Resource Consortium Limited

Lucasarts Entertainment Company

Coolernet

Peter N McConnell

Michael Z Land

Michael J McMahon

A multimedia authoring and playback system and method in which the playback of multimedia content is presented in one or more windows or displays called 'playback displays,' and in which additional windows or displays called 'control displays' are included in some embodiments to provide various management and control functions. Included are features for creating, editing and distributing multimedia content, which may be viewed by recipients who play the content (and in some cases may be allowed to modify it); also included are features for programming playback behavior of multimedia content, interconnecting multimedia content, and exploring and navigating through multimedia content.

System and method for multimedia authoring and playback

A system and method for authoring and playback of multimedia content together with sharing, interconnecting and navigating the content using a computer network is disclosed. Creation, presentation and sharing of multimedia content and applications takes place within an active authoring environment, where data is always 'live,' and any piece of content can be played alongside any other piece of content at any time. In this environment, there are no formal delineations between one 'presentation' and another based on such things as file boundaries, other data storage constructs or the like. Instead, any piece of content can potentially be part of the &#x201c;current&#x201d; presentation at any time simply by being &#x201c;started.&#x201d; As a result, three factors become critically important: (1) the framework in which content is organized, stored and distributed; (2) the control mechanisms by which content is played and presented, and (3) as with any authoring system, the methods and means by which users create and edit content. In each of these areas, the present invention makes significant innovations which are highly complementary, resulting in a new type of software application that seamlessly integrates authoring, playback and networking in an active, shared, rich media environment optimized for personal communications.

A computer entertainment system is disclosed for dynamically composing a music sound tract in response to dynamic and unpredictable actions and events initiated by a directing system in a way that is aesthetically appropriate and natural. The system includes a composition database having one or more musical sequences. One or more of the one or more musical sequences has one or more decision points. The decision points within the database comprise a composing decision tree, with the decision points marking places where branches in the performance of the musical sequences may occur. A sound driver interprets each decision point within the one or more musical sequences. The sound driver conditionally responds to the interpreted decision points depending on the unpredicted actions and events initiated by the directing system. It is also contemplated that the directing system may directly query the state of the sound driver and adjust the activities of the directing system based on the results of the query. Other direct commands may be initiated by the directing system for controlling the performance of the sound driver.

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Berkely, CA, United States of America

Peter N McConnell