A multimedia production and distribution system collects or assembles a media production (such as, a news program, television programming, or radio broadcast) from a variety of sources, including television stations and other media hosting facilities. The media production is categorized and indexed for retrieval and distribution across a wired or wireless network, such as the Internet, to any client, such as a personal computer, television, or personal digital assistant. A user can operate the client to display and interact with the media production, or select various options to customize the transmission or request a standard program. Alternatively, the user can establish a template to generate the media production automatically based on personal preferences. The media production is displayed on the client with various media enhancements to add value to the media production. Such enhancements include graphics, extended play segments, opinion research, and URLs. The enhancements also include advertisements, such as commercials, active banners, and sponsorship buttons. An advertisement reporting system monitors the sale and distribution of advertisements within the network. The advertisements are priced according to factors that measure the likelihood of an advertisement actually being presented or viewed by users most likely to purchase the advertised item or service. The advertisement reporting system also collects metrics to invoice and apportion income derived from the advertisements among the network participants, including a portal host and/or producer of the content.

Method, system and computer program product for producing and distributing enhanced media downstreams

A method and apparatus for creation, distribution, assembly and verification of media, including one embodiment, media is transmitted to a receiver where the receiver assembles the media into programming. In another embodiment, media is transmitted to the receiver from a plurality of sources. In a further embodiment, a source of media performs a tagging operation to associate sets of tags with elements of the stream of media. In various embodiments, different combinations of look-and-feel, content and other tags are associated with the media stream. In an additional embodiment, tagging of the media stream is performed at the receiver. A user at the receiver may also provide data about the user to the receiver. In yet another embodiment, the receiver uses the tags to assemble the media into a program. In still further embodiments of the invention, various Royalty Only Aggregate Revenues or “ROAR” models and apparatus are disclosed.

Method and apparatus for creation, distribution, assembly and verification of media

A method and apparatus for uploading, analyzing, searching and displaying multimedia files based on the context and content of the multimedia files.

Method and apparatus for uploading, indexing, analyzing, and searching media content

A digital capture system, such as a digital still camera or digital video recorder, has an embedded real-time content-based analysis function in the capture device to extract metadata from the digital signals. In one embodiment, metadata (descriptive information about the digital content) is formatted and stored separately from the content. In another embodiment, the metadata may be formatted and combined with the digital content in a container format such as MPEG-7, QuickTime, or FlashPix.

Embedded metadata engines in digital capture devices

A non-temporal, non-linear multimedia composition method and software system used in producing digital composition sequences. The method treats all digital signals and information, including video, audio, image, documents source materials, as common data types for composition and creation purposes, The invention employs a spatial, non-temporal, non-linear story line method for displaying and manipulating digital source material objects for composition purposes. The method utilizes content specific, dynamic pictorial objects to denote digital source materials stored incomputer readable format to facilitate ease of operation in performing non-linear, non-timeline multimedia composition operations. Methods are provided for dynamicpreviewing and manipulation of images, video, audio, three dimensional objects and animation sequences denoted by dynamic pictorial objects representing digital source materials stored in computer readable format. The method of the present invention employs a function-specific software console metaphor in which all composition elements are displayed within a single, integrated console environment, including a dynamic story line display facility, video editor, special effects editor, transitions editor, video animation editor, audio studio, plug-in editor, digital capture and output editor. The present invention includes a method for visually denoting the active status of one or more composition editors as applied to a specific composition segment or sequence. Methods for facilitating dynamic image capture from digital video sources are employed in the present invention. The system and method utilizes animated multistage three dimensional pictorial icons with associated properties as controls for the purpose of initiating specific computing commands and composition process related tasks.

A non-timeline, non-linear digital multimedia composition method and system

A digital multimedia newsroom production system allows users of the system to create, browse and catalog multimedia assets. The system includes a journalist workstation for accessing multimedia assets stored in a multimedia archive to create a multimedia storyboard of a news story to be broadcast from the system. The storyboard includes frames of video retrieved from one or more sources, and text retrieved from one or more sources or generated by a user of the journalist workstation. In one embodiment of the invention, multimedia data captured by the newsroom production system undergoes a dual digitization process to create a high resolution version of the media data and a low resolution version of the media data. The low resolution version of the media data can be efficiently stored in the system and may be transmitted over a low-bandwidth network to the journalist workstation for use in the creation of a storyboard.

Roland J. Boucher

Papers

Digital multimedia editing and data management system