Interface and related methods for reducing source accesses in a development system

• US 20050120304A1
• Filed: 12/20/2004
• Published: 06/02/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Rudolph, Eric H., Miller, Daniel J.
• Granted Patent: US 7,640,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/721
• 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

Abstract

A method of generating a filter graph of a development project is presented comprising identifying a plurality of source clips comprising the development project, wherein each source clip represents an access to a source, and combining two or more accesses for two or more source clips into a single access if the two or more source clips satisfy one or more criteria.

Claims

1. A system for generating a development project, the system comprising:

means for identifying a plurality of source clips comprising the development project, wherein each source clip represents an access to a source;

means for combining two or more accesses for two or more source clips into a single access if the two or more source clips satisfy one or more criteria; and

means for generating a source clip reuse list, denoting source clip timing information, wherein the reuse list is used to generate a composite timeline graph of the development project.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said means for combining one or more clips comprises:

means for identifying accesses to clips which are project and/or source aligned and require common preprocessing from the reuse list based, at least in part, on the source clip timing information; and

means for replacing the multiple accesses in the reuse list with a single access if the one or more criteria is met.

3. A method comprising:

providing a user-defined media processing project, including one or more accesses for clips from one or more sources; and

providing a render engine, responsive to the media processing project to generate a filter graph representation of the user-defined media processing project, wherein the render engine identifies multiple accesses to an associated multiple source clips from a common source, and combines two or more of such source clips which are determined to satisfy one or more criteria.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the render engine generates a source clip reuse list, denoting source clip timing information for all of the clips requested in a development project, wherein the reuse list is used to generate a composite timeline graph of the development project.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the render engine analyzes the source clip reuse list to identify two or more accesses to a common source which satisfy the one or more criteria.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more criteria include one or more of the clips are project time aligned, the clips are source time aligned, and the clips will share a common processing chain.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the render engine combines multiple accesses to a commensurate multiple source clips into a single access of a single source clip representative of the multiple source clips and updates the reuse list accordingly, if the multiple source clips satisfy at least a subset of the one or more criteria.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the render engine generates a filter graph for the user-defined development project reflecting combined source accesses, where possible.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the render engine combines multiple accesses for source clips from a common source into a single access when the source clips satisfy each of the criteria.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the render engine updates the reuse list to reflect the combined source accesses.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the render engine generates a filter graph from the updated reuse list, reflecting the combined source accesses.

12. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed, implement a method comprising:

providing a user-defined media processing project, including one or more accesses for clips from one or more sources; and

providing a render engine, responsive to the media processing project to generate a filter graph representation of the user-defined media processing project, wherein the render engine identifies multiple accesses to an associated multiple source clips from a common source, and combines two or more of such source clips which are determined to satisfy one or more criteria.

13. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein the render engine generates a source clip reuse list, denoting source clip timing information for all of the clips requested in a development project, wherein the reuse list is used to generate a composite timeline graph of the development project.

14. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein the render engine analyzes the source clip reuse list to identify two or more accesses to a common source which satisfy the one or more criteria.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the one or more criteria include one or more of the clips are project time aligned, the clips are source time aligned, and the clips will share a common processing chain.

16. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the render engine combines multiple accesses to a commensurate multiple source clips into a single access of a single source clip representative of the multiple source clips and updates the reuse list accordingly, if the multiple source clips satisfy at least a subset of the one or more criteria.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the render engine generates a filter graph for the user-defined development project reflecting combined source accesses, where possible.

18. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 15, wherein the render engine combines multiple accesses for source clips from a common source into a single access when the source clips satisfy each of the criteria.

19. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the render engine updates the reuse list to reflect the combined source accesses.

20. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 19, wherein the render engine generates a filter graph from the updated reuse list, reflecting the combined source accesses.