Avid Technology Limited

Timothy H Claman

Robert A Gonsalves

Albert W Kovalick

Himanshu Shekhar Sinha

Ronald C Wallace

Straker J Coniglio

Stephane Daigle

Shailendra Mathur

Paul A Vercellotti

Christopher M Winsor

Jeffrey A Lomicka

A universal media difference engine generates a change list specifying the edits required to create an edited revision of a media composition from a base version. The difference engine determines the format of the media composition, locates and installs a plug-in corresponding to the format, and uses the plug-in to parse the composition and generate the change list. The supported compositional formats include formats native to specific media editing applications, as well as interoperable formats. The difference engine is able to convert rich change lists expressed in native form to canonical change lists that are compatible with multiple editing applications. Timeline, mixer configuration, and scene graph composition types are supported. Content management system storage requirements are reduced by storing a base version and change lists instead of multiple revisions of the composition. A media composition recreation engine recreates an edited revision by applying a change list to a prior version.

Difference engine for media change management

Near real-time collaborative media production by parties located remotely from each other is facilitated by the described methods. Automated dialog replacement with voice talent, editing system operator, and director located remotely from each other is supported by generating synchronized near real-time feeds for the operator and director. Pre-recorded media played back from the editing system is streamed without delay to the talent. A pre-recorded media feed is also delayed to synchronize it with the incoming talent stream, which was recorded in sync with the pre-recorded media stream when received by the talent. The synchronized feed is output to the operator and streamed to the director. Talkback channels and webcam video with appropriate synchronization delays support communication among the parties. Other methods support automatic punch-in and punch-out of remotely recorded dialog replacement, and automatic contextual switching and overlaying of inter-party communication video based on the state of the media editing application.

Near real-time collaboration for media production

A collaboration server hosts software for collaborative composition and editing of a media project with project collaborators using different media editing applications each having their own native data format. Project collaborators, such as video editors, sound editors, effects and graphics artists, and producers access a shared project workspace which contains a snapshot of the current state of the media project in a canonical format, as well as source media files, native application metadata, and change notes. Each editing application includes a module enabling it to read the canonical snapshot representation, and also to flatten its native data model representation into the canonical representation for writing to the shared project workspace. A collaboration server hosts the shared project space, and includes a workflow manager for issuing change notifications and handling versions, and an application server for the shared project user interface. Change notes are generated manually and also expressed automatically in terms of machine-readable change primitives that serve to direct an editor's attention to portions of the media project needing attention.

Methods and systems for collaborative media creation

Methods and systems for populating a cache memory that services a media composition system. Caching priorities are based on a state of the media composition system, such as media currently within a media composition timeline, a composition playback location, media playback history, and temporal location within clips that are included in the composition. Caching may also be informed by descriptive metadata and media search results within a media composition client or a within a media asset management system accessed by the client. Additional caching priorities may be based on a project workflow phase or a client project schedule. Media may be partially written to or read from cache in order to meet media request deadlines. Caches may be local to a media composition system or remote, and may be fixed or portable.

Application-guided bandwidth-managed caching

A computer-based method for media composition of a family of related time-based media programs. The method involves creating a master program with time-based elements of video and/or audio as well as time-based and non-time-based metadata, creating a derivative program that includes derivative elements, defining an inheritance relationship between the master program and the derivative program that specifies elements of the master program to be inherited by the derivative program, and causing the derivative program to inherit the specified elements from the master program in accordance with the inheritance relationship. User interfaces are provided for creating, editing, and viewing hierarchical trees of related programs.

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Andover, MA, United States of America

Timothy H Claman