U.S. patent application number 14/010486 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-27 for auditioning tools for a media editing application.
This patent application is currently assigned to Apple Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Apple Inc.. Invention is credited to Giovanni Agnoli, Dave Cerf, Charles Lyons, Brian Meaney, Enrique Rodriguez, Michael P. Stern, Anne Swenson.
Application Number | 20140059436 14/010486 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45871962 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140059436 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Swenson; Anne ; et
al. |
February 27, 2014 |
Auditioning Tools for a Media Editing Application
Abstract
Some embodiments provide a media editing application. The
application places several committed media clips in a composite
display area to specify a description of a composite presentation.
In response to receiving a request to create a new version for a
first media clip placed at a particular location in the composite
display area, the application creates an audition set at the
particular location in the composite display area. The application
creates a second media clip from the first media clip. The
application adds the first and second media clips to the audition
set. At least one of the first and second media clips is a
candidate media clip that is insertable at the location in the
composite display area but is not a media clip that has been
committed for inclusion in the description of the composite
presentation.
Inventors: |
Swenson; Anne; (San Jose,
CA) ; Agnoli; Giovanni; (San Mateo, CA) ;
Rodriguez; Enrique; (San Jose, CA) ; Lyons;
Charles; (San Francisco, CA) ; Meaney; Brian;
(San Jose, CA) ; Cerf; Dave; (San Francisco,
CA) ; Stern; Michael P.; (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Apple Inc. |
Cupertino |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Apple Inc.
Cupertino
CA
|
Family ID: |
45871962 |
Appl. No.: |
14/010486 |
Filed: |
August 26, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12892916 |
Sep 28, 2010 |
8549404 |
|
|
14010486 |
|
|
|
|
12688858 |
Jan 15, 2010 |
8522144 |
|
|
12892916 |
|
|
|
|
12433875 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
12688858 |
|
|
|
|
12551557 |
Aug 31, 2009 |
|
|
|
12433875 |
|
|
|
|
12551559 |
Aug 31, 2009 |
8631326 |
|
|
12892916 |
|
|
|
|
12433892 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
8555169 |
|
|
12892916 |
|
|
|
|
12433893 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
12433892 |
|
|
|
|
61295687 |
Jan 15, 2010 |
|
|
|
61174490 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
61227070 |
Jul 20, 2009 |
|
|
|
61174491 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
61174490 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
61227070 |
Jul 20, 2009 |
|
|
|
61174491 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
61174490 |
Apr 30, 2009 |
|
|
|
61227070 |
Jul 20, 2009 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/725 ;
715/723 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 27/031 20130101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 3/04842 20130101; G11B 27/34 20130101;
G11B 27/105 20130101; G11B 27/034 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/725 ;
715/723 |
International
Class: |
G11B 27/031 20060101
G11B027/031; G06F 3/0484 20060101 G06F003/0484; G06F 3/0482
20060101 G06F003/0482 |
Claims
1-32. (canceled)
33. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program
which when executed by at least one processing unit implements a
graphical user interface (GUI) for a media editing application, the
GUI comprising: a preview display area for displaying a composite
presentation that the media editing application creates by
compositing a plurality of media clips; a composite display area
for displaying a set of committed media clips that are committed to
be part of the composite presentation; an audition tool for
creating an audition set comprising (i) one media clip that is
committed to the composite display area at a particular location,
and (ii) a plurality of media clips that are candidates for
inclusion at the particular location in the composite display area;
and an audition set display area accessible through an audition set
in the composite display area, the audition set display area a
window within the media editing application for displaying a
graphical representation of the committed media clip and candidate
media clips as a navigable display of media clips upon receiving a
selection of the committed media clip associated with the candidate
media clips.
34. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein
the GUI further comprises an edit tool for performing a move
operation that moves the audition set from the particular location
to another location in the composite display area in order to move
the audition set within the composite presentation.
35. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein
the GUI further comprises an edit tool for performing a copy
operation that copies the audition set and places the copy of the
audition set at another location in the composite display area in
order to add the copy to the composite presentation.
36. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein
the GUI further comprises an edit tool for performing an
application of one effect to all media clips within the audition
set.
37. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein
the GUI further comprises an edit tool for performing a finalize
operation that discards the audition set at the particular location
but maintains at the particular location the committed media clip
from the audition set.
38. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 33, wherein
the audition set is a first audition set, and wherein the GUI
further comprises an edit tool for performing a split edit
operation that divides the audition set into second and third
audition sets.
39. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 38, wherein
the second audition set includes a portion of the committed media
clip of the first audition set while the third audition set
includes a different portion of the committed media clip of the
first audition set.
40. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 39, wherein
the second and third audition sets each includes all candidate
media clips from the first audition set.
41. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program
which when executed by at least one processing unit implements a
graphical user interface (GUI) for a media editing application, the
GUI comprising: a preview display area for displaying a composite
presentation that the media editing application creates by
compositing a plurality of media clips; a composite display area
for graphically displaying a set of committed media clips that are
committed to be part of the composite presentation; an audition
tool for creating an audition set comprising (i) one media clip
that is committed to the composite display area at a particular
location, and (ii) a plurality of media clips that are candidates
for inclusion at the particular location in the composite display
area, said audition set graphically displayed in the composite
display area in terms of the committed media clip for the audition
set; and an audition set display area for displaying a pop up of
graphical representations of each media clip in the audition set as
thumbnails of a single video image from each of the media clips in
the audition set when a selection of the graphically displayed
audition set is received.
42. The machine readable medium of claim 41, wherein each committed
clip in the composite display area has a particular length
associated with the duration of the clip that is included in the
composite presentation, and wherein the length of the audition
set's committed media clip represents the duration in the composite
presentation that is allocated to the audition set.
43. The machine readable medium of claim 42, wherein the audition
tool is further for allowing a user to select a different media
clip in the audition set from the audition set display area as the
only committed media clip in the audition set to include in the
composite media presentation, wherein the duration in the composite
presentation that is allocated to the audition set changes when a
newly committed media clip from the audition set has a different
duration than a previously committed media clip from the audition
set.
44. The machine readable medium of claim 41, wherein the GUI
further comprises a compositing tool for creating a composite
sequence of video clips in an organizer display area, wherein the
organizer display area displays each individual video clip in the
organizer display area as a thumbnail image of one video image of
the video clip, and displays each composited sequence of video
clips in the organizer display area as one thumbnail image of one
video image of one of the video clips in the sequence of video
clips.
45. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 44, wherein
the composite display area is further for receiving, at a
particular location of the composite display area, a composite
sequence of clips from the organizer display area, and wherein
placing the composite sequence of clips at the particular location
causes the composite display area to display one sequence clip at
the particular location.
46. A method of editing a media presentation using a media editing
application, the method comprising: receiving a selection of an
effect to apply to an audition set comprising a plurality of media
clips that are candidates for inclusion at one location in a
composite presentation that the media editing application creates
by compositing a plurality of media clips; receiving a selection of
an audition set to which to apply the selected effect, wherein the
audition set includes a media clip that is an active pick to be
included in the composite presentation at the one location; upon
receiving the selection of the audition set, displaying a menu for
receiving a selection of which media clips of the audition set to
apply the selected effect; receiving a selection from the displayed
menu to apply the effect to a selected subset of the media clips in
the audition set; and applying the effect to the selected subset of
the media clips in the audition set.
47. The method of claim 46, wherein the selected effect is a blur
effect.
48. The method of claim 46, wherein the selected effect is a
fade-in/fade-out effect.
49. The method of claim 46, wherein the selected effect is a black
and white effect.
50. The method of claim 46, wherein the menu for receiving the
selection of which media clips to apply the selected effect to
includes a user selectable option that when selected causes the
selected effect to be applied to all of the media clips in the
selected audition set.
51. The method of claim 46, wherein the selected subset comprises
only the active pick.
52. The method of claim 46 further comprising: receiving a
selection of a second effect to apply to the audition set; and
automatically applying the second effect to only the active pick.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Digital graphic design, image editing, audio editing, and
video editing applications (hereafter collectively referred to as
media content editing applications or media editing applications)
provide graphical designers, media artists, and other users with
the necessary tools to create a variety of media content. Examples
of such applications include Final Cut Pro.RTM. and iMovie.RTM.,
both sold by Apple, Inc. These applications give users the ability
to edit, combine, transition, overlay, and piece together different
media content in a variety of manners to create a resulting media
project. The resulting media project specifies a particular
sequenced composition of any number of text, audio, image, and/or
video content elements that is used to create a media
presentation.
[0002] Various media editing applications facilitate such
composition through electronic means. Specifically, a computer or
other electronic device with a processor and computer readable
storage medium executes the media editing application. In doing so,
the computer generates a graphical interface whereby designers
digitally manipulate graphical representations of the media content
to produce a desired result.
[0003] One difficulty in media editing is that a user cannot
conveniently evaluate different types of media clips (e.g., a video
clip, an audio clip, a sequence of media clips, an image, etc.) for
a particular section of a presentation. For example, in some
instances, a user may wish to evaluate a particular section of the
presentation using a video clip with its accompanying sound (e.g.,
an audio and video clip), the video clip without its accompanying
sound (e.g., a video clip), the video clip with an effect applied
to it (e.g., sound effects or video effects), the video clip with
different in and out points, etc. Moreover, a user may wish to
evaluate different sequences of media clips, different scene
durations (e.g., a single media clip versus a sequence of media
clips), etc.
[0004] Typically, if a user wishes to evaluate different types of
media clips than those included in the composite presentation, the
user must select from a large group of media clips by iteratively
accessing various different types of media clips. Thus, there is a
need for a flexible media editing application that allows a user to
associate different types of media clips with various sections of a
composite presentation.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] For a media editing application that creates composite
presentations, some embodiments of the invention provide a novel
auditioning tool that allows a user to examine and maintain several
different media clips that are candidates (also referred to as
"candidate media clips") for addition at or near a particular
location in a composite display area and to select one of the media
clips to be included in the composite presentation.
[0006] A media clip in some embodiments is a piece of media
content. Examples of types of media content include audio data,
video data, audio and video data, text data, image/picture data,
and/or other media data. In some embodiments, a media clip can be a
video clip or an audio clip. In other embodiments, a media clip can
be a video clip, an audio clip, an audio and video clip, a sequence
of media clips (also referred to as a composed media clip or a
media clip sequence), a text clip, a text overlay, a still image or
picture, or any other type of media clip that can be used to create
a composite presentation.
[0007] For some embodiments of the invention, a graphical user
interface ("GUI") of a media editing application with an
auditioning tool that enables the user to create an audition set
that includes several media clips. Typically, an audition set, in
some embodiments, includes two or more media clips that are
specified as candidates that can be added at a particular location
in a composite display area to specify a description of a composite
media presentation. In some of these embodiments, all the media
clips in an audition are considered candidate media clips
(including the "active pick," described below). In other
embodiments, an audition set includes one or more media clips that
are specified as candidates that can be added at a particular
location in the composite display area. For some of these
embodiments, the active pick of an audition is not a candidate
media clip. In addition, as described below, an audition set of
some embodiments can include one media clip.
[0008] Some embodiments of a media editing application include a
media library through which the application's user can select media
clips to add to a presentation that the user is compositing with
the media editing application and a composite display area that
provides a visual representation of the composite presentation
being created by the user. Media clips that are part of the
composite presentation are referred to below as "committed media
clips." The media editing application of some embodiments allows
media clips to be added to the composite display area as candidate
media clips. In some embodiments, candidate media clips are media
clips that are candidates for adding to the composite presentation
as they have not yet been added to the composite presentation.
[0009] In some embodiments, the composite display area specifies a
description of a composite presentation (also referred to as a
"composite media presentation" or a "composite representation").
The composite display area of some embodiments includes a central
compositing lane that spans a timeline and displays a graphical
representation of the composite presentation by displaying media
clips that form the composite presentation. One or more media clips
can be placed on the central compositing lane. In some embodiments,
no two committed media clips can overlap on the central compositing
lane.
[0010] Furthermore, media clips can be placed ("anchored") off of
media clips placed in the central compositing lane in regions above
and below (not shown) the central compositing lane. Media clips
placed in such regions are referred to as "anchored media clips."
In some embodiments, several horizontal areas that span the
timeline form quasi-tracks that are also referred to as "anchor
lanes." In some of these embodiments, media clips can be placed in
these anchor lanes to anchor off of media clips in the central
compositing lane. Instead of, or in conjunction with, having
several levels of media clips that anchor off the central
compositing lane, some embodiments allow media clips to be placed
in these anchor lands and to be anchored off of other anchored
media clips placed in these anchor lanes.
[0011] Media clips may be displayed with different appearances in
different areas of the GUI. For instance, the media clips in the
media library can be represented using a thumbnail view (i.e.,
media clips are represented using a set equally-sized images) while
the media clips in the composite display area can be represented
using a timeline view (i.e., media clips are represented using a
set of rectangular representations where the horizontal length of
the rectangle provides a visual indicator of the length or duration
of the associated media clip).
[0012] In some embodiments, one of the media clips in an audition
set is selected as the "active pick" of the audition set. An active
pick is a media clip in an audition set that is specified to
interact with the media editing application. As such, the
characteristics and attributes (e.g., graphical representation,
effects, associated keywords, markers, etc.) of the active pick are
used when the audition set interacts with the media editing
application. For instance, when an audition set is placed at a
particular location in the composite display area, the active pick
is the media clip that is committed at the particular location in
the composite display area. Similarly, the graphical representation
of the active pick is used as the graphical representation of the
audition set (e.g., a thumbnail view in the media library or a
media clip view in the composite display area) in some of these
embodiments. As another example, the media content of the active
pick is displayed when a playback or skim operation is performed on
the audition set. In yet another example, the keywords associated
with the active pick are used to determine whether the audition set
should be returned as part of a result of a keyword search
performed on media clips. In some embodiments, when an edit
operation is performed on the audition set, the operation is
performed on only the active pick. In some embodiments, however,
some or all of the edit operations that can be performed on the
audition set are performed on all of the media clips in the
audition set.
[0013] Different embodiments provide different methods for
selecting an active pick when an audition set is initially created.
For example, some embodiments select a random media clip in the
audition set as the active pick. Other embodiments select a media
clip in the audition set based on some criteria, such as media clip
duration, media clip creation time, order of media clip selection
(e.g., first selected, last selected) when creating the audition
set, location of media clips (e.g., set the media clip in the
composite display area as the active pick), etc. Other methods for
determining which media clip to select as the active pick are
possible.
[0014] In some embodiments, a user selectable user interface ("UI")
item is displayed on an audition set displayed in the composite
display area to visually indicate that it is an audition set. The
user selectable UI item of some embodiments enables the opening and
closing of a selection area. In some embodiments, a selection area
displays all the media clips that are in an audition set. Some
embodiments display the media clips in the selection area in a
carousel-like view (also referred to as a cover flow view). Other
embodiments, however, may display the media clips differently in
the selection area. In addition, the media editing application of
some embodiments allows the user to scroll through the media clips
displayed in the selection area.
[0015] The preceding Summary is intended to serve as a brief
introduction to some embodiments of the invention. It is not meant
to be an introduction or overview of all inventive subject matter
disclosed in this document. The Detailed Description that follows
and the Drawings that are referred to in the Detailed Description
will further describe the embodiments described in the Summary as
well as other embodiments. Accordingly, to understand all the
embodiments described by this document, a full review of the
Summary, Detailed Description and the Drawings is needed. Moreover,
the claimed subject matters are not to be limited by the
illustrative details in the Summary, Detailed Description and the
Drawing, but rather are to be defined by the appended claims,
because the claimed subject matters can be embodied in other
specific forms without departing from the spirit of the subject
matters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The novel features of the invention are set forth in the
appended claims. However, for purposes of explanation, several
embodiments of the invention are set forth in the following
figures.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a graphical user interface ("GUI") of a
media editing application with an auditioning tool of some
embodiments.
[0018] FIG. 2 conceptually illustrates an example audition set that
includes several video clips.
[0019] FIG. 3 conceptually illustrates an example audition set that
includes several audio clips.
[0020] FIG. 4 conceptually illustrates an example audition set that
includes several different types of media clips.
[0021] FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates a data structure of some
embodiments for an audition set.
[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates creating an audition set using the GUI of
FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates creating an audition set using the GUI of
FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0024] FIG. 8 illustrates creating an audition set using the GUI of
FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0025] FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates a process for creating an
audition set in some embodiments.
[0026] FIG. 10 illustrates adding a media clip to an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0027] FIG. 11 illustrates adding a media clip to an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0028] FIG. 12 illustrates adding a media clip to an audition set
using a GUI of a FIG. 8 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0029] FIG. 13 illustrates adding a media clip to an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0030] FIG. 14 illustrates adding a media clip to an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0031] FIG. 15 conceptually illustrates a process for adding a
media clip to an audition set in some embodiments.
[0032] FIG. 16 illustrates removing a media clip from an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0033] FIG. 17 illustrates removing a media clip from an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0034] FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates a process for removing a
media clip from an audition set in some embodiments.
[0035] FIG. 19 conceptually illustrates creating an audition set
that includes audio clips using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some
embodiments of the invention.
[0036] FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate creating a sequence and
creating an audition set that includes the sequence using the GUI
of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0037] FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate creating a sequence and creating
an audition set that includes the sequence using the GUI of FIG. 1
according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0038] FIG. 23 illustrates adding a sequence created in a media
library to a composite display area using the GUI of FIG. 1
according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0039] FIGS. 24 and 25 illustrate adding media clips to an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0040] FIG. 26 illustrates creating an audition set in a media
library of the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0041] FIG. 27 illustrates creating an audition set in a media
library of the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0042] FIG. 28 illustrates adding an audition set to a composite
presentation using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0043] FIG. 29 illustrates adding an audition set to a composite
presentation using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0044] FIG. 30 illustrates moving a selection area using the GUI of
FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0045] FIG. 31 illustrates selecting an active pick for an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0046] FIG. 32 illustrates selecting an active pick for an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0047] FIG. 33 illustrates skimming a media clip of an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0048] FIG. 34 illustrates manually previewing a media clip in an
audition set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0049] FIG. 35 illustrates automatically previewing an audition set
using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0050] FIGS. 36 and 37 illustrate auditioning an audition set using
the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0051] FIG. 38 conceptually illustrates a process of some
embodiments for previewing a media clip.
[0052] FIG. 39 conceptually illustrates a state diagram that shows
the various states and transitions between those states for a GUI
of a media editing application in some embodiments.
[0053] FIG. 40 illustrates moving an audition set within a
composite display area using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to of some
embodiments of the invention.
[0054] FIG. 41 illustrates moving an audition set within a
composite display area using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to of some
embodiments of the invention.
[0055] FIG. 42 illustrates moving an audition set within a
composite display area using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to of some
embodiments of the invention.
[0056] FIG. 43 illustrates splitting a media clip of an audition
set using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the
invention.
[0057] FIG. 44 illustrates applying an effect to media clips of an
audition set using the GUI of FIG. 8 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0058] FIG. 45 conceptually illustrates a process of some
embodiments for performing an edit operation to an audition
set.
[0059] FIG. 46 illustrates deleting an audition set to a composite
presentation using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0060] FIG. 47 illustrates deleting an audition set to a composite
presentation using the GUI of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments
of the invention.
[0061] FIG. 48 illustrates deleting an audition set using the GUI
of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the invention.
[0062] FIG. 49 conceptually illustrates a process of some
embodiments for deleting an audition set.
[0063] FIG. 50 conceptually illustrates the software architecture
of a media editing application of some embodiments.
[0064] FIG. 51 conceptually illustrates a computer system with
which some embodiments of the invention are implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0065] In the following detailed description of the invention,
numerous details, examples, and embodiments of the invention are
set forth and described. However, it will be clear and apparent to
one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the
embodiments set forth and that the invention may be practiced
without some of the specific details and examples discussed.
[0066] For a media editing application that creates composite
presentations, some embodiments of the invention provide a novel
auditioning tool that allows a user to examine and maintain several
different media clips that are candidates for addition at or near a
particular location in a composite display area (also referred to
as "candidate media clips") and to select one of the media clips to
be included in the composite presentation.
[0067] A media clip in some embodiments is a piece of media
content. Examples of types of media content include audio data,
video data, audio and video data, text data, image/picture data,
and/or other media data. In some embodiments, a media clip can be a
video clip or an audio clip. In other embodiments, a media clip can
be a video clip, an audio clip, an audio and video clip, a sequence
of media clips (also referred to as a composed media clip or a
media clip sequence), a text clip, a text overlay, a still image or
picture, or any other type of media clip that can be used to create
a composite presentation. In this application, a media clip may
also refer to the graphical representation of the media clip in the
GUI of a media editing application of some embodiments.
[0068] For media content that have a temporal component (e.g.,
audio media clips, video media clips, audio and video media clips,
etc.), the media content is further defined by an in point and an
out point with respect to a source media file. In some such
embodiments, the source media file is stored on the computing
device on which the media editing application executes or on a
computing device to which the media editing application has access.
A media clip's in and out points define its start and end point
with respect to the source media file.
[0069] The in and out points of a media clip can be defined to be
an entire source media file or a portion of the source media file
in some embodiments. Several media clips can define in and out
points with respect to the same source media file with each of the
media clips having different media content. For instance, the in
and out points of a media clip can be defined to be the first half
of a source media file while the in and out points of another media
clip can be defined to be the latter half of the source media
file.
[0070] For some embodiments of the invention, FIG. 1 conceptually
illustrates a graphical user interface ("GUI") 100 of a media
editing application with an auditioning tool of some embodiments.
Specifically, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different
stages 105-130 in order to show the creation of an audition set
that includes three media clips. An audition set, in some
embodiments, includes two or more media clips that are specified as
candidates for addition at a particular location in a composite
display area to specify a description of a composite media
presentation. In some embodiments, an audition set is also referred
to as a "stack" or an "audition stack." Each of these stages will
be further described below after an introduction of the elements of
the GUI 100.
[0071] As shown in FIG. 1, the GUI 100 includes a media library
145, a composite display area 135, a preview display area 140, and
a menu bar 150. The preview display area 140 displays a preview of
a composite presentation that the application creates by
compositing several media clips. The menu bar 150 provides several
grouped sets of menu commands and options for the media editing
application. In addition, this figure illustrates a cursor 160 for
providing feedback to a user and operating various selection
buttons and other controls included in the GUI 100. The cursor 160
also allows a user to select or manipulate various objects (e.g.,
representations of media content) that are included in the GUI 100.
One of ordinary skill will recognize that, while a cursor is shown
in FIG. 1 as well as many of the figures below, some embodiments
display the GUI on a touchscreen device that enables the user to
control the GUI items without a cursor. Thus, when a selection
operation is referred to as a "click operation" below, while shown
using a cursor, such selection operations may also be performed
through a touch or "tap" of a touchscreen. Similarly, drag
operations (e.g., click-and-drag, drag-and-drop) can be performed
through dragging a finger along a touchscreen in addition to the
illustrated operations involving a cursor. In addition, some
embodiments displayed on a touchscreen will also display the
cursor.
[0072] The media library 145 (also referred to as an "organizer
display area") is an area in the GUI 100 through which the
application's user can select media clips to add to a presentation
that the user is compositing with the media editing application. In
addition, the media library 145 of some embodiments is also used
for other purposes, such as organizing media clips and/or
compositing media clips, as described in further detail below. In
the example of FIG. 1, the media clips in the media library 145 are
represented as thumbnails that can be selected and added to the
composite display area 135 (e.g., through a drag-and-drop operation
or a menu selection operation). The clips in the media library 145
may also be represented as a list, a set of icons, or some other
representation that allows a user to view and select the various
media clips in the media library 145. In some embodiments, the
media library 145 may include audio clips, video clips, audio and
video clips, text overlays, pictures, sequences of media clips,
and/or other media clips.
[0073] The composite display area 135 provides a visual
representation of the composite presentation being created by the
user. Specifically, it displays one or more geometric shapes that
represent one or more media clips that are part of the composite
presentation. Media clips that are part of the composite
presentation are referred to below as "committed media clips." As
further described below, the media editing application of some
embodiments allows media clips to be added to the composite display
area as candidate media clips. In some embodiments, candidate media
clips are media clips that are candidates for adding to the
composite presentation as they have not yet been added to the
composite presentation.
[0074] In some embodiments, the composite display area 135
specifies a description of a composite presentation (also referred
to as a "composite media presentation" or a "composite
representation"). As shown in FIG. 1, the composite display area
135 includes a central compositing lane 155 that spans a timeline
and displays a graphical representation of the composite
presentation (also referred to as a "composite representation") by
displaying media clips that form the composite presentation. One or
more media clips can be placed on the central compositing lane 155.
In some embodiments, no two committed media clips can overlap on
the central compositing lane 155.
[0075] Furthermore, media clips can be placed ("anchored") off of
media clips placed in the central compositing lane 155 in regions
above and below (not shown) the central compositing lane 155. Media
clips placed in such regions are referred to as "anchored media
clips." As an example, FIG. 1 shows a media clip ("Clip B") that is
anchored off of another media clip ("Clip A") in the composite
display area 135. In some embodiments, several horizontal areas
that span the timeline form quasi-tracks that are also referred to
as "anchor lanes." In some of these embodiments, media clips can be
placed in these anchor lanes to anchor off of media clips in the
central compositing lane 155. Instead of, or in conjunction with,
having several levels of media clips that anchor off the central
compositing lane 155, some embodiments allow media clips to be
placed in these anchor lands and to be anchored off of other
anchored media clips placed in these anchor lanes.
[0076] As shown, media clips may be displayed with different
appearances in different areas of the GUI 100. For instance, the
media clips in the media library 145 in this example are
represented using a thumbnail view (i.e., media clips are
represented using a set equally-sized images) while the media clips
in the composite display area 135 are represented using a timeline
view (i.e., media clips are represented using a set of rectangular
representations where the horizontal length of the rectangle
provides a visual indicator of the length or duration of the
associated media clip).
[0077] As mentioned above, an audition set includes two or more
media clips that are specified as candidates for addition at a
particular location in a composite display area in some
embodiments. In some embodiments, one of the media clips in an
audition set is selected as the "active pick" of the audition set.
An active pick is a media clip in an audition set that is specified
to interact with the media editing application. As such, the
characteristics and attributes (e.g., graphical representation,
effects, associated keywords, markers, etc.) of the active pick are
used when the audition set interacts with the media editing
application. For instance, the graphical representation of the
active pick is used as the graphical representation of the audition
set (e.g., a thumbnail view in the media library 145 or a media
clip view in the composite display area 135). As another example,
the media content of the active pick is displayed when a playback
or skim operation is performed on the audition set. In yet another
example, the keywords associated with the active pick are used to
determine whether the audition set should be returned as part of a
result of a keyword search performed on media clips. In some
embodiments, when an edit operation is performed on the audition
set, the operation is performed on only the active pick. In some
embodiments, however, some or all of the edit operations that can
be performed on the audition set are performed on all of the media
clips in the audition set.
[0078] Different embodiments provide different methods for
selecting an active pick when an audition set is initially created.
For example, some embodiments select a random media clip in the
audition set as the active pick. Other embodiments select a media
clip in the audition set based on some criteria, such as media clip
duration, media clip creation time, order of media clip selection
(e.g., first selected, last selected) when creating the audition
set, location of media clips (e.g., set the media clip in the
composite display area 135 as the active pick), etc. Other methods
for determining which media clip to select as the active pick are
possible.
[0079] The operation of the GUI 100 will now be described by
reference to the state of this GUI during the six stages 105-130
that are illustrated in FIG. 1. In the first stage 105, the
composite display area 135 displays a composite presentation that
includes media clips that span along a timeline. A user might have
added these media clips to the composite presentation in a current
editing session or by opening a composite project (also referred to
as a "project") that was defined in a previous editing session.
[0080] The second stage 110 of the GUI 100 shows several media
clips selected. As shown, the media clips 165 and 170 in the media
library 145 and media clip 175 in the composite display area 135
have been selected (e.g., through a cursor click, a touch click),
as indicated by the bolding of the borders of the media clips. In
some embodiments, the selections are performed individually while
an input, such a hotkey or keystroke, is pressed and held.
[0081] The second stage 110 of the GUI 100 also displays a menu 180
that includes a user selectable "Create Stack" option and other
user selectable options (not shown). The "Create Stack" option of
some embodiments that is included in the menu 180 is for invoking
the creation of an audition set that includes the media clips that
are selected (the media clips 165-175 in this example) when the
"Create Stack" option is selected. Different embodiments of the
menu 180 may include different numbers of different user selectable
options for performing different functions. In some embodiments,
the menu 180 is invoked by selecting the "Stacks" option in the
menu bar 150 through a cursor click operation using the cursor 160.
Some embodiments provide other ways to invoke the menu 180 as well.
For instance, some of these embodiments allow the user to invoke
the menu 180 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, a touch operation for a touchscreen
device, or any other method to invoke the menu 180. The second
stage 110 also illustrates the "Create Stack" option being selected
through a cursor click operation using the cursor 160.
[0082] The third stage 115 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
creation of an audition set 185 that includes the media clips
165-175. As shown, a user selectable user interface ("UI") item 190
is displayed on the audition set 185 to visually indicate that the
audition set 185 displayed in the composite display area 135 is an
audition set. The user selectable UI item 190 of some embodiments
enables the opening and closing of a selection area, as described
in further detail below. Different embodiments use different
representations of the user selectable UI item 190 to visually
indicate that the audition set 185 is an audition set. For example,
some embodiments may display a different geometric shape, text, or
any other appropriate visual indicator. The third stage 115
illustrates the selection of the UI item 190 through a cursor click
operation using the cursor 160. In some embodiments, a touch
operation can be used for a touchscreen device.
[0083] The fourth stage 120 illustrates the GUI 100 at a stage
after the selection of the user selectable UI item 190. As shown, a
selection area 192 (also referred to as a "selection display area")
that includes a scroll bar 194 is displayed (e.g., opened) in the
GUI 100. In some embodiments, the selection area 192 is displayed
in the GUI 100 shortly after the selection of the user selectable
UI item 190. Some embodiments provide other mechanisms for invoking
the display of the selection area 192. For example, some of these
embodiments allow the user to invoke the selection area 192 using a
hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a combination of
keystrokes, an option selected from a pop-up or pull-down menu, a
touch operation for a touchscreen device, or any other appropriate
method to invoke the display of the selection area 192.
[0084] In some embodiments, the selection area 192 displays all the
media clips that are in an audition set. For example, since the
audition set 185 includes the media clips 165-175, the selection
area 192 displays those media clips in the selection area 192. Some
embodiments display the media clips in the selection area 192 in a
carousel-like view (also referred to as a cover flow view) as
illustrated in this example. Other embodiments, however, may
display the media clips differently in the selection area 192. For
instance, some embodiments may display the media clips as text,
icons, or any other visual representation of the media clips.
Further, some embodiments may display the media clips in different
views, such as a horizontal view, a vertical view, or other types
of views that allow a user to scroll through the media clips.
[0085] The scroll bar 194 of some embodiments allows the user to
scroll through the media clips displayed in the selection area 192.
As shown, the user selectable left arrow UI item displayed in the
scroll bar 194 is for scrolling the media clips displayed in the
selection area 192 from left to right. The user selectable right
arrow UI item is similar to the left arrow except it is for
scrolling the media clips displayed in the selection area 192 from
right to left. Also, the scroll bar 194 includes a position
indicator to indicate the relative position of the media clip that
is displayed at or near the middle of the selection area 192 among
the other media clips. In some embodiments, the user can also
select and drag (e.g., through a click-and-drag operation using the
cursor 160) the indicator along the scroll bar 194 to scroll
through the media clips displayed in the selection area 192. Other
embodiments provide other ways of scrolling through the media
clips, such as using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes,
a combination of keystrokes, an option selected from a pop-up menu
or pull-down menu, a touch operation for a touchscreen device, or
any other appropriate way to invoke a scrolling operation.
[0086] As shown in the fourth stage 120 of FIG. 1, an indicator 196
(e.g., a badge) for indicating that a media clip is an active pick
(and thus a committed media clip in some embodiments) is displayed
on the thumbnail representation of the media clip 175. As mentioned
above, different embodiments provide different methods for
selecting an active pick when an audition set is created. In this
example, the media clip that is part of the composite presentation
(the media clip 175 in this example) is selected as the active
pick, as illustrated by the indicator 196 displayed in the
thumbnail representation of the media clip 175. Some embodiments
set the last media clip selected before creating the audition set
as the active pick while other embodiments set the first media clip
selected as the active pick. Although this figure illustrates one
way of indicating that a media clip in the audition set is the
active pick, different embodiments indicate that a media clip is an
active pick differently, such as highlighting the border of the
media clip, displaying a label on the media clip, etc.
[0087] At the fifth stage 125, the GUI 100 shows the media clips
are being scrolled through the selection area 192. This stage shows
a selection of the right arrow of the scroll bar 194 being selected
through a cursor click operation using the cursor 160, as
illustrated by a change in the appearance of the right arrow. As
shown in the selection area 192, the media clips 165 and 175 have
scrolled right to left and the indicator in the scroll bar 194 has
also changed positions accordingly. Although this example
illustrates scrolling through the media clips displayed in the
selection area 192 using the arrows of the scroll bar 194, the
indicator of the scroll bar 194 can be used to scroll through the
media clips displayed in the selection area 192 in some
embodiments, as previously mentioned above.
[0088] The sixth stage 130 of the GUI 100 shows the media clips
165-175 displayed in the selection area 192 after they have been
scrolled through from right to left. At this stage, the media clip
170 is displayed in the middle of the selection area 192.
[0089] Several more detailed embodiments of the invention are
described in the sections below. Section I provides a conceptual
description of an audition set of some embodiments and its
attributes. In addition, Section I describes several techniques for
creating an audition set and the types of media clips that can be
included in an audition set. Next, Section II describes different
methods for previewing media clips in an audition set. Section III
follows this with a description of editing operations that can be
performed on an audition set. Next, Section IV describes the
software architecture of a media editing application that employs
auditioning tool of some embodiments. Finally, Section V describes
a computer system that implements some embodiments of the
invention.
I. Creating an Audition Set
[0090] As mentioned above, an audition set of some embodiments is
defined as two or more media clips that are specified as candidates
for addition at a particular location in a composite display area.
An audition set of some embodiments can include several of the same
type of media clips or several different types of media clips. The
following FIGS. 2-4 conceptually illustrate several different
examples of such audition sets.
[0091] FIG. 2 illustrates an example audition set 200 that includes
several video clips. For this example, the audition set 200
includes four video clips 205-220. As shown, the graphical
representation of the audition set 200 is the thumbnails of each of
the four video clips 205-220 stacked on top of each other in an
offset manner. This graphical representation is just one of many
possible representations. For example, some embodiments may
graphically represent the audition set 200 as a single thumbnail
(e.g., the thumbnail of the active pick) with an indicator
displayed on the thumbnail to indicate that it is an audition set.
This figure also shows an exploded view 225 of the individual media
clips in the audition set 200. As illustrated by their thumbnail
representations, the video clip 205 includes video content of boats
sailing on the ocean, the video clip 210 includes video content of
an umbrella under the sun, the video clip 215 includes video
content of a golfer hitting a golf ball towards a hole, and video
clip 220 includes video content of a person flying an airplane in
the sky. Each of the video clips 205-220 is a candidate video clip
for inclusion at a particular location in the composite display
area 135. For instance, the video clips 205-220 might be different
introductory scenes of a movie presentation.
[0092] FIG. 3 illustrates an example audition set 300 that includes
several audio clips. Specifically, the audition set 300 includes
four audio clips 305-320. Similar to the audition set 200, the
graphical representation of the audition set 300 is the thumbnails
of each of the four audio clips 305-320 stacked on top of each
other in an offset fashion.
[0093] In an exploded view 325 of the audition set 300, the
thumbnail representation of each of the audio clips 305-320 is
individually shown. For this example, the thumbnail representation
of each of the audio clips 305-320 is of a waveform of a portion or
all of the audio clip's audio content. Other embodiments may use
different graphical representations for the audio clips 305-320,
such as an image that indicates the audio file format (e.g., ACC,
ALAC, MP3, WAV, etc.) of the audio content. Accordingly, the audio
clips 305-320 are candidate audio clips for inclusion at a
particular location in a composite display area. For example, the
audio clips 305-320 might be different sound background music for a
scene in a movie presentation.
[0094] The audition sets described by reference to FIGS. 2 and 3
include the same type of media clip. An audition set in some
embodiments can include different types of media clips.
[0095] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of such an audition set. This
figure shows an audition set 400 that includes four media clips
405-420. Like the audition sets 200 and 300, the graphical
representation of the audition set 400 is the thumbnails of each of
the media clips 405-420 stacked on top of each other in an offset
manner.
[0096] An exploded view 425 of the audition set 400 individually
illustrates each of the media clips 405-420. As shown, the media
clip 405 is an effect clip that is graphically represented by the
name of the effect ("Blur" in this example). As mentioned above, a
media clip can be a sequence of media clips in some embodiments. In
this example, the media clip 410 is a sequence of two video clips.
Furthermore, the media clip 415 is an audio clip and the media clip
420 is a video clip. Thus, the media clips 405-420 of the audition
set 400 are each candidate media clips for inclusion at a
particular location in a composite display area.
[0097] The above described FIGS. 2-4 show examples of an audition
set of four video clips, an audition set of four audio clips, and
an audition set of four different types of media clips. However,
one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that an audition set
can include a different number of media clips that can each be any
number of different types of media clips. For instance, an audition
set can include a sequence of video clips, a sequence of audio
clips, a sequence of effect clips, a sequence that includes audio
and video clips, among other media clips.
[0098] Moreover, although many of the examples described above and
below illustrate an audition set that includes two or more media
clips, some embodiments provide the ability to create an audition
set that includes one media clip (e.g., an audio clip, a video
clip, etc.). For instance, a user might have a scene of a composite
presentation that the user does not like, but the user has not
re-shot the scene. In these instances, the user can create an
audition set (e.g., by selecting the media clip of the scene in the
composite display area and selecting the "Create Stack" option
illustrated in FIG. 1) that includes just the media clip of the
scene that the user does not like, with the intention of later
reshooting the scene and adding those reshoots to the audition set
to evaluate and examine which one the user likes. In this manner,
the user can user the audition set to hold the place in the
composite presentation even though the user does not like the
scene.
[0099] Continuing with the example, after reshooting the scene, the
user can add those reshoots to the audition set. The user might
like one of the reshoots of the scene, but the user might change
the scene to a different one. Here, the user can remove all the
media clips from the audition set except the one the user likes,
resulting in an audition set that includes one media clip. However,
the user might not delete the audition set so that the user can
later add the different scene to the audition set in case the user
wants to change the scene.
[0100] In another example, the user may want to add a scene to a
composite presentation, but the user may not have the source files
for the scene (e.g., the scene has not been shot). In such cases,
the user might create an audition set that includes a "blank" media
clip (also referred to as a placeholder clip) to hold a location in
the composite display area for the scene. The placeholder clips of
some embodiments can have a thumbnail representation that consists
of an image that indicates to the user the scene or shot that is
desired or planned. For example, a placeholder clip for a landscape
scene might have a landscape still image as its thumbnail
representation, a placeholder clip for a fight scene might have an
image of boxing gloves as its thumbnail representation, etc.
[0101] A. Operations to Create an Audition Set
[0102] FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates a data structure 500 of some
embodiments that is stored for an audition set. As shown, the
audition set data structure 500 includes an audition set ID 505, a
reference to active pick 510, and a set of media clip information
515.
[0103] The audition set ID 505 is a unique identification of the
audition set. In some embodiments, the audition set ID 505 is
unique within each functional area (e.g., the media library 145 and
the composite display area 135 described above by reference to FIG.
6) of a media editing application. In other embodiments, the
audition set ID 505 is unique to a media project, or all projects
edited by the media editing application.
[0104] The reference to active pick 510 points to information about
one media clip in the set of media clip information 515. An example
of a reference to active pick 510 is a memory address (e.g., a
memory address of a location at which information about a media
clip in the set of media clip information 515 is stored).
[0105] The media clip information 515 stores information about any
media clips that have been added to the audition set. As shown,
FIG. 5 also conceptually illustrates a data structure 550 of some
embodiments that is stored in the media clip information 515 for
each media clip in the audition set. In some embodiments, rather
than storing the media clip information 515 directly in the
audition set data structure 500, the media editing application
stores a reference to a media clip data structure 550. As shown in
this figure, the media clip data structure 550 includes a media
clip ID 555, a media clip name 560, a poster frame 565, a reference
to source file 570, and in and out points 575 and 580 within the
source file.
[0106] The media clip ID 555 is a unique identification of the
media clip. Similar to the audition set ID 505 mentioned above, the
media clip ID 555 in some embodiments is unique within each
functional area of a media editing application while in other
embodiments, it is unique to the media project or all projects
within the media editing application.
[0107] The media clip name 560 is a secondary identification of the
media clip. In some embodiments, it is the file name of a media
source file (e.g., "movie1.mov", "movie2.avi", etc.). When a media
clip is duplicated in a display area in some such embodiments, the
duplicate copies of the two media clips have the same clip name but
have different media clip IDs.
[0108] The poster frame data element 565 stores the location of the
poster frame (i.e., the representative thumbnail that is displayed
in the media library 145 to represent the media clip) when the
media clip is a video clip, an audio video clip, or a sequence of
video and/or audio and video clips. In some embodiments, the poster
frame of a media clip is the first frame of the media clip by
default. For audio clips, some embodiments store a portion of the
clip for which the media editing application displays a waveform in
the thumbnail representation of the clip.
[0109] The reference to source file 570 points to a location (e.g.,
on a local or network storage) at which the media source file
(e.g., an audio file, video file, an audio and video file, etc.) is
stored. An example of a reference to source file is a memory
address or a file directory structure location and a file name. The
in and out points 575 and 580 refer to points (e.g., timecodes)
within the source file at which the media clip starts and stops.
The in and out points could define the media clip as the entirety
of the source media file, or only a portion of the source media
file (e.g., three seconds of a ten second video file).
[0110] As mentioned above, the media clips of some embodiments
include audio clips, video clips, audio and video clips, sequences
of media clips, and effect clips, among other types of media clips.
The media clip data structure for a sequence of media clips is
different in some embodiments. For example, the media clip data
structure of some of these embodiments includes references to
multiple source files and the positions of the media clips in the
sequence. The media clip data structure of other of these
embodiments may include additional information to define the
sequence. In addition, although an audition set of some embodiments
has several attributes as described above, the audition set of
other embodiments may have more, fewer, or different
attributes.
[0111] As described above by reference to FIG. 1, an audition set
of some embodiments may be created by selecting media clips in the
media library 145 and the composite display area 135 and selecting
an option from a pull-down menu. However, other techniques for
creating an audition set are possible. The following figures
illustrate different techniques for creating an audition set in
some embodiments.
[0112] FIG. 6 conceptually illustrates another method of creating
an audition set using the GUI 100 of some embodiments.
Specifically, FIG. 6 illustrates the GUI 100 at four different
stages 605-620 that show the creation of an audition set by
dragging a media clip from the media library onto a clip in the
timeline.
[0113] In the first stage 605, the GUI 100 shows a selection of the
media clip 165 through a click operation using the cursor 160.
Similar to FIG. 1, described above, the composite display area 135
displays a composite presentation that includes media items that
span along a timeline that a user might have added to the composite
presentation in a current editing session or by opening a composite
project that was defined in a previous editing session.
[0114] The second stage 610 displays the GUI 100 after the media
clip 165 in the media library 145 has been selected and dragged
(e.g., through a drag-and-drop operation using the cursor 160)
towards a media clip 175 displayed in the composite display area
135, as indicated by a dotted arrow. In this example, the media
clip 175 is a committed item. This stage illustrates a dotted
rectangle in the composite display area 135 that indicates a
location in the composite display area 135 to which the user drags
the media clip 165. When the media clip 165 is selected in the
second stage 605, the preview display area 140 displays the
thumbnail image that represents the media clip 165. However, in
some embodiments, the thumbnail representation of the media clip
165 is not displayed in the preview display area 140 when the media
clip 165 is selected in the media library 145.
[0115] The third stage 615 shows the GUI 100 after the user has
finished dragging the media clip 165 from the media library 145 to
the media clip 175 in the composite display area 135. When the user
finishes dragging the media clip 165 into the composite display
area 135, the media editing application automatically displays a
menu 625 shortly thereafter in some embodiments. The menu 625
includes a user selectable "Create Stack" option as well as other
user selectable options (not shown). Different embodiments of the
menu 625 may include different numbers of different user selectable
options for performing different functions. The "Create Stack"
option invokes a command to create an audition set that includes
the media clip(s) that was selected and dragged into the composite
display area 135 (the media clip 165 in this example) and the media
clip in the composite display area 135 on which the former was
dragged (the media clip 175 in this example). The third stage 615
also illustrates the selection of the "Create Stack" option through
a click operation using the cursor 160.
[0116] The fourth stage 620 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
creation of an audition set 630 that includes the media clips 165
and 175. As shown, a user selectable user interface ("UI") item 190
is displayed on the audition set 630 to visually indicate that the
audition set 630 displayed in the composite display area 135 is an
audition set. The user selectable UI item 190 enables the opening
and closing of a selection area, which is described in further
detail below, in some embodiments. Different embodiments use
different representations of the user selectable UI item 190 to
visually indicate that the audition set 630 is an audition set. For
example, some embodiments may display a different geometric shape,
text, or any other appropriate visual indicator. As illustrated in
this stage, the GUI 100 displays content of the active pick of the
audition set 630 in the preview display area 140 when the creation
of the audition set 630 is completed. In other embodiments, the
creation of the audition set does not affect the preview display
area.
[0117] In some instances, a user of a media editing application may
wish to audition different versions of the same media clip. For
example, the user may wish to evaluate and examine how a media clip
with different in and out points, durations, effects, etc., appears
in a particular part of a composite presentation. The following
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate example techniques for creating audition
sets with multiple versions of a media clip.
[0118] FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates creating an audition set
using the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
In particular, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at four
different stages 705-720 that show the creation of an audition set
that includes a media clip and a new version (i.e., a duplicate) of
that media clip. The first stage 705 is the same as the first stage
605 shown in FIG. 6.
[0119] At the second stage 710, the GUI 100 illustrates a selection
of a media clip in the composite display area 135. As shown, the
media clip 175 is selected through a click operation using the
cursor 160. The GUI indicates this selection by bolding the border
of the representation of media clip 175.
[0120] The third stage 715 illustrates the GUI 100 during the
initiation of the creation of an audition set. As shown, the GUI
100 at this stage displays a menu 725 that includes a user
selectable "New Version" option as well as other user selectable
options (not shown). The "New Version" option of some embodiments
invokes a command to create a new version of a selected media clip
(media clip 175 in this example) and an audition set that includes
the selected media clip and the new version of it. In some
embodiments, the menu 725 is invoked by selecting the "Stacks"
option in the menu bar 150 through a click operation using the
cursor 160. Some embodiments also provide other methods for
invoking the menu 725. For instance, some of these embodiments
allow the menu 725 to be invoked using a hotkey, a keystroke, a
series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
method to invoke a menu. The third stage 715 illustrates the "New
Version" option being selected through a click operation using the
cursor 160.
[0121] The fourth stage 720 shows the GUI 100 after the creation of
an audition set 730 that includes the media clip 175 and a new,
separate version of the media clip. As shown, the user selectable
item 190 is displayed on the audition set 730 to visually indicate
that the audition set 730 is an audition set. In this example, the
media editing application sets the new version of the media clip
175 as the active pick when the audition set 730 is created. Some
embodiments define a new data structure for the new version that
has a different identifier but the same defining information (i.e.,
poster frame, source file, in and out points, etc.). The user can
then edit one of the versions of the media clip (e.g., modify the
in and out points) while leaving the other version unchanged.
[0122] As the new version of the media clip 175 is the first such
new version of this media clip, the media editing application names
the new version using the name of the media clip 175 appended with
a label indicating the version number ("V1" in this example), as
shown by the display of "Clip D V1" in the audition set 730.
Subsequent versions of the media clip 175 are named with sequential
version numbers (e.g., "Clip D V2," "Clip D V3," etc.) in some
embodiments. Other embodiments may provide other ways of naming a
new version of a media clip. Although this example illustrates that
the newly created version is set as the active pick of the audition
set 730, some embodiments set the original media clip 175 as the
active pick of the audition set 730 (and the name displayed in the
audition set 730 would remain as "Clip D").
[0123] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of creating an audition set
that includes a media clip and a version of the media clip with an
effect applied. As shown, FIG. 8 illustrates the GUI 800 at four
different stages 805-820 that show the creation of such an audition
set. The GUI 800 is similar to the GUI 100 except the GUI 800 also
includes an effects panel 825. As shown, the effects panel 825
includes a "Video" tab for displaying an effects panel for video
effects and an "Audio" tab for displaying an effects panel for
audio effects. For this example, the "Video" tab is selected and
the effects panel thus displays video effects. In particular, the
effects panel 825 includes user selectable effect items 830-840 and
other user selectable effects (not shown). Each of the user
selectable effects in the effects panel 825 causes the application
of one or more video effects to a media clip when selected. For
instance, the effect item 830 applies a blur video effect, the
effect item 835 applies a black and white video effect, and the
effect item 840 applies a fade-in/fade-out video effect.
[0124] The first stage 805 illustrates the GUI 800 at the beginning
of the creation of an audition set. Specifically, a user has
selected the effect item 830 and drags the item (e.g., through a
drag-and-drop operation) using the cursor 160 towards the media
clip 175 in the composite display area 135.
[0125] In the second stage 810, the user has finished dragging the
effect item 830 from the effects panel 825 to the media clip 175.
When the user finishes dragging the effect item 830 onto the media
clip 175, the media editing application automatically displays a
menu 625 shortly thereafter. The second stage 810 shows the
selection of the "Create Stack" option through a click operation
using the cursor 160. This selection invokes a command to create an
audition set 845 that includes the media clip 175 and a new version
of the media clip 175 with the effect of the effect item 830 (i.e.,
a blur effect) applied to it.
[0126] The third stage 815 illustrates the GUI 800 after the
creation of the audition set 845 is completed. As shown, the media
editing application displays a user selectable UI item 190 in the
audition set 845 to visually indicate that the audition set 845
displayed in the composite display area 135 is an audition set. In
this example, the media editing application sets the new version of
the media clip 175 that includes the blur effect as the active pick
when creating the audition set 845. Some embodiments define a new
data structure for the new version that has a different identifier
but the same defining information (i.e., poster frame, source file,
in and out points, etc.). Some embodiments also store the blur
effect or a reference to the blur effect in the data structure for
the newly created media clip.
[0127] At the fourth stage 820, a user has selected the UI item 190
(e.g., through a click operation using the cursor 160). As
mentioned above, the UI item 190 enables the opening and closing of
a selection area that displays the media clips included in the
associated audition set. As such, the GUI 800 now displays
selection area 192. The selection area 192 displays the media clip
175 and a media clip 850, which is the newly created version of the
media clip 175 with the blur effect applied. In this example, the
selection area 192 displays a label specifying the name of the
media clip displayed at or near the center of the selection area
192. Because the media clip 850 is currently displayed in the
center region of the selection area 192, a label displayed above
the media clip 850 specifies the name of the media clip 850 as
"Clip D--Blur," which is the name of the media clip 175 along with
the effect applied in clip 850.
[0128] FIG. 8 shows the creation of the audition set 845 by
dragging and dropping a user selectable effect item from the
effects panel 825 onto a media clip in the composite display area
135. Some embodiments may provide other ways for the user to create
the audition set 845. For instance, some embodiments allow the user
to select the media clip 175 in the composite display area 135 and
invoke the creation of the audition set 845 using a hotkey, a
keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or
any other appropriate way of invoking a command.
[0129] Moreover, FIG. 8 shows the effects panel 825 with a user
selectable "Video" tab and a user selectable "Audio" tab for
displaying an effects panel for video effects and an effects panel
for audio effect, respectively. However, some embodiments of the
effects panel 825 include additional and/or different user
selectable tabs for displaying different effects panels for
different types of effects. In addition, while the effects included
in the effects panel for the "Video" include a particular set of
video effects, these example effects are only provided for purposes
of explanation; one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize
that any number of different video effects can be included in the
"Video" effects panel, such as a Gaussian blur effect, a border
effect, a direction blur effect, etc.
[0130] The above figures illustrated various different ways to
create a new audition set. FIG. 9 conceptually illustrates a
process 900 of some embodiments for creating a new audition set.
The process 900 begins by receiving (at 905) input to associate
media clips as an audition set. This input may be received from a
selection of a drop-down menu in some embodiments, as shown in FIG.
1 or FIG. 7. The selection input may be from a cursor controller
(e.g., a click input), through a touchscreen (e.g., touching a menu
option), from a keyboard, etc. Some embodiments receive the input
from a pop-up menu that appears automatically when a media clip or
an effect is dragged and dropped (e.g., with a cursor controller,
through a touchscreen, etc.) onto another media clip, as shown in
FIG. 6 or FIG. 8. In some embodiments, the input consists of a user
dragging and dropping media clips within the media library, as
shown below by reference to FIG. 27.
[0131] The process then identifies (at 910) a set of media clips to
associate as the audition set. The media clips may include video
clips (as in FIGS. 1, 6, etc.) as well as other clips such as audio
clips, effects clips, or sequences of video clips, which are
described in further detail below. Some embodiments associate all
selected clips at the time the user input is received. In some
cases, when a clip is dragged onto another clip, these two clips
are associated. Some situations (e.g., as shown in FIG. 7)
associate a media clip with a duplicate of itself as an audition
set.
[0132] Next, the process 900 identifies (at 915) a media clip from
the audition set to set as the active pick. As mentioned above, the
active pick of an audition set is the media clip that interacts
with the composite presentation. As examples, when a user adds an
audition set to the composite presentation, the media editing
application adds the active pick to the composite project. When
edits (e.g., trim edits) are performed on the audition set, the
editing application applies the edits to the active pick. When one
of the media clips being associated is already in the composite
display area and the rest are clips from the media library, some
embodiments automatically set the clip in the composite display
area as the active pick. When the creation of the audition set
involves the creation of a duplicate of a clip (or of a portion of
a clip, or a duplicate with an effect), some embodiments set the
new clip as the active pick while other embodiments set the
original clip as the active pick.
[0133] The process then creates (at 920) a data structure for the
audition set. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of such a data
structure 500. As described above, the data structure includes at
least a reference to each media clip in the data structure and an
indication of the active pick. Some embodiments include more
information about the audition set, such as its location in the
timeline of the composite display area.
[0134] The process also displays (at 925) the audition set in the
GUI. In the examples shown in the figures above, the media editing
application displays an indicator within the media clip in the
composite display area to indicate that the media clip is the
active pick of an audition set. In some embodiments, as shown below
by reference to FIG. 27, when a user associates clips in the media
library as an audition set, the clips are displayed as a stack with
an audition set indicator. After creating the data structure and
displaying the audition set, the process ends.
[0135] B. Adding a Clip to an Audition Set
[0136] Once an audition set is created, users can add additional
media clips to the audition set. FIG. 10 illustrates the addition
of a media clip to an audition set using the GUI 100 of some
embodiments. In particular, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at
four different stages 1005-1020 that show the addition of a media
clip to an audition set displayed in the composite display area 135
of some embodiments. The GUI 100 in this figure continues from the
last stage 620 illustrated in FIG. 6, at which point an audition
set 630 is created. The first stage 1005 shows the selection of the
audition set 630, displayed in the composite display area 135,
through a cursor control operation using the cursor 160.
[0137] The second stage 1010 of the GUI 100 shows a selection of a
media clip 1025 in the media library 145 through a click operation
(e.g., a control-cursor-click operation) using the cursor 160. When
the user selects media clip 1025, the preview display area 140
displays the thumbnail image that represents the media clip 1025.
In some embodiments, such a selection of a media clip from the
media library does not affect the preview display area.
[0138] At the third stage 1015, the GUI 100 displays a menu 1030
that includes a user selectable "Add to Stack" option and other
options (not shown). In this example, the user selectable "Add to
Stack" option invokes an operation to add a selected media clip(s)
to a selected audition set (the media clip 1025 and the audition
set 630 in this example). In some embodiments, the user invokes
menu 1030 by selecting the "Stacks" option in the menu bar 150
through a click operation (e.g., cursor click operation, touch
operation, etc.). Other embodiments provide other ways to invoke
the menu 1030. For instance, some embodiments allow the user to
invoke the menu 1030 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of
keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other appropriate
method to invoke a menu.
[0139] The fourth stage 1020 shows the GUI 100 after the completion
of the addition operation. As shown, the display of the audition
set 630 in the composite display area remains unchanged. The
audition set 630 still displays the user selectable UI item 190 to
visually indicate that the media clip is an audition set. However,
the media editing application modifies the data structure for the
audition set 630 to include the media clip 1025.
[0140] FIG. 11 illustrates an alternative method of adding an item
to an audition set using the GUI 100 of some embodiments.
Specifically, FIG. 11 illustrates the GUI 100 at three different
stages 1105-1115 that show the addition of a media clip to an
audition set displayed in the composite display area 135 according
to some embodiments. Similar to FIG. 10, the GUI 100 in this figure
continues from the last stage 620 of FIG. 6. The first stage 1105
of the GUI 100 shows the selection and dragging of media clip 1120
(e.g., through a drag-and-drop operation) from the media library
145 towards the audition set 630 in the composite display area 135,
as indicated by a dotted arrow.
[0141] The second stage 1110 shows the GUI 100 after the media clip
1120 has been dragged and dropped on top of the audition set 630.
At this stage, the GUI 100 also displays a menu 1125. When the user
finishes dragging the media clip 1120 into the composite display
area 135, the media editing application automatically displays a
menu 1125 shortly thereafter. As shown, the menu 1125 includes a
user selectable "Add to Stack" option and other user selectable
options (not shown). Different embodiments of the menu 1125 may
include different numbers of different user selectable options for
performing different functions. In this example, the "Add to Stack"
option invokes a command to add the media clip(s) that was selected
and dragged into the composite display area 135 (the media clip
1120 in this example) and to the audition set in the composite
display area 135 on which the former was dragged (the audition set
630 in this example). The second stage 1110 also illustrates the
selection of the "Add to Stack" option through a click operation
using the cursor 160.
[0142] The third stage 1115 shows the GUI 100 after the completion
of the addition operation. As shown, the display of the audition
set 630 in the composite display area remains unchanged. The
audition set 630 still displays the user selectable UI item 190 to
visually indicate that the media clip is an audition set. However,
the media editing application modifies the data structure for the
audition set 630 to include the media clip 1120.
[0143] FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate two different ways to add a media
clip to an audition set through the composite display area 135.
Other embodiments allow a media clip to be added to an audition set
through other elements of the GUI 100 of some embodiments. For
example, the following FIGS. 12-14 illustrates several different
ways to add a media clip to an audition set through the selection
area 192.
[0144] FIG. 12 illustrates another method of adding a media clip to
an audition set using the GUI 800 of a media editing application of
some embodiments. This figure illustrates the GUI 800 at four
different stages 1205-1220 of the addition operation. In this
example, the GUI 800 includes the audition set 630 in the composite
display area 135. The audition set 630 includes the media clips 165
and 175, as shown in FIG. 6.
[0145] At the first stage 1205, the GUI 800 displays the selection
area 192. The selection area 192 may have been invoked using
methods such as performing a click operation (e.g., cursor click
operation, touch click operation, etc.) on the user selectable UI
item 190, a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination or keystrokes, etc., as described above. As shown, the
selection area 192 displays the media clips 175 and 165, which are
part of the audition set 630. For this example, the selection area
192 displays a label that specifies the name of the media clip
displayed at or near the center of the selection area 192. As the
selection area currently displays media clip 175 in this center
region at this stage, a label that specifies the name of the media
clip 175, "Clip D," is displayed above the media clip 175 in the
selection area 192.
[0146] The second stage 1210 of the GUI 800 illustrates the
selection and dragging of user selectable effect item 830 from the
effects panel 825 (e.g., through a drag-and-drop operation) towards
the media clip 175 using the cursor 160, as indicated by the dotted
arrow. As described previously, the effect item 830 applies a blur
effect to a video clip.
[0147] The third stage 1215 shows the GUI 800 after the user has
finished dragging the effect item 830 onto the media clip 175
displayed in the selection area 192. When the user finishes
dragging the effects item 830 onto the media clip 175, the media
editing application automatically displays a menu 1230 shortly
thereafter in some embodiments. As shown, the menu 1230 includes a
user selectable "Add Version with Effect" option along with other
user selectable options (not shown). The third stage 1215 also
illustrates the selection of the "Add Version with Effect" through
a cursor click operation using the cursor 160. This selection
invokes a command to add to the audition set a new version of the
media clip 175 with the effect item 830 (i.e., a blur effect)
applied.
[0148] The fourth stage 1220 shows the GUI 800 after the addition
of a new media clip 1235. In this stage, the selection area 192
displays the new media clip 1235 at or near its center, the media
clip 175 to the left side of the selection area 192, and the media
clip 165 on the right side of the selection area 192. In other
embodiments, the media clips of the audition set 630 are displayed
in the selection area 192 differently. For instance, some of these
embodiments display the newly added media clip 1235 at one end (the
left or the right) of the other media clips (the media clips 165
and 175 in this example).
[0149] Moreover, the media clip 1235 displays the indicator 196
that indicates that the media clip 1235 is the active pick of the
audition set 630. As illustrated in this example, the newly added
media clip 1235 is automatically set as the active pick of the
audition set 630 upon its addition to the audition set 630. In some
embodiments, the media editing application does not change the
active pick when adding the media clip 1235 is added to the
audition set 630. In addition, a label specifying the name of the
media clip 1235 is displayed above the media clip 1235 in the
selection area 192. Similar to the naming convention described
above by reference to FIG. 8, the name used for the new media clip
1235, "Clip D--Blur," is the name of the effect (i.e., a blur
effect) appended to the name of the media clip 175.
[0150] Although FIG. 12 shows a blur effect applied to the media
clip 175 of the audition set 630 through the selection area 192,
one of ordinary skill will realize that this figure merely
illustrates one example and any other effect can be applied to any
media clip of the audition set 630 using the same or similar
technique illustrated by FIG. 12.
[0151] FIG. 13 illustrates another addition of a media clip to an
audition set using the GUI 100 of some embodiments. This figure
illustrates the GUI 100 at four different stages 1305-1320 that
show the addition of a media clip to an audition set through a
selection area 1325 of some embodiments. For this example, the GUI
100 continues from the last stage 620 illustrated in FIG. 6, at
which the audition set 630 is created. The first stage 1305 of the
GUI 100 illustrates the selection of user selectable UI item 190
through a click operation using the cursor 160, which causes a
change in the appearance of the UI item 190.
[0152] The second stage 1310 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
selection of the UI item 190. The GUI 100 now displays a selection
area 1325 that is similar to the selection area 192 except that the
selection area 1325 includes user selectable UI items 1330-1340.
That is, the selection area 1325 displays an active pick 175
(indicated by the indicator 196) and a candidate media clip 165. In
this example, the user selectable UI item 1330 (e.g., "Duplicate"
button 1330) invokes the addition of a new version (i.e.,
duplicate) of a selected media clip displayed in the selection area
1325, the user selectable UI item 1335 (e.g., "Cancel" button 1335)
cancels any operations performed in the selection area 1325, and
the user selectable UI item 1340 (e.g., "Done" button 1340) saves
any operations performed in the selection area 1325.
[0153] The third stage 1315 illustrates the GUI 100 at the start of
the duplicate media clip addition operation. As shown, the user
selects the user selectable UI item 1330 ("Duplicate") through a
click operation using the cursor 160. Some embodiments allow the
user to invoke the operation using other methods. For instance, in
some such embodiments, the user can invoke the duplication
operation using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, or a
combination of keystrokes. Other methods are also possible.
[0154] The fourth stage 1320 shows the GUI 100 after the completion
of the addition operation. In this example, the addition operation
adds a new media clip 1345 to the audition set 630 and displays the
new clip in the selection area 1325. The new media clip 1345 has
the same parameters (i.e., source file, in and out points, poster
frame, etc.) as the media clip 175. As shown, the media editing
application displays the newly created duplicate media clip 1345 in
the middle of the selection area 1325, and the media clip 175 on
the left side of the selection area 1325. The GUI adjusts the
scroll bar indicator to the middle of the scroll bar
accordingly.
[0155] In addition, the media editing application sets the new
media clip 1345 as the active pick for the audition set 630, as
shown by the indicator 196 displayed in representation of the media
clip 1345. However, different embodiments handle the addition of a
duplicate media clip to an audition set differently. For example,
some embodiments designate the new media clip as the active pick
but move and display the previously centered media clip to the
right side of the selection area. Other embodiments may not change
the active pick of the audition set, and display the duplicated
media clip on the left side of the selection area.
[0156] FIG. 14 illustrates the addition of a media clip to an
audition set using the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the
invention. Like FIG. 13, FIG. 14 illustrates the addition of a new
version of a media clip to the audition set. This figure shows the
GUI 100 at four different stages 1405-1420 that show the addition
of a media clip to an audition set through the selection area 192.
In this example, the GUI 100 continues from the last stage 620
shown in FIG. 6, at which the audition set 630 is created. The
first stage 1405 of the GUI 100 is the same as the first stage
1305, described above.
[0157] The second stage 1410 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
selection of the UI item 190. The GUI 100 now displays the
selection area 192. As shown, the selection area 192 displays the
media clips 165 and 175. In addition, the indicator 196 is
displayed in the media clip 175 to indicate that the media clip 175
is the active pick of the audition set 630. In addition, this stage
illustrates the selection of media clip 175 through a cursor click
operation using the cursor 160.
[0158] The third stage 1415 shows the GUI 100 displaying a menu
1425 that includes a user selectable "New Version" option in
addition to other user selectable options (not shown). The "New
Version" option of some embodiments invokes a command to create a
new version of a media clip (media clip 175 in this example)
selected in the selection area 192 and to add the newly created
clip to the audition set shown in the selection area (audition set
630 in this example). In some embodiments, the menu 1425 is invoked
by selection of the "Stacks" option in the menu bar 150 through a
click operation (e.g., a cursor click operation, touch click
operation, etc.). However, some embodiments provide other ways to
invoke the menu 1425. For example, some such embodiments allow the
user to invoke the menu 1425 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series
of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
appropriate method to invoke a menu. The third stage 1415 shows the
selection of the "New Version" option through a click operation
using the cursor 160.
[0159] The fourth stage 1420 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
addition of a media clip 1430, which is a new version of the media
clip 175, to the audition set 630. As shown, the GUI 100 displays
the new media clip 1430 at or near the center of the selection area
192, the media clip 175 on the left side of the selection area 192,
and the media clip 165 on the right side of the selection area 192.
Also, the media editing application displays indicator 196 on the
media clip 1430 to indicate that the new media clip is now the
active pick of the audition set 630. As mentioned above, when a
media clip is added to an audition set, some embodiments do not
change the active pick to the newly added media clip.
[0160] The above figures illustrated a variety of different ways to
add a media clip to an already-created audition set. FIG. 15
conceptually illustrates a process 1500 of some embodiments for
adding a media clip to an audition set. The process 1500 begins by
receiving (at 1505) input to add a media clip to an audition set.
As illustrated in the various figures above, this input may be
received in a variety of different ways. For instance, the input
may be received through a selection of an item in a drop-down menu
(e.g., as shown in FIG. 10 or FIG. 14), a selection of an item in a
pop-up menu that appears automatically as a result of a
drag-and-drop operation (e.g., as shown in FIG. 11 or 12), a
selection of a UI button (e.g., as shown in FIG. 13), or other user
input. The selection input may be received through a cursor
controller (e.g., as click input or drag-and-drop input followed by
click input), through a touchscreen (e.g., touching a menu option
or dragging and dropping an item followed by touching a menu
option), from a keyboard, etc.
[0161] The media clip added to the set may be any sort of media
clip in some embodiments. While the examples above show video clips
(that may include effects), some embodiments allow the user to
create a heterogeneous audition set that includes audio clips,
sequences of media clips, effects clips, still images, text,
etc.
[0162] The process then modifies (at 1510) the data structure of
the audition set to include the media clip. In some embodiments,
this simply involves adding a reference to a data structure of the
media clip that already exists. Some embodiments write the
information describing the media clip into the data structure for
the audition set. Additionally, in some cases, a new media clip is
created and thus a new data structure for the media clip must also
be created (e.g., in the example shown in FIG. 14).
[0163] Next, the process determines (at 1515) whether to set the
newly added media clip as the active pick of the set. In some
embodiments, when an already-existing media clip is added to an
already-existing audition set, the audition set retains its current
active pick. On the other hand, when a new version of a media clip
is added to an already-existing audition set (e.g., a portion of
the clip, the clip with an effect applied, a duplicate of the
clip), some embodiments set the new version as the active pick for
the audition set. When the newly added media clip should be the new
active pick for the audition set, the process modifies (at 1520)
the data structure for the audition set to set the newly added
media clip as the active pick. In some embodiments, this simply
involves modifying a reference to refer to one media clip instead
of another.
[0164] The process then determines (at 1525) whether any
modifications to the GUI are required by the change. When
modifications are required, the process modifies (at 1530) the GUI
as necessary. When the audition set is in the composite display
area and the addition does not change the active pick, some
embodiments do not require any GUI modifications. However, when
displaying the selection area of some embodiments, a new media clip
appears in the selection area. The process may also need to move
the active pick indicator from one clip to another. The process
then ends.
[0165] C. Removal of a Clip from an Audition Set
[0166] The FIGS. 10-14 illustrate a variety of different ways to
add a media clip to an audition set. In addition, some embodiments
enable the user to remove one or more media clips from an audition
set. The following FIGS. 16 and 17 will describe examples of some
such embodiments.
[0167] FIG. 16 illustrates the removal of a media clip from an
audition set using the GUI 100 of some embodiments. This figure
illustrates the GUI 100 at four different stages 1605-1620 that
illustrate the removal of a media clip from an audition set
displayed in the composite display area 135 of some embodiments. In
this example, the GUI 100 displays the audition set 185, which was
created as illustrated in FIG. 6, in the composite display area
135. However, for purposes of explanation of the removal operation,
the audition set 185 represents a grouping of three media clips
instead of two. The first stage 1605 of the GUI 100 illustrates the
selection of a user selectable UI item 190 through a click
operation using the cursor 160, as indicated by a change in the
appearance of the UI item 190.
[0168] The second stage 1610 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
selection of the UI item 190. The GUI now displays the selection
area 192 displaying an audition set 185. As mentioned, the audition
set 185 in this example represents a logical grouping of three
media clips: clips 175, 165, and 1625. The media clip 175 is the
active pick for this audition set.
[0169] At the third stage 1615, the media clip 165 displayed in the
selection area 192 has been selected (e.g., through a click
operation such as a cursor click operation, a touch click
operation, etc.). The GUI 100 indicates this selection through the
bolded border of the thumbnail representing media clip 165. The GUI
100 also displays a menu 1630 that includes a user selectable
"Remove from Stack" option and other options (not shown) as well.
The user selectable "Remove from Stack" option invokes an operation
to remove one or more selected media clips (the single media clip
165 in this example) from the audition set displayed in the
selection area 192. In some embodiments, the user invokes menu 1630
by selecting the "Stacks" option in the menu bar 150 through a
click operation. Some embodiments provide other ways to invoke the
menu 1630. For example, some such embodiments allow the user to
invoke the menu 1630 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of
keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other appropriate
method to invoke a menu.
[0170] The fourth stage 1620 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
media editing application removes the media clip 165 from the
audition set 185. At this stage, the audition set 185 represents a
logical grouping of only the media clips 175 and 1625. As shown,
the audition set 185 displayed in the composite display area 135
still displays the user selectable UI item 190 to visually indicate
that the media clip is an audition set, as more than one media clip
remains. When a user removes all but one media clip from an
audition set, the audition set no longer exists as an associated
set of media clips, and media editing application removes the data
structure for the audition set, leaving only a standard media clip
data structure.
[0171] FIG. 17 illustrates another audition set removal operation
using the GUI 100 of some embodiments. FIG. 17 illustrates the GUI
100 at four different stages 1705-1720 that also show the removal
from an audition set displayed in the composite display area 135 of
some embodiments. Similar to FIG. 16, the GUI 100 displays the
audition set 185, which was created as illustrated in FIG. 6, in
the composite display area 135. The first and second stages 1705
and 1710 of the GUI 100 are the same as the first and second stages
1605 and 1610, respectively, described above by reference to FIG.
16. In these stages, the user selects item 190 in order to open
selection area 192 with the three media clips 175, 165, and
1625.
[0172] The third stage 1715 of the GUI 100 shows the user
interaction resulting in the removal operation. Like the third
stage 1615 illustrated in FIG. 16, the media clip 165 is also
selected for removal in this example. As shown at this stage, the
user selects and drags media clip 165 (e.g., through a
drag-and-drop operation) to an area in the GUI 100 outside of the
selection area 192. While this stage illustrates the media clip 165
dragged to a particular area outside of the selection area 192,
some embodiments allow the user to drag the media clip 165 to any
area outside of the selection area 192 to invoke its removal from
the audition set 185 in some embodiments.
[0173] At the fourth stage 1720, the media editing application has
removed the media clip 165 from the audition set 185. That is, the
media clip 165 is no longer included in the logical grouping
represented by the audition set 185. Accordingly, at the fourth
stage 1720, the GUI 100 no longer displays the media clip 165 in
the selection area 192.
[0174] The examples illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 show different
methods for removing the media clip 165 from the audition set 185.
One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other media
clips in the audition set 185 can be removed in the same or similar
fashion. Furthermore, these figures illustrate the removal of a
single media clip from an audition set. Some embodiments allow the
user to select multiple media clips in the selection area 192 and
remove all of the selected media clips from the audition set
through a single invocation of a removal operation.
[0175] Although not shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, some embodiments
allow the removal of the active pick of an audition. Different
embodiments handle the removal of the active pick in an audition
set differently. For instance, some embodiments designate the next
media clip displayed in the selection area 192 as the active pick.
Some embodiments randomly select a new media clip from the audition
set as the active pick. Other methods for determining the active
pick for the audition set are also possible.
[0176] FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates a process 1800 of some
embodiments for removing a media clip from an audition set. As
shown, the process 1800 begins by receiving (at 1805) input to
remove a media clip from an audition set. As illustrated in the
figures above, this input may be received in a variety of different
ways. For instance, the input may be received through selection of
an item in a menu (e.g., as shown in FIG. 16), a drag-and-drop
operation (e.g., as shown in FIG. 17), selection of a UI button, or
other user input. The selection input may be received through a
cursor controller (e.g., as click input or drag-and-drop input),
through a touchscreen (e.g., touching a menu option or dragging and
dropping an item), from a keyboard, etc.
[0177] The process then modifies (at 1810) the data structure of
the audition set to remove the media clip. In some embodiments,
this simply involves removing a reference to a data structure for
the media clip. When the media clip data is part of the audition
set data structure, some embodiments rewrite this information to a
new location in the project data as a sole media clip and remove
the information from the audition set data structure.
[0178] The process then determines (at 1815) whether the removed
media clip was the active pick. When this is the case, the process
selects (at 1820) a new active pick and modifies the data structure
for the audition set to refer to the new active pick. Some
embodiments designate a media clip as an active pick based on an
order of media clips within the audition set (e.g., the order in
which the clips were added to the audition set), designate a random
media clip from the audition set, or use other methods.
[0179] Next, the process 1800 determines (at 1825) whether any
modifications to the GUI are required by the change. When
modifications are required, the process modifies (at 1830) the GUI
as necessary. When displaying the audition set in the selection
area, the media editing application no longer displays the
representation of the removed media clip after its removal. In some
embodiments, a new media clip is brought to the center of the
selection area as well.
[0180] D. Creation of Audition Sets with Different Types of Media
Clips
[0181] The examples described above illustrate different operations
(creation, addition, and removal) applied to audition sets composed
entirely of video clips. However, as shown in FIG. 4, an audition
set may include audio clips, effects clips, sequences, etc., in
some embodiments. Moreover, many of the examples described above
illustrate the creation of an audition set in the central
compositing lane 155 of the composite display area 135. Some
embodiments also allow the user to create an audition set in other
areas of the composite display area 135, such as an anchor lane of
the composite display area 135. The following figures illustrate
the creation of sequences involving additional types of media clips
and through different areas of the GUI.
[0182] FIG. 19 illustrates the creation of an audition set that
includes audio clips in an anchor lane of the composite display
area 135 of GUI 100 according to some embodiments. In this figure,
the GUI 100 is illustrated at six different stages 1905-1930 that
show the creation of an audition set 1950. As shown, the media
library 145 includes two audio clips 1935 and 1940, as indicated by
the waveforms used for the graphical representation of these clips.
In this example, the media clip 1945 displayed in the composite
display area 135 is also an audio clip.
[0183] The first stage 1905 illustrates the selection of several
media clips--specifically, audio clips 1935 and 1940 are selected,
as indicated by a bolding of the borders of the thumbnail
representations of these audio clips 1935 and 1940. These audio
clips have previously been selected (e.g., through click operations
such as cursor click operations, touch click operations, etc.).
Further, this stage shows the selection of the media clip 1945,
also indicated by a bolding of the border of its graphical
representation, in the composite display area 135 through a click
operation using the cursor 160.
[0184] Similar to the second stage 110 described above, the second
stage 1910 displays the menu 180. This stage also illustrates the
selection of the "Create Stack" option through a cursor click
operation using the cursor 160. As mentioned above, the "Create
Stack" option of some embodiments invokes the creation of an
audition set with the selected media clips. As such, in this
example, the selection of the "Create Stack" option causes the
media editing application to create an audition set 1950 having the
media clips 1935, 1940, and 1945.
[0185] The third stage 1915 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
creation of the audition set 1950. As shown, the user selectable UI
item 190 is displayed on the audition set 1950 to indicate that it
is an audition set. This stage also illustrates the selection of
this UI item to invoke the display of selection area 192.
[0186] The fourth stage 1920 of the GUI 100 displays the selection
area 192. As shown, the selection area 192 displays the media clips
1935-1945. As described above by reference to FIG. 1, some
embodiments set the selected media clip in the composite display
area 135 as the active pick of an audition set upon creation of the
audition set. Similarly, in this example, the media editing
application sets the media clip 1945 as the active pick of the
audition set 1950 because it is the selected media clip in the
composite display area 135. Accordingly, the indicator 196 is
displayed on the media clips 1945 to indicate that it is the active
pick of the audition set 1950.
[0187] At the fifth stage 1925, the GUI 100 shows the media clips
in the selection area 192 as a user scrolls through the clips in
the same or a similar manner as previously described above by
reference to FIG. 1. As shown, the user selects the right arrow
through a click operation using the cursor 160 in order to scroll
through the media clips 1935-1945 from right to left. The sixth
stage 1930 illustrates the GUI 100 after all the media clips
1935-1945 have been scrolled through from right to left. As shown,
the media clip 1935 is now displayed at or near the middle of the
selection area 192.
[0188] As mentioned above, some embodiments can also include
sequences of media clips in an audition set. While the composite
display area is used to composite media clips in some embodiments,
the media library of some such embodiments can also be used as a
secondary area to composite media clips. For example, a user of the
media editing application may wish to create sequences of media
clips without having to select a particular location in the
composite display area in which to place the sequence of media
clips. In this way, the user can create sequences of media clips
and then add them to the composite display area at a later time.
FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate the creation of a sequence and
subsequent creation of an audition set that includes the sequence
through the GUI 100. As shown, these figures illustrate the GUI 100
at nine different stages 2005-2045 that show the creation of a
sequence and the creation of an audition set that includes the
created sequence.
[0189] The first stage 2005 of the GUI 100 shows a selection of
several media clips. In particular, this stage shows the selection
of media clips 170 and 2055 through a selection box operation using
the cursor 160, as illustrated by the dotted box enclosing the
media clips 170 and 2055. One of ordinary skill in the art will
recognize that similar operations may be performed using a
touchscreen or other input devices in order to select multiple
media clips.
[0190] At the second stage 2010, the GUI 100 displays a menu 2060
that includes a user selectable "Compose Clips" option along with
other user selectable options (not shown). The "Compose Clips"
option invokes the creation of a sequence with selected media clips
(the media clips 170 and 2055 in this example). Similar to the menu
180 described above, the menu 2060 of different embodiments may
include different numbers of different user selectable options for
performing different functions. A user can invoke the menu 2060 of
some embodiments by selecting the "Edit" option in the menu bar 150
through a click operation (e.g., a cursor click operation, a touch
click operation, etc.). Other embodiments provide other ways to
invoke the menu 2060. For example, some such embodiments enable the
user to invoke the menu 2060 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series
of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other method to
invoke a menu. The second stage 2010 illustrates the selection of
the "Compose Clips" option through a click operation using the
cursor 2060.
[0191] The third stage 2015 shows the GUI 100 after the creation of
a media clip sequence 2065. Since the media clips 170 and 2055 were
selected when the user invoked the sequence creation operation, the
media clip sequence 2065 includes these two media clips. Different
embodiments specify the order of the media clips in the sequence
differently. For instance, some embodiments determine the order
based on the position of the media clips in the media library, such
as left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top, etc.
Some embodiments determine the order within the sequence based on
the order in which the media clips are selected. In this example,
the media editing application determines the order of the media
clips in the media clip sequence 2065 based on their positions in
the media library 145 on a left to right basis. Since the media
clip 170 is positioned left of the media clip 2055 in media library
145, the media clip 2055 comes after the media clip 170 in the
media clip sequence 2065.
[0192] The fourth through sixth stages 2020-2030 illustrate the
creation of an audition set 2070 in a similar manner as the
creation of the audition set 630 described above by reference to
FIG. 6. In these stages 2020-2030, a user selects and drags the
media clip sequence 2065 onto the media clip 175 in the composite
display area 135 and subsequently selects the "Create Stack" option
in the menu 625 that automatically pops up in order to create
audition set 2070. In this example, the media editing application
sets media clip 175 as the active pick of the audition set 2070 as
it is the clip located in the composite display area 135.
[0193] The seventh through ninth stages 2035-2045 illustrated in
FIG. 20B show the display of the selection area 192 after its
invocation through selectable item 190 and scrolling through media
clips of the audition set 2070 in a similar fashion as described
above by reference to the stages 115-130 of FIG. 1. These stages
2035-2045 illustrate the media clips that are part of the audition
set 2070. Specifically, the eighth stage 2040 shows the media clip
175, which is the active pick, and the ninth stage 2045 shows the
media clip sequence 2065. As shown, the media editing application
displays an expanded view of the media clip sequence in some
embodiments that includes thumbnail representations for the media
clips that make up the sequence. When the sequence is too large
(i.e., has too many clips), some embodiments only display a portion
of the media clips that make up the sequence, or shrink the size of
the thumbnails used to represent the media clips in the
sequence.
[0194] FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate an alternative method to create a
sequence and create an audition set that includes the sequence
through the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
As shown, these figures illustrate the GUI 100 at nine different
stages 2105-2145 that show the creation of a sequence of media
clips in the composite display area 135 and the creation of an
audition set that includes the created sequence.
[0195] Similar to the first stage of FIG. 20A, the first stage 2105
of the GUI 100 illustrates a selection of several media clips
(specifically, media clips 2155 and 175) through a selection box
operation using the cursor 160. However, in this example, the
selected media clips are located in the central compositing lane
155 of composite display area 135.
[0196] At the second stage 2110, the GUI 100 displays menu 2060 in
the GUI 100. The user can invoke the display of the menu 2060 in
the same or a similar way to that described above by reference to
stage 2010 of FIG. 20A (i.e., through a cursor click operation,
touchscreen click operation, etc.). This stage also illustrates the
selection of the "Compose Clips" option through a click operation
using the cursor 160.
[0197] The third stage 2115 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
creation of media clip sequence 2160 from media clips 2155 and 175.
In this example, media editing application determines the order of
the media clips 2155 and 175 in the media clip sequence 2160 by
their chronological order in the timeline of the composite display
area 135. Thus, the media clip 175 follows the media clip 2155 in
the media clip sequence 2160.
[0198] As described above, the media editing application represents
media clips in the composite display area 135 using a timeline
view. Since the media clip sequence 2160 includes the media clip
2155 and the media clip 175, the duration of the sequence 2160 is
the combined duration of these two media clips. Accordingly, the
horizontal length of the media clip sequence 2160 displayed in the
composite display area 135 equals the combined horizontal length of
media clips 2155 and 175 as previously displayed in the composite
display area 135.
[0199] The fourth through sixth stages 2120-2130 of the GUI 100
illustrate the creation of an audition set 2165 in a manner similar
to the creation of the audition set 630 described above by
reference to FIG. 6. In the stages 2120-2130, the user creates the
audition set 2165 by selecting and dragging the media clip 170 onto
the media clip sequence 2160 (e.g., with a drag-and-drop operation)
and then selecting the "Create Stack" option in the menu 625. In
this example, the media editing application sets media clip
sequence 2160 as the active pick of the audition set 2165 as it is
the media clip in the composite display area 135.
[0200] The seventh through ninth stages 2135-2145 illustrated in
FIG. 22 show the display of the selection area 192 after its
invocation through selectable item 190 and scrolling through media
clips of the audition set 2165 in a similar manner as described
above by reference to the stages 115-130 of FIG. 1. In short, these
stages 2135-2145 illustrate the media clips that are part of the
audition set 2165. In particular, the eighth stage 2040 shows the
media clip sequence 2160, which is the active pick, and the ninth
stage 2045 shows the media clip 170.
[0201] Although FIGS. 21 and 22 show a sequence in the composite
display area 135 displayed as a single graphical representation of
the sequence, some embodiments display each media clip in the
sequence when the sequence is displayed in the composite display
area 135.
[0202] As described above, several embodiments allow a user to
create a sequence of video clips in the media library 145 and then
create an audition set using this sequence in the composite display
area 135. Some embodiments further allow the addition of such a
sequence to the composite display area without adding it to an
audition set. Specifically, the media editing application of some
embodiments allows a user to create a sequence of video clips in
the media library 145 in any one of the manners described above by
reference to stages 2005-2015 of FIG. 20A.
[0203] The media editing application then allows a user to add the
sequence created in the media library to the composite display
area, e.g., through a menu command (e.g., a pop-up or pull-down
menu command), through a drag operation, through a hot key command,
etc. FIG. 23 illustrates an example of adding a sequence 2350 that
is created in the media library to the composite display area
through a drag operation. This example is illustrated in terms of
four stages 2305-2320, which are further explained below.
[0204] In the example illustrated in FIG. 23, the sequence 2350 is
created in the media library by compositing three media clips,
which are media clips G, H, and I in this example. The first stage
2305 shows the sequence 2350 being dragged from the media library
145 to the composite display area 135. When the composite display
area 135 receives the dragged sequence, the composite display area
adds it to the graphical representation of the composite
presentation that it is displaying. FIG. 23 shows that different
embodiments add the composed sequence differently to the composite
display area.
[0205] Specifically, stage 2310 of this figure shows that some
embodiments add the sequence by unfolding the sequence into its
constituting individual media clips G, H and I, and then adding the
individual clips to the composite display area 135. Stages 2315 and
2320 show an alternative way of adding the sequence to the
composite display area. In particular, stage 2315 shows that some
embodiments add the sequence by adding a sequence clip
representation 2355 to the composite display area. Stage 2320 then
illustrates that some embodiments allow an editor to open the
sequence clip representation to examine and edit the constituting
individual clips G, H, and I.
[0206] FIGS. 20-22 illustrate examples of audition sets that each
include a video clip and a sequence of video clips. However, as
mentioned above, an audition set of some embodiments can include a
variety of different types of media clips. FIGS. 24 and 25
illustrate the creation of such an audition set through the GUI
800. These figures illustrate the GUI 800 at eleven different
stages 2405-2455 that show the addition of different types of media
clips to the audition set 2070.
[0207] At the first stage 2405, the audition set 2070 is displayed
in the composite display area 135 and an audio clip 2457 is
displayed in the media library 145. The second and third stages
2410 and 2415 illustrate the addition of media clip 2457 to the
audition set 2070. The user adds media clip 2457 to the audition
set 2070 in a similar manner as described above by reference to
stages 1105 and 1110 of FIG. 11, by dragging the clip to the
audition set in the composite display area and selecting an "Add to
Stack" option from a menu that automatically appears.
[0208] The fourth and fifth stages 2420 and 2425 illustrate the
addition of an effect clip to the audition set 2070. As with the
media clip 2457, the user adds the media clip 2460 to the audition
set 2070 by dragging the effect to the audition set in the
composite display area and selecting the "Add to Stack" option from
the menu that automatically appears, as described above by
reference to the stage 1105 and 1110.
[0209] The sixth stage 2430 illustrates the GUI 800 after the
addition of the media clips 2457 and 2460 to the audition set 2070.
At this stage, the audition set 2070 includes four media clips: the
media clip 175, the media clip sequence 2065, and media clip 2457,
and the media clip 2460. While the GUI 800 has the same appearance
as at stage 2405, the media editing application has modified the
data structure for audition set 2070 to include the additional
media clips.
[0210] The seventh through eleventh stages 2435-2455 illustrated in
FIG. 25 show the display of the selection area 192 after its
invocation through selectable item 190 and scrolling through media
clips of the audition set 2070 in a similar fashion as described
above by reference to the stages 115-130 of FIG. 1. These stages
2435-2455 illustrate the media clips that are part of the audition
set 2070. Specifically, the eighth stage 2440 shows the video clip
175, which is the active pick, the ninth stage 2445 shows the media
clip sequence 2065, the tenth stage 2450 shows the audio clip 2457,
and the eleventh stage 2455 shows the media clip 2460. As shown,
the media editing application displays the same waveform for audio
clip 2457 as used in the thumbnail representation of the audio clip
in some embodiments. For the effects clip 2460, some embodiments
simply use the name of the effect, as shown.
[0211] E. Creation of Audition Set in Media Library
[0212] Many of the examples described above illustrate the creation
of an audition set in the composite display area of the GUI of some
embodiments. However, some embodiments allow the user to create
audition sets in other areas of the GUI (e.g., in the media
library). For instance, the user may wish to organize media clips
in the media library that are similar and/or that are intended to
be different shots of a particular scene in a movie without having
to add any of the media clips to the composite display area. In
this manner, the user can create audition sets of media clips that
the user would like to associate together even though the user does
not know where to place the audition set in the composite display
area. Thus, the user can add the audition set to the composite
display area at a later time.
[0213] FIGS. 26 and 27 illustrate examples of the creation of
audition sets in the media library 145 of GUI 100. Specifically,
these figures each illustrate a duplication operation performed on
a portion of a particular media clip in the media library 145 and
an audition set creation operation performed to logically group the
particular media clip with the newly created media clip.
[0214] FIG. 26 conceptually illustrates the creation of an audition
set in the media library 145 of the GUI 100 of some embodiments. In
particular, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different
stage 2605-2630 that show an edit operation to create a new media
clip and audition set creation operation. The first stage 2605 of
the GUI 100 illustrates the user selecting a portion 2645 of the
media clip 2635 by drawing a selection box 2640 using the cursor
160.
[0215] The second stage 2610 shows the GUI 100 with the portion
2645 of the media clip 2635. As shown, the media editing
application indicates the selected portion 2645 with a bold
rectangle in this example. The selected portion 2645 of the media
clip 2635 represents a corresponding duration of the media content
represented by the media clip. In particular, the selected portion
2645 represents approximately the first half of the media content
represented by the media clip 2635 since approximately the left
half of the thumbnail representation of the media clip 2635 is
selected. Different embodiments may define the selected portion
2645 of the media clip 2635 differently.
[0216] The second stage 2610 also illustrates the selection and
movement of the portion 2645 (e.g., through a drag-and-drop
operation) to an area in the media library 145 not presently
occupied by a media clip. In this example, the selection and
dragging of the portion 2645 to an unoccupied area causes a new
media clip 2650 to be generated and its representation displayed at
the empty area of the media library 145. The media clip 2650
represents the portion of the media content defined by the selected
portion 2645 (i.e., the media clip 2650 has the same in point as
the media clip 2635 but a different, earlier out point).
[0217] The third stage 2615 of the GUI 100 illustrates the display
of a new media clip 2650 in the media library 145. This stage also
shows the selection of the media clip 2650 through a click
operation using the cursor 160. When the user selects media clip
2650, the media editing application displays the thumbnail image
that represents the media clip 2650 in the preview display area
140. In some embodiments, however, the preview display area 140
remains unchanged with the selection of a media clip in the media
library.
[0218] The fourth stage 2620 of the GUI 100 illustrates a selection
of a second media clip 2635 in the media library 145 through a
click operation using the cursor 160, similar to the selection of
the media clip 2650 in the third stage 2615. The click operation
used is such that media clip 2650 also remains selected (e.g., a
holding down a key while clicking a cursor controller, touching
both thumbnails at the same time on a touchscreen, etc.)
[0219] At the fifth stage 2625 of the GUI 100, the user invokes the
creation of an audition set. The user invokes the menu 180 with the
user selectable "Create Stack" option displayed. As previously
described above, selection of the "Create Stack" option creates an
audition set that represents a logical grouping of selected media
clips (the media clips 2635 and 2650 in this example).
[0220] The sixth stage 2630 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
creation of an audition set 2655. As shown, the media clips 2635
and 2650 are no longer displayed as individual media clips.
Instead, the GUI displays a stack of clips at the previous location
of clip 2635. Furthermore, on the top thumbnail of this stack, the
GUI displays a user selectable UI item 2660 to indicate that the
stack is an audition set. In some embodiments, the user selectable
UI item 2660 can be used to open and close a selection area similar
to that invoked with the user selectable UI item 190 described
above. Some embodiments also display a label that indicates a
number of media clips in the audition set.
[0221] While FIG. 26 illustrates the media clips of the audition
set 2655 stacked on top of one another in an offset manner, some
embodiments may display audition sets differently in the media
library. For instance, some embodiments display an audition set as
a single thumbnail representation without any offset stacking,
using an indicator such as item 2660 to indicate to the user that
the thumbnail represents an audition set.
[0222] FIG. 26 illustrates a creation of the audition set 2655 in
the media library 145 by selecting media clips in the media library
145 and selecting an option from a pull-down menu. Some embodiments
provide other ways of invoking the audition set creation operation,
such as using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, or any other appropriate method for
invoking a command.
[0223] FIG. 27 illustrates another example of the creation of an
audition set in the media library 145 of the GUI 100. FIG. 27
illustrates the GUI 100 at four different stages 2705-2720 that
show an edit operation and audition set creation operation of some
embodiments. The first and second stages 2705 and 2710 are the same
as the first and second stages 2605 and 2610 of FIG. 26, in which
the user creates a new media clip from a portion of an existing
media clip.
[0224] The third stage 2715 of the GUI 100 shows the performance of
an audition set creation operation. At this stage the user selects
and drags the media clip 2650 (e.g., through a drag-and-drop
operation) using the cursor 160 towards the media clip 2635 in the
media library 145.
[0225] The fourth stage 2720 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
placement of the media clip 2650 on top of the media clip 2635 to
create an audition set 2655. The end result of the GUI 100 is the
same as that of stage 2630 of FIG. 26, in that the clips are shown
as a stack with an indicator UI item 2660 to indicate the new
audition set, and an audition set data structure has been
created.
[0226] While the examples illustrated in FIGS. 26-27 show only two
media clips selected to create an audition set, multiple media
clips can be selected and subsequently grouped as an audition set
in some embodiments. In some such embodiments, multiple media clips
can be selected by holding a keyboard key and performing click
operations on each media clip the user wishes to select, or by
using the cursor 160 to perform a selection box selection
operation. Other embodiments may use other methods for selecting
GUI items in the GUI 100 as well, such as touchscreen
operations.
[0227] As described above, FIGS. 26 and 27 show several examples of
the creation of an audition set in the media library 145. Once an
audition set has been created in the media library, a user can add
the audition set to the composite presentation in the composite
display area. FIG. 28 illustrates adding an audition set to a
composite presentation through the GUI 100 according to some
embodiments of the invention. This figure illustrates the GUI 100
at four different stages 2805-2820 that show the addition of the
audition set 2655 to a composite presentation displayed in the
composite display area 135.
[0228] The first stage 2805 continues from the last stage 2630 of
FIG. 26. As shown, this stage illustrates the selection of the
audition set 2655 through a click operation using the cursor 160.
The GUI 100 indicates the selection of the audition set 2655 by
bolding the audition set 2655.
[0229] At the second stage 2810, the GUI 100 displays a menu 2825
that includes a user selectable "Append to Timeline" option and
other options (not shown). The "Append to Timeline" option appends
a selected media clip (the active pick of the audition set 2655 in
this example) to the end of the composite presentation. Some
embodiments allow the user to invoke the menu 2825 by selecting the
"Stacks" option in the menu bar 150 through a click operation
(e.g., a cursor click operation, a touch click operation, etc.).
Other embodiments provide other ways to invoke the menu 2825. For
example, some such embodiments allow the user to invoke the menu
2825 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, or any other method to invoke a menu.
The second stage 2810 illustrates the selection of the "Append to
Timeline" option through a click operation using the cursor
160.
[0230] The third stage 2815 of the GUI 100 conceptually shows the
addition of the audition set 2655 (i.e., the active pick of the
audition set 2655) to the composite presentation displayed in the
composite display area 135. Some embodiments actually display the
addition of the audition set or media clip (e.g., an animation of
the audition set 2655 moving from the media library 145 to the
composite display area 135) upon the selection of the "Append to
Timeline" option.
[0231] The fourth stage 2820 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
addition of the active pick of the audition set 2655 to the
composite presentation. The composite display area 135 now displays
an audition set 2835, which is the timeline view of the audition
set 2655, at the end of the composite presentation after "Clip D."
As shown, a user selectable UI item 190 is displayed in the
audition set 2835 to visually indicate that it is an audition set.
Some embodiments automatically append the media clip or audition
set to the end of the composite presentation upon selection of the
"Append to Timeline" option. In some embodiments, however, a
playhead or other UI item may be used to specify a location in the
timeline at which to add the clip or audition set.
[0232] FIG. 29 also illustrates the addition of an audition set to
a composite presentation using the GUI 100 according to some
embodiments of the invention. Rather than adding an audition set to
the end of the composite presentation, some embodiments allow the
user to add the audition set to any location in the composite
presentation. FIG. 29 illustrates the GUI 100 at four different
stages 2905-2920 that show the addition of the audition set 2655 to
a particular location in the composite presentation using an anchor
lane of the composite display area.
[0233] The first stage 2905 is the same as the first stage 2805, in
which the user selects the audition set 2655. The second stage 2910
shows the user dragging audition set 2655 (e.g., through a
drag-and-drop operation) from the media library 145 into the
composite display area 135. As shown, when the user drags the
audition set 2655, a timeline view representation of the active
pick is displayed in the timeline view (i.e., a rectangle with a
duration determined by the length of the active pick) to assist the
user in placing the audition set 2655 in the composite display area
135. Some embodiments display the audition set 2655 in the audition
set 2655's thumbnail view until the thumbnail is within a threshold
distance of the composite display area 135. When the user drags the
audition set 2655 within the threshold distance, the editing
application displays the timeline view.
[0234] At the third stage 2915, the GUI 100 illustrates the
anchoring of the audition set 2655 to the media clip 175. In some
embodiments, when the user brings the representation of the
audition set within a threshold distance of the media clip in the
composite display area, the audition set 2655 automatically "snaps"
to the media clip. With the audition set anchored to the media clip
in the composite display area, the user can adjust the position of
the audition set by moving it left and right in some
embodiments.
[0235] The fourth stage 2920 shows the result of the operation to
add the audition set to the composite display area. After the user
has finished dragging the audition set 2655 into the composite
display area 135, the media editing application adds the active
pick of the audition set 2655 to the composite presentation at the
location shown in the composite display area 135. In some
embodiments, this entails modifying a project data file to indicate
the inclusion of a particular media clip at a particular time.
II. Previewing an Audition Set
[0236] As described above, each of the media clips in an audition
set is a candidate for inclusion at a particular location in a
composite display area. When the user includes an audition set in
the composite presentation, some embodiments only treat one of the
video clips as a committed media clip in the composite presentation
at any given time. The following section describes various tools of
some embodiments that allow the user to examine and evaluate the
media clips in an audition set (or single media clips not in an
audition set) at a particular location in the composite
presentation. For instance, the media editing application of some
embodiments allows the user to browse media clips, skim media
clips, and preview media clips, among other functionalities.
[0237] Many of the examples above show the selection area 192
positioned at a particular location within a GUI (e.g., just above
the central compositing lane 155 of the composite display area
135). Some embodiments provide functionality that enables a user to
position the selection area 192 at different locations in a GUI.
For instance, when the user wishes to preview a portion or all of a
composite presentation in the preview display area 140, the user
may want to move the selection area 192 so that it does not
obstruct the preview display area 140.
[0238] FIG. 30 illustrates the movement of the selection area 192
within the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
Particularly, FIG. 30 illustrates the GUI 100 at five different
stages 3005-3025 that show several example movements of the
selection area 192.
[0239] At the first stage 3005, the GUI 100 displays the audition
set 185 in the composite display area 135 and the selection area
192. In this example, the user has selected the selectable UI item
190 (e.g., through a cursor click operation using the cursor 160 or
a touch operation with a touchscreen device) to invoke the display
of the selection area 192.
[0240] The second stage 3010 of the GUI 100 illustrates the start
of a movement of the selection area 192 to a new location in the
GUI 100. In this example, the user moves the selection area 192 by
performing a click-and-drag operation using the cursor 160 (or
through a touch operation using a touchscreen device) on any region
in the selection area not occupied by a media clip or the scroll
bar 194. As shown by the large arrow, the user is in the process of
moving the cursor 160 to the left after selecting the selection
area 192 at the present location of the cursor 160.
[0241] The third stage 3015 illustrates the selection area 192
moved to the left of its previous position. At this stage, the user
may have completed the click-and-drag operation (e.g., by releasing
a cursor click operation or removing a finger from a touchscreen),
or may still be in the middle of the click and drag operation.
[0242] The fourth and fifth stages 3020 and 3025 illustrate another
movement of the selection area 192 in the GUI 100. Specifically,
the user moves the selection area 192 up from its position in the
third stage 3015 in a similar manner to that used to move the
selection area 192 in the second and third stages 3010 and 3015. As
shown in the fifth stage 3025, the GUI 100 now displays the
selection area 192 in its upper left corner.
[0243] While FIG. 30 describes one method for moving the selection
area 192 in the GUI 100, other embodiments may provide other ways
to move the selection area 192. For example, some embodiments allow
the user to enable and disable (e.g., toggle) a positioning mode
(e.g., by using a hotkey, keystroke, combination of keystrokes, or
selection from a pop-up or pull-down menu, etc.). When the
positioning mode is enabled, the user can move the selection area
192 by using keystrokes, such as arrow key inputs. Once the user
has moved the selection area 192 to a desired location, the user
can disable the positioning mode (e.g., by using a similar hotkey,
keystroke, combination of keystrokes, or selection from a pop-up or
pull-down menu, etc.) to set the position of the selection area 192
at its desired location.
[0244] FIG. 30 illustrates the movement of the selection area 192
within perimeter of the GUI 100. However, some embodiments allow
the user to move some or all of the selection area beyond the
perimeter of the GUI. As mentioned above, the user may wish to move
the selection area when it obstructs an area of the GUI that the
user desires to view. Additionally, some embodiments provide other
techniques for modifying the display of the selection area, such as
resizing the area.
[0245] A. Selecting an Active Pick for an Audition Set
[0246] In some embodiments, the user can change the active pick of
an audition set by selecting another media clip in the audition set
to replace the current active pick (e.g., through the selection
area). A user may wish to change the active pick of an audition set
for different reasons. For example, several media clips within an
audition set may be different takes of one particular shot of a
movie. By allowing the user to create an audition set that includes
these several media clips, the user can examine the different takes
and select the one the user wants to use in the movie. The
auditioning feature then allows the user to select a different take
from the audition set at any time in case the user changes his
mind.
[0247] FIG. 31 illustrates changing the active pick for an audition
set using the GUI 100 of some embodiments. In particular, this
figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different stages 3105-3130 of
the active pick selection operation. For this example, the GUI 100
continues from the last stage 620 illustrated in FIG. 6, at which
an audition set 630 is created. At the first stage 3105 of the GUI
100, the user selects the selectable audition set indicator UI item
190 through a click operation using the cursor 160, as shown by a
change in the appearance of the user selectable UI item 190.
[0248] The second stage 3110 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
selection of the user selectable UI item 190. As shown, the GUI 100
displays (i.e., opens) the selection area 192 (that includes the
scroll bar 194). The selection area 192 displays the two media
clips of the selected audition set, clips 165 and 175. The
graphical representation of media clip 175 includes an active pick
indicator 196 to indicate that it is presently the active pick of
the audition set 630.
[0249] In some embodiments, the media editing application
automatically displays the selection area 192 in the GUI 100 upon
receiving a selection of the user selectable UI item 190 (e.g.,
through the illustrated cursor click operation, a touch click
operation, etc.). Some embodiments provide other mechanisms for
invoking the display of the selection area 192. For example, some
of these embodiments allow the user to invoke the selection area
192 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, an option selected from a pop-up or
pull-down menu, a different touch operation for a touchscreen
device, or any other appropriate method to invoke the display of
the selection area 192. Some embodiments animate the opening of the
selection area (e.g., by showing the selection area opening out of
the selected media clip representation.
[0250] At the third stage 3115, the user is in the process of
scrolling through media clips 165 and 175 in the selection area
192. In particular, this stage shows the selection of the right
arrow of the scroll bar 194 by the user through a click operation
using the cursor 160, as shown by a change in the appearance of the
right arrow. The user is scrolling through the media clips 165 and
175 from right to left, as indicated by the arrow over clip 175
pointing to the left, and the indicator in the scroll bar 194 is
also changing positions accordingly. As shown in this stage, some
embodiments animate the movement of the media clips through the
center of the selection area, as in this case the size of the
representation of media clip 175 is decreasing while the size of
the representation of media clip 165 increases. Although this
example illustrates the use of the arrows of the scroll bar 194 to
scroll through the media clips displayed in the selection area 192,
in some embodiments the user may also use the indicator of the
scroll bar 194 to scroll through the media clips displayed in the
selection area 192, as previously mentioned above.
[0251] The fourth stage 3120 of the GUI 100 illustrates the
selection area 192 with media clip 165 now centered in the display.
At this stage, the user selects the media clip 165 as the active
pick of the audition set 630 through a click operation (e.g.,
single-click, double-click, etc.) using the cursor 160.
[0252] The fifth stage 3125 of the GUI 100 illustrates the
selection area 192 after the user has selected the media clip 165
as the active pick of the audition set 630 (e.g., by the cursor
click operation described above, a touchscreen operation such as a
single or double tap of the media clip representation, etc.). As
shown, the media editing application now displays indicator 196 on
the media clip 165 instead of on the media clip 175 to indicate the
new active pick selection. In some embodiments, the media editing
application also modifies a data structure for the audition set 630
to refer to media clip 165 as the active pick for the set.
[0253] The sixth stage 3130 illustrates the GUI 100 no longer
displaying the selection area 192. In this case, the user has
selected the user selectable UI item 190 in order to close the
selection area 192 (e.g., with a cursor click operation, a touch
click operation, etc.). Other embodiments allow the user to close
the selection area differently--e.g., through a hotkey, a
keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, an
option selected from a pop-up or pull-down menu, selection of a
"close window" item displayed within the selection area, etc.
[0254] The stages 3105-3130 of FIG. 31 illustrate an active pick
selection operation performed by scrolling through the media clips
of an audition set displayed in the selection area 192 and
selecting one of the media clips as the active pick of the audition
set. Some embodiments enable the user to perform a scroll and
selection operation. For instance, some such embodiments allow the
user to use a hotkey, a keystroke (e.g., right arrow, left arrow),
a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes (e.g.,
command-shift-right arrow, command-shift-left arrow), an option
selected from a pop-up or pull-down menu, a touch operation for a
touchscreen device, or other methods to simultaneously scroll in
one direction and select the next media clip in such direction as
the active pick of the audition set 630.
[0255] FIG. 31 illustrates an exemplary series of operations for
selecting an active pick for the audition set 630. However, one of
ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a user can use many
different types of operations to select an active pick for an
audition set. For example, the user can scroll through the media
clips displayed in the select area any number of times before
selecting a media clip to be the active pick of the audition set.
Some embodiments allow the user to select (e.g., by clicking with a
cursor or touching on a touchscreen) a media clip representation
that is not centered in the selection area in order to select the
media clip as an active pick. Some embodiments allow the user to
select an active pick without opening the selection area. For
instance, a user might be able to select an audition set and then
use a keystroke or key combination to cycle through the media clips
as active picks for the audition set.
[0256] As previously noted above, the characteristics and
attributes of an active pick of an audition set are used when the
audition set interacts with the media editing application (e.g.,
when the media editing application renders the composite
presentation of which the audition set is a part). As different
media clips have different durations, the size of the
representation of the audition set in the display area may be
different with different media clips selected as the active pick
for the set.
[0257] FIG. 32 illustrates an example of the display of such
differently-sized graphical representations when the active pick of
an audition set changes. Specifically, FIG. 32 illustrates the GUI
100 at six different stages 3205-3230 that show the selection of a
new active pick for an audition set. The first stage 3205 is the
same as the first stage 3105 of FIG. 31. That is, this stage of the
GUI 100 continues from the last stage 620 illustrated in FIG. 6 and
shows the selection of the user selectable UI item 190 through a
click operation using the cursor 160.
[0258] The second stage 3210 is similar to the second stage 3110 of
FIG. 31 except the selection area 192 displays a label specifying
the name and duration of the media clip displayed at or near the
center of the selection area 192. As shown, the media clip 175 is
named "Clip D" and has a duration of one minute. The indicator 196
is also displayed on the media clip 175 to indicate that it is the
active pick of the audition set 630. Since the media clip 175 is
the active pick, the media editing application uses the duration of
the media clip 175 to determine the horizontal length 3240 of the
audition set 630 in the composite display area 135. In other words,
the horizontal length 3240 of the audition set 630 represents a
duration of one minute in the composite display area 135.
[0259] The third stage 3215 is the same as the third stage 3115
illustrated in FIG. 31, which shows the user scrolling through the
media clips 165 and 175 in the selection area 192. The fourth stage
3220 of the GUI 100 is similar to the fourth stage 3120 of FIG. 31
except that the selection area 192 displays the name and duration
of the media clip 165, which is displayed at or near the middle of
the selection area 192. As shown, media clip 165 is named "Clip E"
and has a duration of two minutes. At this stage, the user selects
the media clip 165 as the active pick of the audition set 630
through a click operation (e.g., single-click, double-click, etc.)
using the cursor 160.
[0260] The fifth stage 3225 is similar to the fifth stage 3125
shown in FIG. 31 in that this stage illustrates the selection area
192 after the user has selected the media clip 165 as the active
pick of the audition set 630 (e.g., by the cursor click operation
described above, a touchscreen operation such as a single or double
tap of the media clip representation, etc.). As shown, the media
editing application now displays indicator 196 on the media clip
165 instead of on the media clip 175 to indicate the new active
pick selection. In some embodiments, the media editing application
also modifies a data structure for the audition set 630 to refer to
media clip 165 as the active pick for the set. In addition, the GUI
now displays the audition set 630 with a new horizontal length 3250
in the composite display area 135. As the duration of media clip
165 is twice that of media clip 175, the length of the audition
set's representation in the composite display area has doubled.
[0261] The sixth stage 3230 is the same as the sixth stage 3130 of
FIG. 31. This stage illustrates that the GUI no longer displays the
selection area 192, as a result of the user selecting the user
selectable UI item 190 (e.g., with a cursor click operation, a
touch click operation, etc.).
[0262] B. Skimming a Media Clip in an Audition Set
[0263] In addition to the ability to select an active pick within
the selection area, some embodiments provide the user with the
ability to skim through media clips displayed in the selection
area. Skimming, in some embodiments, involves dragging a playhead
through the representation of a video clip so as to view different
images (i.e., frames or fields) of the video clip. FIG. 33
illustrates a user skimming a media clip of the audition set 630
through the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
In particular, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at five
different stages 3305-3325 of an example skimming operation.
[0264] In this example, the first stage 3305 continues after the
last stage 620 of FIG. 6, in which the audition set 630 was
created. At the first stage 3305 of the GUI 100, the GUI displays
the selection area 192, which has been invoked through a selection
(e.g., a cursor click operation, touch click operation, etc.) of
the user selectable UI item 190, as described above by reference to
FIG. 1. As shown, the selection area 192 displays the media clips
165 and 175. The selection area indicator 196 and a playhead 3330
(also referred to as a scrubber bar) are displayed over the
representation of the media clip 175.
[0265] The horizontal position of the playhead 3330 along the media
clip 175 indicates the chronological position within the media
content of media clip 175 of the image presently displayed (e.g.,
skimmed). As described above, the media content of a media clip is
defined by in and out points in a source media file in some
embodiments. In this example, the playhead 3330 positioned along
the left side of the media clip 175 indicates that the first image
in the video clip 175 is presently displayed in the thumbnail
representation of the clip. Some embodiments, on the other hand,
skim through a media clip from right to left (i.e., the playhead at
the right edge indicates the beginning of the clip). Some
embodiments display the playhead for the user to use in the
skimming operation whenever a video clip is displayed in the center
of the selection area, while other embodiments only display the
playhead in response to user input (e.g., a hotkey or combination
of keystrokes, the user performing a click-and-drag operation over
the displayed clip representation, etc.).
[0266] The second stage 3310 of the GUI 100 illustrates the user
beginning to skim through the media clip 175. As shown, the user
moves the playhead 3330 across the media clip 175 using the cursor
160 (e.g., by performing a click-and-drag operation on the playhead
3330 or otherwise moving the cursor over the representation of the
media clip 175). Since the playhead 3330 is positioned near the
left side of media clip representation 175, the media clip
representation 175 displays an image from near the beginning of its
media content. This image is similar to the image displayed in the
first stage 3305 (e.g., the first frame of the media content)
except that the scene of the golfer and the golf ball rolling
towards the hole is zoomed in slightly and the golf ball is closer
to the hole.
[0267] The third through fifth stages 3315-3325 illustrate the user
continuing to skim through the media clip 175 using the cursor 160.
At stage 3315, the playhead 3330 is positioned about one third of
the way from the left side of the media clip 175. At stage 3320,
the playhead is positioned about four fifths of the way across the
media clip representation 175, and at stage 3325 the playhead has
nearly reached the right edge of the media clip representation 175.
These stages show that the video clip progresses as the user skims
through, with the images being further zoomed in and the golf ball
closer to the hole at each subsequent stage.
[0268] While FIG. 33 shows the user skimming through the media clip
175 from the start to the end of the media, one of ordinary skill
will realize that the user need not skim through a media clip
monotonically. That is, the user can skim back and forth through
the clip (e.g., to replay a portion of the clip multiple
times).
[0269] C. Previewing a Media Clip in an Audition Set
[0270] As mentioned above, the media editing application of some
embodiments enables the user to preview a media clip in an audition
set. That is, within the thumbnail representation of the media clip
shown in the selection area, the media editing application plays
the content of the media clip. The following figures illustrate
examples of such a previewing feature provided by some embodiments.
In particular, FIG. 34 illustrates an example of a manual
previewing feature and FIGS. 35-37 illustrate several examples of
an automatic previewing feature.
[0271] As stated, FIG. 34 illustrates the manual preview of a media
clip in an audition set according to some embodiments of the
invention. This figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different
stages 3405-3430 that show a preview of a media clip of the
audition set 630 in the selection area 192.
[0272] The first three stages 3405-3415 are the same as the first
three stages 3105-3115, respectively, as illustrated in FIG. 31.
These stages show a selection of the user selectable UI item 190 to
invoke the display of the selection area 192 and the user scrolling
through the media clips to place the media clip 165 in the
selection area 192. With the media clip 165 located in the center
of the selection area 192, the user of the media editing
application selects the media clip (e.g., through a click operation
such as a cursor click or a touch click). In this example, the
media content of the media clip 165 is a video of a golf ball
rolling towards a hole after a golfer has hit the golf ball.
[0273] At the fourth stage 3420, the GUI 100 displays a menu 3435
that includes a user selectable "Preview" option and other user
selectable options (not shown). Selection of the "Preview" option
invokes a preview of a selected media clip in the selection area
192 (the media clip 165 in this example). Some embodiments
automatically display the menu 3435 when the user selects a media
clip in the selection area 192 in a particular manner (e.g.,
through a particular option such as a right click or specific
touchscreen operation). However, some embodiments provide other
ways to invoke the menu 3435. For instance, some such embodiments
allow the user to invoke the menu 3435 using a hotkey, a keystroke,
a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
appropriate method to invoke a menu. As shown, the fourth stage
3420 illustrates the selection of the "Preview" option through a
click operation using the cursor 160. The media editing application
starts previewing the media clip 165 shortly after the selection of
the "Preview" option.
[0274] The fifth stage 3425 illustrates the GUI 100 as the media
editing application previews the media clip 165 in the selection
area 192. As mentioned above, the horizontal position of the
playhead 3330 along the media clip 165 indicates the chronological
position of the media content of the media clip 165 presently
displayed (i.e., how far in the duration of the media clip the
presently displayed video frame is located). The media content of
the media clip 165 displayed within the media clip 165 shows the
golf ball rolling closer to the hole.
[0275] The sixth stage 3430 illustrates the GUI 100 at a later time
as the preview of the media clip 165 is nearly complete. As such,
the GUI 100 now displays the playhead 3330 at a position closer to
the right side of the media clip 165 than in the previous stage
3425. The frame of the video clip 165 displayed within the
graphical representation of the media clip shows the golf ball
about the roll into the hole.
[0276] FIG. 34 illustrates the manual preview of a particular
single media clip in an audition set. In addition, some embodiments
provide a feature that automatically previews each of the media
clips in an audition set in order to allow the user to see how each
of the media clips will appear in the composite presentation. The
following FIGS. 35-37 conceptually illustrate different examples of
such an automatic previewing feature.
[0277] FIG. 35 illustrates automatically previewing an audition set
using the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
Specifically, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different
stages 3505-3530 that show the automatic preview of the media clips
in the audition set 630.
[0278] In this example, the user previews two different candidate
shots (the media clip 165 and 175) of one scene for inclusion in
the composite presentation. Specifically, the media content of the
media clip 175 shows a golf ball rolling towards a hole, after a
golfer has hit the golf ball, with the camera gradually zooming in
on the hole as the golf ball rolls towards the hole. The media
content of the media clip 165 shows a similar scene except that the
shot does not zoom in on the hole.
[0279] The first stage 3505, in this example, continues from the
last stage 620 shown in FIG. 6, at which the audition set 630 was
created. This stage of the GUI 100 illustrates the selection of the
audition set 630 through a click operation using the cursor 160, as
indicated by the bolding of the border of the audition set 630.
[0280] At the second stage 3510, the GUI 100 displays a menu 3535
that includes a user selectable "Audition Stack" option along with
other user selectable options (not shown). Selection of the
"Audition Stack" option invokes the automatic previewing of the
media clips in a selected audition set. Some embodiments display
the menu 3535 when the user selects the "Stacks" option in the menu
bar 150 through a click operation (e.g., a cursor click operation,
a touch click operation, etc.). Some embodiments also provide other
ways to invoke the menu 3535. For example, some such embodiments
allow the user to invoke the menu 3535 using a hotkey, a keystroke,
a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
method to invoke a menu. As shown, the second stage 3510 also
illustrates the user selecting the "Audition Stack" option through
a click operation using the cursor 160. The media editing
application automatically starts the previewing of the media clips
of the audition set 630 shortly after the selection of the
"Audition Stack" option.
[0281] The third stage 3515 illustrates the GUI 100 during the
preview of the media clip 175. As shown, the GUI 100 displays the
selection area 192, which displays the media clips 165 and 175 of
the audition set 630. When the user selects the "Audition Stack"
option, some embodiments automatically open the selection area to
preview the different media clips in the selected audition set. At
this stage, the playhead 3330 is positioned approximately a third
of the way through the media clip 175. As mentioned above, the
horizontal position of the playhead 3330 along the media clip 175
indicates the chronological position in the media clip of the media
content (e.g., video image) presently displayed. The frame of media
clip 175 presently displayed within the thumbnail representation
shows the scene mentioned above, with the camera zoomed in on hole
and the golf ball rolling closer towards the hole.
[0282] The fourth stage 3520 illustrates the GUI 100 further along
the preview of the media clip 175. At this stage the playhead 3330
is now positioned closer to the right side of the media clip 175
than in the previous stage 3515. In addition, the video image
displayed within the representation of media clip 175 shows the
scene further zoomed in on the hole with the golf ball closer to
the hole. After completion of the preview of the media clip 175,
the media editing application automatically starts the preview of
the next media clip (the media clip 165) in the selection area
192.
[0283] At the fifth stage 3525, the GUI 100 is now previewing the
media clip 165. Similar to media clip 175 in the previous stages,
the playhead 3330 is positioned on the media clip 165 to indicate
the chronological position in the media clip 165 of the presently
displayed video image. As shown, the image displayed within the
media clip 165 shows the golf ball rolling towards the hole after
the golfer has hit the golf ball. In this media clip, the camera
does not zoom in on the golf ball.
[0284] The sixth stage 3530 illustrates the GUI 100 further along
the preview of the media clip 165. At this stage the playhead 3330
is now positioned closer to the right side of the media clip 165
than in the previous stage 3525. In addition, the video image
displayed within the representation of media clip 165 shows the
golf ball closer to the hole. As the audition set 630 only includes
two media clips (clips 165 and 175), after completing the preview
of the second media clip the preview is complete. Some embodiments
automatically close the selection area after completing the
preview.
[0285] In the preview shown in FIG. 35, the media editing
application illustrates each of the media clips of an audition set
previewed once. Some embodiments terminate the automatic preview
feature after each of the media clips have been previewed once,
while other embodiments continue to cycle through and automatically
preview the media clips until an event occurs. Examples of such
events include user input to stop the automatic previewing, a
threshold number of cycles through the clips being reached, or a
time limit being reached.
[0286] FIGS. 36 and 37 illustrate an example of a different
automatic previewing feature of some embodiments that plays each
clip in an audition set with a pre-roll and post-roll. FIGS. 36 and
37 illustrate the GUI 100 at ten different stages 3605-3650 that
show the automatic previewing of the media clips in the audition
set 630 with the pre-roll and post-roll feature in the preview area
of the GUI 100.
[0287] When previewing a media clip, some embodiments include a
portion of the composite presentation immediately preceding the
media clip (also referred to as "pre-roll") and immediately
following the media clip (also referred to as "post-roll"). In this
manner, the user can view the transitions before and after the
media clip to give context to the user with which to evaluate each
media clip in the audition set at the location in the composite
presentation of the audition set. Some embodiments specify these
portions in terms of an amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds, 20
second, 30 seconds, etc.) that may be defined by default or by the
user through a preference settings option of the media editing
application. As in FIG. 35, the user in this example previews two
different candidate shots (the media clips 165 and 175) of one
scene for inclusion in the composite presentation.
[0288] Referring back to FIG. 36, the first stage 3605 shows the
GUI 100 at a stage similar to the stage 620, after the creation of
the audition set 630, except that the composite presentation
displayed in the composite display area 135 also includes a media
clip 3655 placed after the audition set 630. This stage illustrates
the selection of the audition set 630 through a click operation
using the cursor 160.
[0289] At the second stage 3610, the GUI 100 displays a menu 3665
that includes a user selectable "Audition Stack" option along with
other user selectable options (not shown). The menu 3665 is similar
to the menu 3535 except that the "Audition Stack" option invokes an
automatic previewing of the media clips in the audition set 630
with the pre-roll and post-roll clip portions described above. In
addition, unlike in FIG. 35, the media editing application displays
the preview in the preview display area 140 as well as the
selection area 192. As shown, the second stage 3610 also
illustrates the user selecting the "Audition Stack" option through
a click operation using the cursor 160.
[0290] The third stage 3615 of the GUI 100 illustrates the display
of the pre-roll for the preview of the media clip 175 in the
audition set 630. In particular, the preview display area 140
displays the pre-roll (e.g., an end portion of the media content of
the media clip 3660), which shows the golfer before hitting the
golf ball towards the hole. The GUI 100 also now displays the
selection area 192. In some embodiments, as shown, the media
editing application displays the selection area 192 shortly after
the selection of the "Audition Stack" option.
[0291] As shown, the media editing application displays the
playhead 3330 over the representation of media clip 175 in the
selection area 192. As mentioned above, the horizontal position of
the playhead 3330 along the media clip 175 indicates the
chronological position of the currently displayed video image
within the media clip 175. Because the current video image is from
the pre-roll rather than the media clip 175 itself, the playhead
3330 is positioned at the left side of the media clip 175 and the
first video image of the media clip 175 is displayed within the its
thumbnail representation.
[0292] As mentioned above, some embodiments allow the user to move
or resize the selection area. In this example, the user has resized
(i.e., decreased the size) the selection area 192 so that it does
not obstruct the preview display area 140. In some cases, the user
might move the selection area rather than resizing it. Some
embodiments, on the other hand, do not display the selection area
during the automatic previewing of the media clips in the audition
set, or automatically modify the size or location of the selection
area so that the preview display area remains unobstructed.
[0293] In the fourth stage 3620, the preview of the pre-roll has
finished and the GUI 100 displays the preview of media clip 175. As
shown, the preview display area 140 displays a zoomed-in video
image of the hole as the golf ball rolls towards it. Since the
preview now shows the media content of the media clip 175, the
media editing application displays the same video image within the
thumbnail representation of the media clip 175 in the selection
area 192. In addition, the position of the playhead 3330 displayed
on the media clip 175 corresponds to the chronological position of
this video image in the media clip 175.
[0294] The fifth stage 3625 illustrates the GUI 100 further along
the preview of the media clip 175. At this stage, the playhead 3330
is now positioned closer to the right side of the media clip 175
than in the previous stage 3620. In addition, the video image
displayed within the representation of media clip 175 shows the
scene further zoomed in on the hole with the golf ball closer to
the hole.
[0295] At the sixth stage 3630, the GUI 100 now displays the
post-roll for the preview of the media clip 175, having completed
the preview of the media clip itself. Thus, the preview display
area 140 now displays a video image from the beginning portion of
the media clip 3655, which shows the golfer's reaction to the golf
ball rolling into the hole. Similar to during the preview of the
pre-roll, the playhead 3330 is positioned at the right side of the
media clip 175 and the last frame of the media clip 175 is
displayed within its thumbnail representation in selection area
192.
[0296] The seventh stage 3635 illustrated in FIG. 37 shows the GUI
100 after the media editing application has completed the post-roll
for the media clip 175 and started the preview of the media clip
165. Because the media clip 165 is a candidate for the same
position in the composite presentation as the media clip 175, at
this stage the media editing application displays the same pre-roll
as displayed for the media clip 175. As such, the GUI 100 displays
the same video image in preview display area 140 as at stage
3615.
[0297] At the eighth stage 3640, the preview of the pre-roll has
finished again and the GUI 100 displays the preview of media clip
165. As shown, the preview display area 140 displays the golf ball
rolling towards the hole. Since the preview now shows the media
content of the media clip 165, the media editing application
displays the same video image within the thumbnail representation
of the media clip 165 in the selection area 192. In addition, the
position of the playhead 3330 displayed on the representation of
media clip 165 corresponds to the chronological position of this
video image in the media clip 165.
[0298] The ninth stage 3645 illustrates the GUI 100 further along
the preview of the media clip 165. At this stage, the playhead 3330
is now positioned closer to the right side of the media clip 165
than in the previous stage 3640. In addition, the video image
displayed in the preview display area 140 (and within the clip
representation for media clip 165) shows the scene with the golf
ball closer to the hole.
[0299] At the tenth stage 3650, the GUI 100 now displays the
post-roll for the preview of the media clip 165, having completed
the preview of the media clip itself. Because the media clip 165 is
a candidate for the same position in the composite presentation as
the media clip 175, at this stage the media editing application
displays the same post-roll as displayed for the media clip 175. As
such, the GUI 100 displays the same video image in preview display
area 140 as at stage 3630.
[0300] FIGS. 36 and 37 illustrate automatically previewing media
clips in an audition set with the pre-roll and post-roll features
and displaying the preview in the preview display area 140.
However, the automatic preview does not necessarily have to include
all of these features. For example, some embodiments may display
the preview in the preview display area 140 but do not preview the
pre-roll and post-roll. Other embodiments may include different
combinations of these features in implementing the automatic
previewing. Moreover, for the manual previewing of a media clip
that was described above by reference to FIG. 34, some embodiments
utilize one or more of these features (e.g., the pre- and
post-roll, the preview display area, etc.).
[0301] The preceding figures illustrate several examples of
previewing media clips in a selection area of some embodiments.
FIG. 38 conceptually illustrates a process 3800 of some embodiments
for previewing a media clip. As shown, the process 3800 begins by
receiving (at 3805) input to preview a media clip. The input can be
received from a selection of an option from a pop-up menu in some
embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 34. Some embodiments receive
the input from a selection of an option from pull-down menu, as
shown in FIGS. 35 and 36. The selection input may be from a cursor
controller (e.g., a click input), through a touchscreen (e.g.,
touching a menu option), from a keyboard, etc.
[0302] Next, the process 3800 identifies (at 3810) the primary
media clip or clips to preview. The primary media clip in some
embodiments is a media clip that is selected through a selection
area, as shown in FIG. 34. In some embodiments, the primary media
clip is automatically selected by a media editing application when
a user invokes an automatic previewing feature, such as those shown
in FIGS. 35 and 36. As mentioned above, a media clip of some
embodiments can be video clips, audio clips, audio and video clips,
sequences of media clips, effect clips, etc. When the identified
media clip is a sequence of more than one media clip, the process
identifies the multiple media clips in the sequence.
[0303] The process 3800 then determines (at 3815) whether to
preview a pre-roll and/or post-roll media clip portion. As
described above, some embodiments preview media clips without a
pre-roll or a post-roll while some embodiments preview media clips
with such features in order to allow the user to view the
transitions before and after the primary media clip. When the
process determines to include the pre-roll and post-roll clip
portions in the preview, the process 3800 identifies (at 3820) a
portion of the pre-roll and/or post-roll media clip to display. As
previously mentioned, some embodiments use a defined amount of time
(e.g., 10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, etc.) for the portion of
the pre-roll and/or post-roll. For the pre-roll media clip portion,
the process uses the out point of the preceding media clip and the
defined amount of time to identify a portion of a source media file
to play as the pre-roll. For the post-roll portion, the process
uses the in point of the following media clip and the defined
amount of time to identify a portion of a source media file to play
as the post-roll.
[0304] Next, the process 3800 displays (at 3825) a next media clip
portion. The media clip portion may be a pre-roll portion, a
primary media clip, or a post-roll portion. When a pre-roll is
used, the process first displays the pre-roll clip portion.
Otherwise, the process displays the first primary media clip. As
noted above, when the media clip is a sequence, there may be
multiple primary media clips that are subsequently displayed.
[0305] As shown in FIGS. 34-37, some embodiments display the clip
portion in a selection area and/or separate preview display area of
a GUI in some embodiments. To display a media clip, the process
3800 of some embodiments accesses the media clip's data structure
to identify in and out points in a source file and retrieves video
images from the media clip's source file based on the in and out
points.
[0306] The process 3800 then determines (at 3830) whether any more
media clip portions remain for display. When more media clips
remain, the process 3800 returns to 3825 to display the next media
clip portion. As discussed, the process may cycle through 3825
multiple times to display the pre-roll clip portion, one or more
primary media clips, and the post-roll clip portion. Once the
process displays all of the media clips, the process 3800 ends.
[0307] As described above, some embodiments preview each media clip
in an audition set, either with or without the pre-roll and
post-roll. In such a situation, some embodiments perform process
3800 for each of the media clips in the audition set.
[0308] Many of the examples illustrated above in this section
describe different techniques (e.g., skimming, previewing,
previewing with pre-roll and/or post-roll, etc.) that allow a user
to examine and/or evaluate media clips in an audition set. In some
embodiments, when the user has decided which of the media clips in
the audition set the user would like to use at the location of the
audition set in the composite presentation, the user can manually
remove (e.g., using in any of the methods described above by
reference to FIGS. 16 and 17) all the other media clips in the
audition set except the media clip that the user wishes to use in
the composite presentation. When the audition set only contains the
desired media clip, the user can delete the audition set and the
desired media clip replaces the audition set at the location of the
audition set in the composite presentation. In addition, some
embodiments allow the user to automatically delete the audition
set, as described in detail below.
[0309] D. State Diagram for GUI with Selection Area
[0310] The examples discussed above in this section describe
various user interactions with a GUI of a media editing application
of some embodiments. FIG. 39 conceptually illustrates a state
diagram 3900 that shows various states and transitions between
those states for the GUI 100 of a media editing application of some
embodiments. Specifically, FIG. 39 illustrates various states and
transitions for the GUI 100 of some embodiments for user
interaction with a selection area that displays an audition set.
One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the various
actions represented by states and transitions of FIG. 39 are only a
subset of the possible actions that can be performed in the GUI 100
of some embodiments.
[0311] As shown in this figure, the media editing application
displays the GUI 100 without a selection area (at 3905). The last
stage 620 shown in FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the display of
a GUI of some embodiments in this state.
[0312] As shown in the stage 620 of FIG. 6, the GUI may display an
audition set in the composite display area without displaying a
selection area. At this stage, the GUI only displays the graphical
representation of the active pick in the composite display area.
However, the user may wish to view the media clips in the audition
set. In such cases, the user selects the user selectable audition
set UI item (e.g., item 190) to invoke the display of the selection
area. When the user performs the selection, the GUI transitions to
state 3915 to display the media clips in the audition set within
the selection area. With the GUI in the state 3915, the user can
close the selection area by selecting the audition set UI item
(e.g., by using a click control, such as a cursor click control or
a touch click control, a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of
keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, an option selected from a
pop-up or pull-down menu, etc.), at which point the GUI 100
transitions back to the state 3905 and no longer displays the
selection area.
[0313] At the state 3915, the GUI displays the selection area. One
example of such a GUI state is the GUI 100 at the fourth stage 120
of FIG. 1. In this stage, the selection area 192 displays the media
clips 165-175, which are the candidate media clips for inclusion at
a particular location in a composite display area.
[0314] When the GUI is in the state 3915, the user can scroll
through the media clips that are displayed in the selection area.
The user may use scroll arrows displayed in the selection area
(e.g., by clicking a cursor controller with the cursor over the
scroll arrow, by touching the scroll arrow, etc.) or may use other
scroll input (e.g., swipes on a touchscreen or touchpad, using a
scroll wheel on a mouse, a hotkey or series of keystrokes, etc.).
When the user provides such scroll input, the GUI transition to
state 3930
[0315] At the state 3930, the GUI of some embodiments modifies the
layout of the media clips displayed in the selection area based on
the scroll input. For instance, when the user provides a
scroll-left input, the GUI scrolls through the media clips
displayed in the selection area to the left a particular amount.
Similarly, when the user provides a scroll-right input, the GUI
scrolls the media clips displayed in the selection area to the
right a particular amount. Stages 3110-3120 of FIG. 31 illustrate
an example of scrolling through media clips in the selection area.
As illustrated here, some embodiments animate the scrolling between
media clips. When the user has stopped entering scroll input, the
GUI 100 transitions back to the state 3915.
[0316] Through the selection area that the GUI of some embodiments
displays in the state 3915, the user can select a new active pick
of the audition set displayed in the selection area (e.g., by using
a click operation with a cursor controller, touchscreen, etc., by
using keyboard input such as a hotkey, keystroke, series of
keystrokes, combination of keystrokes, etc., by selecting an option
from a pop-up or pull-down menu, etc.). When the user provides such
input, the GUI transitions to state 3920. At this state, the GUI
displays an indicator (e.g., the indicator 196 as shown in FIG. 1)
on the newly selected active pick. With the indicator displayed in
the graphical representation of the new active pick, the GUI
returns to the state 3915.
[0317] The user can also move the selection area when the GUI 100
is in the state 3915. FIG. 30 shows one method for the user to
provide input to move the selection area 192 of some embodiments by
selecting an open area of the selection area and moving it (e.g.,
with a cursor, through a touchscreen, etc.). When the user provides
input to move the selection area, the GUI transitions to state
3925. At this state, the GUI modifies the position of the selection
area based on the input provided by the user. When the user has
stopped providing input to move the selection area (e.g., the user
has completed a click-and-drag operation on the selection area),
the GUI 100 transitions back to the state 3915.
[0318] A user may also preview one or more media clips displayed in
the selection area. When the user provides input to play a media
clip (e.g., by selecting a drop-down or pop-up menu option through
a cursor controller or touchscreen, by typing a hotkey or set of
keystrokes, etc.), the GUI 100 transitions to state 3910. The
stages 3420-3430 illustrated in FIG. 34 show one example of
previewing a media clip in the selection area of some embodiments.
Some embodiments perform process 3800 at state 3910 in order to
play a media clip.
[0319] One of ordinary skill will recognize that the examples shown
in the preceding section are merely one illustration of how the
media editing application of some embodiments displays the media
clips of an audition set in a selection area. For instance, other
information could be displayed along with the media clips, such as
media clips names, media clip durations, etc.
[0320] In addition, the transitions between states of the GUI 100
need not be limited to those shown in FIG. 39. For instance, some
embodiments include a transition from the state 3920 to the state
3905 when a user selects a new active pick. In other words,
selecting a new active pick through the selection area of some
embodiments causes the selection area to close (i.e., the GUI 100
no longer displays the selection area). Furthermore, as shown
above, some embodiments allow the user to skim through a media clip
at a different state of the GUI.
III. Editing an Audition Set
[0321] The media editing application of some embodiments provides
users with the ability to perform a variety of edit operations in
order to create a composite media presentation. Examples of such
edit operations include trim operations (e.g., ripple, roll, slip,
and slide operations), move operations, add and delete operations,
etc. as well as keyword operations, marker operations, and other
operations that simplify the editing process without actually
modifying the composite presentation. In some embodiments, these
operations may not only be performed on individual media clips but
also applied to audition sets.
[0322] A. Operations to Edit an Audition Set
[0323] One type of edit for media clips involves moving a media
clip within the composite display area. As with a media clip, users
can also move an audition set within the composite display area in
some embodiments. As described above, some embodiments treat the
active pick of an audition set as part of the composite
presentation. In some such embodiments, when a user moves an
audition set within the composite display area, the media editing
application moves the active pick of the audition set within the
composite presentation.
[0324] The following FIGS. 40-42 illustrate various examples of a
user moving an audition set within the composite display area 135
in order to modify a composite presentation to which the active
pick of the audition set belongs. FIG. 40 illustrates an example of
the movement of an audition set within the central compositing lane
155 of the composite display area 135. In particular, FIG. 40
illustrates the GUI 100 at four different stages 4005-4020 in which
a user moves the audition set 185 from a first location to a second
location in the timeline of the composite presentation.
[0325] At the first stage 4005, the GUI 100 displays the audition
set 185 at a particular location in the composite display area 135
after a media clip C in the central compositing lane 155. The
creation of audition set 185 was illustrated in FIG. 1. At this
stage, the user selects the audition set 185 through a click
operation using the cursor 160. The GUI 100 indicates this
selection by bolding the border of the representation of audition
set 185 in the composite display area.
[0326] The second stage 4010 illustrates the user moving the
audition set 185 through a click-and-drag operation using the
cursor 160 from its location after media clip C to a new location
in the central compositing lane 155 between media clip A and media
clip C. In various embodiments, the user may perform such a
movement with a cursor controller, through a touchscreen, or using
other input devices.
[0327] In the third stage 4015, the GUI 100 shows the media clip C
moving to the right in order to create space for the audition set
185 in the central compositing lane 155 as the user places the
audition set 185 between the media clips A and C. Some embodiments
provide a feature that automatically moves abutting media clips in
anticipation of a particular media clip being dropped between the
abutting media clips. For instance, some such embodiments
automatically move such clips when a particular media clip (or
audition set) being moved by a user is within a threshold distance
of an edge at which two media clips in the central compositing lane
are abutting (i.e., an edit point within the central compositing
lane). When the particular media clip is within the threshold
distance of an edit point, the media editing application
automatically moves the abutting media clips horizontally apart in
order to create space for the user to place the particular media
clip in the central compositing lane 155 at that location. The
third stage 4015 illustrates an example of this automatic feature
as an arrow indicates the automatic movement of the media clip C to
the right to create space for the audition set 185 in the central
compositing lane 155.
[0328] The fourth stage 4020 illustrates the GUI 100 after
completion of the movement of the audition set 185 within the
central compositing lane 155. As shown, the audition set 185 is now
located between the media clips A and C in the composite display
area 135. In terms of the composite presentation, the active pick
of the audition set 185 is now chronologically after the media clip
A and before the media clip C. While the media clip A remains in
the same location as before the move, media clip C has been moved
to a later time in the composite presentation. Some embodiments
modify project data that defines the composite presentation to
reflect this change as well as the change in media clip D's (the
active pick of audition set 155) location in the timeline.
[0329] FIG. 40 illustrated a movement within the central
compositing lane of the composite display area. Some embodiments
allow the user to move media clips and/or audition sets freely
between the central compositing lane and an anchor lane, between
locations in the anchor lanes, etc. FIG. 41 illustrates an example
of the movement of an audition set from the central compositing
lane 155 to an anchor lane in the composite display area 135. This
figure illustrates the GUI 100 at three different stages 4105-4115
that show the user moving the audition set 185 and anchoring the
audition set to a media clip.
[0330] In this example, the first stage 4105 continues from the
last stage 4020 of FIG. 40, as shown by the arrangement of the
media clips in the composite display area 135 with audition set 185
between media clip A and media clip C in the central compositing
lane 155. At this stage, the user selects the audition set 185
through a click operation using the cursor 160, as indicated by the
bolding of the border of the representation of audition set
185.
[0331] The second stage 4110 shows the user moving the audition set
185 through a click-and-drag operation using the cursor 160 from
its location between media clip A and media clip C to a new
location in an anchor lane above clip A. In various embodiments,
the user may perform such a movement with a cursor controller,
through a touchscreen, or using other input devices. As mentioned
above, some embodiments automatically move two abutting media clips
apart when a user places a media clip in between the two abutting
media clips. Similarly, some embodiments provide a feature that
automatically moves two media clips together when a user removes
another media clip located between the two media clips. Some such
embodiments determine when a user has moved a particular media clip
a threshold distance from its prior location in the central
compositing lane 155. When the user moves the particular media clip
beyond the threshold distance, the media editing application
automatically moves the media clips abutting each side of the
particular media clip together to fill the open space in the
central compositing lane 155. The second stage 4110 illustrates
this feature as an arrow indicates the automatic movement of the
media clip C to the left to fill the open space left by the
audition set 185.
[0332] The third stage 4115 illustrates the GUI 100 after
completion of the movement of the audition set 185 from the central
compositing lane 155 to an anchor lane in the composite display
area 135. As shown, the audition set 185 is now anchored to the
media clip A in an anchor lane of the composite display area 135.
As described above, some embodiments anchor a particular media clip
(or audition set) onto another media clip (or audition set) when
the user moves the particular media clip within a threshold
distance of the other media clip. In the composite presentation,
the active pick of the audition set 185 (media clip D) is now
positioned concurrently with a portion of the media clip A and the
media clip C follows the media clip A. Some embodiments modify
project data that defines to reflect the changes in the position of
media clips C and D.
[0333] FIG. 42, on the other hand, illustrates an example of the
movement of an audition set from a position in an anchor lane to a
position in the central compositing lane of the composite display
area. This figure illustrates the GUI 100 at three different stages
4205-4215 that show the user moving the audition set 185 from its
position anchored to media clip A into a position in the central
compositing lane 155.
[0334] In this example, the first stage 4205 continues from the
last stage 4105 of FIG. 41, as shown by the arrangement of the
media clips in the composite display area 135 with the audition set
185 anchored to media clip A. As shown in this stage of the GUI
100, the user selects the audition set 185 through a click
operation using the cursor 160, as indicted by the bolding of the
border of the audition set 185.
[0335] The second stage 4210 shows the user moving the audition set
185 through a click-and-drag operation using the cursor 160 from
its location anchored to media clip A to a new location in the
central compositing lane 155 between media clip A and media clip C.
In various embodiments, the user may perform such a movement with a
cursor controller, through a touchscreen, or using other input
devices. As described above by reference to FIG. 40, some
embodiments provide a feature that automatically moves abutting
media clips in anticipation of a particular media clip being
dropped between the abutting media clips. For instance, some such
embodiments automatically move such clips when a particular media
clip (or audition set) being moved by a user is within a threshold
distance of an edge at which two media clips (or audition sets) in
the central compositing lane are abutting (i.e., an edit point
within the central compositing lane). When the particular media
clip is within the threshold distance of an edit point, the media
editing application automatically moves the abutting media clips
horizontally apart in order to create space for the user to place
the particular media clip in the central compositing lane 155 at
that location. The second stage 4210 illustrates an example of this
automatic feature as an arrow indicates the automatic movement of
the media clip C to the right to create space for the audition set
185 in the central compositing lane 155.
[0336] The third stage 4215 illustrates the GUI 100 after
completion of the movement of the audition set 185 from the anchor
lane to the central compositing lane 155 in the composite display
area 135. As shown, the audition set is no longer anchored to media
clip A and instead sits between media clip A and media clip C in
the central compositing lane 155. While the media clip A remains in
the same location as before the move, media clip C has been moved
to a later time in the composite presentation. Some embodiments
modify project data that defines the composite presentation to
reflect this change as well as the change in media clip D's (the
active pick of audition set 155) location in the timeline.
[0337] The several examples discussed above describe moving an
audition set to and from various positions in a composite display
area of some embodiments by dragging the audition set within the
composite display area. Other embodiments provide other ways to
move the audition set. For instance, some such embodiments provide
a cut and paste operation for moving the audition set to different
places in the composite display area. Moreover, instead of moving
an audition set within the composite display area, some embodiments
allow a copy (e.g., duplicate) of the audition set to be made and
placed in the composite display area.
[0338] Another edit operation that can be performed on an audition
set in some embodiments is a split edit operation (also referred to
as a cut edit operation, razor blading, blading, etc.). FIG. 43
illustrates a split edit operation performed on an audition set
using the GUI 100 according to some embodiments of the invention.
Specifically, this figure illustrates the GUI 100 at six different
stages 4305-4330 that show a split edit operation of some
embodiments performed on an audition set.
[0339] The GUI 100 in this figure continues from the last stage 620
illustrated in FIG. 6, at which point an audition set 630 is
created. For purposes of clarity and explanation, the horizontal
display length of the audition set 630 is displayed differently in
the composite display area 135 for this example. At the first stage
4305, the GUI 100 displays a menu 4335 that includes a user
selectable "Split" option along with other user selectable options
(not shown). The "Split" option invokes an edit tool of some
embodiments for performing a split edit operation. In some
embodiments, the user invokes the menu 4335 by performing a click
operation (e.g., a cursor click or a touch click). Other
embodiments provide other ways to invoke the menu 4335. For
example, some of these embodiments allow the user to invoke the
menu 4335 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, an option from a pop-up or pull-down
menu, or any other appropriate method to invoke a menu. The first
stage 4305 also shows the user selecting the "Split" option through
a click operation using the cursor 160.
[0340] In the second stage 4310, the GUI 100 displays a splitting
tool 4340. In some embodiments, the GUI 100 displays the splitting
tool 4340 in place of the cursor 160 when the user selects the
"Split" option in the menu 4335. In this example, the user invokes
the split edit operation on an audition set in the composite
display area 135 by performing a click operation (e.g., a cursor
click or a touch click) on the audition set using the splitting
tool 4340.
[0341] At third stage 4315 of the GUI 100, the user invokes the
split edit operation on the audition set 630 through a click
operation using the splitting tool 4335. As shown in this stage,
the split edit operation is invoked at the point in the audition
set 630 indicated by the splitting tool 4335.
[0342] The fourth stage 4320 shows the GUI 100 after the completion
of the split edit operation on the audition set 630. As illustrated
in this stage, the GUI 100 no longer displays the audition set 630
in the composite display area 135. Instead, the GUI 100 displays
audition sets 4345 and 4350 in its place. This is indicated by the
audition sets 4345 and 4350 each displaying the user selectable UI
item 190. As shown, the GUI 100 no longer displays the splitting
tool 4340 and displays the cursor 160 in its place. In some
embodiments, the GUI 100 automatically displays the cursor 160 in
place of the splitting tool 4340 upon completion of split edit
operation (e.g., after the user has performed a click operation on
the audition set 630).
[0343] In this example, when the user invokes the split edit
operation on the audition set 630, the media editing application
splits the active pick of the audition set 630 (the media clip 175
in this example) at the point indicated by the splitting tool 4340
into two media clip 4355 and 4360 and creates the audition sets
4345 and 4350. Each of the audition sets 4345 and 4350 includes all
the media clips in the audition set 630 except the active pick of
the audition set 630 when the split edit operation was performed on
the audition set 630 (the media clip 175 in this example). Each of
the audition sets 4345 and 4350 includes one of the split media
clips 4355 and 4360, which is set as the active pick of its
respective audition set. In this example, the audition set 4345
includes the media clip 4355, which is set as its active pick.
Similarly, the audition set 4350 includes the media clip 4360,
which is set as its active pick. In some embodiments, when the
split edit operation is invoked, the media editing application
creates the data structures for the media clips 4345 and 4350 with
in and out points that correspond to the point of the split edit
operation. The media editing application also creates data
structures for the audition sets 4345 and 4350 in some such
embodiments.
[0344] The fifth and sixth stages 4325 and 4330 each illustrate the
GUI 100 displaying the selection area 192 of each of the audition
sets 4345 and 4350. The user invokes the selection area 192 for
each audition set 4345 and 4350 by selecting the corresponding
audition set's UI item 190 through a click operation (e.g., a
cursor click or a touch click) or using any of the methods
previously mentioned above. As shown in the fifth stage 4325, the
selection area 192 for the audition set 4345 displays the media
clips 4355 and 165, which are the media clips included in the
audition set 4345. Similarly, at the sixth stage 4330 of the GUI
100, the selection area 192 for the audition set 4350 displays the
media clips 4360 and 165, which are the media clips included in the
audition set 4350.
[0345] While FIG. 43 illustrates a split edit operation using the
splitting tool 4340, in some embodiments, the GUI 100 does not
display the splitting tool 4340 when the "Split" option is
selected. Rather, the GUI 100 continues to display the cursor 160
and the user can perform the split edit operation on the audition
set 630 in a similar fashion illustrated in FIG. 43. Furthermore,
FIG. 43 shows the split edit operation invoked through a selection
of a pop-up menu. Some embodiments allow the split edit operation
to be invoked in different ways, such as using a hotkey, a
keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, a
selection through a pull-down menu, or any other method of invoking
a edit operation.
[0346] Several of the above examples (e.g., FIGS. 8 and 12)
describe applying an effect to one media clip in the audition set.
However, some embodiments of the media editing application allow
the user to add a particular effect to all the media clips of an
audition set.
[0347] FIG. 44 illustrates applying an effect to the media clips of
an audition set using the GUI 800 according to some embodiments of
the invention. This figure illustrates the GUI 800 at six different
stages 4405-4430 that show an effect applied to all the media clips
of the audition set 185.
[0348] As shown in the first stage 4405, the composite display area
135 displays the audition set 185, which is created in a similar
fashion as described above by reference to FIG. 1. Similar to FIG.
8, the "Video" tab was selected in this example to display the
video effects items 830-840 in the effects panel 825, as shown in
this stage. The first stage 4405 also illustrates the user
selecting the effect item 830 and dragging it onto the audition set
185 (e.g., through a drag-and-drop operation) in a similar fashion
illustrated in FIG. 8. In some embodiments of the media editing
application, the GUI 4405 displays a menu 4435 when the user has
finished dragging the effect item 830 onto the audition set 185
(e.g., the user performs the drop portion of a drag-and-drop
operation).
[0349] The second stage 4410 shows the GUI 4410 displaying a menu
4435 that includes a user selectable "Add Effect to All" option and
other user selectable options (not shown) as well. The "Add Effect
to All" option applies one or more effects associated with a
selected effect item ("blur" for the effect item 830 in this
example) to all the media clips in a selected audition set (the
audition set 185 in this example) when the option is selected. This
stage also shows the user selecting the "Add Effect to All" option
through a click operation using the cursor 160.
[0350] In the third stage 4415, the media editing application has
applied the effect associated with the effect item 830 ("blur") to
all the media clips in the audition set 185. This stage also shows
the user selecting the user selectable UI item 190 through a click
operation using the cursor 160 in order to invoke the display of
the selection area 192.
[0351] The fourth stage 4420 of the GUI 800 displays the selection
area 192. As shown, the selection area 192 displays media clips
165-175. As mentioned above, some embodiments display a label above
a media clip in the selection area 192. In some of these
embodiments, the label for a media clip that has an effect applied
to it is specified with the name of the effect appended to the name
of the media clip. As such, the labels for the respective media
clips displayed in the fourth through sixth stages 4420-4430
specify such names. Specifically, the label for the media clip 175
displayed in the fourth stage 4420 is "Clip D--Blur," the label for
the media clip 165 displayed in fifth stage 4425 is "Clip E--Blur,"
and the label for the media clip 170 displayed in the sixth stage
4430 is "Clip F--Blur."
[0352] Although the figure above illustrates an effect applied to
all the media clips in an audition set, the effect does not
necessarily have to be applied to all the media clips in some
embodiments. For instance, some embodiments may apply the effect to
every media clip except the active pick. Some embodiment may apply
the effect to only the media clips that are versions (i.e.,
duplicates).
[0353] Moreover, in some embodiments, the user may be required to
use input modifiers when performing the effect operation described
above. For example, while selecting and dragging an effect item
onto a media clip, some embodiments may require the user to press
and hold a hotkey, a keystroke, a combination of keystrokes, etc.
In some embodiments, the user may be required to only press (and
not hold) such input modifiers. Other embodiments may require other
types of input modifiers to perform the effect operation described
above. In this manner, the media editing application of some
embodiment is able to differentiate among different effect
operations, such as the operations described in FIG. 12 and FIG.
44, that the user wishes to perform and thus present the correct
options to the user (e.g., displaying the correct menu
options).
[0354] The above figures in this section illustrate a number of
different edit operations that a user can perform on an audition
set. FIG. 45 conceptually illustrates a process 4500 of some
embodiments for performing an edit operation to an audition set.
The process 4500 starts by receiving (at 4505) input to perform an
edit operation on an audition set. The input may be received
through a composite display area when a user edits the audition set
displayed in the composite display area (e.g., a move edit as shown
in FIGS. 40-42, a trim edit, adding an audition set to or removing
an audition set from the composite display area, etc.). Other
inputs may involve a user dragging an effects item onto an audition
set (e.g., as shown in FIG. 44), selecting a menu option (e.g., as
shown in FIG. 43), or other editing input. Such editing input may
be received through various operations performed with a cursor
controller, a touchscreen, etc.
[0355] Next, the process 4500 determines (at 4510) whether to apply
the edit operation to all the media clips in the audition set. As
described above, some operations (e.g., trim operations, move
operations, etc.) are applied only to the active pick of an
audition set. Other operations (e.g., application of an effect) may
be applied to either just the active pick or all media clips in the
audition set.
[0356] When the edit is to be applied to all of the media clips in
the audition set, the process 4500 applies (at 4515) the edit
operation to each media clip in the audition set. In some
embodiments, this entails the process 4500 modifying the data
structure of each of the media clips and/or the data structure of
the audition set based on the edit operation. FIG. 44 illustrates
an example of an edit operation that is applied to each of the
media clips in the audition set. Specifically, FIG. 44 shows an
effect applied to each of the media clips in the audition set. As
another example, some embodiments allow a user to apply a trim edit
operation to modify the in and/or out points of each media clip in
a set by a particular amount of time. In such cases, the process
4500 modifies the in and out points of each of the media clips in
the audition set based on the trim edit operation. After the
process 4500 applies the edit operation to each media clip in the
audition set, the process 4500 ends.
[0357] On the other hand, when the edit is not to be applied to all
of the media clips in the audition set, the process 4500 applies
(at 4520) the edit operation to the active pick of the audition
set. In these instances, the process 4500 modifies the data
structure of the active pick and/or the data structure of the
audition set based on the edit operation. FIGS. 40-42 show several
examples of an edit operation that is applied to only the active
pick of the audition set. In those figures, an audition set is
moved from one location in the composite display area to another
location in the composite display area. When the audition set is
moved to a new location in the composite display area, some
embodiments modify the data structure of the active pick and/or the
audition set to reflect the audition set's new location in the
composite display area.
[0358] Another type of edit operation that is applied only to the
active pick of an audition set is shown in FIG. 43. In that
example, the media editing application applies a split or blade
edit operation to only the active pick of the audition set.
Additional and/or different edit operations that are applied only
to the active pick of an audition set are provided in some
embodiments. Examples of such edit operations include a trim edit,
ripple edit, roll edit, etc. After the process 4500 applies the
edit operation to the active pick, the process 4500 ends.
[0359] B. Deleting an Audition Set
[0360] Different embodiments provide different methods for deleting
or removing an audition set from a composite presentation. For
instance, some embodiments allow the user to delete the audition
set (e.g., using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes, a
combination of keystrokes, an option selected from a pop-up or
pull-down menu, or any other appropriate method) as the user
typically would a media clip in the composite presentation. As
another example, when the user is finished evaluating the media
clips in an audition set and has decided which media clip in the
audition set to include in the composite presentation, some
embodiments provide an operation that sets the active pick of an
audition set as the committed media clip in the composite
presentation (also referred to as a "finalize" operation) and
deletes the audition set.
[0361] FIG. 46 illustrates an example of such a finalize operation.
In particular, FIG. 46 illustrates the GUI 100 at four different
stages 4605-4620 that show a media clip of an audition set being
committed to a composite presentation and the deletion of the
audition set.
[0362] For this example, the first stage 4605 continues from the
last stage 620 of FIG. 6. As shown, this stage illustrates the user
selecting the audition set 630 through a click operation using the
cursor 160. After the audition set 630 has been selected, the user
selects the user selectable UI item 190 through a click operation
using the cursor 160 to invoke the display of the selection area
192. The user may wish to display the selection area 192 to check
that the active pick of the audition set the media clip that the
user wishes to commit to the composite presentation. As mentioned
above, the media editing application of some embodiments
automatically displays the selection area 192 when the UI item 190
is selected.
[0363] At the second stage 4610, the GUI 100 displays the selection
area 192. As shown, the media clip 165 and the media clip 175
("Clip D") are displayed in the selection area 192. In addition,
the indicator 196 is displayed on the media clip 175 to indicate
that it is the active pick of the audition set 630.
[0364] The third stage 4615 of the GUI 100 displays a menu 4625
that includes a user selectable "Finalize" option as well as other
user selectable options (not shown). The "Finalize" option invokes
the operation to commit the active pick of the audition set 630 to
the composite presentation and delete the audition set 630. In this
example, the user invokes the menu 4625 by selecting the "Stacks"
option in the menu bar 150 through a click operation using the
cursor 160. In some embodiments, other methods are provided for
invoking the menu 4625 as well. For instance, some such embodiments
allow the user to invoke the menu 4625 using a hotkey, a keystroke,
a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
method to invoke a menu. The third stage 4615 also illustrates the
user selecting the "Finalize" option through a click operation
using the cursor 160.
[0365] The fourth stage 4620 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
active pick of the audition set 630 (the media clip 175) has been
committed to the composite presentation and the audition set 630
has been deleted. Since the audition set 630 has been deleted, the
user selectable UI item 190 is no longer displayed and the media
clip 175 has replaced the audition set 630 in the composite
presentation, as illustrated in the composite display area 135.
[0366] FIG. 46 describes a particular series of operations for
committing the active pick of the audition set 630 to the composite
presentation and deleting the audition set 630. However, other
embodiments do not necessarily perform all of these operations to
commit the active pick to the composite presentation and delete the
audition set 630. For example, some such embodiments do not select
the UI item 190 to display the selection area 192. In such cases,
the user selects the audition set 630 and then selects the
"Finalize" option in the menu 4625 to commit the active pick of the
audition set 630 to the composite presentation and delete the
audition set 630.
[0367] Instead of performing a "finalize" operation on an audition
set in a composite presentation, the user of the media editing
application may wish to commit the active picks of all the audition
sets in the composite presentation and delete all of the audition
sets. FIG. 47 illustrates an example of such an operation. As
shown, FIG. 47 illustrates the GUI 100 at three different stages
4705-4715 that show an operation that performs a "finalize"
operation on all of the audition sets in a composite
presentation.
[0368] As shown in the first stage 4705, the composite presentation
that is displayed in the composite display area 135 includes an
audition set 4720 and the audition set 185, as indicated by the
display of the user selectable UI item 190 on each audition set.
The audition set 4720 can be created in the same or similar manner
as many of the embodiments for creating an audition set described
above.
[0369] At the second stage, the GUI 100 displays a menu 4725 that
includes a user selectable "Finalize All" option and other user
selectable options (not shown). The "Finalize All" option invokes
an operation that commits to the composite presentation each of the
active picks of all the audition sets in the composite presentation
and deletes all the audition sets. Some embodiments display the
menu 4725 when the user selects the "Stacks" option in the menu bar
150 (e.g., through a click operation such as a cursor click or a
touch click). However, other embodiments provide other ways for the
user to invoke the menu 4725. For example, some such embodiments
allow the user to invoke the menu 4725 using a hotkey, a keystroke,
a series of keystrokes, a combination of keystrokes, or any other
appropriate method to invoke a menu. As shown, the second stage
4710 shows the user selecting the "Finalize All" option through a
click operation using the cursor 160.
[0370] The third stage 4715 illustrates the GUI 100 after the
active picks of all the audition sets in the composite presentation
have been committed to the composite presentation and all the
audition sets have been deleted. As shown, the user selectable UI
items 190 are no longer displayed, indicating that that audition
sets 4720 and 185 have been deleted. Also, Clip A has replaced the
audition set 4720 and Clip D has replaced the audition set 185 in
the composite presentation as illustrated in the composite display
area 135.
[0371] The FIGS. 46 and 47 describe above show different methods
for deleting audition sets in the composite display area 135. As
mentioned above, some embodiments allow the user to create audition
sets in the event library 145. As such, some of these embodiments
also allow the user to delete audition sets in the media library
145. The following figure illustrates one such example.
[0372] FIG. 48 illustrates deleting an audition set using the GUI
100 of some embodiments. In particular, this figure illustrates the
GUI 100 at four different stages 4805-4820 that show the deletion
of an audition set in the media library 145 (also referred to as
unstacking) in some embodiments.
[0373] In this example, the first stage 4805 of the GUI 100
continues from the last stage 2630 illustrated in FIG. 26. This
stage of the GUI 100 shows the user selecting the audition set 2655
in the media library 145 through a click operation using the cursor
160.
[0374] At the second stage 4810, the GUI 100 displays a menu 4825
that includes a user selectable "Unstack" option and other options
(not shown). For this example, the "Unstack" option invokes a
command to delete the audition set 2655 and place the media clips
in the audition set 2655 at individual positions in the media
library 145. In some embodiments, the user invokes the menu 4825 by
selecting the "Stacks" option in the menu bar 150. Other
embodiments provide other ways for the user to invoke the menu
4825. For example, some such embodiments allow the user to invoke
the menu 4825 using a hotkey, a keystroke, a series of keystrokes,
a combination of keystrokes, or any other appropriate method to
invoke a menu. The second stage 4810 also shows the user selecting
the "Unstack" option through a click operation using the cursor
160.
[0375] The third stage 4815 shows the GUI 100 after the invocation
of the delete operation. As shown, an animation is being displayed
that shows the media editing application, in response to the
invocation of the delete operation, automatically moving the media
clip 2650 to an area in the media library 145 that is not occupied
by another media clip. Other animations that show the deletion of
the audition set are possible. Some embodiments may not even
display an animation (i.e., the media clip 2655 will just be
displayed in an empty area in the media library 145) of the delete
operation.
[0376] At the fourth stage 4820 of the GUI 100, the delete
operation is completed. As shown, the media clips 2635 and 2650 are
no longer displayed as media clips stacked on top of each other,
but, instead, are displayed at individual locations in the media
library 145. In addition, the user selectable UI item 2660 is not
longer displayed in the media clip 2650. This stage also shows the
media clips 2635 and 2650 still selected, as indicated by the
bolded borders of each of the media clips. In some embodiments, the
media clips 2635 and 2650 do not remain selected after the
completion of the delete operation.
[0377] While FIG. 48 illustrates the deletion of a single audition
set in the media library 145, some embodiments allow the user to
select multiple audition sets in the media library 145 before
invoking the delete operation. In some of these embodiments, the
media clips in the selected audition sets would each be moved to an
area in the media library 145 that is not occupied by another media
clip.
[0378] The above subsection describes various techniques for
deleting, or finalizing, an audition set. FIG. 49 conceptually
illustrates a process 4900 for finalizing an audition set. As
shown, the process begins by receiving (at 4905) input to finalize
an audition set in the composite display area. In some embodiments,
a user provides such input through the selection of an item from a
menu (e.g., through a cursor controller selection, a touchscreen
selection, etc.), a hotkey or other keystroke input, etc.
[0379] The process removes (at 4910) any audition set indicator
from the display of the graphical representation of the audition
set. Rather than displaying an audition set, the GUI 100 now
displays a media clip representation of the active pick of the
audition set. When the audition set is located in the media
library, some embodiments unstack the display of the audition set
and display each of the media clips from the set separately.
[0380] The process also deletes (at 4915) the data structure for
the audition set, then ends. When the audition set data structure
is defined by references to separate data structures for each of
the media clips, this simply involves deleting the audition set
data structure. When the media clip information (e.g., in and out
points in the source media file) is stored as part of the audition
set data structure, some embodiments create separate data
structures for each of the individual media clips.
IV. Software Architecture
[0381] In some embodiments, the processes described above are
implemented as software running on a particular machine, such as a
computer or a handheld device, or stored in a computer readable
medium. FIG. 50 conceptually illustrates the software architecture
of a media editing application 5000 of some embodiments. In some
embodiments, the media editing application is a stand-alone
application or is integrated into another application, while in
other embodiments the application might be implemented within an
operating system. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the application
is provided as part of a server-based solution. In some such
embodiments, the application is provided via a thin client. That
is, the application runs on a server while a user interacts with
the application via a separate machine remote from the server. In
other such embodiments, the application is provided via a thick
client. That is, the application is distributed from the server to
the client machine and runs on the client machine.
[0382] As shown, the media editing application 5000 includes a user
interface (UI) interaction module 5005, a selection area management
module 5010, a set of editing modules 5015, a preview generator
5020, an active pick selector 5025, an audition set manager 5040,
and a rendering engine 5045. The media editing application 5000
also includes project data 5030 and source files 5035. In some
embodiments, the source files 5035 store the media content (e.g.
text, audio, image, and video content) data of media clips. The
project data 5030 stores data structures for sequences, media
clips, audition sets, etc. that include references to media content
data stored as .mov, .avi, .jpg, .png, mp3, way, txt, etc. files in
the source files 5035. In some embodiments, storages 5030 and 5035
are all stored in one physical storage. In other embodiments, the
storages are in separate physical storages. In some cases, for
example, the source files 5035 may be stored across multiple hard
drives, network drives, etc.
[0383] FIG. 50 also illustrates an operating system 5050 that
includes input device driver(s) 5055 and display module 5060. In
some embodiments, as illustrated, the input device drivers 5055 and
display module 5060 are part of the operating system 5050 even when
the media editing application is an application separate from the
operating system 5050.
[0384] The input device drivers 5055 may include drivers for
translating signals from a keyboard, mouse, touchpad, tablet, touch
screen, etc. A user interacts with one or more of these input
devices, which send signals to their corresponding device driver.
The device driver then translates the signals into user input data
that is provided to the UI interaction module 5005.
[0385] The present application describes a graphical user interface
that provides users with numerous ways to perform different sets of
operations and functionalities. In some embodiments, these
operations and functionalities are performed based on different
commands that are received from users through different input
devices (e.g., keyboard, track pad, touchpad, mouse, etc.). For
example, the present application describes the use of a cursor in
the graphical user interface to control (e.g., select, move)
objects in the graphical user interface. However, in some
embodiments, objects in the graphical user interface can also be
controlled or manipulated through other controls, such as touch
control. In some embodiments, touch control is implemented through
an input device that can detect the presence and location of touch
on a display of the device. An example of such a device is a
touch-screen device. In some embodiments, with touch control, a
user can directly manipulate objects by interacting with the
graphical user interface that is displayed on the display of the
touch-screen device. For instance, a user can select a particular
object in the graphical user interface by simply touching that
particular object on the display of the touch-screen device. As
such, when touch control is utilized, a cursor may not even be
provided for enabling selection of an object of a graphical user
interface in some embodiments. However, when a cursor is provided
in a graphical user interface, touch control can be used to control
the cursor in some embodiments.
[0386] The display module 5060 translates the output of a user
interface for a display device. That is, the display module 5060
receives signals (e.g., from the UI interaction module 5005)
describing what should be displayed and translates these signals
into pixel information that is sent to the display device. The
display device may be an LCD, plasma screen, CRT monitor, touch
screen, etc.
[0387] The UI interaction module 5005 of the media editing
application 5000 interprets the user input data received from the
input device drivers 5055 and passes it to various modules,
including the selection area management module 5010, the audition
set manager 5040, the editing modules 5015, and the preview
generator 5020. The UI interaction module also manages the display
of the UI and outputs this display information to the display
module 5060. This UI display information may be based on
information from the selection area management module 5010, the
audition set manage 5040, etc., or directly from input data (e.g.,
when a user moves an item in the UI that does not affect any of the
other modules of the media editing application 5000).
[0388] The audition set manager 5040 receives the various audition
set commands (e.g., to create an audition set, add a media clip to
an audition set, remove a media clip from audition set, delete an
audition set, etc.) and creates and/or modifies the data structures
for the audition sets. The audition set manager 5040 stores this
audition set information in the project data 5030 in some
embodiments. In addition, the audition set manager 5040 receives
audition set editing commands (e.g., split, trim, etc.) and
determines which of the media clips in the audition set should be
edited by the editing modules 5015.
[0389] The active pick selector 5025 chooses an active pick from a
set of clips in an audition set. The active pick selector is used
by the audition set manager 5040 anytime the audition set manager
needs to choose an active pick for an audition set (e.g., when
creating a new audition set, adding a clip to an audition set, or
deleting the current active pick of an audition set). The active
pick selector chooses the active pick, enabling the audition set
manager 5040 to modify the data structure for the audition set to
identify the active pick.
[0390] The selection area management module 5010 manages the
display of the selection area of some embodiments. The selection
area management module 5010 generates the selection area using
information in the data structure for an audition set stored in the
project data 5030 and passes this display information to the UI
interaction module 5005 for incorporation into the user interface.
The selection area management module 5010 also receives user input
from the UI interaction module 5005 to modify the selection area
(e.g., scroll through media clips, skim through a media clip,
preview a media clip, move the selection area, resize the selection
area, etc.).
[0391] The editing modules 5015 receive the various editing
commands (trimming, splitting, and applying effect to media clips,
audition sets, and sequences, creating sequences, etc.) and create
and modify the project data 5030 describing the affected media
clips, audition sets, and sequences in the composite display area
and/or media library.
[0392] The preview generator 5020 enables the output of audio and
video from the media editing application so that a user can preview
clips or composite sequences. The preview generator 5020 uses the
project data and the source media to send display instructions to
the UI interaction module 5005, which incorporates the preview into
the user interface.
[0393] The rendering engine 5045 enables the storage or output of a
composite media presentation using the media editing application
5000. The rendering engine 5045 receives data from the editing
modules 5015 and/or storages 5030 and 5035 and, in some embodiments
creates a composite media presentation from the source files 5035.
The composite media presentation can be stored in one of the
illustrated storages or a different storage.
[0394] While many of the features have been described as being
performed by one module (e.g., the audition set manager 5040 or the
preview generator 5020), one of ordinary skill would recognize that
the functions might be split up into multiple modules. Similarly,
the functions described as being performed by multiple different
modules might be performed by a single module in some embodiments
(e.g., the active pick selector 5025 might be part of the audition
set manager 5040.
V. Computer System
[0395] Many of the above-described features and applications are
implemented as software processes that are specified as a set of
instructions recorded on a computer readable storage medium (also
referred to as computer readable medium). When these instructions
are executed by one or more processing unit(s) (e.g., one or more
processors, cores of processors, or other processing units), they
cause the processing unit(s) to perform the actions indicated in
the instructions. Examples of computer readable media include, but
are not limited to, CD-ROMs, flash drives, RAM chips, hard drives,
EPROMs, etc. The computer readable media does not include carrier
waves and electronic signals passing wirelessly or over wired
connections.
[0396] In this specification, the term "software" is meant to
include firmware residing in read-only memory or applications
stored in magnetic storage which can be read into memory for
processing by a processor. Also, in some embodiments, multiple
software inventions can be implemented as sub-parts of a larger
program while remaining distinct software inventions. In some
embodiments, multiple software inventions can also be implemented
as separate programs. Finally, any combination of separate programs
that together implement a software invention described here is
within the scope of the invention. In some embodiments, the
software programs, when installed to operate on one or more
electronic systems, define one or more specific machine
implementations that execute and perform the operations of the
software programs.
[0397] FIG. 51 conceptually illustrates an electronic system 5100
with which some embodiments of the invention are implemented. The
electronic system 5100 may be a computer, phone, PDA, or any other
sort of electronic device. Such an electronic system includes
various types of computer readable media and interfaces for various
other types of computer readable media. Electronic system 5100
includes a bus 5105, processing unit(s) 5110, a graphics processing
unit (GPU) 5120, a system memory 5125, a read-only memory 5130, a
permanent storage device 5135, input devices 5140, and output
devices 5145.
[0398] The bus 5105 collectively represents all system, peripheral,
and chipset buses that communicatively connect the numerous
internal devices of the electronic system 5100. For instance, the
bus 5105 communicatively connects the processing unit(s) 5110 with
the read-only memory 5130, the GPU 5120, the system memory 5125,
and the permanent storage device 5135.
[0399] From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 5110
retrieve instructions to execute and data to process in order to
execute the processes of the invention. The processing unit(s) may
be a single processor or a multi-core processor in different
embodiments. Some instructions are passed to and executed by the
GPU 5120. The GPU 5120 can offload various computations or
complement the image processing provided by the processing unit(s)
5110. In some embodiments, such functionality can be provided using
CoreImage's kernel shading language.
[0400] The read-only-memory (ROM) 5130 stores static data and
instructions that are needed by the processing unit(s) 5110 and
other modules of the electronic system. The permanent storage
device 5135, on the other hand, is a read-and-write memory device.
This device is a non-volatile memory unit that stores instructions
and data even when the electronic system 5100 is off. Some
embodiments of the invention use a mass-storage device (such as a
magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive) as the
permanent storage device 5135.
[0401] Other embodiments use a removable storage device (such as a
floppy disk, flash drive, or ZIP.RTM. disk, and its corresponding
disk drive) as the permanent storage device. Like the permanent
storage device 5135, the system memory 5125 is a read-and-write
memory device. However, unlike storage device 5135, the system
memory is a volatile read-and-write memory, such a random access
memory. The system memory stores some of the instructions and data
that the processor needs at runtime. In some embodiments, the
invention's processes are stored in the system memory 5125, the
permanent storage device 5135, and/or the read-only memory 5130.
For example, the various memory units include instructions for
processing multimedia clips in accordance with some embodiments.
From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 5110
retrieve instructions to execute and data to process in order to
execute the processes of some embodiments.
[0402] The bus 5105 also connects to the input and output devices
5140 and 5145. The input devices enable the user to communicate
information and select commands to the electronic system. The input
devices 5140 include alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices
(also called "cursor control devices"). The output devices 5145
display images generated by the electronic system. The output
devices include printers and display devices, such as cathode ray
tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD). Some embodiments
include devices such as a touchscreen that function as both input
and output devices.
[0403] Finally, as shown in FIG. 51, bus 5105 also couples
electronic system 5100 to a network 5165 through a network adapter
(not shown). In this manner, the computer can be a part of a
network of computers (such as a local area network ("LAN"), a wide
area network ("WAN"), or an Intranet, or a network of networks,
such as the Internet. Any or all components of electronic system
5100 may be used in conjunction with the invention.
[0404] Some embodiments include electronic components, such as
microprocessors, storage and memory that store computer program
instructions in a machine-readable or computer-readable medium
(alternatively referred to as computer-readable storage media,
machine-readable media, or machine-readable storage media). Some
examples of such computer-readable media include RAM, ROM,
read-only compact discs (CD-ROM), recordable compact discs (CD-R),
rewritable compact discs (CD-RW), read-only digital versatile discs
(e.g., DVD-ROM, dual-layer DVD-ROM), a variety of
recordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.),
flash memory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SD cards, micro-SD cards, etc.),
magnetic and/or solid state hard drives, read-only and recordable
Blu-Ray.RTM. discs, ultra density optical discs, any other optical
or magnetic media, and floppy disks. The computer-readable media
may store a computer program that is executable by at least one
processing unit and includes sets of instructions for performing
various operations. Examples of computer programs or computer code
include machine code, such as is produced by a compiler, and files
including higher-level code that are executed by a computer, an
electronic component, or a microprocessor using an interpreter.
[0405] While the above discussion primarily refers to
microprocessor or multi-core processors that execute software, some
embodiments are performed by one or more integrated circuits, such
as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field
programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In some embodiments, such
integrated circuits execute instructions that are stored on the
circuit itself.
[0406] As used in this specification and any claims of this
application, the terms "computer", "server", "processor", and
"memory" all refer to electronic or other technological devices.
These terms exclude people or groups of people. For the purposes of
the specification, the terms display or displaying means displaying
on an electronic device. As used in this specification and any
claims of this application, the terms "computer readable medium,"
"computer readable media," and "machine readable medium" are
entirely restricted to tangible, physical objects that store
information in a form that is readable by a computer. These terms
exclude any wireless signals, wired download signals, and any other
ephemeral signals.
[0407] While the invention has been described with reference to
numerous specific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will
recognize that the invention can be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from the spirit of the invention. In
addition, a number of the figures (including FIGS. 9, 15, 18, 38,
45, and 49) conceptually illustrate processes. The specific
operations of these processes may not be performed in the exact
order shown and described. The specific operations may not be
performed in one continuous series of operations, and different
specific operations may be performed in different embodiments.
Furthermore, the process could be implemented using several
sub-processes, or as part of a larger macro process.
* * * * *