Abstract:
A method and apparatus is described that is related to split editing. An indicia of a first time based stream of information is displayed at a source media. An indicia of a second time based stream of information is displayed at the source media. This is followed by an editing of the first time based stream of information and the second time based stream of information together in an operation that uses no more than six edit points between the source media and a destination media combined. The editing is performed such that the selected amount of time of the first time based stream of information differs from the selected amount of time of the second time based stream of information, and the destination media includes a third time based stream of information.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     I. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to media editing. In particular the present invention relates to split editing. 
     II. Related Art 
     Editing is generally the art of making subtle adjustments to a material or materials in a form that communicates a message with maximum impact. In the area of video editing, the editor defines and shapes the video and/or audio until the message to be delivered is accomplished. Generally, video editing may be divided into two categories: linear video editing and non-linear video editing. In linear video editing, the images are taken in a sequential order. Stated differently, one idea after another must be previously conceived and then, the video is taken in the conceived chronological sequence. For example, suppose a video is to be taken of an office, the editor must first conceptualize as to what the scenes would be and in which sequence. The editor may want to take a video of an entry into the Office. This scene perhaps followed by a focus on a pot plant in a corner. The scene may then move to the various articles on a desk and then, the scene shifting its focus to a window. In linear video editing, this is the precise sequence the video must be taken. 
     By contrast, in non-linear video editing, scenes may be taken in any order and later edited according to a desired sequence. Whether linear video editing or non-linear video editing approach is to be taken generally depends on the video system that is to be used. While non-linear video editing system may be more complicated, the advantage is that the video may be taken in any sequence and later, through careful observation of the video and a thoughtful process, the video may be manipulated to communicate the message in the manner the editor wishes to convey with maximum impact. Due to its free format, the editor can readily impute creativity without being constrained physically. 
     With the advancement of computer technology, further improvements have been made to the video editing system through a process called digitization. In particular, the digitization of video has had a profound impact on non-linear video editing system. Previously, copies of a film containing the video would be made. By cutting and splicing the copies, an edited version of the original film was made. If the editor was not satisfied, further copies of the original film were made and the cutting and splicing would resume until a desired product was obtained. In a digital video editing system, video is stored in a storage medium such as magnetic discs or laser discs thereby allowing the video to be retrieved randomly and displayed on a display device such as a monitor. This alleviates the burdensome technique of cutting and splicing. Further, in random access, each image of the video operates independently, thus, it is possible to retrieve a particular image without sequentially going through other materials to reach the image. Examples of sequential access would be films or magnetic tapes. By allowing images to be accessed randomly, video can be easily manipulated into any desired sequence which is the heart of a non-linear video editing system. 
     One desired feature of the improved editing system is the ability to provide special effects to the message to be conveyed during the editing process. FIG. 1 is a flow chart that shows such feature. In block  10 , an audio clip is retrieved to a source window to be edited. A clip is a basic unit of media that comprises movies, still images, nested sequences, video files and audio files. It may be desirable to edit the audio clip such that the audio in and/or the audio out is different from its corresponding video clip. For example, the audio clip may correspond to a video clip of a critic explaining a certain motion of a dance choreography. Using a three-point edit, the audio clip is edited to capture the explanation. A three-point edit is where a start point (also referred to as an in point) and an end point (also referred to as an out point) are specified and an in point is specified at a destination such as a destination window. Once the three-point edit is performed, in block  12 , the edited portion of the audio clip is transferred to the destination window. In block  14 , the corresponding video clip of the audio clip is separately retrieved to the source window to be edited. Using again the three-point edit, the video clip is edited such that when the critic is explaining the dance motion, that portion of the video clip is cut. This time duration difference between the audio clip and the video clip is known as split edit. Because the audio and video edit are done separately, the relationship between the two needs to be defined. Terms of art have evolved defining the relationship. For example, J-cut defines an edit where the audio clip starts earlier in time than the video clip. L-cut defines an edit where the audio clip ends later in time than the video clip. Block  18  shows this step. In block  16 , the edited video clip is transferred to the destination window to be split edited with the edited audio clip. Note that in this split edit, the edited video clip cuts off while the corresponding audio clip continues on and thus, would be an L-cut. The two edited clips are then superimposed onto another video clip displaying the actual choreography with its accompanying audio clip. The end result is a composite video clip that initially displays the critic making comments of a dance choreography. When the critic is about to explain a certain motion, the video of the critic is replaced with the actual video of the dance motion. However, the voice of the critic continues on to comment on the motion. When the comments are finished, the audio is replaced with the audio corresponding to the video of the dance choreography. 
     The split edit process described above is burdensome because the audio clip and the video clip are edited separately, then combined with another video and audio clip. In certain instances, the editor manually calculates the video in, video out, audio in and the audio out of the split edit. This requires great effort on the part of the editor. Because the split edit process is burdensome, the editor may not desire to experiment with the various positions of video in, video out, audio in and audio out to get to the combination which the editor considers to convey the message with maximum impact, for example. It is desirable to provide a split edit feature that is simple to use and does not burden the editor allowing the editor to focus on editing with creativity and without distraction. 
     SUMMARY 
     A method and apparatus is described that is related to split editing. An indicia of a first time based stream of information is displayed at a source media. An indicia of a second time based stream of information is displayed at the source media. This is followed by an editing of the first time based stream of information and the second time based stream of information together in an operation that uses no more than six edit points between the source media and a destination media combined. The editing is performed such that the selected amount of time of the first time based stream of information differs from the selected amount of time of the second time based stream of information, and the destination media includes a third time based stream of information. 
    
    
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and detailed description to be followed. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is illustrated by way of examples and not as limitations in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method of producing a split edit; 
     FIG. 2 a  is an example of a computer system in which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented; 
     FIG. 2 b  is a diagram of a storage medium that contains an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 a  is a diagram of a Graphics User Interface (GUI) that may be used with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIGS. 3 b - 3   c  illustrate a split edit being performed on two timelines in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a GUI in which a split edit is being performed in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 5 is flowchart of a method of producing a split edit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
     FIGS. 6-9 illustrates various examples of no more than six point edits between a source media and a destination media combined in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 10 illustrates an example of an insert edit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and 
     FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an overwrite edit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 2 a  is an example of a computer system  100  in which an embodiment of the invention may be incorporated. The computer system  100  comprises a processor  101  coupled to a main memory  105  via a bus  103 . The main memory  105  may be dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) or other suitable memories. Data and instructions are stored in the main memory  105  which are processed by the processor  101 . Generally, coupled to the bus  103  is a read only memory (ROM) in which the basic input/output instructions (BIOS) are stored. Further coupled to the bus  103  are various controllers such as memory management unit (MMU), interrupt controller, video controller, direct memory access controller (DMA) and input/output(I/O) controller, among others, all which are not shown in the figure. Further coupled to the bus  103  is an I/O interface  107  to which the various I/O devices are coupled to. Examples of the I/O devices are mass storage devices  111  such as magnetic disc drives and/or optical disc drives, an alphanumeric input device  113  such as a keyboard, a cursor control device  117  such as a mouse or a trackball, a display device  119  such as a monitor or a liquid crystal display (LCD), a printer device  121  such as a printer, a communication device  123  such as a modem and a network interface device  125  such as ethernet. 
     The computer system  100  described above is readily available commercially. Preferably, The computer system  100  be one of the Macintosh® family of personal computers such as the Macintosh® Quadram, Macintosh® Performa™, PowerMac® brand personal computers manufactured by Apple Computer®, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The processor  101  can be one of the Power PC family of microprocessors such as the  604  or G 3  PowerPC® such as those manufactured by Motorola®, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill. However, other systems and processors may be used. Generally, the present invention may be stored in a mass storage device  111  or a storage disc  112 , which may be magnetic or optical, until such time the processor  101  retrieves from storage and down loads into the main memory  105  for processing. 
     FIG. 2 b  is an example of a storage medium  250  which may be random access memory (RAM), hard disk, compact disc or magnetic disc, among others. The storage medium  250  comprises instructions and data codes for in and out point identifiers, illustrated as block  251 , that allow various time based stream of information to split edited. Examples of in and out points are video in point and video out point, or audio in point and audio out point. Examples of a time based stream of information are video clip and audio clip. Block  253  illustrates the edited time based stream of information being moved in accordance with the in and out point identifiers. Block  255  illustrates an underlying software that manipulates the movement of the edited time based stream of information in accordance with the in and out point identifiers. A feature of the underlying software may be a “drag and drop” capability that allows an edited time base stream of information to be moved from one place to another. Additional details will be given in the passages to follow. Command selections and information to direct the flow of data and instructions to the processor  101  may be performed by a user via the alphanumeric device  113  and/or cursor control device  117  or voice recognition. The processor  101  processes the data and instructions and the results may be displayed on a display device  119 . 
     FIG. 3 a  is an example of a graphics user interface (GUI)  300  that may be used with an embodiment of the invention. However, other user interfaces may be used according to a desired result by the designer. The GUI  300  is displayed on a display device  119  (See FIG. 2 a ) and aids the user in controlling the flow of data and instructions to the processor  101 . Typically, the GUI  300  comprises a plurality of windows, some which may be opened by the processor  101  in accordance with data and instructions and some which may be opened by the user. The figure illustrates two windows  310 ,  330 . Window  310  is a viewer that performs as a source monitor in which various clips containing time based stream of information can be loaded. The loaded time based stream of information can be, but not limited to, a plurality of video clips, a plurality of video and audio clips, or a plurality of audio clips. Once loaded, editing can be performed on the time based stream of information using a control panel  320  located at the bottom of the window  310 . The control panel  320  comprises a plurality of timelines  311 ,  312  wherein each timeline keeps track of the chronological sequence of one loaded time based stream of information. For instance, a video clip and a corresponding audio clip are loaded into the window  310 . A first timeline  311  represents the chronological sequence of the loaded video clip and a second timeline  312  represents the chronological sequence of the audio clip. 
     Each timeline  311 ,  312  includes two edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  that are used to edit the in points and the out points of the time based stream of information represented by the timelines  311 ,  312 . The manipulation of the edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  can be performed by the pointing arrow  350 . The pointing arrow  350  is operated by the user through the I/O device such as the cursor control device  117  (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) or the alphanumeric device  113  or by speech recognition. Referring to FIG. 3 b , two timelines  311 ,  312  are illustrated with their respective two edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316 . The initial position of the pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  can be positioned on the timelines  311 ,  312  by the processor  101  when the timelines  311 ,  312  are displayed. Alternatively, the user can select the initial position of the edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  by using the pointing arrow  350 . 
     FIG. 3 c  illustrates the two timelines being edited together in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Once the edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  are displayed on the timelines  311 ,  312 , the user can manipulate individually the position of the edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  by placing the pointing arrow  350  on the edit pointer desired to be moved; holding down a button located on the mouse; dragging the pointer to the desired position; and releasing the button. Additionally, the user can move two edit pointers at a time by placing the pointing arrow  350  between two in point edit pointers  313 ,  315  or two out point edit pointers  314 ,  316 . The figure illustrates the position of the edit pointers  313 ,  314 ,  315 ,  316  moved in the manner as described above. The in point edit pointers  313 ,  315  have been moved together to a new position that is latter in the timeline than its previous position. The out point edit pointer  316  of the lower timeline has been moved earlier in the timeline than its previous position. Between the two timelines the time duration differs and a split edit has occurred. 
     Turning back to FIG. 3 a , the control panel  320  of the above example further comprises a play icon  319 , a reverse icon  318 , and a forward icon  321 . These icons are used to play the time based stream of information or move the position of the playhead backward or forward within the timeline. The control panel  320  also comprises a jog control icon  322  to jog one frame at a time and a shuttle control  317  that adjusts the frame speed of the video. 
     The second window  330  is a canvas window that performs as a destination monitor in which the results of the edited time based stream of information are transferred to. At the bottom of the second window  330  is a second control panel  340  that is similar to the one displayed in window  310 . The second control panel  340  comprises a plurality of timelines  331 ,  332  that keep the chronological sequence of the respective time based stream of information. Within each timeline  331 ,  332 , there are two edit pointers  333 ,  334 ,  335 ,  336 , each pointer being able to be manipulated by the pointing arrow  350 . The control panel  340  also comprises a play icon  339 , a reverse icon  338 , and a forward icon  341  used to play the time based stream of information or move the position of the playhead backward or forward within the timeline respectively. The control panel  340  further comprises a jog control icon  342  to jog one frame at a time and a shuttle control icon  337  that adjusts the frame speed of the video. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a split edit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, in a GUI  400 , a viewer window  410  and a canvas window  430  are displayed. Various icons of the respective control panels  420 ,  440  have not been shown as not to obscure the embodiment and only the respective timelines  411 ,  412 ,  431 ,  432  are shown. Using the example mentioned previously to aid in the understanding of the invention, the viewer window  410  displays a clip of a critic explaining certain motions of a dance choreography. The first timeline  411  of the viewer window corresponds to the video feature of the clip and the second timeline  412  of the viewer window  410  corresponds to the audio feature of the clip. The canvas window  430  displays a clip of the actual dancing choreography the critic is commenting on. 
     Similarly, the first timeline  431  of the canvas window  430  corresponds to the video feature of the clip and the second timeline  432  of the canvas window  430  corresponds to the audio feature of the clip. It is desired that when the critic starts to comment on certain sequence of the dance movements, the video of the critic be replaced by the actual video of the dance movements while the comment made by the critic continues. As the critic is finished with the comment, the audio be replaced by the audio corresponding to the dance movements. In this example, the video in point  413  and the audio in point  415  are positioned, using the pointing arrow  450 , in the respective timelines  411 ,  412  in which the video and the audio clips are to start. The pointing arrow  450  is then moved to position the video out point  414  in which the critic is about to comment on the particular dance movement. The pointing arrow  450  is moved once more to position the audio out point  416  in which the critic finishes making the comment on the movement. 
     In one embodiment, the pointing arrow  450  is then moved to one of the video in  413 , video out  414 , audio in  415  and audio out  416  points, latched onto the point, and the point is dragged to the respective timeline on the canvas window  430 . In the figure, the pointing arrow  450  has latched onto the video out point  414  of the viewer window  410  and has dragged the point to a position on the first timeline  431  of the canvas window  430  which is now the video out point  434 . The remaining points  413 ,  415 ,  416  move in unison with the dragged point  414 . The time duration tv, ta of the video points  413 ,  414  and audio points  415 ,  416  in the viewer window  410  does not change during the transfer. Stated differently, the transferred time duration tv′, ta′ of the canvas window  430  is the same duration as in the time duration tv, ta of the viewer window  410 . The video and audio clips on the canvas window  430  shift or are overwritten to accommodate the inserted video and audio clips of the viewer window  410 . The editing described above is now referred to as five point editing. In another embodiment, the pointing arrow  450  is merely moved to the canvas window  430 . Using the pointing arrow  350 , at least one of video in, video out, audio in and audio out is selected on the timelines  431 ,  432 . Once selected, the processor  101  (see FIG. 2 a ) calculates the remaining point positions on the timelines  431 ,  432  using the selected point or points as reference. The calculation can be performed through cross referencing because the time duration of the edited video points and the edited audio points of the viewer window do not change during the transfer to the canvas window. FIG. 4 illustrates the final result of the edit with the remaining transferred points or calculated points  433 ,  435 ,  436  shown in broken lines. 
     FIG. 5 is a flowchart corresponding to an embodiment of the invention. In block  502 , a video clip to be edited is represented as a timeline on a source window. In block  504 , an audio clip to be edited is represented as a second timeline on the source window. At a destination window, there exists a timeline corresponding to a video clip in which the edited video clip of the source window is to be inserted. There also exists a second timeline corresponding to an audio clip in which the edited audio clip of the source window is to be inserted. In block  506 , the video clip and the audio clip are edited together using no more than six edit points between the source window and the destination window. An example of an editing using five edit points has been described with respect to FIG.  4 . In block  508 , a split edit has been performed between the video clip and the audio clip. 
     FIGS. 6-9 illustrate various examples of editing that can be performed in accordance with the embodiments of the invention. FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate examples of a four point editing. FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a five point editing which has been described above. FIG.  9 . illustrates an example of a six point editing. Turning now to FIG. 6, on the source side, two timelines  601 ,  602  are illustrated. Because the video out point  604  and audio out point  606  occur at the same point on the timelines  601 ,  602 , the video out point  604  and the audio out point  606  can be positioned together using one edit point. The video in point  603  and the audio in point  605  occur at different points on the timelines  601 ,  602 , thus, video in point  603  is positioned on the video timeline  601  using one edit point and the audio in point  605  is positioned on the audio timeline  602  using another edit point. Turning to the destination side, the selection of the video out point  614  and the audio out point  616  on the destination side can be performed using one edit point because the two points occur at the same point on the timelines. The video in point  613  and the audio in point  615  can be implicitly calculated because the time duration between the in and out points do not change during transfer from the source side to the destination side. The video in point  513  and the audio in point  615  on the destination side are shown in broken lines. FIG. 7 is another example of a four point edit. Two timelines  701 ,  702  are illustrated on the source side. Because the video out point  704  and audio out point  706  occur at the same point in the timelines  701 ,  702 , the video out point  704  and the audio out point  706  can be positioned together using one edit point. However, only the video in point  703  is positioned on the source side. Turning now to the destination side, the video out point  714  and the audio out point  716  are positioned together on the timelines  711 ,  712  using one edit point. However, only the audio in point  715  is positioned on the destination side. Again, because the time duration of the in and out points do not change, the audio in point  705  on the source side and the video in point  713  on the destination side are implicitly calculated. The audio in point  705  on the source side and the video in point  713  on the destination side are shown in broken lines. 
     FIG. 9 is an example of a six point edit. Video in point  903 , video out point  904  and audio in point  905  at the source side are positioned using three edit points. At the destination side, video in point  913 , audio in point  915  and audio out point  916  are positioned using three edit points. Because the time duration of the in and out points do not change, the audio out point  906  and the video out point  914  can be implicitly calculated. The audio out point  906  on the source side and the video out point  914  on the destination side are shown in broken lines. 
     It should be appreciated that the examples given above should not be construed as being conclusive and other variations can be contemplated given the above examples. 
     FIGS. 10-11 illustrate two forms of edit that may be performed on the video and audio clips at the destination side when the edited video and audio clips from the source side are inserted. Turning to FIG. 10, the figure illustrates an example of an insert edit. Once the video in point  1003 , video out point  1004 , audio in point  1005  and audio out point  1006  are positioned, the edited video and audio clips are transferred be inserted at the video in point  1013  and audio in point  1015  on the destination side. As the edited video and audio clips from the source side are inserted, the video and audio clips of the destination side shift forward in time at the point of insertion thereby no information is lost. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of an overwrite edit. The edited video and audio clips designated by in and out points  1103 ,  1104 ,  1105 ,  1106 , are transferred from the source side to be inserted at the video in point  1113  and audio in point  1115  at the destination side. In this instance, the inserted video and audio clips from the source side overwrites a portion of the video and audio clips on the destination side equal to the time duration of the inserted video and audio clips. The overwritten portions of the video and audio clips on the destination side are lost. 
     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.