EP1817775A1

EP1817775A1 - User interface for content authoring

Info

Publication number: EP1817775A1
Application number: EP05802172A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Paul Philips Intell. Property & Standards HALEY
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV
Current assignee: Koninklijke Philips NV
Priority date: 2004-11-25
Filing date: 2005-11-08
Publication date: 2007-08-15
Also published as: GB0426247D0; JP2008522275A; WO2006056901A1

Abstract

A content authoring application has a user interface (10) with a timeline (20) extending along one axis. A user can position content elements at a desired timeline position within panes. A user can group a number of elements (55, 56) into a container (43). Position of the container (43) is fixed with respect to the direction of the timeline axis and movable with respect to a direction perpendicular to the timeline axis. Once placed within a container (43), a user can move a group of elements vertically about the display without the risk of accidentally moving the position of individual elements along the time axis. A property of each of the group of elements within the container can be collectively changed at the same time. The container (43) can be displayed in a full (maximised) form or a reduced (minimised) form.

Description

DESCRIPTION

USER INTERFACE FOR CONTENT AUTHORING

This invention relates to content authoring and to a user interface for an authoring application.

In the production of audio, video and multimedia content it is known to use authoring applications. Authoring applications generally provide a graphical user interface which allows a user to generate, move and modify individual content elements which form a presentation. Typically, authoring applications are based around a timeline, with individual elements being positioned along the timeline between the points at which they are required to start and end. The individual elements can include items such as notes in a musical score, audio or video clips, subtitles relating to a piece of video, objects moving in a real-time calculated computer video (e.g. a Flash™ animation), or instructions to operate physical devices (e.g. external lights) in synchronisation with video.

In the user interface, a timeline is normally represented horizontally with time increasing to the right. Regardless of the type of element, the horizontal position of the element on the timeline is critical to the presentation, or meaning, of the element. As an example, if musical notes are moved along the timeline then a different tune will be produced.

When more than one element occurs at the same time on the timeline, it is necessary to introduce a vertical scale so that these elements can be represented clearly at the same time. However, as a design becomes large or complex there are often many elements in different places that all need to be considered together. This is currently a difficult job for the designer.

It is often necessary to perform operations on many elements at the same time. This can normally be done by selecting the required elements and then running the operation. For example, an animation sequence could have three individual fireworks animations that are activated at different times. A user may wish to modify the colour of all three animations to a slightly deeper red. Currently, this would involve selecting each animation in turn and then running the operation on each animation or selecting a group of objects by a Control and select operation and running the operation. Only one selection is possible at any time and when another group of elements are selected, the previous selection is lost. This has the disadvantage of causing the user to make the selection every time they choose to work on a group of elements. There is a chance that the user may forget to select an element, which will not be updated. Many authoring applications support drag and drop editing, where a user can simply 'drag' an item from it's current position on the display and 'drop' it at a new position. With this feature there is a risk that a user may accidentally move an element along the timeline when they are selecting an object, thus accidentally changing the presentation. Although some applications use a locking mechanism where the user can lock an individual element, or lock all elements, this lock usually applies to both the horizontal and vertical movements of an item.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved user interface for an authoring application.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides a user interface for an application for authoring content comprising control logic which is operable to provide: a visual display area having a timeline extending along one axis, a user being allowed to position content elements within the display area, each at a desired position along the timeline axis; and, a grouping function which allows a user to create a container within the visual display area for holding a number of elements, with the position of the container being fixed with respect to the timeline axis and movable with respect to a direction perpendicular to the timeline axis. Grouping individual elements into a container increases the clarity of the interface for a user. Individual elements which together define a particular effect can be presented in a coherent manner, which simplifies a user's understanding of a presentation. Because the position of the container remains fixed with respect to the timeline axis the position, in time, of each element within the container remains fixed (locked) as the container is manipulated. A user can now move a group of elements vertically about the display, by selecting and moving the container, without the risk of accidentally moving the position of individual elements along the timeline axis. When a container is first created it may initially be empty or hold only one or more elements. In normal use it is expected that a container would hold multiple (i.e. at least two) elements, although a user could choose to place an important element in a group on its own to give emphasis.

Preferably, a common property of a group of elements held within the container can be collectively changed at the same time. Thus, an operation which would have been performed individually on each element can now be performed on the group with a single operation. Since the group of elements is fixed with respect to the time axis, a user cannot accidentally modify the position, in time, of the group or of an individual element within the group while the property is modified.

Preferably, a container is displayed in a manner which is different to individual elements. This can be a colour which is system or user defined, and which is different to the colour used for displaying individual elements.

Preferably, the container can be displayed in a full (maximised) form or a reduced (minimised) form. This further increases the clarity of the interface as large groups of elements can be collapsed. This allows a user to work with a large number of elements at any time within the constraints of a single display screen.

The functionality described here can be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of these. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed processing platform. Accordingly, another aspect of the invention provides a computer program product carrying instructions for implementing the user interface. The software may be stored on an electronic memory device, hard disk, optical disk or other machine-readable storage medium. The software may be downloaded directly to the processing platform via a network connection.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 shows a screen shot of a user interface in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows one of the windows of the user interface of Figure 1 in more detail;

Figures 3A - 3F show screen shots illustrating a sequence of steps to create a new group; Figure 4 shows a processing platform for supporting the user interface of Figures 1-3.

Figures 1 and 2 show screen shots of a graphical user interface (GUI) of an authoring application according to an embodiment of the invention. In this example, the authoring application is used to create multimedia content for a computer game although it will be appreciated that the content can take a wide variety of forms. The content includes a plurality of visual and/or audible elements and control instructions for activating external devices such as lights, low-frequency vibrators etc. which are deployed in the environment in which the game will be played.

Figure 1 shows a window 10 which includes two scenes 30, 40 of an overall presentation. A timeline 20 is displayed in a horizontal direction across the window 10. Timeline 20 displays the elapsed time since the beginning of the presentation, with time increasing in the direction towards the right-hand side of the window. For most presentations the overall duration of the presentation will be much longer than what can be clearly shown within window 10, and so only a portion of the overall timeline is displayed within window 10. Each segment of the presentation is represented by a window 30, 40 which fills a space horizontally between a start time 21 and an end time 22 constraint. The start and end times can represent a defined portion of the overall presentation (e.g. a chapter on a DVD). In a simple presentation there may only be a single segment which spans the entire duration of the presentation. The vertical height of each window 30, 40 is sufficient to enclose all of the elements within that segment and the height can change as elements are added to, or removed from, that segment. Window 30 representing 'Scene 1' of the presentation has a set of vertical panes 31-35 which each contain one or more elements of the scene.

Figure 2 shows the window 40 representing the segment 'Scene 2'in more detail and it will be understood that the windows for other segments have the same form. Window 40 has a title bar 41 which displays information such as the title and start and stop times of this segment of the presentation. Window 40 can be 'minimised' by clicking on icon 42. This will collapse the window to a reduced size which will show only the identifying information in title bar 41.

Window 40 displays individual elements 46, 47 in separate panes, arranged vertically within window 40. Within each pane, an element 46, 47 is displayed as a bar.with the left-hand end of the bar defining the start time and the right-hand end of the bar defining the stop time of that element. A watch icon 48, 49 can be displayed at the start and stop time to signify to a user that these limits can be modified. By clicking in the middle (body) of an element a user can drag the whole block left or right. By clicking on one of the watch icons 48, 49 at either side a user can extend or contract that side of the element, while the other side remains constant.

It can be seen that the number of individual elements that can be displayed vertically is limited and that window 40 will soon fill. In accordance with the invention, individual elements can be grouped together and displayed within what will be referred to as a container. A container can contain anything that the user desires, but this will generally be a collection of related elements relating to a particular effect, e.g. audio and animation elements relating to an explosion. Three example containers are shown as 43, 44, 45. Containers can be displayed in a maximised form (e.g. containers 43, 45) or in a minimised form (e.g. container 44). In a maximised form, all of the contents of the container are visible whereas in minimised form only the title bar of the container is displayed. Each container has a title bar which displays the title of the container and an icon 51 , 52 for minimising or maximising the container. The ability to minimise containers frees up space in the window 40. A container is displayed with a background of a different colour to an individual element (e.g. yellow background for a container, blue background for an individual element). A container can only be moved up or down in a vertical motion, ensuring that the horizontal timeline position of the group, and the individual elements of the group, will not be affected. In this embodiment, the containers are given a 3D appearance to appear as if they can slide up or down the vertical rails 58 on the left-hand side of window 40. This gives the user an analogy with the real world to aid their understanding of the system. It also makes it clear that these containers are attached to the edges and therefore cannot be moved along the timeline.

Figures 3A-3F illustrate the process by which a group is created and manipulated. Firstly, Figure 3 shows a window 40' with three individual elements. In Figure 3B a user decides to create a new group within this segment (scene). A user can create a group by making a right-click on their mouse button, thus displaying a menu of options 60 related to the current situation. One of the available options is to create 'New Group'. The same operation could be achieved by following a menu structure of the main window 10 of the application or by a keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl+G). In Figure 3C the new group is created, displaying a container which contains the element on the row where the cursor was when the 'New Group' operation was instructed. The group currently contains a single item 54 and the user can now add other items. As shown in Figure 3C, to add an item, the cursor is positioned over the top edge of the element 55 labelled "jeff". In this application, the individual elements may be moved up/down vertically by dragging a bar 62 along the top edge of element 55. Clicking anywhere other than the top edge within a non- grouped element will modify the position of the element along the time axis. Dragging the element "jeff" 55 vertically upwards moves this element into the group 43, as shown in Figure 3D. Any number of individual elements can be moved into the group 43 in the same manner. As elements are added or removed from the container the height of the container automatically changes so that, at any time, the container is only as high as it needs to be to accommodate the elements within it. The group can be given a meaningful name by the operation 'Rename Group' available on the right-click menu (see Figure 3B). Groups can be moved in the same manner as individual elements, by dragging their top border. Clicking elsewhere inside a container has no effect as it is not possible to modify the horizontal (timeline) position of a container, or elements within the container. Figure 3E shows a container being moved downwards within window 40', to a new position shown in Figure 3F. Once an individual element has been placed inside a container, it is still possible to move that element horizontally by clicking the relevant area, i.e. on the body, or on a watch icon at each end. However, since the group of elements are now placed inside a container, a user no longer needs to click on an individual element to select it for the purposes of moving it up/down or to change a property which is common to other elements in the group, since these functions can now be handled at a group level by selecting the container itself. For increased security it is possible to assign the container a property which enables/disables (locks/unlocks) horizontal movement of the individual elements within a container, once the elements have been placed inside the container. This can be set as a default or user defined property of a container using a menu or toolbar.

The user can collectively perform an action on all of the elements within a group by selecting a group and then using tools from a toolbar or menu. The toolbar can take the form of a bar which docks to a side of the frame of the window 10 or a sub-window (15, Figure 1 ) which is freely movable within window 10. Once selected, the toolbar may be continuously displayed for as long as a user wishes, or it may be displayed only when a user requests to perform an operation on a group. Two examples of changing properties will now be described. In a first example, group 43 is selected. Selection can be achieved by positioning the cursor over a desired container and making a click on the right-hand mouse button. Alternatively, clicking on a container can highlight it, showing it in a selected state. An operation from a system menu will then target this container. The user interface determines what common properties the elements within the container have and presents the user with the property on a (right-click) menu for selection. As group 43 is a group of audio elements, it is possible to collectively change the volume of the individual audio elements 55, 56 with a single 'volume up/down' operation. In a second example, consider that group 45 of Figure 2 comprises a set of instructions to cause external lights to flicker during video playback. This group 45 can be duplicated to create an identical group positioned vertically below the original group 45, but with elements at exactly the same time. In the new group, every element can then be changed to a type that plays the sound of a spark/broken light. Because a container is constrained to move only in a vertical direction, the elements in duplicate container 45 are guaranteed to be positioned at exactly the same position, along the timeline, as the original group 45. Any property of a group of elements can be modified. For video content properties will include: brightness, contrast, colour balance and video filtering effects. For audio content properties will include: volume, pitch and audio filtering effects. For a more immersive entertainment experience, it is desirable to position devices such as lights, low-frequency vibrators, smoke machines etc. in a room. The presentation which is authored includes control instructions which are issued to the external devices, causing a hardware device to react at a desired time. For example, with several lights positioned around a room, the viewer will feel more immersed in what they are watching if the lighting levels in the room change to reflect the picture. The lights are independent so, for example, a red laser on the left side of the screen could trigger the left edge of the viewer's room to glow red. The properties of the control signals can include: location (i.e. the location in a room where the effect will occur, from which the system can determine which effects devices to operate); priority (if an end user has a limited set of additional devices, effects are applied on a priority basis); colour shade/hue and colour intensity of external effects lights.

The authoring application described above can be implemented on a variety of processing platforms, such as a general purpose PC or a dedicated processing unit. Figure 4 shows the main components of a general purpose processing platform 400. A central processing unit 401 executes software

420, as previously described, to support the authoring application and user interface. Non-volatile memory 403, such as a hard disk, store the software

420 together with the software for the operating system used by the processing unit 401. A volatile memory 402 is used during operation of the platform. A previously created presentation may be loaded from an external storage device, such as an optical disc or memory card, with CPU 401 storing the presentation in volatile memory 402 during execution of the software. A presentation may subsequently be stored on non-volatile memory 403 or an external storage device, or sent directly to another party by a connection 407 to an external network. User inputs can be provided directly to the platform by input devices such as a keyboard 410 and a tablet or mouse 411. A visual output is presented to a user via a display driver 408 and display 409 and an audible output is presented to a user via an audio driver 418 and speakers

419. A bus 405, or combination of buses of different types, connect the above units. The platform 400 can connect to an external network by a modem 406, such as a broadband ADSL or cable modem.

It is desirable to test the presentation created by the authoring software local to the platform where it is created. The display 409 and speakers 419 can be used to render the AV content of the presentation. Control messages to/from external devices such as lights and vibrators can be carried by local network connections 415 which can use wired 414 or wireless 411 technologies. Appropriate hardware may be provided to support the particular local network such as: a local area network card; a wireless, infrared or power line modem.

In the above embodiment the individual elements represent audio, computer-generated animation or control instructions for external devices which can be used as part of a gaming application or as an accompaniment to an AV presentation which is destined for storage on a Digital Versatile Disc (DVD). Alternatively, each element can represent a clip of stored audio or video which forms part of an AV presentation.

In the above embodiment the timeline has been shown aligned with the horizontal axis of the display, with elements stacked vertically above the timeline. Although this is the most common way of representing a timeline, the timeline could alternatively be aligned with the vertical axis of the display, with time increasing in an upward or downward direction. Elements would be stacked horizontally across the display, each aligned with a respective part of the vertical timeline axis.

In the above embodiment, when a container is created it has a default width equal to the window 30, 40 containing the current segment (scene) of the presentation. This has an advantage in that a rail can be provided on the side of the window 30, 40 which can be manipulated by a user to move the container up/down. In an alternative embodiment the container can have a width which is less than the width of the window 30, 40 containing that scene. The width can be set to a default value (in terms of time) or it can automatically adjust to the time period spanned by the group of elements that a user places inside the container. It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The words "comprising" and "including" do not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in the claim. Where the system/device/apparatus claims recite several means, several of these means can be embodied by one and the same item of hardware.

In the description above, and with reference to the Figures, there is described a content authoring application which has a user interface with a timeline extending along one axis. A user can position content elements at a desired timeline position within panes. A user can group a number of elements into a container. Position of the container is fixed with respect to the direction of the timeline axis and movable with respect to a direction perpendicular to the timeline axis. Once placed within a container, a user can move a group of elements vertically about the display without the risk of accidentally moving the position of individual elements along the time axis. A property of each of the group of elements within the container can be collectively changed at the same time. The container can be displayed in a full (maximised) form or a reduced (minimised) form.

Claims

1. A user interface for an application for authoring content comprising control logic which is operable to provide: a visual display area (10) having a timeline (20) extending along one axis, a user being allowed to position content elements (55, 56) within the display area, each at a desired position along the timeline axis; and, a grouping function which allows a user to create a container (43) within the visual display area for holding a number of elements, with the position of the container being fixed with respect to the timeline axis (20) and movable with respect to a direction perpendicular to the timeline axis.

2. A user interface according to claim 1 wherein the elements (55, 56) each have at least one property which can be modified by a user, the grouping function being further operable to allow a common property of a group of elements held within the container (43) to be collectively modified at. the same time.

3. A user interface according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the visual display area comprises a plurality of panes extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the timeline and the elements which are grouped into the container (43) can be selected from different panes.

4. A user interface according to claim 3 wherein each element has a portion (62) which, when selected and dragged, allows the element to only be moved in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the timeline.

5. A user interface according to claim 3 which is operable to display the elements of a group in a common pane (43) following a grouping operation.

6. A user interface according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the size of the container automatically adjusts to the number of elements within it.

7. A user interface according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a container (43) is displayed in a different manner to an individual element.

8. A user interface according to claim 7 wherein a container (43) is displayed in a different colour to an individual element.

9. A user interface according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a container can be displayed in a full (maximised) form (43) or a reduced (minimised) form (44).

10. A user interface according to claim 9 wherein, in the minimised form (44), only the container title is displayed.

11. A user interface according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the content is divided into a plurality of time segments (30, 40) and the container (43) has a start time and a stop time which are aligned with the segment within which the container is positioned.

12. An application for authoring content comprising a user interface according to any one of the preceding claims.

13. A computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium carrying instructions for causing a processor to implement the user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or the application according to claim 12.

14. A system for authoring content comprising a processing platform (400) which executes an authoring application according to claim 12.

15. A method of manipulating content elements at a user interface for an application for authoring content, the user interface comprising a visual display area (10) having a timeline (20) extending along one axis, the method comprising: positioning content elements (55, 56) within the display area (10), each at a desired position along the timeline axis; creating a container (43) within the visual display area for holding a number of the elements; and, fixing movement of the container (43) with respect to the timeline axis and allowing movement of the container in a direction perpendicular to the timeline axis.

16. A method according to claim 15 wherein the elements (55, 56) each have at least one property which can be modified by a user, the method further comprising collectively modifying a common property of a group of elements held within the container (43) at the same time.