A NON-TIMELINE, NON-LINEAR DIGITAL MULTIMEDIA COMPOSITION METHOD AND SYSTEM

摘要

A non-temporal, non-linear multimedia composition method and software system used in producing digital composition sequences. The method treats al l digital signals and information, including video, audio, image, documents source mat erials, as common data types for composition and creation purposes, The invention em ploys a spatial, non-temporal, non-linear story line method for displaying and man ipulating digital source material objects for composition purposes. The method utilize s content specific, dynamic pictorial objects to denote digital source materials store d incomputer readable format to facilitate ease of opera tion in performing non-linear, non-timeline multimedia composition operations. Methods are provided for dyn amicpreviewing and manipulation of images, video, audio, three dimensional objects and animation sequences denoted by dynamic pictorial objects representing digita l source materials stored in computer readable format. The method of the present inve ntion employs a function-specific software console metaphor in which all compositi on elements are displayed within a single, integrated console environment, incl uding a dynamic story line display facility, video editor, special effects editor, t ransitions editor, video animation editor, audio studio, plug-in editor, digital captur e and output editor. The present invention includes a method for visually denoting the ac tive status of one or more composition editors as applied to a specific composition segm ent or sequence. Methods for facilitating dynamic image capture from digital video sources are employed in the present invention. The system and method utilizes animat ed multistage three dimensional pictorial icons with associated properties as c ontrols for the purpose of initiating specific computing commands and composition proces s related tasks.