Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
       [0001]    The present application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/299,685 filed Jan. 29, 2010, entitled System and Method for Correlation and Editing of Event Video and Event Data, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to video processing and more specifically to a system and method for correlation and editing of event video and event data. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Traditional video processing systems allow an operator to edit a video stream of a sporting event to create “highlight” clips. In traditional systems, the operator must manually scan through a video stream to locate a portion of the video stream that corresponds to a particular play. This process is time consuming. Further, traditional systems do not allow end-users to create customized video clips for particular plays. In addition, traditional systems limit the variety of video clips that are accessible to end-users. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    In accordance with the present disclosure, the disadvantages and problems associated with prior video processing systems have been substantially reduced or eliminated. 
         [0005]    Video processing methods include correlating a video frame in a video stream with event data in a data stream based on a video frame time stamp and an event data time stamp, the time stamps being based on a time scale that is independent, and recording the correlation in a database. 
         [0006]    Other video processing methods include receiving a query for a video frame and searching for event data in a database. The database has an event data table and a video data table used in locating the video frame. 
         [0007]    Further video processing methods include receiving a query to retrieve a video clip for each of a plurality of plays, searching for event data in a database, locating the video clip for each of the plurality of plays, and compiling the video clips into a compiled video stream lacking video frames that do not satisfy the query. 
         [0008]    In some embodiments, a video processing system comprises a memory that stores at least one data stream comprising game data for a sporting event. The game data may be associated with a plurality of plays that occurred in the sporting event. The video processing system may further comprise a processor that is communicatively coupled to the memory and that receives at least one video stream associated with the sporting event. The video stream may comprise a respective set of video frames for each of the plurality of plays that occurred in the sporting event. The processor may tag the at least one video stream with a plurality of time stamps such that a particular video frame is associated with a time stamp representing when a play associated with the video frame occurred. Each of the plurality of time stamps may be based on a time scale that is independent of the video stream. The processor may correlate the at least one video stream with the game data in the at least one data stream based at least in part on the plurality of time stamps. In response to a query specifying game data for a particular play, the processor may determine a video clip of the particular play in the at least one video stream based at least in part on one or more time stamps associated with the specified game data. The processor may cause a graphical user interface to display the video clip. 
         [0009]    The present disclosure provides various technical advantages. Various embodiments may have none, some, or all of these advantages. One advantage is that the video processing system may correlate (e.g., synchronize) a video stream for an event with a data stream comprising game data (e.g., statistical data) associated with the event. The system may correlate the video stream and the data stream based on independent time stamps appended to the video stream and/or data stream. By correlating the video stream and data stream for an event, the system may allow an end user to efficiently search for and view a video clip of any play that occurred in the event. In addition, or alternatively, the system may allow an end user to formulate a query for retrieving video clips of particular types of plays (e.g., all field goals made by a particular player, all slam dunks made by a particular team, etc.). Thus, the system may allow the end user to efficiently create a customized video that includes video clips for desired types of plays. Yet another advantage is that the system may allow customized video clips to be retrieved and launched by selecting statistical data in a graphical display. For example, an end user that views a box score for an event may cause a graphical user interface to launch a video clip of a particular play by selecting data in the box score associated with the play. Other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the description and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  illustrates a video processing system, according to certain embodiments; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  illustrates the processing of video streams and data streams by a manager server, according to certain embodiments; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  illustrates a database comprising game data and video data stored in the video processing system, according to certain embodiments; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays video clips and game data for events, according to certain embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]      FIG. 1  illustrates a video processing system  10 , according to certain embodiments. System  10  is generally operable to capture, process, and correlate video streams  12  with game data  14  associated with events  16 . System  10  may display game data  14  to users  18  and receive queries  20  based on particular plays  22  that occurred during events  16 . In response to query  20  based on a particular play  22 , system  10  may in real-time or near real-time retrieve and display a video clip  24  of the particular play  22 . Thus, system  10  may allow user  18  to quickly retrieve and view video clip  24  of any play  22  that occurred during event  16 . System  10  may comprise one or more cameras  26 , data consoles  28 , manager servers  30 , content servers  32 , and clients  34  communicatively coupled by one or more networks  36 . 
         [0016]    Camera  26  is generally operable to capture, record, process, and/or transmit video images of event  16 . Camera  26  may capture the movement of an object as a sequence of images. Each successive image in the sequence may be referred to as a frame. Collectively, the frames may be processed and played to represent a scene in motion. A sequence of frames may be referred to as video stream  12 . 
         [0017]    In some embodiments, camera  26  records video stream  12  on a tangible storage medium such as, for example, a video tape, optical disc, hard disc, flash memory, film, and/or other suitable storage medium. In addition, or alternatively, camera  26  may transmit video stream  12  in real-time or near real-time via network  36  to one or more components of system  10 . In some embodiments, camera  26  transmits video stream  12  to manager server  30 . 
         [0018]    Camera  26  may be any suitable type of image capture device. For example, camera  26  may be a digital camera, analog camera, closed-circuit television camera, studio camera, and/or portable camera. In some embodiments, camera  26  comprises a microphone  38  and/or other audio capture device. Thus, video stream  12  may comprise both sounds and images (audio and video) of a particular event  16 . 
         [0019]    As noted above, system  10  may comprise one or more cameras  26  that capture audio and video of events  16  at various venues. Event  16  may refer to any suitable type of event such as, for example, a game, contest, competition, concert, and/or other activity. In some embodiments, event  16  comprises a sporting event such as, for example, a football game, basketball game, baseball game, soccer game, golf match, horse race, automobile race, and/or track meet. Event  16  may comprise a game involving participants  40  (e.g., players) competing as individuals or as teams. In some embodiments, participants  40  in event  16  may execute one or more plays  22  that contribute to the outcome of event  16 . 
         [0020]    Play  22  may refer to a particular action, attempt, movement, and/or strategy executed by one or more participants  40  in event  16 . For example, in a football game, play  22  may refer to passing the football, handing off the football to a running back, attempting to kick a field goal, tackling a player, and/or scoring a touchdown. As another example, in a basketball game, play  22  may refer to an offensive play such as, for example, a jump shot, lay up, slam dunk, tip, offensive rebound, and/or foul. Similarly, play  22  may refer to a defensive play such as, for example, a blocked shot, defensive rebound, and/or steal. As yet another example, in an automobile race, play  22  may refer to passing another automobile, making a pit stop, causing a crash, and/or crossing the finish line. Each event  16  may comprise a plurality of respective plays  22  executed by one or more participants  40  in event  16 . 
         [0021]    As noted above, system  10  may comprise one or more data consoles  28 . Data consoles  28  may allow system  10  to gather game data  14  regarding events  16 . Game data  14  may comprise any suitable information regarding plays  22  executed during event  16 . In particular, game data  14  may comprise information regarding the sequence of plays  22  that occurred during event  16 . For example, if event  16  is a football game, game data  14  may comprise a log of each pass, hand-off, tackle, kick, touchdown, turnover, and/or time-out that occurred during the football game. 
         [0022]    In some embodiments, observer  42  of event  16  may, in real-time or near real-time, input game data  14  regarding event  16  into data console  28 . For example, if event  16  is a football game, observer  42  may input into data console  28  information regarding each play  22  executed during the football game. As an illustration, when a player catches a pass, observer  42  may input into data console  28  the identity of the receiver, the identity of the passer, and the fact that the pass was completed. Data console  28  may transmit game data  14  as a data stream  44  to manager server  30  via one or more networks  36 . 
         [0023]    Data console  28  may comprise any suitable device for the input and/or capture of game data  14 . Data console  28  may comprise a computer, workstation, Internet browser, electronic notebook, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and/or any other suitable device (wireless, wired, or otherwise), component, or element capable of receiving, processing, storing, and/or communicating information with other components of system  10 . Data console  28  may comprise any suitable user interface such as a display, microphone, keyboard, mouse, touch screen, and/or any other appropriate terminal equipment according to particular configurations and arrangements. Data console  28  may display and/or comprise drop-down menus, lists, buttons, and/or other interfaces that expedite the entry of game data  14  by observer  42 . It will be understood that system  10  may comprise any number and combination of data consoles  28 . 
         [0024]    Manager server  30  in system  10  may receive one or more data streams  44  from data consoles  28  and one or more video streams  12  from cameras  26 . Manager server  30  may receive video streams  12  from cameras  26  directly or via one or more intermediary components of system  10  (e.g., via one or more video servers). Manager server  30  is generally operable to, in real-time or near real-time, process and synchronize data stream  44  for a particular event  16  with one or more video streams  12  for the particular event  16 . Manager server  30  may synchronize data stream  44  with video stream  12  according to time information that is independent of data stream  44  and/or video stream  12 . In particular, upon receiving video stream  12 , manager server  30  may tag video stream  12  with a plurality of time stamps  46 . Time stamps  46  may be based on a universal time scale such as, for example, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), International Atomic Time (TAI), UNIX time, Network Time Protocol (NTP), Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, global synchronization, and/or any suitable time scale. For example, time stamps  46  may be based on Universal Time (UT), which is a time scale based on the rotation of the earth as monitored by the International Earth Rotations and Reference Systems Service (IERS) or other suitable entity. Thus, time stamps  46  may be independent of and not relative to the amount of time elapsed since the start of video recording and/or capture. 
         [0025]    Tagging video stream  12  with time stamps  46  may refer to appending, embedding, attaching, marking, and/or coding time stamps  46  in video stream  12 . In embodiments where video stream  12  comprises digital video, manager server  30  may include time stamps  46  as meta-data in a digital video file. In addition, or alternatively, manager server  30  may include time stamps  46  as time-code data embedded within the video essence. Manager server  30  may tag each frame in video stream  12  with a respective time stamp  46 . Alternatively, manager server  30  may tag a subset of the frames in video stream  12  (e.g., every fifth frame, tenth frame, and/or other suitable interval) with a respective time stamp  46 . 
         [0026]    In some embodiments, manager server  30  receives data stream  44  from data console  28  in real-time over one or more IP sockets. In other embodiments, manager server  30  receives data stream  44  during and/or after event  16  as an Extensible Markup Language (XML) stream and/or file. Manager server  30  may, in conjunction with tagging video stream  12 , tag data stream  44  from data console  28  with a plurality of time stamps  46  that are independent of and not relative to the creation and/or transmission of game data  14 . Alternatively, data console  28  may be configured to tag data stream  44  with time stamps  46  prior to transmitting data stream  44  to manager server  30 . Tagging data stream  44  with time stamps  46  may refer to appending, embedding, attaching, marking, and/or coding time stamps  46  in data stream  44 . Each play  22  of game data  14  in data stream  44  may be associated with a respective time stamp  46 . 
         [0027]    Based at least in part on time stamps  46 , manager server  30  may correlate particular game data  14  in data stream  44  with particular frames in video stream  12 . Manager server  30  may generate one or more indices and/or tables that correlate game data  14  with frames of video stream  12  based at least in part on time stamps  46 . This correlation may allow user  18  of system  10  to submit a query  20  based on game data  14  for a particular play  22  and to efficiently retrieve video of the particular play  22 . For example, assume that game data  14  of a football game indicates that, in the second quarter, a particular play  22  occurred in which Player A caught a pass. User  18  may submit to system  10  a query  20  based on the particular play  22  (i.e. Player A catching a pass in the second quarter). System  10  may process the query  20  by identifying in game data  14  the particular time stamp  46  associated with the particular play  22 . System  10  may then retrieve one or more frames of video stream  12  that are tagged with the same or a similar time stamp  46 . System  10  may then display the retrieved frames as video clip  24 . (System may comprise default and/or customizable settings for configuring video clip  46  to comprise a certain number of frames (e.g., sixty frames, two hundred frames, etc.) preceding and/or following the particular time stamp  46 .) Thus, by using time stamps  46  to correlate game data  14  in data stream  44  with portions of video stream  12 , system  10  may allow user  18  to efficiently retrieve video clip  24  of any play  22  that occurred during event  16 . 
         [0028]    Manager server  30  in system  10  may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software implemented in one or more modules to provide the described functions and operations. In some embodiments, manager server  30  may comprise a blade server, a general-purpose personal computer (PC) (running a WINDOWS™, MAC™, or other operating system), a workstation, a computer running a UNIX™ operating system, a server computer, and/or any suitable processing device. In some embodiments, the functions and operations described above may be performed by a pool of multiple manager servers  30 . A particular manager server  30  may comprise a memory  48  and a processor  50 . 
         [0029]    Memory  48  may comprise any suitable arrangement of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), magnetic computer disk, CD-ROM, or other magnetic or optical storage media, or any other volatile or non-volatile memory devices that store one or more files, lists, tables, or other arrangements of information. Although  FIG. 1  illustrates memory  48  as internal to manager server  30 , it should be understood that memory  48  may be internal or external to manager server  30 , depending on particular implementations. Also, memory  48  may be separate from or integral to other memory devices, such as storage modules  52 , to achieve any suitable arrangement of memory devices for use in system  10 . 
         [0030]    Memory  48  is generally operable to store timing module  54 . Timing module  54  generally comprises algorithms, code, rules, tables, and/or other suitable instructions for tagging video stream  12  and/or data stream  44  with time stamps  46  and/or for correlating video stream  12  with data stream  44 . 
         [0031]    Memory  48  is communicatively coupled to processor  50 . Processor  50  is generally operable to execute timing module  54  stored in memory  48  to perform the described functions and operations. Processor  50  may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more modules to provide the described functions and operations. 
         [0032]    Manager server  30  may be communicatively coupled to one or more storage modules  52 . Storage module  52  is generally operable to store one or more databases  56  that comprise tagged video streams  12 , tagged data streams  44 , and/or tables (e.g., indices) that correlate the tagged video streams  12  and data streams  44 . In some embodiments, database  56  is a relational database such as, for example, a Structured Query Language (SQL) database. In other embodiments, database  56  is an object-oriented database, an XML database, a network database, and/or a hierarchical database. 
         [0033]    Storage module  52  may store any number and combination of databases  56 . Storage module  52  may represent any memory device, direct access storage device (DASD), or database module and may take the form of volatile or non-volatile memory comprising, without limitation, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), removable media, or any other suitable local or remote memory component. 
         [0034]    Storage module  52  may be communicatively coupled to content server  32 . Content server  32  is generally operable to receive queries  20  from users  18  and to locate and transmit video clips  24  and/or game data  14  in response to queries  20 . A particular query  20  may identify a particular play  22  that occurred in a particular event  16 . For example, a particular query  20  may identify a jump shot made by Player B in the third quarter of a basketball game. Content server  32  may process the query  20  and identify the time stamp  46  associated with the particular play  22  in game data  14  in database  56 . Based on the identified time stamp  46 , content server  32  may retrieve from database  56  a particular video clip  24  that is associated with the time of the identified time stamp  46 . In the above example, content server  32  may retrieve video clip  24  of the jump shot made by Player B in the third quarter. Content server  32  may cause the retrieved video clip  24  to be displayed to the user  18 . 
         [0035]    Content server  32  in system  10  may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software implemented in one or more modules to provide the described functions and operations. Content server  32  may comprise a blade server, a general-purpose personal computer (PC) (running a WINDOWS™, MAC™, or other operating system), a workstation, a computer running a UNIX™ operating system, a server computer, and/or any suitable processing device. In some embodiments, the functions and operations described above may be performed by a pool of multiple content servers  32 . A particular content server  32  may comprise a memory  58  and a processor  60 . 
         [0036]    Memory  58  may comprise any suitable arrangement of random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), magnetic computer disk, CD-ROM, or other magnetic or optical storage media, or any other volatile or non-volatile memory devices that store one or more files, lists, tables, or other arrangements of information. 
         [0037]    Memory  58  is communicatively coupled to processor  60 . Processor  60  is generally operable to execute software stored in memory  58  to perform the described functions and operations. Processor  60  may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and software implemented in one or more modules to provide the described functions and operations. 
         [0038]    Content server  32  may be communicatively coupled with one or more clients  34  via network  36 . Client  34  is generally operable to display game data  14  to a user  18 , to receive a query  20  from the user  18 , and/or to display video clips  24  to the user  18 . Client  34  represents any suitable local or remote end-user device that may be used by users  18  to access one or more elements of system  10 , such as the content server  32 . Client  34  may comprise a computer, workstation, Internet browser, electronic notebook, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), television, set top box, pager, cell phone, or any other suitable device (wireless, wired, or otherwise), component, or element capable of receiving, processing, storing, and/or communicating information with other components of system  10 . Client  34  may also comprise any suitable user interface such as a display, microphone, keyboard, and/or any other appropriate terminal equipment according to particular configurations and arrangements. It will be understood that system  10  may comprise any number and combination of clients  34 . 
         [0039]    In some embodiments, client  34  comprises a graphical user interface (GUI)  62 . GUI  62  is generally operable to tailor and filter data presented to the user  18 . GUI  62  may provide the user  18  with an efficient and user-friendly presentation of game data  14  and/or video clips  24  for one or more events  16 . GUI  62  may comprise a plurality of displays having interactive fields, pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user  18 . GUI  62  may include multiple levels of abstraction including groupings and boundaries. It should be understood that the term graphical user interface may be used in the singular or in the plural to describe one or more graphical user interfaces and each of the displays of a particular graphical user interface. 
         [0040]    As explained above, cameras  26 , data consoles  28 , manager server  30 , content server  32 , and clients  34  may be communicatively coupled via one or more networks  36 . Network  36  may represent any number and combination of wired and/or wireless networks suitable for data transmission. Network  36  may, for example, communicate internet protocol packets, frame relay frames, asynchronous transfer mode cells, and/or other suitable information between network addresses. Network  36  may include one or more intranets, local area networks, metropolitan area networks, wide area networks, cellular networks, all or a portion of the Internet, and/or any other communication system or systems at one or more locations. 
         [0041]    It should be understood that the internal structure of system  10  and the servers, processors, and memory devices associated therewith is not limited to the structure shown and described. The structure of system  10  may be changed, modified, rearranged, or reconfigured and still achieve the intended operations of system  10  described herein. 
         [0042]      FIG. 2  illustrates the processing of video streams  12  and data streams  44  by manager server  30 , according to certain embodiments. The depiction of two video streams  12  and one data stream  44  is for illustrative purposes only as the actual number of each stream may be varied as needed based on the event  16 . As described above, manager server  30  may receive one or more video streams  12  for a particular event  16 . Each video stream  12  for event  16  may be associated with a respective camera angle. For example, one video stream  12  for a football game may be from a sideline camera  26  and another video stream  12  for the football game may be from an end-zone camera  26 . Thus, manager server  30  may receive more than one video stream  12  for a particular event  16 . Similarly, manager server  30  may receive more than one data stream  44  for a particular event  16 . 
         [0043]    Manager server  30  may receive video stream  12  in any suitable format. For example, video stream  12  may be in a Material eXchange Format (MXF), an Advanced Authoring Format (AAF), a Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), an MPEG format, and/or any suitable format. Manager server  30  may receive video stream  12  in real-time or near real-time as raw video that is not tagged with time stamps  46 . Manager server  30  may process video stream  12  at least in part by tagging one or more frames of video stream  12  with time stamps  46 . As explained above, time stamps  46  may be based on a universal time scale. Thus, time stamp  46  that is appended to or associated with a particular frame in video stream  12  may be independent of the time elapsed since the start of video stream  12 . 
         [0044]    Manager server  30  may tag all or a subset of the frames in video stream  12  with time stamps  46 . In some embodiments, manager server  30  may periodically tag frames in video stream  12  depending on the frame rate of video stream  12 . For example, if the frame rate of video stream  12  is sixty frames per second, manager server  30  may append time stamp  46  to every sixtieth frame in video stream  12  (i.e., one time stamp  46  for each second). It should be understood, however, that manager server  30  may append time stamps  46  to video stream  12  according to any suitable interval. As explained above, although the term “video stream” is used herein to describe the feed from a camera  26 , it should be understood that video stream  12  may comprise video and/or audio data. 
         [0045]    In the illustrated embodiment, manager server  30  receives data stream  44  for event  16  from data console  28 . As illustrated, data stream  44  may have already been tagged with time stamps  46  by the data console  28 . In such embodiments, the time scale used by the data console  28  to tag data stream  44  may be the same as the time scale used by manager server  30  to tag video stream  12  with time stamps  46 . In other embodiments, the tagging of data stream  44  with time stamps  46  may be performed by manager server  30  rather than data console  28 . 
         [0046]    Manager server  30  may receive data stream  44  from data console  28  over one or more IP sockets. Data stream  44  may be formatted in Extensible Markup Language (XML) or other suitable format. Manager server  30  may compare time stamps  46  in data stream  44  for event  16  with time stamps  46  in video streams  12  for the event  16  to determine the particular plays  22  in game data  14  that correlate with particular frames in video streams  12  for the event  16 . Manager server  30  may store the tagged data streams  44  and video streams  12  in database  56  in storage module  52 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 3  illustrates a database  56  in storage module  52  in system  10 , according to certain embodiments. Database  56  may be any suitable type of database  56  such as, for example, a Structured Query Language (SQL) database, an object-oriented database, an XML database, a network database, and/or a hierarchical database. Database  56  may comprise a plurality of data tables. For example, database  56  may comprise one or more game data tables  64  and one or more video data tables  66 . 
         [0048]    Game data table  64  may comprise game data  14  for a plurality of events  16 . In particular, game data table  64  may comprise a record  68  for each play  22  that occurred in one or more events  16 . For a particular play  22 , record  68  in game data table  64  may comprise a description of play  22 , the identity of participants  40  involved in play  22 , the time stamp  46  associated with play  22 , and a unique identifier  70  of the particular event  16  in which the play  22  occurred. For example, in the illustrated game data table  64 , the first record  68  is associated with play  22  that occurred in event  16  associated with Identifier X. The first record  68  indicates that play  22  was a blocked shot by Player B that occurred at 21:43:10 UTC. Game data table  64  may comprise game data  14  for different events  16  and different types of plays  22 . Although the illustrated game data table  64  illustrates particular data fields, it should be understood that game data table  64  may comprise any suitable number, type, and combination of data fields. 
         [0049]    Video data table  66  may comprise and/or reference one or more video streams  12  for each of a plurality of events  16 . Each video stream  12  in storage module  52  may be associated with a respective record  68  in video data table  66 . For a particular video stream  12 , record  68  in the video data table  66  may comprise a description of the event  16 , an identifier  70  of the event  16 , the time stamp  46  at the start of the video stream  12 , and the duration of video stream  12 . For example, in the illustrated video data table  66 , the first record  68  is associated with a basketball game between the Lakers and the Celtics. The first record  68  indicates that the basketball game started at 21:05:00 UTC and that the duration of the video stream  12  is 03:31:00. Video data table  66  may comprise and/or reference video streams  12  for different camera angles. Although the illustrated video data table  66  illustrates particular data fields, it should be understood that video data table  66  may comprise any suitable number, type, and combination of data fields. 
         [0050]    In operation, system  10  may use game data table  64  and video data table  66  to respond to queries  20  from users  18 . In particular, system  10  may cause client  34  to display game data  14  for a particular event  16 . User  18  may have an interest in a particular play  22  that occurred in event  16 . Accordingly, user  18  may use client  34  to submit a query  20  for the video clip  24  associated with the particular play  22 . Upon receiving the query  20 , content server  32  may identify the record  68  in the game data table  64  that is associated with the particular play  22 . In the identified record  68 , content server  32  may identify the time stamp  46  associated with the particular play  22 . Using the identifier  70  of event  16 , the content server  32  may refer to video data table  66  to determine the associated video stream  12 . Using the time stamp  46  associated with the particular play  22 , the content server  32  may retrieve from the video stream  12  the particular video clip  24  that occurred at or around the time indicated in the particular time stamp  46 . Content server  32  may cause client  34  to display the retrieved video clip  24  to user  18 . Thus, content server  32  may use database  56  to retrieve video clips  24  for any play  22  that occurred in event  16 . 
         [0051]      FIG. 4  illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI)  62  that displays video clips  24  and game data  14  for events  16 , according to certain embodiments. GUI  62  may comprise a query section  72  and a results section  74 . Query section  72  may comprise one or more fields that allow a user  18  to formulate a query  20  based on game data  14 . In particular, the user  18  may formulate query  20  by defining a particular play  22  in the query section  72 . The particular play  22  may be defined by any suitable parameters such as, for example, the name of participant  40  involved in play  22 , the type of play  22 , and/or the period (e.g., quarter, half, inning, etc.) of event  16  in which play  22  occurred. Query section  72  may comprise at least one participant field  76 , play type field  78 , and period field  80 . 
         [0052]    User  18  may use participant field  76  to specify a particular participant  40  in an event  16 . In some embodiments, participant field  76  comprises a drop-down menu that displays the names of multiple participants  40  in an event  16 . In the illustrated example, user  18  formulated query  20  for plays  22  that occurred in a football game between the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University. In this example, user  18  selected participant  40  named “Jujus Wright” in participant field  76  of query section  72 . 
         [0053]    User  18  may use play type field  78  to specify a particular type of play  22  that occurred in event  16 . Play type field  78  may comprise a drop-down menu that displays multiple types of plays  22 . In the illustrated example, user  18  selected “Pass Completion” in play type field  78  of query section  72 . The available types of plays  22  that are displayed in the play type field  78  may be filtered based on a participant  40  previously selected in the participant field  76  of the query section  72 . 
         [0054]    User  18  may use period field  80  to specify a particular period (e.g., quarter, half, inning, etc.) in which play  22  occurred during event  16 . Period field  80  may comprise a drop-down menu that displays multiple periods. In the illustrated example, user  18  selected “Quarter 2” in period field  80  of query section  72 . Accordingly, user  18  in the illustrated example formulated query  20  for all plays  22  in which Jujus Wright caught a pass during the second quarter of the selected football game. User  18  may submit the query  20  to content server  32  by selecting the “GO” button in GUI  62 . 
         [0055]    In response to receiving query  20 , content server  32  may identify one or more plays  22  in game data table  64  in database  56  that satisfy query  20 . Content server  32  may display the results of query  20  in results section  74  of GUI  62 . Results section  74  may comprise one or more play fields  82  and one or more video links  84 . Play field  82  may describe a particular play  22  that satisfied query  20 . For example, play field  82  may comprise the game time and a description of the game situation at the time of play  22  (e.g., down and distance, team with possession, etc.). 
         [0056]    In association with each play field  82 , GUI  62  may display one or more video links  84 . By selecting video link  84  associated with a particular play  22 , user  18  may cause GUI  62  to display video clip  24  of the particular play  22 . GUI  62  may display a respective video link  84  for each camera angle that captured the particular play  22 . 
         [0057]    In the illustrated example, content server  32  determined that two plays  22  satisfied query  20 . In other words, content server  32  determined that Jarius Wright caught two passes during the second quarter of the selected game. Each of the two plays  22  was captured by two camera angles. Thus, results section  74  in the illustrated example comprises two video links  84  for each play  22 . By selecting video link  84 , user  18  may cause GUI  62  to display video clip  24  of a particular play  22 . GUI  62  may permit user  18  to customize the length of video clips  24 . For example, user  18  may configure video clips  24  to be five seconds long, ten second long, or any suitable duration. 
         [0058]    In some embodiments, system  10  may allow user  18  to efficiently create a compilation of video clips  24  of multiple plays  22  from one or more events  16 . Thus, system  10  may perform video editing in real-time or near real-time. System  10  may allow user  18  to formulate a query  20  that specifies a set of games, a particular participant  40 , and/or a particular type of play  22 . For example, user  18  may formulate a query  20  for all “slam dunks” made by a particular participant  40  (e.g., player) during a season. In response to query  20 , system  10  may retrieve a plurality of video clips  24  that satisfy query  20 . System  10  may merge video clips  24  into a single video. Thus, in response to query  20  in the foregoing example, system  10  may generate a video that shows each of the slam dunks made by the specified participant  40  during the season. 
         [0059]    Although  FIG. 4  illustrates GUI  62  comprising particular query  20  and result fields, it should be understood GUI  62  may comprise any number and combination of query and result fields. 
         [0060]    The present disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Similarly, where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes, substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodiments described herein that a person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend.

Technology Category: 5