Animating Images of Cooking Using Video Examples and Image Deformation

Abstract

We describe a system that allows users to create animations of cooking from a single picture. Here we focus on images of food being cooked, where steam, bubbles, vibrations of the ingredients, and sizzling sounds are important to convey a depiction of cooking. These elements can be expressed more effectively using an animation than using a single image. However, it may be difficult to record a video of cooking, because the heating involved in cooking changes the fresh and colorful appearance of the ingredients. For these reasons, we propose a method for animating an image of cooking using a combination of bubbles and steam videos, and vibrating ingredients using image-deformation techniques. Although existing video editing software can be used for this purpose, there is typically such a large array of parameters that even professional users may have to invest a significant amount of time to create the animation. Our method semi-automatically determines parameters and allows even novice users to quickly and easily create an animation. Our system allows the user to animate a cooking picture using a few sketch-based inputs in less than 10 min.