Patent ID: 8744242

Claim:
A method for execution by a hardware apparatus, a microprocessor, a programmed computer, or an electronic circuit and for creating a template data structure for a media effect involving at least one media data item to be presented during a presentation of the media effect, the method comprising: defining a time stamp for an event of the template data structure, the time stamp comprising a relative time stamp component indicating a time span within the presentation of the media data item as a portion of a duration of the presentation, and an absolute time offset component indicating a time span independent from the duration of the presentation of the media effect; determining an event type by determining whether a given event is to occur at a temporal position that is defined as a fraction of the duration of the presentation, or whether the given event is to occur at a certain temporal distance from another event; and setting the relative time stamp component and the absolute time offset of the time stamp corresponding to the given event as a function of a result of the determining action.