Patent ID: 7649571

Claim:
A method for video compositing, the method comprising: receiving a first audio signal and a first video signal, the first video signal comprising video content having multiple frames, the video content representing a cinematic scene comprising at least first and second characters; receiving a second audio signal and a second video signal, the second video signal comprising a real-time video image of a participant, and the second audio signal being associated with the participant; creating a combined video signal comprising the first video signal and the second video signal, wherein portions of the combined video signal comprise the real-time video image of the participant, and wherein the combined video signal is configured to cause the display of the real-time video image of the participant as the first character in the video content; accessing data that corresponds to certain ones of the multiple frames of the first video signal, the data comprising, first reference data that identifies a first frame of the multiple frames in which the participant is to be displayed as the first character in the video content in place of the first character when the first character would have appeared in the cinematic scene, second reference data that identifies a second frame of the multiple frames in which the participant is to be removed as the first character in the video content, and third reference data that identifies a third frame of the multiple frames in which the participant is to be re-displayed as the first character in the video content in place of the first character when the first character would have re-appeared in the cinematic scene; and selectively switching between outputting the first video signal and outputting the combined video signal, wherein said selective switching is performed automatically based at least in part on the data that corresponds to the certain ones of the multiple frames of the first video signal, whereby at a first time identified by the first reference data the participant is displayed as the first character in the cinematic scene of the video content, whereby at a second time identified by the second reference data the cinematic scene of the video content is displayed without the participant, and whereby at a third time identified by the third reference data the participant is re-displayed as the first character in the cinematic scene of the video content.