Distributed digital video processing system

• US 8,532,469 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2011
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Deluxe 3D LLC (Deluxe Corp.), Deluxe Digital Distribution Inc. (Deluxe Corp.), Deluxe Digital Studios, Inc. (Deluxe Corp.), Deluxe Entertainment Services Inc., Deluxe Laboratories LLC, Deluxe Media Inc., Deluxe One, LLC, Softitler Net, Inc., Deluxe Creative Services Inc. (The Framestore Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Mediastudio, Inc.
• Inventors: Fiumi, Morgan
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C
• Assistant Examiner(s): TEKLE, DANIEL T
• Application Number:
  US13/158,274
• Publication Number:
  US 20120315020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 386/278
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/101 Collaborative creation, e.g. joint development of products or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/261 with monoscopic-to-stereoscopic image conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91307 by adding a copy protection signal to the video signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91335 the copy protection signal being a watermark
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/258 Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data arrangements for services using the result on the distributing side of broadcast systems H04H60/66; profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47205 for manipulating displayed content, e.g. interacting with MPEG-4 objects, editing locally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/816 involving special video data, e.g 3D video
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73

Abstract

A project network application can provide functionality for a plurality of worker systems to perform digital video editing so as to at least partially perform two- to three-dimensional conversion of a video. The project network application may, for instance, include tools for performing rotoscoping, depth mapping, object offsetting, occlusion filling, and the like.

Claims

1. A method of performing distributed video processing, the method comprising:

programmatically managing a distributed video editing project by at least;

subdividing frames of a video into a plurality of frame groups, each of the frame groups comprising a subset of the frames, distributing the frame groups to a plurality of worker systems operated by remote workers, such that a given remote worker is provided with electronic access to one or more of the frame groups, and obtaining, via a computer network, processed frame information from the plurality of worker systems, the processed frame information comprising information for adjusting a characteristic of at least some of the frames;

calculating numerical performance ratings for the remote workers based at least partly on performance of the remote workers in producing the processed frame information, said calculating the numerical performance ratings for the remote workers comprising taking into account accuracy of traced objects in one or more of the frames and one or more of the following factors;

on-time performance, work quality, thoroughness, professionalism, accuracy, worker availability, worker infrastructure, worker rate, and a helpfulness factor; and

using the numerical performance ratings to determine how to allocate frames of a subsequent distributed video editing project to at least a portion of the remote workers;

wherein at least said calculating is implemented by a computer system comprising computer hardware.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said distributing comprises assigning a number of the frames to the remote workers based on an estimated throughput of the remote workers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said distributing comprises assigning a number of the frames to the remote workers based on a security level of the video.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said distributing further comprises assigning relatively fewer sequential frames for a higher security level of the video and relatively more sequential frames for a lower security level of the video.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a security feature to at least some of the frames prior to said distributing.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a security feature to at least some of the frames prior to said distributing, wherein the security feature comprises compression of at least some of the frames.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying a security feature to at least some of the frames prior to said distributing, wherein the security feature comprises a digital watermark configured to identify a recipient of a given one of the frames, to thereby enable tracking of potential copyright infringement.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises a plurality of computing devices.

9. A system, including an electronic device, for performing distributed video processing, the system comprising:

a project management module operative to manage a distributed video editing project, the project management module configured to at least;

select workers, based at least partly on numerical performance ratings of the workers, to receive frames of a video for video processing, and obtain processed frame information from the workers, the processed frame information comprising information for adjusting a characteristic of at least some of the frames; and

a worker ratings calculator comprising computer hardware, the worker ratings calculator configured to update the numerical performance ratings of the workers based at least partly on the performance of the workers in producing the processed frame information, wherein the worker ratings calculator is configured to update the numerical performance ratings based on accuracy of traced objects in one or more of the frames and one or more of the following performance factors;

on-time performance, work quality, thoroughness, professionalism, accuracy, worker availability, worker infrastructure, worker rate, and a helpfulness factor;

wherein the project management module is further configured to use the updated performance ratings to select a subset of the workers to receive frames of a subsequent video for video processing.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the project management module is further configured to select the workers by giving a first portion of the workers having higher performance ratings priority access to the frames over a second portion of the workers having lower performance ratings.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the worker ratings calculator is further configured to weight the performance factors differently, wherein weights applied to the performance factors depend on a characteristic of the distributed video editing project emphasized by a provider of the video.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the project management module is further configured to select the subset of the workers to receive the frames of the subsequent video based on the subset of workers achieving updated numerical performance ratings that are greater than the updated numerical performance ratings of other of the workers.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising a security module configured to deter the workers from sharing accounts with other users to thereby deter subcontracting by the workers.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising a digital video editor accessible over a network and configured to provide a user interface for the workers to edit the frames.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the digital video editor comprises features for performing one or more of the following digital editing functions:

rotoscoping, digital restoration, color correction, camera tracking, color balancing, color mapping, color grading, depth grading, occlusion filling, matte painting, and matte cleanup.

16. Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising instructions stored thereon for implementing, in one or more processors, operations for performing distributed video processing, the operations comprising:

selecting workers, based at least partly on numerical performance ratings of the workers, to receive frames of a video for video processing;

obtaining processed frame information from the workers, the processed frame information comprising information for adjusting a characteristic of at least some of the frames;

updating the numerical performance ratings of the workers based at least partly on the performance of the workers in producing the processed frame information, said updating the numerical performance ratings of the workers comprising taking into account accuracy of traced objects in one or more of the frames and one or more of the following factors;

on-time performance, work quality, thoroughness, professionalism, accuracy, worker availability, worker infrastructure, worker rate, and a helpfulness factor; and

using the updated performance ratings to select from the workers a subset of the workers to work on a subsequent video processing project.

17. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 16, wherein said selecting the workers comprises providing the workers with priority access to receive the frames over other workers having lower performance ratings than the performance ratings of the workers.

18. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 16, further comprising paying a higher rate of pay to selected ones of the workers having higher performance ratings than a rate of pay paid to other ones of the workers having lower performance ratings.

19. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 16, wherein said using the updated performance ratings to select a subset of the workers comprises assigning a higher priority project to first ones of the workers having higher performance ratings and a lower priority project to second ones of the workers having lower performance ratings.

20. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 16, wherein the video comprises one or more of the following:

a movie, a television show, and a video game.

21. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 16, in combination with a computer system comprising computer hardware.