Synchronous data tracks in a media editing system

• US 8,559,793 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avid Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avid Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Wallace, Ron
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Huy T
• Assistant Examiner(s): ADAMS, EILEEN M
• Application Number:
  US13/116,744
• Publication Number:
  US 20120301112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 873 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 386/278
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/031 Electronic editing of digitised analogue information signals, e.g. audio or video signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8205 involving the multiplexing of an additional signal and the colour video signal

Abstract

A media editing system provides an editor with full visibility and editing capability for synchronous data that is adjunct to audio and video. The data tracks include one or more streams of data packets, each stream being of a particular data type. Synchronous data tracks are displayed on the timeline, facilitating data track editing independent of the associated media tracks. The UI also enables selective playback and export of the data tracks along with the corresponding video and audio. The system also enables data streams to be filtered and combined. Data from the data tracks can be extracted and imported into a media asset management system, enabling the data to be searched.

Claims

1. A method of editing a time-based media composition using a media editing software application, wherein the composition includes at least one media track and at least one data track, the method comprising:

displaying a timeline representing a current state of the media composition, wherein the timeline includes the at least one media track and the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, wherein each of the data packets occupies a unique time address corresponding to a media element on the media track;

enabling a user of the media editing software application to perform a first editing operation to the time-based media composition, wherein the first editing operation comprises a media editing operation and is applied to both the at least one media track and the at least one data track, thereby maintaining unaltered a temporal relationship between the at least one media track and the at least one data track; and

enabling the user of the media editing software application to perform a second editing operation to the media composition, wherein the second editing operation comprises one of a media editing operation applied to the at least one media track and a data editing operation applied to the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, and wherein a temporal relationship between at least a portion of the at least one media track and the at least one data track is altered by the second editing operation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second editing operations includes moving at least one boundary of a segment of the composition.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second editing operations includes altering a temporal location within the composition of a segment of the composition.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the time-based media composition is a video composition.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the media element is a video frame.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the time-based media composition is an audio composition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data track includes a track referencing text data.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the text data is one of the set consisting of closed captions, open captions, subtitles, and teletext.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data track includes a track referencing film metadata.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data track includes a track referencing camera data.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling a user to combine data referenced by at least one data track and at least one media track into a combination media stream, and to output the combination media stream.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one data track includes a plurality of data streams, further comprising enabling a user to select and output a subset of the plurality of data streams.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling a user to convert data referenced by the at least one data track into a form that is searchable by a media asset management system, and storing the converted data in a database.

14. A computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium with computer program instructions encoded thereon, wherein the computer program instructions, when processed by a computer, instruct the computer to perform a method of editing a time-based media composition, wherein the composition includes at least one media track and at least one data track, the method comprising;

displaying a timeline representing a current state of the media composition, wherein the timeline includes the at least one media track and the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, wherein each of the data packets occupies a unique time address corresponding to a media element on the media track;

enabling a user of the computer to perform a first editing operation to the time-based media composition, wherein the first editing operation comprises a media editing operation and is applied to both the at least one media track and the at least one data track, thereby maintaining unaltered a temporal relationship between the at least one media track and the at least one data track; and

enabling the user of the computer to perform a second editing operation to the media composition, wherein the second editing operation comprises one of a media editing operation is applied to the at least one media track and a data editing operation applied to the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, and wherein a temporal relationship between at least a portion of the at least one media track and the at least one data track is altered by the second editing operation.

15. A system for editing a time-based media composition, the system comprising:

a memory for storing computer-readable instructions; and

a processor connected to the memory, wherein the processor, when executing the computer-readable instructions, causes the media composition system to perform a method of editing a media composition, wherein the composition includes at least one media track and at least one data track, the method comprising;

displaying a timeline representing a current state of the media composition, wherein the timeline includes the at least one media track and the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, wherein each of the data packets occupies a unique time address corresponding to a media element on the media track;

enabling a user of the system to perform a first editing operation to the time-based media composition, wherein the first editing operation comprises a media editing operation and is applied to both the at least one media track and the at least one data track, thereby maintaining unaltered a temporal relationship between the at least one media track and the at least one data track; and

enabling the user of the system to perform a second editing operation to the media composition, wherein the second editing operation comprises one of a media editing operation applied to the at least one media track and a data editing operation applied to the at least one data track, wherein the data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, and wherein a temporal relationship between at least a portion of the at least one media track and the at least one data track is altered by the second editing operation.

16. A method of editing a media composition using a media editing software application, wherein the media composition includes at least one media track and at least two data tracks, the method comprising:

displaying a timeline representing a current state of the media composition, wherein the timeline includes the at least one media track and the at least two data tracks, wherein each data track references at least one data stream comprising a stream of data packets, wherein each of the data packets occupies a unique time address corresponding to a media element on the media track, and wherein each of the packets within a given stream are characterized by a common data type, and wherein each of a first data track and a second data track includes a data stream of a first data type;

enabling a user of the media editing software application to perform an editing operation to the media composition, wherein the editing operation comprises one of a media editing operation applied to the at least one media track and a data editing operation applied to one or more of the at least two data tracks, and wherein a temporal relationship between at least a portion of the at least one media track and the one or more edited data tracks is altered by the editing operation; and

enabling the user of the media editing software application to select one of the data stream of data packets of the first type from the first data track and the data stream of data packets of the first type from the second data track, wherein the selected data stream is selectively included in at least one of playback or export of the media composition.