepts an operation for designating a position where image data is arranged on a background image from the user for each day of one week (an example of a predetermined period) from the user. The screen definition data indicating the position is generated by the processing device. The screen definition unit 142 converts the image data to the background image every day of a plurality of weeks, every three hours of a specific day, or every predetermined unit time in other periods. You may produce | generate the screen definition data which shows the position arrange | positioned above.

  The screen definition unit 142 further accepts an operation for selecting one area from the plurality of areas described above from the user using the input device, and generates screen definition data indicating the one area by the processing device. The screen definition unit 142 accepts an operation for designating an arbitrary period by the input device, and generates screen definition data indicating the period by the processing device. In this example, it is assumed that the user selects Osaka as a region and selects the most recent (future) week as a period. Accordingly, the screen definition unit 142 calculates the Osaka weather forecast (that is, the Osaka weekly weather forecast) for the most recent one week (actually, six days from the day after the video creation date or video playback date). Screen definition data that defines where to display on the screen for each day is generated. Here, FIG. 5 shows an example of setting items of the image definition data.

  The user can set the display content (layout) of each screen 201 by operating an authoring tool, for example. The user can select and set various layouts from the screen template, and the user can design the layout himself. As the layout, for example, the position and size of each area (frame) such as a title, menu, scroll, main, and CM (commercial) are set. Further, the user can set the contents (control) of each area by operating an authoring tool, for example. As the control, for example, an image component 211 such as a button, a bitmap, a scroll bar, and a mark, its position and size, and an audio component 212 are set.

  Further, the user can set the operation (action) of each control by operating an authoring tool, for example. As an action, for example, an action component 213 can be set for an image component 211 such as a button or a scroll bar. Further, the user can set a switching operation (transition) of each screen 201 by operating an authoring tool, for example. As the transition, for example, the transition component 214 can be set for each area and each control in addition to the entire screen 201.

  In addition, for example, the user may operate an authoring tool to set a data source 215 that is an acquisition source of information to be displayed on the moving image, a condition 216 that determines a control to be displayed on the moving image, and a schedule 217 that switches the display content of the moving image. it can. As the data source 215, for example, weather forecast data stored in the weather forecast database 130, weather forecast data regarding the probability of precipitation, temperature, humidity, alarm, etc., and data such as CM and news stored in other databases Set. Specifically, in the case of the weather forecast data source 215, the names of tables and columns in which the weather forecast data are stored in the weather forecast database 130 are designated. As the condition 216, for example, which component is used is set according to values such as weather, precipitation probability, temperature, humidity, and alarm obtained from the data source 215. Specifically, in the case of the condition 216 where the weather indicated by the weather forecast data is sunny, the image component 211 of the sun mark (an example of a weather mark indicating sunny) is designated. In the case of the condition 216 in which the weather indicated by the weather forecast data is rain, the umbrella CM (an example of a weather mark indicating rain) is designated together with the image component 211 of the umbrella mark. As the schedule 217, for example, a weekly schedule, a daily schedule, a monthly schedule, a period schedule, and a seasonal schedule are set. Specifically, in the case of a seasonal schedule, a period for displaying pollen information and ultraviolet information as a part of weather information in a moving image is designated.

  The screen definition unit 142 outputs the screen definition data set as described above as one screen definition file. The screen definition file can be implemented as, for example, an XML (extensible / Markup / Language) file.

  In step S203 (data transmission processing), the data transmission unit 143 sends the screen definition data (screen definition file) generated by the screen definition unit 142 and the component group and other components extracted by the component extraction unit 141 to the web server 160. ) To cause the web server 160 to generate a moving image that displays the weekly weather forecast for Osaka.

  In FIG. 1, the database server 150 includes a database processing unit 151 (DB processing unit).

  The database processing unit 151 processes a query for the weather forecast database 130 from the web server 160 by the processing device, reads the weather forecast data from the weather forecast database 130, and transmits it to the web server 160.

  In FIG. 1, the web server 160 includes a data reception unit 161, a weather forecast data extraction unit 162, and an image generation unit 163. Here, FIG. 6 shows the operation of the web server 160.

  In step S301 (data reception processing), the data reception unit 161 receives the above-described component group and other components and screen definition data (screen definition file) from the data transmission unit 143 of the user terminal 140. The data receiving unit 161 stores the received component and screen definition data in the storage device.

  In step S302 (meteorological forecast data extraction processing), the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 reads the screen definition data received by the data reception unit 161 from the storage device. As described above, in the screen definition data in this example, Osaka is shown as a region, and the latest one week is shown as a period. For this reason, the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 uses the database processing unit 151 of the database server 150 to process a query for requesting weather forecast data for Osaka for each day of the most recent week from the weather forecast database 130. Issued by the device. Then, the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 uses the database processing unit 151 of the database server 150 to extract the requested weather forecast data from the weather forecast database 130 by the processing device. The weather forecast data extraction unit 162 stores the extracted weather forecast data in the storage device as one weather forecast data file. The weather forecast data file can be implemented as, for example, an XML file.

  In step S303 (image generation processing), the image generation unit 163 reads image data (including background image data), audio data, and the like stored in advance in the storage device. In addition, the image generation unit 163 reads the weather forecast data (meteorological forecast data file) extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 from the storage device. Further, the image generation unit 163 reads the component and screen definition data received by the data reception unit 161 from the storage device. As described above, the screen definition data indicates various settings such as the layout of the screen 201 and the position of the image component 211 as shown in FIG. In particular, a position where a weather mark and other image data representing the weather are arranged on the background image is shown. For this reason, the image generation unit 163 reads the components read from the storage device and the areas such as the title, menu, scroll, main, and CM according to the contents of various settings indicated by the screen definition data received by the data reception unit 161. Other image data and the like are arranged, and the entire screen and the operation of each component are set. At this time, the image generation unit 163 extracts the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 from the component group received by the data reception unit 161 for each day of the most recent week after pasting the background image on the main. Image data representing the weather in the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data (image component 211) is acquired, and the acquired image data is arranged at a position (on the background image) indicated by the screen definition data received by the data receiving unit 161. To do. In this way, the image generation unit 163 generates a moving image for displaying the Osaka weekly weather forecast by the processing device. The image generation unit 163 distributes the generated moving image to the viewer terminal 170 as a moving image file. The moving image file can be implemented as, for example, a FLASH (registered trademark) file (SWF file). Here, FIGS. 7 and 8 show an example of a moving image screen 301 generated by the image generation unit 163.

  The screen 301 includes areas of a title 302, a scroll 303, a CM 304, a menu 305, and a main 306.

  In the title 302, a character string indicating an outline of a moving image and image data of an image are arranged by the image generation unit 163. This image data may be stored in advance in a storage device, or may be a component received by the data receiving unit 161.

  In the scroll 303, a component of a character string (scroll bar) to be scrolled, which is one of the components received by the data reception unit 161, is arranged by the image generation unit 163. The image generation unit 163 acquires text (for example, alarm information) from the weather forecast data (weather forecast data file) extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162, and scrolls to the character string component to be scrolled (for example, right From left to right). In the screen definition data referred to by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 and the image generation unit 163, height, width, background image, font name, font color, font size, font style (bold type) are used as the properties of the scrolling character string component. , Italic), weather forecast data file name, key value (for example, a condition that text is displayed if it is an alarm, and not displayed if it is a warning), and the like are set.

  In the CM 304, CM image data is arranged by the image generation unit 163. This image data may be stored in advance in a storage device, or may be a component received by the data receiving unit 161.

  In the menu 305, the component of the link button 307, which is one of the components received by the data reception unit 161, is arranged by the image generation unit 163. When the component of the link button 307 is pressed, the image generation unit 163 sets an action for the component of the link button 307 so that the screen changes to another screen. For example, when the “weekly forecast” link button 307 is pressed, the screen transitions to the screen 301 shown in FIG. When the “satellite image” link button 307 is pressed, the screen transitions to the screen 301 shown in FIG. In the screen definition data referred to by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 and the image generation unit 163, an operation to be pressed is set as an event of the component of the link button 307 (operation that triggers execution of an action). As the properties of the component of the link button 307, the URL (Uniform / Resource / Locator) of the transition destination screen, display character, height, width, background color, font name, font color, font size, font style (bold, italic) ), Link type (whether only a partial area is switched or the entire screen is switched), and the like are set.

  A background image is arranged in the main 306 by the image generation unit 163. The background image data may be stored in a storage device in advance, or may be a component received by the data receiving unit 161. The background image may be a still image or a moving image. On the screen 301 shown in FIG. 7, a map of a detailed area is arranged as a background image. On the screen 301 shown in FIG. 8, a map of the vicinity of Japan is arranged as a background image.

  In FIG. 7, on the background image of the main 306, a plurality of components indicating the Osaka weekly weather forecast 308 received by the data receiving unit 161 are arranged by the image generating unit 163. For example, components of a date character string, a weather mark, a temperature character string, and a precipitation probability mark are arranged. The image generation unit 163 acquires date, weather forecast, temperature, and precipitation probability information from the weather forecast data (meteorological forecast data file) extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162, and assigns the information to each corresponding component (for example, a table). Display). In the screen definition data referenced by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 and the image generation unit 163, the weather forecast data file name, key value (period), font name, font color, font size, font are used as the properties of the date string component. Style (bold, italic) etc. are set. As weather mark component properties, weather forecast data file name, key value (region and period), mark file name, height, width, and the like are set. Further, the weather forecast data file name, key value (region and period), font name, font color, font size, font style (bold, italic) and the like are set as the properties of the temperature character string component. Further, the weather forecast data file name, key value (region and period), mark file name, height, width, etc. are set as properties of the precipitation probability mark component. In addition, the position, size, row label (character string displayed in the first column), etc., in which the date character string, weather mark, temperature character string, and precipitation probability mark components are embedded are set. In this way, in this embodiment, for each day (for 6 days), it is set where and what components are arranged on the background image to display the Osaka weekly weather forecast 308.

  In FIG. 8, the component of the image continuous display button 309, which is one of the components received by the data receiving unit 161, is arranged on the background image of the main 306 by the image generating unit 163. In addition, an image generation unit 163 arranges an image continuous display image component indicating a cloud image in the vicinity of Japan as a weather forecast 308. When the component of the image continuous display button 309 is pressed, the image generation unit 163 sets an action for the component of the image continuous display button 309 so that the image is continuously displayed on the image component specified by the property. In the screen definition data referred to by the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 and the image generation unit 163, an operation to be pressed is set as an event of the component of the image continuous display button 309 (operation that triggers execution of an action). Further, as the component properties of the image continuous display button 309, the display image component ID (identifier) (ID assigned to the cloud image), time interval (how many seconds the cloud image is switched), display character, high The width, background color, font name, font color, font size, font style (bold, italic), etc. are set. Further, as the properties of the image continuous display image component, a continuous display image list file name (name of a file indicating a list of continuously displayed cloud images), a height, a width, and the like are set.

  In FIG. 1, the viewer terminal 170 includes a screen output unit 171. The screen output unit 171 can be implemented as, for example, a web browser executed by the processing device on the viewer terminal 170. The viewer can operate the web browser to display the moving image on the screen. Here, FIG. 9 shows the operation of the user terminal 140.

  In step S <b> 401 (screen output processing), the screen output unit 171 receives a moving image file from the image generation unit 163 of the web server 160. The screen output unit 171 reproduces the received moving image file and displays the moving image on the screen by the output device.

  Note that the viewer terminal 170 may execute part or all of step S303 (image generation processing) in FIG. 6 instead of the web server 160.

  In this case, the viewer terminal 170 includes the image generation unit 163. The web server 160 distributes image data (including background image data), audio data, and the like stored in advance in the storage device to the image generation unit 163. In addition, the weather forecast data extraction unit 162 of the web server 160 distributes the weather forecast data (weather forecast data file) extracted from the weather forecast database 130 to the image generation unit 163. In addition, the data reception unit 161 of the web server 160 distributes the component received from the user terminal 140 and the screen definition data (screen definition file) to the image generation unit 163. In the viewer terminal 170, the image generation unit 163 generates a moving image using data distributed from the web server 160 and displays it on the screen.

  At this time, in the viewer terminal 170, for example, the web browser acquires information, weather data (weather forecast information), and the like from the weather forecast data file. If the information acquired from the weather forecast data file is text information such as an alarm, the web browser displays the component defined in the screen definition file on the scroll 303 as shown in FIG. Place it at a defined position. Then, text information such as an alarm is displayed in a form defined in the screen definition file (for example, as a scrolling character string). Further, if the weather data acquired from the weather forecast data file indicates sunny, the web browser selects a sunny weather mark from the component group and arranges it at the position defined in the screen definition file. Similarly, if the weather data acquired from the weather forecast data file shows cloudy, select the cloudy weather mark, and if the weather data shows rain, select the rainy weather mark and define it in the screen definition file. Place it at the specified position.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the developer creates a mark or the like as a component (moves independently from the background image and other images) using the development tool of the image generation system 100, and the like. Register the created component. The web server 160 can distribute a compact moving image file by creating a moving image by combining such components.

  In the present embodiment, the user uses the authoring tool of the image generation system 100 to select the data source from which the screen layout of the video, the operation of buttons and marks in the screen, and the necessary information are acquired. Set and define one video file. At this time, conditions and schedules are also set. Record the settings in the screen definition file. In the web server 160, it is possible to distribute a moving image file that matches the needs by creating a moving image that displays the latest weather forecast that matches the set conditions and schedule based on the screen definition file. . Also, by preparing a plurality of screen definition files, it is possible to automatically and repeatedly create a moving image displaying a weather forecast that changes every moment with a desired screen layout or the like.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to efficiently create the image while suppressing the data amount of the image displaying the weather forecast.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the present embodiment, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  In step S101 (component creation processing) in FIG. 3, the component creation unit 111 of the developer terminal 110 accepts an operation for creating a plurality of the above-described component groups from the developer by the input device, and the plurality of component groups are received from the component database 120. Register with. As in the first embodiment, each component group includes a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather (weather, temperature, precipitation probability, etc.). Accordingly, one component group includes, for example, image data of weather marks representing weather such as sunny, cloudy, rainy, and snow for each weather. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the same component group includes a plurality of image data having a predetermined attribute in common. Accordingly, one component group includes, for example, image data of weather marks having the same vertical and horizontal lengths (an example of predetermined attributes) of image data such as “30 × 30 pixels” for each weather. In addition to the vertical and horizontal lengths of image data, the image data resolution, the image data size, or a combination thereof, or other weather mark image data with other attributes are included in one component group. You may be made to do. The same applies to image data other than the weather mark. However, even if the image data is included in the same component group, it is only necessary that the attribute is common between the image data of the same type (for example, weather mark). On the other hand, even if the image data included in one component group and the image data included in another component group represent the same weather, the predetermined attributes are different from each other. Therefore, one component group includes, for example, one “30 × 30 pixel” high-resolution weather mark image data for each weather, and another component group includes, for example, “100 × 100 pixels”. High-resolution weather mark image data is included for each weather, and another component group includes, for example, “30 × 30 pixels” low-resolution weather mark image data for each weather. Prepare multiple component groups in such a way that each is included.

  As in the first embodiment, the component database 120 receives component registration from the component creation unit 111 of the developer terminal 110 and stores the component in a storage device. At this time, as described above, the component database 120 includes a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather and a plurality of pieces of image data having a predetermined attribute in the same component group, and a plurality of pieces of image data representing the same weather. The plurality of image data having different predetermined attributes are included in different component groups and stored.

  In step S201 (component extraction processing) in FIG. 4, the component extraction unit 141 of the user terminal 140 receives an operation for selecting one component group from the plurality of component groups described above from the user by the input device, and One component group and other components (excluding unselected component groups) are extracted by the processing device.

  The processing after step S202 in FIG. 4, the processing in steps S301 to S303 in FIG. 6, and the processing in step S401 in FIG. 9 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, components having different attributes can be selected as appropriate in a batch, even for components that represent the same information, according to the purpose of the movie, the system configuration of the movie playback side, etc. This improves convenience.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, you may implement combining 2 or more embodiment among these. Alternatively, one of these embodiments may be partially implemented. Or you may implement combining two or more embodiment among these partially.

  100 image generation system, 110 developer terminal, 111 component creation unit, 120 component database, 130 weather forecast database, 140 user terminal, 141 component extraction unit, 142 screen definition unit, 143 data transmission unit, 150 database server, 151 database processing Unit, 160 web server, 161 data receiving unit, 162 weather forecast data extracting unit, 163 image generating unit, 170 viewer terminal, 171 screen output unit, 201 screen, 211, 212, 213, 214 component, 215 data source, 216 Condition, 217 Schedule, 301 screen, 302 Title, 303 Scroll, 304 CM, 305 Menu, 306 Main, 307 Link button, 308 Weather forecast, 3 9 image continuous display button, 901 LCD, 902 keyboard, 903 mouse, 904 FDD, 905 CDD, 906 printer, 911 CPU, 912 bus, 913 ROM, 914 RAM, 915 communication board, 920 HDD, 921 operating system, 922 window system , 923 program group, 924 file group.

Claims (7)

An image generation system that generates a display image including a background image and a plurality of components arranged on the background image,
A weather forecast data storage unit for storing weather forecast data indicating a weather forecast every predetermined unit time by a storage device;
A component storage unit that stores a plurality of component groups each including a plurality of pieces of image data representing different weather as a component;
An operation for selecting one component group from a plurality of component groups stored in the component storage unit by an input device, and a component extraction unit for extracting the one component group from the component storage unit;
A weather forecast data extracting unit for extracting weather forecast data for each predetermined unit time in a predetermined period from the weather forecast data storage unit;
Obtain image data representing the weather of the weather forecast indicated by the weather forecast data extracted by the weather forecast data extraction unit from the component group extracted by the component extraction unit for each predetermined unit time in the predetermined period. An image generation unit that arranges the acquired image data on the background image and generates a display image that displays a weather forecast in the predetermined period by a processing device ;
The component storage unit includes a plurality of image data representing different weather and a plurality of image data having a common predetermined attribute in the same component group, and is a plurality of image data representing the same weather and the predetermined attribute There imaging system characterized that you store included in separate components group a plurality of different image data with each other. The image generation system according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined attribute is at least one of vertical and horizontal lengths, resolution, and data size of image data. Wherein the plurality of image data, Ri Oh image data of a plurality of weather marks representing weather,
Said component storage section, the image generation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined attribute is characterized that you store including one at the same component group the image data of the weather mark for each weather common . The plurality of image data are moving image data whose display contents change with time independently of the background image,
The image generation unit, the image generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that generating a video for displaying the weather forecast in the predetermined period as the display image. The image generation system further includes:
A screen definition unit that accepts an operation for specifying a position at which image data is arranged on the background image for each predetermined unit time in the predetermined period by an input device, and generates screen definition data indicating the position by a processing device With
The image generation unit, for each predetermined unit time in the predetermined period, the image data acquired, and disposed at a position indicated by the created screen definition data in the screen definition section, weather in the predetermined time period The image generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a display image for displaying a forecast is generated. The weather forecast data storage unit stores weather forecast data indicating weather forecasts for a plurality of regions every predetermined unit time,
The image generation system further includes:
An operation for selecting one area from the plurality of areas is received by an input device, and a screen definition unit for generating screen definition data indicating the one area by a processing device is provided.
The weather forecast data extracting section extracts from the weather forecast data storage unit, for each of the predetermined unit time in the predetermined time period, the weather forecast data for the region indicated the created screen definition data in the screen definition section image generation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that. The image generation system further includes:
An operation for specifying an arbitrary period is accepted by the input device, and a screen definition unit for generating screen definition data indicating the period by the processing device is provided.
The weather forecast data extracting unit extracts, from the weather forecast data storage unit, weather forecast data for each predetermined unit time in a period indicated by the screen definition data generated by the screen definition unit. Item 7. The image generation system according to any one of Items 1 to 6 .

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