Interactive 3D video editing

Abstract

We present a generic and versatile framework for interactive editing of 3D video footage. Our framework combines the advantages of conventional 2D video editing with the power of more advanced, depth-enhanced 3D video streams. Our editor takes 3D video as input and writes both 2D or 3D video formats as output. Its underlying core data structure is a novel 4D spatio-temporal representation which we call the video hypervolume. Conceptually, the processing loop comprises three fundamental operators: slicing, selection, and editing. The slicing operator allows users to visualize arbitrary hyperslices from the 4D data set. The selection operator labels subsets of the footage for spatio-temporal editing. This operator includes a 4D graph-cut based algorithm for object selection. The actual editing operators include cut & paste, affine transformations, and compositing with other media, such as images and 2D video. For high-quality rendering, we employ EWA splatting with view-dependent texturing and boundary matting. We demonstrate the applicability of our methods to post-production of 3D video.