Media Editing Application with Candidate Clip Management

Abstract

A computer readable medium storing a media editing application for creating media presentations is described. The application includes a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI has (1) a presentation display area for displaying a composite presentation that the application creates by compositing several media clips, (2) a composite display area for displaying a set of graphical representations that represent a set of committed media clips that are committed to be a part of the composite presentation, (3) several selectable location markers that are associated with several locations in the composite display area, and (4) an audition display area associated with each location marker for receiving and displaying one or more candidate media clips for adding to the composite presentation at the location of the associated location marker.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a media editing application that when executed by at least one processing unit provides a graphical user interface (GUI), said GUI comprising:
 a presentation display area to display a composite presentation that the application creates by compositing a plurality of media clips;   a composite display area to receive and display committed media clips that are committed to be a part of the composite presentation;   a single audition display area that is adjacent to and that spans along the entire length of the composite display area to receive and display one or more candidate media clips that are not committed media clips but are candidates for adding to the composite display area as committed clips; and   a plurality of selectable location markers associated with different locations along the composite display area and the audition display area, wherein a selection of a location marker causes the audition display area and composite display area to scroll to locations associated with the location marker to show any committed and candidate clips at said locations of the composite and audition display areas.   
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the GUI further comprises a media display area to display media clips for adding to the composite display area or the audition display area. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the presentation display area displays the composite presentation by playing a preview according to the committed clips in the composite display area. 
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the audition display area is above the composite display area. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the audition display area comprises a plurality of sections, wherein each section is associated with a different location marker. 
     
     
         28 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 27 , wherein the GUI further comprises a timeline to represent a duration of the composite presentation, wherein the composite display area and the audition display area span the timeline and different sections of the audition display area are different durations along the timeline. 
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the GUI further comprises a timeline to represent a duration of the composite presentation, wherein the composite display area and the audition display area span the timeline and different locations of the location markers correspond to different instances in time in the composite presentation. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the location markers are arranged in a row that is above the composite display area and that spans less than the entire length of the composite display area. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the GUI further comprises a timeline that represents the duration of the composite presentation, wherein the audition display area and the composite display area span along the timeline, wherein the audition display area displays each candidate clip in a clip view that provides a visual indication of the length of the candidate clip relative to the timeline. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 23 , wherein the GUI further comprises a set of selectable items for switching between a thumbnail view that displays each candidate clip in the audition display area as thumbnail representations, and a list view that lists each candidate clip in the audition display area with the candidate clip's associated attributes. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 32 , wherein the GUI further comprises a timeline that represents the duration of the composite presentation, wherein the audition display area and the composite display area span along the timeline, wherein the candidate clip's associated attributes include at least one attribute that identifies the position of the candidate clip with respect to the timeline. 
     
     
         34 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a media editing application for execution by at least one processing unit, the media editing application comprising sets of instructions for:
 displaying, along a timeline, a plurality committed media clips that are committed to be a part of a composite presentation in a composite display area that spans the timeline;   receiving a user input to display an audition display area;   displaying, above the composite display area, the audition display area that spans the timeline to receive candidate media clips that are not committed media clips but are candidates for adding to the composite presentation and to display thumbnail representations of the candidate media clips; and   navigating, in response to a selection of a location in the timeline, said composite and audition display areas to locations associated with the selected location in order to display any committed and candidate media clips at said locations.   
     
     
         35 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 34 , wherein the displayed audition display area is the only audition display area that is associated with the composite display area. 
     
     
         36 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 34 , wherein the displayed audition display area is one of a plurality of audition display areas associated with the composite display area. 
     
     
         37 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 36 , wherein the composite display area is associated with a plurality of location markers, wherein each audition display area is associated with a location marker, wherein the set of instructions for receiving the user input to display the audition display area comprises a set of instructions for receiving a user's selection of the location marker associated with the audition display area. 
     
     
         38 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 37 , wherein each location marker comprises a representative image of a media clip in the associated location in the composite display area. 
     
     
         39 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 38 , wherein the representative image is a thumbnail image. 
     
     
         40 . A method of providing a media-editing application for creating a composite presentation by compositing a set of media clips, the method comprising:
 defining a media display area to display media clips for adding to the composite presentation;   defining a timeline to represent a duration of the composite presentation;   defining a composite display area that spans along the timeline to receive a first plurality of media clips selected from the media display area and to display the first plurality of media clips as a plurality of committed media clips that are committed to be a part of the composite presentation; and   defining an audition display area that spans along the timeline to receive a second plurality of media clips selected from the media display area and to display the second plurality of media clips as a plurality of candidate media clips that are not committed media clips but are candidates for adding to the composite display area as committed clips,   wherein a selection of a location along the timeline causes the audition display area and composite display area to scroll to locations associated with the selected location and to show any committed and candidate media clips at said locations.   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the composite display area receives and displays a set of clips from the media display area or the audition display area, wherein adding the set of clips from the audition display area removes the same set of clips from the audition display area. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the audition display area receives and displays a set of clips from the media display area or the composite display area, wherein adding the set of clips from the composite display area removes the same set of clips from the composite display area.