Multimedia communication system and method

Inventors

Greer, Neil • Blank, Bennett • Depew, Bryan

Assignees

Impact Engine Inc

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for creating, editing, sharing and distributing high-quality, media-rich web-based communications. The communications are created in a layered fashion that integrates user-selected text, colors, background patterns, images, sound, music, video, or other media. The systems and methods are used to generate, edit, broadcast, and track electronic presentations, brochures, advertisements (such as banner advertisements on highly trafficked media websites), announcements, and interactive web pages, without the need for the user to understand complex programming languages.

Core Innovation

The invention is a multimedia communication system in a SaaS model where a server provides an API configured to enable upload of multimedia files and media assets. The server extracts multimedia code from one or more of the multimedia files and formats the extracted multimedia code for use as a media rich template comprising slides, and the template further includes template coding comprising XML for facilitating generation, editing and distribution of the template.

A media repository coupled to the server stores the media rich templates and the media assets, and the templates and assets are accessible by a graphical user interface on a client computer via a network. The server provides a project builder that provides the graphical user interface on the client computer, where the graphical user interface includes controls for user selection of at least one media rich template and at least one media asset, and the project builder receives the user selections and retrieves templates and media assets based on the selections.

The project builder enables the user to access and edit the media rich template with media assets to produce a multimedia communication including the slides, the grouping of design layers, design elements and content containers, and the template coding. The server further provides a project viewer that renders the multimedia communication in the graphical user interface and receives and interprets a project object, and the project viewer includes a slide layer interface with pointers for establishing a conduit for exchange of information and/or commands between the project viewer and a specific design layer.

The invention also organizes the slides in the media repository by slide type and class, where the type is based on the quantity and type of content on each slide, and the class defines a unique collection of slide types. The project object interprets the template coding for facilitating generation, editing and distribution of the multimedia communication, while operative accessing of the project object enables the multimedia communication to be viewable by the user in the graphical user interface.

Claims Coverage

The independent claims are directed to a multimedia communication system with six inventive features: server API template generation, media repository access via client GUI, project builder editing to produce communications, project viewer rendering and project object interpretation with slide-layer pointers, and slide organization by slide type and class.

The claims center on server-side extraction and XML-based media rich templates with design layers, design elements, and content containers, client-side project builder editing and user selection of templates and assets, and client-side project viewer rendering that interprets a project object using template coding, supported by a slide layer interface and slide organization by slide type and class.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found