US Patent 8451265 Virtual viewpoint animation

In one aspect, images of an event are obtained from a first video camera and a second camera, where the second camera captures images at a higher resolution than the first video camera. A particular image of interest is identified from the images obtained by the first video camera, e.g., based on an operator's command. A corresponding image which has been obtained by the second camera is then identified. The second image is used to depict virtual viewpoints which differ from the real viewpoints of the first and second camera, such as by combining data from a textured 3d model of the event with data from the second image. In another aspect, a presentation includes images from a first camera, followed by an animation of different virtual viewpoints, followed by images from a second camera which has a different real viewpoint of the event than the first camera.