Claims
- 1. A method of generating a file attached to a video e-mail ready for addressing and sending to a recipient, the method comprising:
activating video e-mail software to provide a graphical user interface which governs the preparation of a video clip; providing within the graphical user interface of the video e-mail software a replay function allowing a user of the video e-mail software to replay at least a portion of audio and video data received from at least one of video capture electronics or audio processing electronics; providing within the graphical user interface of the video e-mail software a save function allowing the user of the video e-mail software to save at least a portion of the audio and video data; and providing within the graphical user interface of the video e-mail software a mail function allowing the user of the video e-mail software to generate a video e-mail in an e-mail client, wherein the video e-mail includes a video clip comprising at least a portion of the audio and video data and wherein the e-mail client is separate from the video e-mail software.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a virtual video cassette recorder.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the virtual video cassette recorder further includes at least a play function, a record function, and a stop function.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing within the graphical user interface of the video e-mail software a load function allowing the user of the video e-mail software to load previously saved portions of audio and video data received from at least one of the video capture electronics or the audio processing electronics.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the save function saves the at least a portion of the audio and video data along with an executable player configured to play the saved audio and video data.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the video clip comprises a self-contained executable file.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the self-contained executable file includes an executable player configured to play the audio and video data of the video clip.
- 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising compressing the audio and video data received from at least one of the video capture electronics or the audio processing electronics into a substantially reduced file to avoid the need for storing comparatively large intermediate files.
- 9. A method of generating a video e-mail within an e-mail client with software other than the e-mail client, the method comprising:
executing software which accesses stored multimedia data; executing software which optionally appends a multimedia player to at least a portion of the stored multimedia data, wherein the multimedia player allows a recipient of a video e-mail to review at least the portion of the stored multimedia data; and executing software which passes at least a portion of the stored multimedia data and when appended, the multimedia player, to the e-mail client, thereby generating the video e-mail within the e-mail client with software other than the e-mail client.
- 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the software which optionally appends the multimedia player to the stored multimedia data actually appends the multimedia player to at least the portion of the stored multimedia data.
- 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the software passing the stored multimedia data and optionally the multimedia player, passes an embedded object to the email client.
- 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the multimedia player comprises a graphical user interface controlling player functions.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the player functions include play.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the player functions include stop.
- 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the player functions include pause.
- 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the stored multimedia data is generated by compressing audio and video data received from at least one of the video capture electronics or the audio processing electronics.
- 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the audio and video data is compressed before it is stored to avoid the need for storing comparatively large intermediate files.
- 18. A computer processing system for generating a video e-mail data to be attached to a video e-mail, the computer processing system comprising:
software which accesses multimedia data; software other than an e-mail client which passes at least a portion of the multimedia data to the e-mail client instructing the e-mail client to generate a video e-mail including an attached file including the multimedia data.
- 19. The computer processing system of claim 18, further comprising a processor which executes the software.
- 20. The computer processing system of claim 18, further comprising hardware for communicating with video capture and audio processing electronics.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 from, and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/456,770, filed on Dec. 7, 1999, titled “E-MAIL SYSTEM WITH VIDEO E-MAIL PLAYER,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/995,572, filed on Dec. 22, 1997, titled “E-MAIL SYSTEM WITH VIDEO E-MAIL PLAYER,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,689, which claims a priority benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/048,378 filed Jun. 3, 1997, entitled “VIDEO E-MAIL APPARATUS AND METHOD.”
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60048378 |
Jun 1997 |
US |
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09456770 |
Dec 1999 |
US |
Child |
10388036 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Parent |
08995572 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Child |
09456770 |
Dec 1999 |
US |