Identifiers for digital media

• US 7,929,766 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Johnson, Gary, Marinkovich, Mike, Lindley, Greg, Doll, Evan, Cannistraro, Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu; Jingge
• Assistant Examiner(s): Koziol; Stephen R
• Application Number:
  US11/760,713
• Publication Number:
  US 20080304747A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,411 Days
• Field of Search: 382/181, 382/183, 382/184, 382/209
• US Class Current: 382/183
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/80 Indexing information stored in optical or magnetic or other strip attached to cassette or disc, e.g. barcodes attached to a recording medium
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/105 of operating discs

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes receiving a piece of content, wherein the piece of content comprises a machine-readable identifier, identifying the machine-readable identifier in the piece of content, and associating the machine-readable identifier to the piece of media content.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of processing digital content, the method comprising:

receiving an item of digital content, the received item corresponding to a section of a template, the template being configured to provide guidance for recording content relating to successive events, the received item including a machine-readable identifier that is embedded in and descriptive of the digital content such that the machine-readable identifier embedded in the item of digital content corresponds to the section of the template;

reading the machine-readable identifier embedded in the digital content;

associating the received item of digital content to the section of the template to which the read machine-readable identifier corresponds; and

processing the content of the associated item in accordance with one or more pre-determined criteria associated with the read machine-readable identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating the machine-readable identifier; and

providing the generated machine-readable identifier for including in the item of digital content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the item of digital content is a sequence of digital video frames.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the reading comprises:

scanning each frame in the sequence of digital video frames;

comparing an image of the scanned frame with a stored image of the machine-readable identifier; and

upon detecting that the image of the scanned frame matches the stored image, assigning the scanned image as the machine-readable identifier included in the item of digital content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable identifier includes at least one of a bar code, a text, a number, an image, an audio signal, and an alphanumeric character.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable identifier is positioned at an arbitrary point in the digital content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing includes arranging the item of digital content relative to other processed items of digital content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing includes storing the item of digital content in a repository.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing includes editing the item of digital content.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein a template configuration includes a story line.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the template includes one or more sections corresponding to respective events of the story line.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the template configuration includes a theme.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium bearing instructions to enable one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

receiving an item of digital content, the received item corresponding to a section of a template, the template being configured to provide guidance for recording content relating to successive events, the received item including a machine-readable identifier that is embedded in and descriptive of the digital content such that the machine-readable identifier embedded in the item of digital content corresponds to the section of the template;

reading the machine-readable identifier embedded in the digital content;

associating the received item of digital content to the section of the template to which the read machine-readable identifier corresponds; and

processing the content of the associated item in accordance with one or more pre-determined criteria associated with the read machine-readable identifier.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 further comprising:

generating the machine-readable identifier; and

providing the generated machine-readable identifier for including in an item of digital content.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10 wherein the item of digital content is a sequence of digital video frames.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the reading comprises:

scanning each frame in the sequence of digital video frames;

comparing an image of the scanned frame with a stored image of the machine-readable identifier; and

upon detecting that the image of the scanned frame matches the stored image, assigning the scanned image as the machine-readable identifier included in the item of digital content.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the machine-readable identifier includes at least one of a bar code, a text, a number, an image, an audio signal, and an alphanumeric character.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the machine-readable identifier is positioned at an arbitrary point in the digital content.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the processing includes arranging the item of digital content relative to other processed items of digital content.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the processing includes storing the item of digital content in a repository.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the processing includes editing the item of digital content.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein a template configuration includes a story line.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22, wherein the template includes one or more sections corresponding to respective events of the story line.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the template configuration includes a theme.

25. A system comprising:

a memory device configured to store a sequence of digital video frames and images of a plurality of machine-readable identifiers;

a data processor communicatively coupled with the memory device, the data processor configured to perform operations comprising;

access the sequence of digital video frames, wherein the accessed sequence of digital video frames corresponds to a section of a template, the template configured to provide guidance for recording content relating to successive events, wherein the accessed sequence of digital video frames includes a machine-readable identifier from among the plurality of machine-readable identifiers that is embedded in and is descriptive of the sequence of digital video frames such that the embedded machine-readable identifier corresponds to the section of the template;

read the embedded machine-readable identifier;

associate the accessed sequence of digital video frames to the section of the template to which the read machine-readable identifier corresponds; and

process the content of the associated sequence of digital video frames in accordance with one or more predetermined criteria associated with the read machine-readable identifier.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the data processor is further configured to

generate the machine-readable identifier;

and

provide the generated machine-readable identifier for including in the sequence of digital video frames.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein to read the machine-readable identifier the data processor is configured to

scan each frame in the sequence of digital video frames;

compare an image of the scanned frame with a stored image of the machine-readable identifier; and

in response to a determination that the image of the scanned frame matches the stored image, assign the scanned image as the machine-readable identifier included in the sequence of digital video frames.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein the machine-readable identifier includes at least one of a bar code, a text, a number, an image, an audio signal, and an alphanumeric character.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the machine-readable identifier is positioned at an arbitrary point in the sequence of digital video frames.

30. The system of claim 25, wherein to process the content of the associated sequence of digital video frames the data processor is configured to arrange the sequence of digital video frames relative to other processed sequences of digital video frames.

31. The system of claim 25, wherein to process the content of the associated sequence of digital video frames the data processor is configured to store the sequence of digital video frames in a repository hosted on the memory device.

32. The system of claim 25, wherein to process the content of the associated sequence of digital video frames the data processor is configured to edit the sequence of digital video frames.

33. The system of claim 25, wherein a template configuration includes a story line.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the template includes one or more sections corresponding to respective events of the story line.

35. The system of claim 25, wherein the template configuration includes a theme.