Methods and apparatuses for synchronizing mixed-media data files

Abstract

A method for synchronizing mixed-media data files that comprises receiving a streaming media file, receiving a static media file, producing a streaming media output from the streaming media file, querying the streaming output for a time marker upon receiving an input, and associating the static media file with the time marker and the streaming media file in an output file. An apparatus for synchronizing mixed-media data files that comprises a computer system including a database with one or more data structures relating to streaming media files and static media files stored on a storage device. The computer system also includes an application program coupled to the database that is configured to execute the methods described above.

1 . A computer-readable medium having stored therein one or more sequences of instructions for synchronizing media files, the one or more sequences of instructions causing one or more processors to perform a number of acts, said acts comprising: 
 receiving a plurality of streaming media files in different streaming media formats;    receiving a static media file;    associating the static media file with a synchronization point and the streaming media files in an output file; and    after associating, providing the output file to a mixed-media presentation system, wherein the mixed-media presentation system receives an indication of a preferred streaming media format and employs the output file to dynamically synchronize the static media file with a streaming media file in the preferred streaming media format while presenting a mixed-media presentation on a display device.    
   
   
       2 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , the acts further comprising identifying the synchronization point that comprises a frame of the streaming media file corresponding to a point in the streaming media file designated by a user input.  
   
   
       3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the different streaming media formats include at least two of the set consisting of: a RealVideo file, a RealAudio file, a Quicktime file, an MPEG file, a Windows Media file, an MP3 file, and a Wave file.  
   
   
       4 . A computer system for synchronizing and presenting media files of a mixed-media presentation, comprising: 
 a computer that comprises: 
 a processor;  
 a main memory communicatively coupled to the processor; and  
 a storage device communicatively coupled to the processor;  
   a database running on the computer from the main memory, the database comprising: 
 one or more data structures relating to one or more streaming media files stored in the storage device; and  
 one or more data structures relating to one or more static media files stored in the storage device; and  
   an application program coupled to the database and configured to support a user, the application program configured to: 
 produce a plurality of streaming output files formatted in a plurality of streaming media formats from a first streaming media file selected from the one or more streaming media files;  
 query the first streaming media file for a synchronization point upon receiving an input;  
 associate, in a marker file, a static media file selected from the one or more static media files with a synchronization point and the first streaming media;  
 store a data set about the synchronization point in the marker file; and  
 provide the marker file to a mixed-media file presentation system after associating the static media file with the synchronization point and one of the streaming output files in one of the streaming media formats that is associated with the first streaming media file, wherein the mixed-media file presentation system accesses the marker file to dynamically synchronize presentation of the static media file with presentation of the one of the streaming output files while presenting the mixed-media presentation on a display device in the one of the streaming media formats.  
   
   
   
       5 . The computer system of  claim 4 , wherein the marker file allows the mixed-media file presentation to dynamically synchronize presentation of the static media file with presentation of streaming output files in a variety of streaming media formats.  
   
   
       6 . A method of presenting a computer-based synchronized mixed-media presentation, comprising: 
 receiving at least one static media file and at least one streaming media file, wherein the streaming media file is associated with a plurality of streaming output files that are each formatted in a different streaming media format;    producing at least one synchronization point upon receiving an input by a user;    creating a content definition file to associate the static media file with the streaming media file using the at least one synchronization point, wherein the content definition file includes time markers and an access path for the streaming media file and for the associated streaming output files; and    providing the content definition file to a mixed-media presentation system, wherein the mixed-media presentation system accesses the content definition file to dynamically synchronize the static media file with one of the streaming output files associated with the streaming media file in one of the streaming media formats while presenting a mixed-media presentation on a display device in the one of the streaming media formats.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein producing the at least one synchronization point comprises producing a plurality of time markers.  
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein producing the at least one synchronization point comprises producing a plurality of sync frame addresses.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the presentation is on a local medium.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the presentation is on a network server.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein creating a content definition file comprises creating an extensible mark-up language (XML) file.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein creating the XML file comprises: 
 providing an address of the streaming media file;    providing access to the static media file; and    providing the synchronization points to coordinate displaying the static media file with the streaming media file.    
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein receiving at least one streaming media file comprises receiving a streaming media file in a plurality of computer-readable formats.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein receiving at least one static media file comprises receiving a static media file in a plurality of computer-readable formats.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising storing the streaming media file in a variety of streaming media formats that are supported on a variety of user platforms, wherein the content definition file allows the mixed-media presentation system to dynamically synchronize the static media file with any of the stored streaming formats of the streaming media file.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of streaming media formats includes at least two of the set consisting of: a RealVideo file format, a RealAudio file format, a Quicktime file format, an MPEG file format, a Windows Media file format, an MP3 file format, and a Wave file format.