Automatic generation of video from structured content

• US 10,283,164 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2018
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sundaysky Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Sundaysky Incorporated
• Inventors: Axen, Yaniv, Weller, Shmuel
• Primary Examiner(s): Chevalier, Robert
• Application Number:
  US15/959,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20180240500A1
• Time in Patent Office: 379 Days
• Field of Search: 386278, 386281, 386262, 386290, 386291
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/031 Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/32 on separate auxiliary tracks of the same or an auxiliary record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/322 used signal is digitally coded
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25866 Management of end-user data customer care in data networks H04L41/5077
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4668 for recommending content, e.g. movies
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6543 for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording remote booting in general G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8153 comprising still images, e.g. texture, background image
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/816 involving special video data, e.g 3D video
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8173 End-user applications, e.g. Web browser, game
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8543 using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17327 with deferred transmission or handling of upstream communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 the additional signal being at least another television signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8233 the additional signal being a character code signal

Abstract

Apparatus for generation of playable media from structured data, comprises a structured data reading unit for reading in of content of a first structure, a transformation unit for transforming said content into a second structure, said transformation comprising incorporating media play instructions, and a rendering unit for rendering content from the second structure using said media play instructions to generate playable media from the content.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a structured data reading unit comprising at least one processor, the structured data reading unit configured to;

receive a request for a customized video that is customized for a subject, and

access, based on receipt of the request for the customized video that is customized for a subject, structured data, the structured data comprising an assembly of media elements and the assembly being specific to a subject;

a transformation unit comprising at least one processor, the transformation unit configured to;

access a template; and

generate, based on the accessed template and the media elements, a renderable script for a customized video for the subject that includes at least one of the media elements and media play instructions defined by the accessed template; and

a video rendering unit comprising at least one processer, the video rendering unit configured to;

render the customized video for the subject based on the renderable script automatically generated by the transformation unit,

wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request for the customized video and without human intervention between the receipt of the request and the rendering of the customized video.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur in real-time.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the structured data reading unit is configured to receive the request for the customized video by receiving a request from a viewer to view the customized video; and

the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request to view the customized video from the viewer and without human intervention between the receipt of the request to view the customized video from the viewer and the rendering of the customized video.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the media play instructions defined by the accessed template allow for a choice among additional media elements to integrate with the at least one of the media elements and wherein the transformation unit is further configured to choose, from among the additional media elements, a subset of the additional media elements to integrate with the at least one of the media elements based on the structured data and generate the renderable script for the customized video by integrating the subset of additional media elements with the at least one of the media elements.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the transformation unit comprises a feature selector configured to select between different play possibilities or play instructions.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the transformation unit comprises a mapping unit configured to map the media elements into a tree with branches and the feature selector is configured to select a subset of the branches to use in the customized video.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the template comprises a format that defines rules and decision points that allow the transformation unit to generate a variety of videos based on different structured data and wherein the transformation unit is further configured to generate the renderable script for the customized video based on the format defined by the template.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the template defines building blocks of a video scene and wherein the transformation unit is further configured to generate the renderable script for the customized video by selecting a subset of the building blocks based on the structured data and integrating the subset of the building blocks with the at least one of the media elements.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the transformation unit and the video rendering unit are configured to dynamically continue to render the customized video after play of the customized video has started.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the structured data reading unit is configured to access the structured data from a product database;

the subject is a product;

one of the media elements represents a price for the product; and

the customized video is a product video that displays the price of the product.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the subject is a user;

one of the media elements represents information related to the user; and

the customized video is a user-specific video that displays the information related to the user.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein to render the customized video for the subject, the video rendering unit is configured to render a customized video for the subject that includes scene changes including cut and fade, camera instructions including pan and zoom, and filler material to link between scenes according to a storyboard.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the media elements comprise text and wherein the transformation unit comprises a text-to-speech engine to render the text as speech in the customized video.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the media elements comprise an image and wherein the renderable script comprises instructions to combine information with the image.

15. A method comprising:

receiving a request for a customized video that is customized for a subject;

accessing, based on receipt of the request for the customized video that is customized for a subject, structured data, the structured data comprising an assembly of media elements and the assembly being specific to a subject;

accessing a template;

generating, based on the accessed template and the media elements, a renderable script for a customized video for the subject that includes at least one of the media elements and media play instructions defined by the accessed template; and

rendering the customized video for the subject based on the renderable script automatically generated,

wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request for the customized video and without human intervention between the receipt of the request and the rendering of the customized video.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur in real-time.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein:

receiving a request for a customized video comprises receiving a request from a viewer to view the customized video, and

the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request to view the customized video from the viewer and without human intervention between the receipt of the request to view the customized video from the viewer and the rendering of the customized video.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the media play instructions defined by the accessed template allow for a choice among additional media elements to integrate with the at least one of the media elements and wherein generating the renderable script comprises choosing, from among the additional media elements, a subset of the additional media elements to integrate with the at least one of the media elements based on the structured data and generating the renderable script for the customized video by integrating the subset of additional media elements with the at least one of the media elements.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein generating the renderable script comprises selecting between different play possibilities or play instructions.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein selecting between different play possibilities or play instructions comprises mapping the media elements into a tree with branches and selecting a subset of the branches to use in the customized video.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the template comprises a format that defines rules and decision points that allow the generation of a variety of videos based on different structured data and wherein generating the renderable script comprises generating the renderable script for the customized video based on the format defined by the template.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the template defines building blocks of a video scene and wherein generating the renderable script comprises generating the renderable script for the customized video by selecting a subset of the building blocks based on the structured data and integrating the subset of the building blocks with the at least one of the media elements.

23. The method of claim 15, the method further comprising dynamically continuing to render the customized video after play of the customized video has started.

24. The method of claim 15, wherein:

accessing structured data comprises accessing structured data from a product database;

the subject is a product;

one of the media elements represents a price for the product; and

the customized video is a product video that displays the price of the product.

25. The method of claim 15, wherein:

the subject is a user;

one of the media elements represents information related to the user; and

the customized video is a user-specific video that displays the information related to the user.

26. The method of claim 15, wherein rendering the customized video for the subject comprises rendering a customized video for the subject that includes scene changes including cut and fade, camera instructions including pan and zoom, and filler material to link between scenes according to a storyboard.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein the media elements comprise text and wherein the method further comprises rendering the text as speech in the customized video.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein the media elements comprise an image and wherein the renderable script comprises instructions to combine information with the image.

29. A system comprising:

a structured data reading unit comprising at least one processor, the structured data reading unit configured to;

receive a request for a customized video that is customized for a subject, and

access, based on receipt of the request for the customized video that is customized for a subject, structured data, the structured data comprising an assembly of media elements and the assembly being specific to a subject;

means for;

accessing a template; and

generating, based on the accessed template and the media elements, a renderable script for a customized video for the subject that includes at least one of the media elements and media play instructions defined by the accessed template; and

a video rendering unit comprising at least one processer, the video rendering unit configured to;

render the customized video for the subject based on the renderable script automatically generated,

wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request for the customized video and without human intervention between the receipt of the request and the rendering of the customized video.

30. A system comprising:

a structured data reading unit comprising at least one processor, the structured data reading unit configured to;

receive a request for a customized video that is customized for a subject, and

access, based on receipt of the request for the customized video that is customized for a subject, structured data, the structured data comprising an assembly of media elements and the assembly being specific to a subject;

a transformation unit comprising at least one processor, the transformation unit configured to;

access a template; and

generate, based on the accessed template and the media elements, a renderable script for a customized video for the subject that includes at least one of the media elements and media play instructions defined by the accessed template; and

means for;

rendering the customized video for the subject based on the renderable script automatically generated by the transformation unit,

wherein the access of the structured data, the access of the template, the generation of the renderable script, and the rendering of the customized video all occur after the receipt of the request for the customized video and without human intervention between the receipt of the request and the rendering of the customized video.