An Export Architecture for a Multimedia Authoring Environment

In this paper, we propose an export architecture that provides a clear separation of authoring services from publication services. We illustrate this architecture with the LimSee3 authoring tool and several standard publication formats: Timesheets, SMIL, and XHTML

Multimedia Authoring for CoPs

9 pagesInternational audienceOne way of providing technological support for CoPs is to help participants to produce, structure and share information. As this information becomes more and more multimedia in nature, the challenge is to build multimedia authoring and publishing tools that meets CoPs requirements. In this paper we analyze these requirements and propose a multimedia authoring model and a generic platform on which specific CoPs-oriented authoring tools can be realized. The main idea is to provide template-based authoring tools while keeping rich composition capabilities and smooth adaptability. It is based on a component-oriented approach integrating homogeneously logical, time and spatial structures. Templates are defined as constraints on these structures

Timesheets.js: When SMIL Meets HTML5 and CSS3

International audienceIn this paper, we explore different ways to publish multimedia documents on the web. We propose a solution that takes advantage of the new multimedia features of web standards, namely HTML5 and CSS3. To avoid the usual development of complex scripts for handling timing, synchronization and user interaction, we propose to complement HTML5 and CSS3 with SMIL Timesheets. This is made possible by a Timesheets scheduler that runs in the browser. Various applications based on this solution illustrate the paper, ranging from media annotations to web documentaries

Description of six scenarios and of the results of six validated trials

Description of six scenarios and of the results of six validated trialsThis deliverable aims at presenting and analysing the processes of elaboration and validation of the PALETTE scenarios. After having defined these two processes and situated them into the PALETTE methodology, the scenarios are presented. For each scenario, the specific methodology of elaboration and validation is described with a special focus on the participation of the concerned Communities of Pratcice (CoPs). Then the results of the validation are presented as well as the reports of their technical feasability and the usability of PALETTE services from a user perspective. Finally we reflect on and we discuss about the whole process of validation of the scenarios and we describe the next steps towards the development of the scenarios and their trilas with the CoPs

A Browser-Based Collaborative Multimedia Messaging System

Making a communication tool easier for people to operate can have profound and positive effects on its popularity and on the users themselves. This thesis is about making it easier for people to publish web-based documents that have sound, video and text. Readily available software and hardware are employed in an attempt to achieve the goal of providing a software service that enables users to compose audio-video documents with text

Annotierte interaktive nichtlineare Videos - Software Suite, Download- und Cache-Management

Modern Web technology makes the dream of fully interactive and enriched video come true. Nowadays it is possible to organize videos in a non-linear way playing in a sequence unknown in advance. Furthermore, additional information can be added to the video, ranging from short descriptions to animated images and further videos. This affords an easy and efficient to use authoring tool which is capable of the management of the single media objects, as well as a clear arrangement of the links between the parts. Tools of this kind can be found rarely and do mostly not provide the full range of needed functions. While providing an interactive experience to the viewer in the Web player, parallel plot sequences and additional information lead to an increased download volume. This may cause pauses during playback while elements have to be downloaded which are displayed with the video. A good quality of experience for these videos with small waiting times and a playback without interruptions is desired. This work presents the SIVA Suite to create the previously described annotated interactive non-linear videos. We propose a video model for interactivity, non-linearity, and annotations, which is implemented in an XML format, an authoring tool, and a player. Video is the main medium, whereby different scenes are linked to a scene graph. Time controlled additional content called annotations, like text, images, audio files, or videos, is added to the scenes. The user is able to navigate in the scene graph by selecting a button at a button panel. Furthermore, other navigational elements like a table of contents or a keyword search are provided. Besides the SIVA Suite, this thesis presents algorithms and strategies for download and cache management to provide a good quality of experience while watching the annotated interactive non-linear videos. Therefor, we implemented a standard-independent player framework. Integrated into a simulation environment, the framework allows to evaluate algorithms and strategies for the calculation of start-up times, and the selection of elements to pre-fetch into and delete from the cache. Their interaction during the playback of non-linear video contents can be analyzed. The algorithms and strategies can be used to minimize interruptions in the video flow after user interactions. Our extensive evaluation showed that our techniques result in faster start-up times and lesser interruptions in the video flow than those of other players. Knowledge of the structure of an interactive non-linear video can be used to minimize the start-up time at the beginning of a video while minimizing an increase in the overall download volume.Moderne Web-Technologien lassen den Traum von voll interaktiven und bereicherten Videos wahr werden. Heutzutage ist es möglich, Videos in nicht-linearer Art und Weise zu organisieren, welche dann in einer vorher unbekannten Reihenfolge abgespielt werden können. Weiterhin können den Videos Zusatzinformationen in Form von kurzen Beschreibungen über animierte Bilder bis hin zu weiteren Videos hinzugefügt werden. Dies erfordert ein einfach und effizient zu bedienendes Autorenwerkzeug, das in der Lage ist, sowohl einzelne Medien-Objekte zu verwalten, als auch die Verbindungen zwischen den einzelnen Teilen klar darzustellen. Tools dieser Art sind selten und bieten meist nicht den vollen benötigten Funktionsumfang. Während dem Betrachter dieses interaktive Erlebnis im Web Player zur Verfügung gestellt wird, führen parallele Handlungsstränge und zusätzliche Inhalte zu einem erhöhten Download-Volumen. Dies kann zu Pausen während der Wiedergabe führen, in denen Elemente vom Server geladen werden müssen, welche mit dem Video angezeigt werden sollen. Ein gutes Benutzungserlebnis für solche Videos kann durch geringe Wartezeiten und eine unterbrechungsfreie Wiedergabe erreicht werden. Diese Arbeit stellt die SIVA Suite vor, mit der die zuvor beschriebenen annotierten interaktiven nicht-linearen Videos erstellt werden können. Wir bilden Interaktivität, Nichtlinearität und Annotationen in einem Video-Model ab. Dieses wird in unserem XML-Format, Autorentool und Player umgesetzt. Als Leitmedium werden hierbei Videos verwendet, welche aufgeteilt in Szenen zu einer Graphstruktur zusammengefügt werden können. Zeitlich gesteuerte zusätzliche Inhalte, sogenannte Annotationen, wie Texte, Bilder, Audio-Dateien und Videos, werden den Szenen hinzugefügt. Der Betrachter kann im Szenengraph navigieren, indem er in einem bereitgestellten Button-Panel eine Nachfolgeszene auswählt. Andere Navigationselemente sind ein Inhaltsverzeichnis sowie eine Suchfunktion. Neben der SIVA Suite beschreibt diese Arbeit Algorithmen und Strategien für Download und Cache Management, um eine gute Nutzungserfahrung während der Betrachtung der annotierten interaktiven nicht-linearen Videos zu bieten. Ein Webstandard-unabhängiges Playerframework erlaubt es, das Zusammenspiel von Algorithmen und Strategien zu evaluieren, welche für die Berechnung der Start-Zeitpunkte für die Wiedergabe, sowie die Auswahl von vorauszuladenden sowie zu löschenden Elemente verwendet werden. Ziel ist es, Unterbrechungen zu minimieren, wenn der Ablauf des Videos durch Benutzerinteraktion beeinflusst wird. Unsere umfassende Evaluation zeigte, dass es möglich ist, kürzere Startup-Zeiten und weniger Unterbrechungen mit unseren Strategien zu erreichen, als bei der Verwendung der Strategien anderer Player. Die Kenntnis der Struktur des interaktiven nicht-linearen Videos kann dazu verwendet werden, die Startzeit am Anfang der Szenen zu minimieren, während das Download-Volumen nicht erhöht wird

The LimSee3 Multimedia Authoring Model

International audienceFor most users, authoring multimedia documents remains a complex task. One solution to deal with this problem is to provide template-based authoring tools but with the drawback of limited functionality. In this paper we propose a document model dedicated to the creation of authoring tools using templates while keeping rich composition capabilities. It is based on a component oriented approach integrating homogeneously logical, time and spatial structures. Templates are de ned as constraints on these structures