Patent ID: 8085302

Claim:
A computer-implemented process for generating a video using a single digital video camera that tracks a person or object of interest moving in a scene, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions: on a periodic basis, tracking the movement of a person or object of interest in a scene, determining if the movement of the person or object being tracked has been detected within a prescribed period of time, whenever the movement has not been detected within the prescribed period of time, zooming the video camera out to a prescribed minimum level so as to maximize the field of view, whenever the movement has been detected within the prescribed period of time, digitally tracking the person or object of interest within the last frame captured by the video camera by identifying a cropping region defined as a prescribed-sized sub-region of the last frame captured by the video camera that shows at least part of the person or object of interest whenever the detected motion indicates the person or object being tracked is shown completely within a prescribed-sized portion of the last frame captured by the video camera, and mechanically tracking the person or object of interest by mechanically panning the video camera in some circumstances where the detected motion indicates the person or object being tracked is not shown completely within the prescribed-sized portion of the last frame captured by the video camera so as to show at least part of the person or object of interest in an identified cropping region of the last frame captured by the video camera after the mechanical panning is complete; and generating a video that shows the person or object of interest as that person or object moves through the scene by making each consecutive one of said identified cropping regions a consecutive frame of the video.