Syndicated audio authoring

Abstract

A technique for authoring multimedia presentations is provided such that a user may specify visual data to be displayed during the entirety of the playback of the presentation except for portions that have been defined to display alternate visual data. The authoring workflow utilizes a timeline within which may be placed marker regions with several independently editable parameters.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a mechanism for authoring enhanced multimedia presentations, according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of utilizing a mechanism for authoring enhanced multimedia presentations, according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a computer system on which embodiments of the invention may be implemented.

Claims

1. A method comprising performing a machine-executed operation involving instructions, wherein the machine-executed operation is at least one of: A) sending said instructions over transmission media;B) receiving said instructions over transmission media;C) storing said instructions onto a machine-readable storage medium; andD) executing the instructions;wherein said instructions are instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:receiving input that associates a digital image with an audio selection;receiving input that defines a first set of one or more marker regions;wherein each marker region in the first set of marker regions is associated with an alternate digital image;wherein each marker region in the first set of marker regions is associated with a portion of the audio selection; andduring playback of said audio selection, performing the steps of causing the alternate digital image associated with a marker region to be displayed during playback of the portion of the audio selection that is associated with the marker region; andcausing the digital image to be displayed during portions of the audio selection where no alternate digital image is displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the instructions include instructions for defining marker regions for the audio selection, and setting properties of the marker regions that are defined for the audio selection, in response to input.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: displaying a visual representation of the audio selection along a timeline;displaying visual elements corresponding to the marker regions;placing the visual elements on the timeline in response to user input;receiving user input altering at least one of the size or position, along the timeline, of one or more of the visual elements corresponding to the marker regions;in response to user input, changing properties of the visual elements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple visual elements corresponding to the marker regions may be manipulated at the same time in response to the same user input.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: in response to receiving user input placing at least a portion of a first visual element, corresponding to a marker region, within or overlapping the boundaries of a second visual element corresponding to a second marker region, causing properties of the second marker region to be altered without altering the duration of the first marker region.

6. A method comprising performing a machine-executed operation involving instructions, wherein the machine-executed operation is at least one of: A) sending said instructions over transmission media;B) receiving said instructions over transmission media;C) storing said instructions onto a machine-readable storage medium; andD) executing the instructions;wherein said instructions are instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: receiving input that defines a first set of one or more marker regions having one or more properties;causing to be selected, on a property-by-property basis, which properties of a marker region are activated during playback of the portion of the audio selection associated with the marker region;associating the marker regions with the audio selection.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the instructions include instructions for selecting, on a property-by-property basis, which properties of a marker region are activated during playback of the portion of the audio selection associated with the marker region.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein one of the properties is a property that indicates whether the marker region represents a start of a chapter.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein one of the properties comprises a chapter title

10. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the properties is a property that indicates whether an alternative image has been specified for the marker region.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the properties is a property that indicates whether a designated URL is to be displayed during playback of the portion of the audio selection that corresponds to the marker region.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the instructions include instructions for causing a resource associated with a URL to be retrieved in response to selection of the URL while the URL is displayed during playback of the portion of the audio selection that corresponds to the marker region associated with the URL

13. The method of claim 6, wherein one of the properties is a property that indicates whether a designated URL is to be represented by alternate data.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein the instructions include instructions for: receiving input manipulating a representation of a particular marker region; andcausing properties of the particular marker region to be changed in response to the input.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein the instructions include instructions for: receiving input manipulating a set of two or more representations of a particular marker region; andcausing properties of the particular set of marker regions to be changed in response to the input.

16. The method of claim 6, wherein the properties comprise the time at which the marker region is to begin and end.

17. The method of claim 6, wherein the one of the properties is a property that indicates the duration of the marker region.

18. The method of claim 6, wherein a graphical display of the properties to be altered in response to the input.

19. A method comprising performing a machine-executed operation involving instructions, wherein the machine-executed operation is at least one of: A) sending said instructions over transmission media;B) receiving said instructions over transmission media;C) storing said instructions onto a machine-readable storage medium; andD) executing the instructions;wherein said instructions are instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: associating a first digital image with a media file;displaying a timeline that represents the duration of the media file;associating a marker region with a second digital image;receiving input that associates the marker region with a portion of the timeline; andcausing the first digital image to be displayed during playback of portions of the media file not associated with the portion of the timeline associated with the marker region.

20. A method comprising performing a machine-executed operation involving instructions, wherein the machine-executed operation is at least one of: A) sending said instructions over transmission media;B) receiving said instructions over transmission media;C) storing said instructions onto a machine-readable storage medium; andD) executing the instructions;wherein said instructions are instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of: displaying a timeline that represents the duration of a media file;associating a marker region with a portion of the timeline;receiving input that specifies which properties, of a plurality of available properties, are turned on for the marker region;during playback of the portion of the media file that corresponds to the portion of the timeline, performing one or more operations based on which properties were turned on for the marker region.