Patent Application
20080243527
The present invention relates generally to the production and distribution of customized media, particularly to the production and distribution of video discs custom produced for a consumer and containing selected movie trailers.
Typically, media such as video discs are mass-produced, mass-marketed, and made available for purchase only after production. In this model, discs are not customized for an individual consumer purchasing the media. While a video disc containing a movie may contain numerous other extras, such as movie trailers, deleted scenes, and other media, these extras are not customized for the individual user purchasing the disc. The consumer experience and value of the video disc could be enhanced if those extras could be customized to the interests and desires of the individual consumer.
Video discs, such as DVDs, are typically only produced in large volume. Because of costs involved in production, only DVDs of movies that are likely to sell in large quantities are produced. DVDs are distributed primarily where they are likely to be sold, and some DVDs popular in one country or region may not be sold in another country or region. For consumers, there is a growing problem of finding desired movies in the desired media format. A consumer may seek movies that are not commercially popular or not readily available in stores, such as obscure movies or movies from foreign markets.
These problems are compounded by the proliferation of competing media formats. Video can now be stored on DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, HD-DVD, Universal Media Disc, or other formats. A movie may not be readily available in the format desired by a consumer.
A custom media selection and production system and methods have been disclosed. A method comprises providing customized media, wherein the content and format of the custom media are customized for each order.
The invention will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference designators are used to identify like elements and in which:
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the various inventive concepts disclosed herein. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in order to practice the various inventive concepts disclosed herein.
The present invention also relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories, random access memories, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.
The methods presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.
In one embodiment, the consumer interface can be associated with an account, using a log-in process. An account includes a collection of attribute data, browsing requests, and other data that may be stored on consumer database 150. Other data that may be associated with an account may include a history of previous custom media orders.
The consumer interface 110 sends and receives information to catalogue 120. For example, the consumer interface 110 may send a custom media purchase request to the catalogue 120.
A custom media purchase request includes information related to a request to generate custom media. In one embodiment, a custom media purchase request is a request for a particular content element, such as a movie. In another embodiment, a custom media purchase request is for multiple content elements, such as a movie and related audio songs. In yet another embodiment, a custom media purchase request does not specify a specific content element. The consumer interface 110 may also send requests for available media and content to the Catalogue 120.
Custom media refers to any media customized for a particular consumer. In one embodiment, custom media is a video disc containing a movie selected through the consumer interface, accompanied by other media elements such as movie trailers selected by custom media generator 130.
The consumer interface 110 communicates with catalogue 120 through any one of a number of protocols and/or applications including HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol, (FTP), Secure Socket Layers (SSL).
Catalogue 120 includes any computer system that provides information to a consumer interface 110 and communicates with a custom media generator 130. In an embodiment of the present invention, the information provided to the consumer interface 110 is related to media available as custom media, such as available content elements or format. For example, the catalogue 120 may provide a list of movies available as custom media. In another embodiment, the catalogue 120 receives a custom media purchase request from the customer interface 110 and forwards information related to the custom media purchase request to custom media generator 130. In another embodiment, the information provided by the catalogue 120 to the consumer interface 110 is related to customer attributes, such as address, media preference or billing information. In another embodiment, the catalogue 120 receives information related to customer attributes from the consumer interface 110.
To communicate, catalogue 120 may use communications network 101 or any one of a number of protocols and/or applications including HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Secure Socket Layers (SSL), etc., via a TCP/IP connection (not shown in this view) or some other connection well known in the art. The operating system may be Windows®, LINUX, SUN Solaris®, Mac OS or other similar operating system. Catalogue 120 could be built using a combination of technologies such as those from Apache Software (www.apache.org) such as Tomcat servers; Java based technologies such as J2EE, EJB, JBOSS, JDBC; and/or databases such as MySQL. A catalogue 120 may also include other supporting computing software and hardware, for example, databases, computers, and user interface servers.
A communications network 101 includes communications networks, including those based on TCP/IP protocols, Wide Area Networks (WAN), Local Area Networks (LAN), mobile wireless networks, and any other system of interconnection enabling two or more devices to exchange information. In an embodiment of the current invention, catalogue 120, custom media generator 130, external server 140, consumer database 150, content database 160, preferences server 170, and production client 180 may transmit information to one another using communications network 101.
The custom media generator 130 is a computer system that contains software that receives a custom media purchase request from catalogue 120 and generates one or many production manifests. The custom media generator 130 transmits production manifests to a production client 180 for generation of custom media. In another embodiment, the custom media generator 130 may communicate with preferences server 170 and external server 140 to receive information to generate a production manifest.
A production manifest includes information that describe custom media to be produced in response to the custom media purchase request. In an embodiment, a production manifest includes information listing the content elements for the requested custom media. A content element includes data relating to media content of any type (including video, music, text, or image). For example, a content element may be a film, movie trailer, extra movie material, advertisement, musical song, or picture image. In another embodiment, a production manifest includes information listing the format of the custom media. Format includes the type of custom media to be generated. In an embodiment of the present invention, a production manifest may include both content element information and format information. In another embodiment of the present invention, a production manifest may include content elements of different types for one custom media. For example, a custom media may contain video, music, and text.
A format may be HD-DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, DVD, VCD, Universal Media Disc, Windows Media High Definition Disc, LaserDisc, VHS, CD, DVD-Audio, DVD-R or DVD-RAM. In another embodiment of the current invention, a format may refer to a downloadable computer file format, such as Windows Media, Quicktime Video, Apple Audio Compression, MP3, MP4, MPG, or Real Media. In one embodiment, a format may also include widescreen (referring to video displayed using a 16:9 ratio of width to height) or full (referring to video displayed using a 4:3 ratio of width to height).
A custom media generator 130 is built using a combination of technologies such as those from Apache Software (www.apache.org) such as Tomcat servers; Java based technologies such as J2EE, EJB, JBOSS, JDBC; and/or databases such as MySQL. The operating system may be Windows®, LINUX, SUN Solaris®, Mac OS or other similar operating system. A custom media generator 130 may also include other supporting computing software and hardware, for example, databases, computers, and user interface servers.
An external server 140 includes any computer system that provides information to a custom media generator 130. An external server 140 could be built using a combination of technologies such as those from Apache Software (www.apache.org) such as Tomcat servers; Java based technologies such as J2EE, EJB, JBOSS, JDBC; and/or databases such as MySQL. An external server 140 may also include other supporting computing software and hardware, for example, databases, computers, and user interface servers.
Consumer database 150 and content database 160 are computer systems with software that performs information storage, and are not limited to those based on relational database technologies such as SQL. In an embodiment of the current invention, a consumer database 150 stores information related to a user, such as consumer attributes or media browsing history. In another embodiment of the current invention, a content database 160 stores content elements. In yet another embodiment, a content database 160 stores information relating to content elements, such as download location of a content element.
Preferences server 170 includes any computer system that provides information related to a custom media request to a custom media generator 130. The preferences server 170 receives a custom media purchase request. In one embodiment of the current invention, the preferences server 170 requests information from the consumer database 150, the content database 160, or both. In another embodiment of the current invention, the preferences server 170 determines available formats for the requested custom media. In another embodiment of the current invention, the preferences server 170 determines available content elements for the requested custom media A preferences server 170 is built using a combination of technologies such as those from Apache Software (www.apache.org) such as Tomcat servers; Java based technologies such as J2EE, EJB, JBOSS, JDBC; and/or databases such as MySQL.
A production client 180 includes any computer system that includes hardware and software for producing custom media. The production client 180 receives a production manifest from custom media generator 130, produces custom media based on the production manifest, and makes the custom media available. In an embodiment of the present invention, a production client 180 may make custom media available for download over the Internet, by forwarding the custom media to the consumer interface via a mail service such as the United States Postal Service, by forwarding the custom media to a retail outlet for later pick-up, or by making the custom media available at the production client for immediate pick-up. A production client 180 may be built using a combination of technologies such as those from Apache Software (www.apache.org) such as Tomcat servers; Java based technologies such as J2EE, EJB, JBOSS, JDBC; and/or databases such as MySQL. A production client 180 may also include other supporting computer software and hardware, for example, keyboards, touch-sensitive displays output devices, and drives for writing data on DVDs or CDs.
A customer interface 110 sends a custom media purchase request to the catalogue 120 (220). The catalogue 120 receives the custom media purchase request (230). In one embodiment, the catalogue 120 may use details of the custom media purchase request to verify billing information or to charge a bank account, credit card, or user account for the custom media. The catalogue 120 transmits information in the custom media request to the custom media generator 130 (230). The custom media generator 130 creates a production manifest for custom media, as further discussed in
A catalogue 120 receives the browse request from the consumer interface 110 (320). The catalogue responds to the browse request from the consumer interface 110 by transmitting information in response to the browse request (330). In one embodiment, the catalogue responds to the browse request by sending to the consumer interface 110 a list of content elements available on content database 160.
In one embodiment, the catalogue 120 stores browse requests from a consumer interface 110 on consumer database 150 (340). In one embodiment, the browse request is associated with an account. In a further embodiment, the consumer database 150 stores browse requests associated with an account.
Catalogue 120 sends the attribute data to the consumer database 150 (420). The consumer database stores the attribute data (430). In one embodiment, the consumer database 150 associates the data with an account. In another embodiment, attribute data is not associated with any account.
The custom media generator 130 transmits to the content database 160 a request for information about the content elements for the custom media (550). In one embodiment, the custom media generator 130 receives from the content database 160 location information about the custom media content elements. This location information allows a production client to access the content elements. In another embodiment, the custom media generator 130 receives the requested content element from the content database 160.
The custom media generator 130 generates a production manifest containing the content elements for the custom media (560). In another embodiment, the production manifest also specifies a format for the custom media. The custom media generator 130 forwards the production manifest to the production client 180 (570).
In another embodiment, the preferences server requests and receives content selection data from external server 140 (630). In yet another embodiment, the preferences server requests and receives content selection data from more than one external server 140. In one embodiment, content selection data includes data from third parties to associate certain content elements with custom media purchase requests. In one embodiment, content selection data may associate a particular movie trailer with custom media purchase requests for movies. For example, content selection data may associate certain audio content elements with custom media purchase requests for a particular movie. Content selection data may be instructions to include songs from a movie soundtrack on any custom media containing that movie.
The preferences server 170 searches content database 160 for content elements to include on custom media (640). In one embodiment, the preferences server 170 searches for content elements indicated by attribute data, browsing request history or other data received from customer database 150. For example, preferences server 170 may search for movie trailers corresponding to movies in previous browse requests associated with the account making the custom media purchase request. In another example, attribute data may direct a preferences server 170 to search for deleted scenes content elements for a movie custom media. In another embodiment, the preferences server 170 searches for content elements indicated in the content selection data from external server 140. For example a preferences server 170 may search for movie trailers from the same movie studio as the movie found in the custom media purchase request. In another embodiment, the preferences server 170 searches for content elements similar to content elements to the content element requested in the custom media purchase request. For example, if a custom media purchase request indicates a particular movie, a preferences server 170 may search for content elements featuring actors found in the requested movie.
The preferences server creates a list of content elements for the requested custom media (650). The preferences server sends the list of content elements for the requested custom media to the custom media generator (660). In yet another embodiment, the preferences server stores information related to the content elements chosen for of the custom media on consumer database 150. Information related to the content elements of the custom media may be associated with the account ordering the custom media.
The preferences server 170 requests and receives available formats for custom media from the content database 160 (730).
The preferences server 170 determines the available preferred formats for custom media and sends a list of available preferred formats to the custom media generator 130 (740). In an embodiment, the preferences server 170 determines the available preferred formats by determining which preferred formats are available from content database 160.
The production client 180 makes custom media available (830). In one embodiment, the production client 180 is a stand-alone kiosk that creates a DVD or other physical media for pickup by the designated consumer. In another embodiment, the production client 180 is located on the same computer system as consumer interface 110. In another embodiment, the production client 180 is a computer system that creates a DVD or other physical media and sends the DVD or other media via the United States Postal Service, Federal Express, or other mail delivery. In yet another embodiment, a production client 180 may create downloadable computer files and transmit them over the Internet or any other communications link.
A data storage device 927 such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and its corresponding drive may also be coupled to computer system 1900 for storing information and instructions. Architecture 900 can also be coupled to a second I/O bus 950 via an I/O interface 930. A plurality of I/O devices may be coupled to I/O bus 950, including a display device 943, an input device (e.g., an alphanumeric input device 942 and/or a cursor control device 941). For example, a consumer interface 110 may be presented to the user on the display device 943.
The communication device 940 allows for access to other computers (servers or clients) via a network. The communication device 940 may comprise a modem, a network interface card, a wireless network interface or other well known interface device, such as those used for coupling to Ethernet, token ring, or other types of networks.
A custom media production system and methods have been disclosed. Although the present methods and systems have been described with respect to specific examples and subsystems, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that it is not limited to these specific examples or subsystems but extends to other embodiments as well.
