Status on 20th June 2008

** Object detection module is being tested using different test cases to reach a general threshold that will be applied to all videos.
** Frame based video summarizing is being integrated into project framework.
** Testing of object tracking module continues after solving some problems related to reading image from file and representation of image pixels in java language.
** Implementation of background completion is still in progress.

Status on 18th June 2008

What we accomplished today:
1. Numerical gradient function is implemented in java language. The rest of background completion code is being implemented.
2. Code for third feature is written and tested on groups of images. The difficulty is to choose an acceptance threshold that is general enough to work with all videos. It will be determined through many trials and observing the resulting values.
3. Deformable Contour code is being tested to verify its correctness. The problem is that the resulting image is a rotated version from the correct one. We are currently investigating the reasons behind this strange error.

Meeting and Distributed Tasks

We started work today after we took a one day rest. We really needed this rest to refresh and get prepared for working in VideoSurgeon. We had a meeting today and distributed tasks on every team member, which will be delivered on Thursday 19th June. These tasks are:
1. Testing the object tracking module: We are using the "Deformable Contour" technique to track the object among frames. It is a well known technique, so we were able to find it implemented in C language. That was followed by writing our code in Java language. Now we need to test it to ensure it provides the required functionality. It will be tested individually first, then it should be integrated into the project framework.
2. Integrating object detection module with the framework and testing it: Object detection module has been individually tested before, so it will be now integrated into the project framework and tested again inside it. We will have of course to solve any problems that might arise after integration.
3. Implementing the frame based summarizing feature: The code for this feature has not been written yet. So we will start implementing it. We already agreed before on the algorithm that will be used. It is based on having a reference frame which will be subtracted from the rest of frames. If the result of subtraction exceeds a certain threshold, the frame will be added to the video summary, else it will not be added to the summary since it does not contain enough changes.
4. Finishing the implementation of the background completion: The code for this module is not yet finished. We need to complete it since it provides an important functionality. We have a Matlab code that implements the technique we are using, so we are converting this code into a Java code in an object oriented style of course. The difficulty we are facing is that Matlab has many ready made functions that provides certain mathematical functionalities, which do not exist in Java. We are trying to overcome this problem by using ready made libraries for Java that deal with matrices and provides mathematical functions to be more efficient than implementing them from scratch.

End of Final Exams :D + Start of Hard Work :)

We are very glad to announce that we finished our final exams today. The date of June 15th, 2008 is really a remarkable day in our lives! This also means we are now fully devoted to completing VideoSurgeon, whose delivery due date is on 14th July, 2008. We had a meeting with our supervisor today to agree on work plan. The first priority will be to provide the required functionality even without superior performance. The next stage will be to enhance the accuracy, runtime, and any other performance issues. So, we will now continue working on background completion and object tracking modules since they are the key to features provided. Wait for our daily posts!

Getting ready for the final exams+Numerical Gradient

We are currently studying for our final exams that will start on 25 May and end on 15 June.... what gives us hope inside all the pressure and bordem we suffer from while studying is this is the last time we will study for finals exams... ofcourse we don't have time to work on VideoSurgeon now. We managed befrore studying to integrate the object detection module into the module that dissembles the video into frames and allows the user to select the required object contour. We also wrote the code for object tracking module but we still need to test them all. We also started to code the background completion module. There is a function in Matlab that calculates the numerical gradient of a matrix. We need it in the background completion, so we want to know how it is calcualted to implement it in Java. Until we stopped we didn't figure out how to write it. If you know any information about it please don't hesitate to tell us. Pray for us to do well in our exams!

Current Status

It has been a long time since our last post on the blog... this is due to being very busy. We were busy studying for the midterms, then we were working in the term projects. In case you don't know, almost all subjects we study in our deprtment have either a project or presentation or a report... this makfes us live in a great pressure trying to catch up with all the due dates (they often come in the same week, and sometimes there is overlappting delivery dates). We also had to stop working in VideoSurgeon because the term work was taking all our time. Now we delivered the last project of this term, and there is a week or more before our final exams. What we are trying to do is to take a little time before our finals to work on VideoSurgeon then we will leave it again to study for the finals. The delivery of VideoSurgeon will be a month after our final exams finish, so we are sure this month will be full of nothing but HARD WORK. We want to implement the basic modules in VideoSurgeon before the final exams so that during the month after exams we can integrate all the softwre modules, perform testing, fix any bugs that may appear, and make the required documentation. The modules we are working on now are "Background Completion" and "Object Tracking".

Creating a prototype for VideoSurgeon

Our aim now is to create a prototype for Videosurgeon. This prototype includes opening video, convert it into frames (images), pause at any time and select an object and gather the frames again into a new video.
This prototype is helpful to know if the design is correct or not and if the available materials is enough or we need to investigate more.
For more details contact: ka.nabil@yahoo.com, comp_eng2008@yahoo.com

More image processing algorithms :)

In the stage of studying the project in more details, we got that we will use not a small number of algorithms to implement it.
dealing with videos is not easy like images. we first convert the video into frames, then use the livewire technology to get the targeted object. We then use tracking algorithms and object detection algorithms to get the object in all frames. Then a background completion and filling algoriths to complent the removed object's place.
the total number of used algorithms exceeds 10 algorithms. The aim is to get correct, accurate and fast results, so we take time to study every algorithm in details.

studing details

Now, we started to understand more details about techniques to be used in the implementation. the main aim from this step is to construct a strong design based on what is available to be used.
we search in many points such as: converting video into frames, gathering frames to get the video again, capturing a specific frame, remove a specific frame, and how to track an object along the frames.
for more details contact: engineer_saso@yahoo.co.uk or ka.nabil@yahoo.com
We find also a helpful materials for summarizing videos.

VideoSurgeon is participating in ICT

VideoSurgeon is participating in ICT event. We were accepted by the MIE "Made In Egypt" organizers to show our project in this important event.
ICT is held on Cairo International Conference Center (CICC) from February 24, 2008 to February 27, 2008, every day from 10:00 Am to 8:00 Pm.
Hope for VideoSurgeon to gain a lot of the event's guests.

Another phase completed

After finishing the initiation phase for VideoSurgeon, planning phase was completed.
In the planning phase, a full time plan was put till the first week of July, 2008. It is planned to complete the VideoSurgeon tool max at July, 15 2008.
Requirement specification phase was also completed. Many thing were determined in this phase, such as: the functional requirements, limitations, constraints, VideoSurgeon' s features and its scenarios.
Now, a detailed investigation is done for the used techniques to construct a strong tool

Alexandria day

On February 2, 2008, two of our group went to present our project on Alexandria, on Alex library.
it was a good chance to get feedback and comments on the project. Responses were good enough to make us happy :)

First phase completed

Now, we finished the Initiation phase for our project. This phase contains problem definition, project description, project scope, vision, mission and investigation.
we almost finished the planning phase also (around 70% is completed). we created a Work Break down Structure (WBS) so that we control our time correctly.
we will finish our WBS first, and thus planning phase is completed. we will then start on the requirement specification phase trying to finish it on at most one week
for more details, contact eng_monamohamed @yahoo.com

VideoSurgeon is competing....let the show begin

VideoSurgeon is a software editing tool. the project is our graduation project from Cairo University, Faculty Of Engineering, Computer Engineering Department.
VideoSurgeon tool is participating in MIE "Made In Egypt"competition which aims to decrease the gab between business world and university education.
we succeeded to get ITWORX and IBM companies as sponsors.
we got rank one in ITWORX classification for the presented projects. we are trying to get support as much as we can to be able to finish the project at most on the first week of July,2008

?what is this about

object removal is one of the key technique in video editing.
:our project is a video editing tool that enables some feature like
1. extracting or removing objects from video
2. extracting specific frames from the video and gather them in a new video
3. frame based summarizing
these features enables us to remove any unwanted feature in videos

we created this blog at 28/1/2008