Interactive object-based analysis and manipulation of digital video

With the advent of MPEG-4, object-based natural/synthetic hybrid multimedia content is becoming more ubiquitous. In this paper, we address object-based interactive analysis of natural video for editing/authoring natural/synthetic hybrid content. Boundary and local motion of video objects are described by snake and 2-D mesh representations, respectively. The 2-D mesh modeling in effect performs a mapping of a natural video object into a computer graphics representation, namely geometry with motion and a texture map; thus allowing for easy editing of natural video objects using tools already developed in computer graphics. This paper presents the components of a tool designed for interactive video object analysis and editing using graphical models whose syntax and semantics conform with VRML and MPEG-4 standards. The analysis tool is developed using Java and C++, while rendering and editing are performed within VRML or MPEG-4 browsers and authoring tools. Demonstrations of the video analysis and editing are included.