System and method for indexing, searching, identifying, and editing portions of electronic multimedia files

• US 7,624,337 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2001
• Issued: 11/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Scenera, Inc.
• Original Assignee: VMark, Inc. (VALID Soluciones Tecnológicas SA)
• Inventors: Chung, Min Gyo, Choi, Hyungseok, Kim, Hyeokman, Sull, Sanghoon, Yoon, Ja-Cheon
• Primary Examiner(s): RUTLEDGE, AMELIA L
• Application Number:
  US09/911,293
• Publication Number:
  US 20020069218A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,046 Days
• Field of Search: 715/501.1, 715/500.1, 715/512, 715/723, 715/201, 715/202, 715/203, 709/231
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/71 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7844 using original textual content or text extracted from visual content or transcript of audio data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7847 using low-level visual features of the video content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/7867 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, title and artist information, manually generated time, location and usage information, user ratings
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4092 Image resolution transcoding, e.g. by using client-server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/20 Disc-shaped record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/28 by using information signals recorded by the same method as the main recording G11B27/22 takes precedence
• 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

Abstract

A method and system are provided for tagging, indexing, searching, retrieving, manipulating, and editing video images on a wide area network such as the Internet. A first set of methods is provided for enabling users to add bookmarks to multimedia files, such as movies, and audio files, such as music. The multimedia bookmark facilitates the searching of portions or segments of multimedia files, particularly when used in conjunction with a search engine. Additional methods are provided that reformat a video image for use on a variety of devices that have a wide range of resolutions by selecting some material (in the case of smaller resolutions) or more material (in the case of larger resolutions) from the same multimedia file. Still more methods are provided for interrogating images that contain textual information (in graphical form) so that the text may be copied to a tag or bookmark that can itself be indexed and searched to facilitate later retrieval via a search engine.

Claims

1. A method of generating and using a multimedia bookmark for a position selected within a multimedia file of a multimedia content, comprising:

generating bookmark position information identifying a selected position within said multimedia file;

generating a title or image representing said selected position;

linking said title or image and said bookmark position information to stored profile information for said multimedia file and variations of said multimedia content, wherein said profile information includes an offset and a scale of each of a plurality of multimedia files containing said content with respect to a master file of said multimedia content;

invoking the multimedia bookmark; and

calculating a playback position of a playback file based on said bookmark position information, where said calculating comprises;

2. The method of claim 1 additionally comprising, prior to said generating position information:

selecting a multimedia file;

playing said selected multimedia file; and

invoking an add-bookmark command.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said linking includes linking to an offset table containing offset values for cases where frame skipping occurs.

4. The method of claim 3 additionally comprising computing the offset values stored in said offset table by:

choosing a referential segment;

aligning the start position of said referential segment in a master file with the start position of said referential segment in a slave file; and

computing the difference in start times.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said choosing a referential segment includes using video matching techniques to locate a segment in a video bounded by two specific boundaries.

6. A method of locating a playback position in a multimedia playback file based on a multimedia bookmark generated in connection with a bookmarked multimedia file, said method comprising:

selecting a multimedia file, referred to as a playback file;

invoking a multimedia bookmark from which a bookmarked position can be determined, additionally, by using said multimedia bookmark, enabling access to an offset and a scale for each of said playback file and said bookmarked multimedia file from which said multimedia bookmark was generated;

determining a time scale ratio from said scale for said playback file and said scale for said bookmarked file; and

calculating a playback position based on said bookmarked position, said time scale ratio, said offset for said playback file, and said offset for said bookmarked file;

wherein said calculating comprises;

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said enabling access includes enabling access to an offset table containing offset values for cases where frame skipping occurs.

8. The method of claim 7 additionally comprising computing the offset values stored in said offset table by:

choosing a referential segment;

aligning the start position of said referential segment in a master file with the start position of said referential segment in a slave file; and

computing the difference in start times.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said choosing a referential segment includes using video matching techniques to locate a segment in a video bounded by two specific boundaries.