Content-object synchronization and authoring of dynamic metadata

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9788084-B2
Application number	US-201313897272-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 17, 2013
Priority date	Apr 5, 2013
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

A method and system are provided which allow for the standardization of object-oriented metadata for units of supplemental data and the improved association of video assets with objects. By defining such a standard, metadata can be added that addresses the lack of creative control and flexibility for authors of supplemental content and interactive elements. The system provided generates objects and a separate object track which is associated with specific assets in the audio/video tracks of produced content. According to one embodiment, the system provided may be implemented to include a central object database. Each object record may include an object's unique identification, a description of the object, and additional production details. Objects may be defined in local and central databases prior to and even during production. By defining a standard for supplemental and interactive data as objects, common objects may be referenced more efficiently, and the objects themselves may be represented (e.g., in a video editor) graphically and organized with greater efficacy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for producing standardized object-oriented assets, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of media assets chronologically arranged in an asset timeline;
parsing the plurality of media assets to identify a plurality of entities in the plurality of media assets;
referencing a central object database for a plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of entities;
generating an object track comprising a separate timeline of the plurality of objects arranged to correspond to the plurality of entities at one or more pre-defined times; and
distributing a media content timeline that comprises the asset timeline and the object track through a content delivery network to present a first media asset of the plurality of media assets simultaneously with a plurality of viewer-interactive objects of the plurality of objects in a primary display device of a viewer,
wherein a viewer-interactive object comprises a reference to a second media asset of the plurality of media assets, the reference being operable to concurrently present the second media asset in response to a viewer-interaction with the viewer-interactive object during a presentation of the first media asset.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the media content timeline comprises at least one of: an audio track, a video track, and a live recording.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one entity of the plurality of entities comprises an entity identified in a script corresponding to the asset timeline.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the entity comprises at least one of:
an actor;
a character;
an item;
an exchange;
a prop;
a scene;
a setting;
a music number;
a sound;
a written portion of text;
a visual cue;
an audio cue;
a spoken phrase; and
a spoken word.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising exporting the media content timeline.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the referencing a central object database for a plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of entities comprises:
determining a live production of a media asset in the plurality of media assets; and
logging the live production of the media asset to identify an additional one or more entities of the plurality of entities.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising dynamically editing the media content timeline in an instance of a video editing application executing on a computing system.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the dynamically editing the media content timeline comprises editing a plug-in of the video editing application to provide access to the media content timeline.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the dynamically editing the media content timeline comprises changing a relative position of an element in the media content timeline, wherein an association of the plurality of associations between the element and an object of the plurality of objects persists through a change in the relative position of the element.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein changing the relative position of an element in the media content timeline comprises automatically changing a relative position in the object track of the object corresponding to the element.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein retrieving the plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of entities comprises generating a new object for each entity of the plurality of entities without a corresponding object in the central object database.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the generating the new object comprises storing the new object in the central object database.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein accessing a media content timeline comprises generating a plurality of associations between the plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of entities and the plurality of media assets comprised in the media content timeline.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein, the second media asset is displayed in a second display device simultaneously with a presentation of the first media asset in the first display device according to the media content timeline.

15. A system for standardized object-oriented metadata, the system comprising:
a memory:
a plurality of object records stored in the memory and corresponding to a plurality of entities in a plurality of media assets, the plurality of object records comprising:
a unique object identification corresponding to a unit of supplemental data;
a description of the unit of supplemental data;
an identification of a producer of a media asset of the plurality of media assets corresponding to the supplemental data;
an object record database configured to store the plurality of object records;

a processing device configured to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory to implement: an object toolkit application operable to create, modify, and delete an object record from the object record database, and a content editor plug-in operable to provide access to a configuration of a media timeline comprising a chronological arrangement of the plurality of media assets in an asset timeline, and a object track comprising a timeline of the plurality of objects corresponding to the plurality of entities in the plurality of media assets,
wherein the media timeline is delivered via a content delivery network to present a first media asset of the plurality of media assets simultaneously with a plurality of viewer-interactive objects of the plurality of objects in a primary display device of a viewer,
further wherein a viewer-interactive object comprises a reference to a second media asset, the reference being operable to concurrently present the second media asset in response to a viewer-interaction with the viewer-interactive object during a presentation of the first media asset.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the video editing application is further operable to generate the object track corresponding to the asset timeline, the object track comprising a plurality of objects associated with the plurality of entities in the first media asset, each object of the plurality of objects comprising an instantiation of an object record of the plurality of object records.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the video editing application is operable to modify a configuration of the asset timeline by modifying a plurality of relative positions of the plurality of elements in the asset timeline.

18. The system according to claim 17 , wherein a relative position of an object is automatically adjusted to correspond to a change in a relative position of the element in the asset timeline associated with the object.

19. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the object track is operable to generate an association between a plurality of types of rich temporal metadata and the plurality of entities.

20. The system according to claim 19 , wherein a type of rich temporal metadata comprises at least one of:
a plurality of dynamic Active Format Description (AFD) flags;
a plurality of scene changes;
a plurality of commercial position start times;
a plurality of commercial position end times; and
a pre-production metadata.

21. The system according to claim 15 , wherein an object corresponding to an object record of the plurality of object records further corresponds to a product, wherein the object record further comprises a UPC cod

Assignees

• Nbcuniversal Media Llc
• Nbcuniversal Llc

Inventors

• Einstein Myra
• Seeger Chris

Classifications

• H04N21/8547

  involving timestamps for synchronizing content · CPC title

• H04N21/2353

  specifically adapted to content descriptors, e.g. coding, compressing or processing of metadata · CPC title

• H04N21/8543 Primary

  using a description language, e.g. Multimedia and Hypermedia information coding Expert Group [MHEG], eXtensible Markup Language [XML] {(information retrieval of semistructured data, the underlying structure being taken into account, e.g. mark-up language structure data G06F16/80)} · CPC title