Facilitating access to digital video

Abstract

A digital video editing system uses a graphical user interface which facilitates the selection of a video sequence of interest and its representation in a conveniently visualized form. Through the graphical user interface, the user may select a starting frame, a time interval, and a number of frames within the time interval which may be represented by thumbnail depictions of selected video frames. Once the video sequence is represented by a selected sequence of video frames over a selected interval, the user can then use editing techniques to manipulate the portions of the video sequence represented by the thumbnail depictions.

1 - 30 . (canceled)  
   
   
       31 . A method, comprising: 
 receiving a temporal length and a resolution associated with a sequence of video information; and    displaying a number of thumbnail images from the sequence of video information that both span the temporal length of the sequence of video information and are temporally spaced within the temporal length of the sequence of video information according to the resolution.    
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the resolution includes a total number of images to be displayed.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the displaying includes: 
 equally spacing the number of thumbnail images within the temporal length of video information at a temporal separation determined by the resolution.    
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the temporal length or the resolution is manually selected by a user.  
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the temporal length or the resolution is automatically determined from a default value.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the receiving includes: 
 receiving a location within the sequence of video information, and wherein the displaying includes:    displaying the number of thumbnail images starting at the location within the sequence of video information.    
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the location is automatically determined from a default value.  
   
   
       38 . A method, comprising: 
 receiving duration information that determines a start time and an end time of a portion of a sequence of video information;    receiving resolution information that includes a desired number of images; and    displaying a set of exemplary images that depict the portion of a sequence of video information, the set including one exemplary image at the start time, another exemplary image at the end time, and a remainder of the set of exemplary images spaced between the start time and the end time.    
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein set of exemplary images consists of the desired number of images.  
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the duration information includes the start time and a time interval that, when added to the start time, determines the end time.  
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 40 , further comprising: 
 selecting a default duration as the time interval.    
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising: 
 selecting a default time as the start time.    
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising: 
 selecting a default number of images as the resolution information.    
   
   
       44 . The method of  claim 38 , wherein the remainder of the set of exemplary images is equally spaced between the start time and the end time.  
   
   
       45 . A machine-accessible medium including instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to: 
 obtain a temporal length and a resolution associated with a sequence of video information; and    display a number of thumbnail images from the sequence of video information that both span the temporal length of the sequence of video information and are spaced apart within the temporal length of the sequence of video information according to the resolution.    
   
   
       46 . The medium of  claim 45 , wherein the resolution includes a total number of images to be displayed.