One of the most cherished videos people keep is of their wedding and they are willing to spend thousands for a professional single viewpoint video. I have videoed weddings myself and it’s always difficult to know when to zoom in for close-ups showing facial expression or use a less detailed wide shot to capture everything going on. With today’s technology, there is a way to do both. Imagine having a wedding video where you could change your viewpoint. When the couple is saying their vows in the church you could switch from the traditional side view of the couple and the minister to a zoomed-in high-resolution shot showing every detail of the bride’s face, the groom’s face, mother of the bride’s reaction, or the congregation. Every time you watched the video could be different as you select different combinations of camera views, moving around the church with the click of a mouse all while keeping the same timeline.

I got the idea for the app/program years ago after I videotaped a friend’s wedding. A couple of days later I went into a variety store and noticed the security cameras video monitor showing 12 different camera views in little squares recording together. When playing back the video, any of the squares could be selected to take up the full screen of the monitor.

By using recent off the shelf existing technology it’s possible to develop an app now that would revolutionize the way we take and watch videos, not just for weddings, for all videos.

HERES HOW IT WOULD WORK

• The multi-view app/program is opened and a new file name is created, say “The Big Game”
• Video shot from your camera or cell phone from your seat behind the basket is loaded in “The Big Game” file and automatically given the name camera 1.
• The app would use the time stamp from the video and establish a “timeline template”. Most cameras now time stamp the date and time of every video recorded right down to the second. for example “Jan 28, 2020, 10:55:59 AM – Jan 28,2020, 11:20:06 AM”
• The video you took is saved on the “timeline template” but on a different layer. Similar to photo editing layers.
• The next day, 3 of your friends send you copies of their videos of the same game taken from 3 different locations in the arena.
• You load the 1st of the 3 videos into “The Big Game” file and it’s automatically aligned by its time stamp on the “timeline template”, saved on a different layer and given the name camera 2.
• The same thing is done with the other 2 videos, also saved on different layers and given the default names camera 3 and camera 4
• You can add as many videos as you have room on your hard drive. Each one will be given a different camera number. Because the computer only deals with the playback data on one layer (camera) at a time the CPU is able to handle the highest resolution videos available without getting bogged down.
• If one of the video’s timestamp is outside the original timeline, the original “timeline template” is increased and videos already loaded into the file are adjusted accordingly.
• When all the videos are loaded into the file you click “create multiview video”, and a finished file with the extension “.multiview” is created. In this case, the file name would be “TheBigGame.multiview”
• By opening the completed project with a future program that’s compatible to play “.multiview” files the timeline begins to play
• The view from camera 1 or the lowest camera number available at the start of the “timeline template” is shown by default as a full-screen view on the computer.
• At the bottom of the screen links to all the other available camera views are shown. These links could change depending on whether the camera associated with the link recorded anything at that point on the “timeline template”.
• As the timeline plays clicking the link to another camera changes the on-screen video to show that camera’s point of view.
• A toolbar at the bottom of the screen shows the different camera views available, toggles to pause, fast forward and rewind the timeline playing, as well as a link to settings/edits.

EDITING AND SETTINGS

Clicking the black gear symbol at the bottom right corner of the screen would bring you out of the video and into edit/settings mode. Here you would be able to view a chart showing the “timeline template” (timeline) and each of the camera layers. Videos without a timestamp could be moved manually to match up with the other videos in the timeline. An automatic method would also be available where the audio signature of a 4-second sound clip from a video with no timestamp would be used to match up with one of the other videos. Each camera view could also be edited if you wanted to cut some parts out.

As well as editing video you could also change the camera names that will appear on the screen. “CAM 1, CAM 2, CAM 3, CAM 4” for instance could be changed to “Bride, Groom, Altar, Congregation”.

Another option available would be to record a custom video that changes camera views along the timeline at your personal preselected points. The traditional single-view point video created could be converted to existing video formats, for example, “.mp4”.

Getting back to wedding videos, with today’s technology and advanced software such as facial recognition tracking, multiple cameras mounted on tripods can be operated remotely and wirelessly by one person Videos taken by guests could also be added to the original professionally done videos giving dozens of viewing angles to select from while playing back.

With advances in software, CPU speeds, and Ai, one day soon with enough cameras, computers will be able to recreate events like your wedding in virtual reality. Imagine putting on a pair of VR goggles and headphones and being able to walk around the church during playback of your ceremony. How about sitting at one of your guest’s tables at the reception and listening to the conversations they had.

Dave Lister

listerlogic.com

Note: This is an original idea by me but there may be similar products or patents already.  I am not an expert and take no responsibility for the development of this idea.