Methods, systems, and processes for the design and creation of rich-media applications via the Internet

Abstract

Rich-media applications are designed and created via the Internet. A host computer system, containing processes for creating rich-media applications, is accessed from a remote user computer system via an Internet connection. User account information and rich-media component specifications are uploaded via the established Internet connection for a specific user account. Rich-media applications are created, deleted, or modified in a user account via the established Internet connection. Rich-media components are added to, modified in, or deleted from scenes of a rich-media application based on information contained in user requests. After creation, the rich-media application is viewed or saved on the host computer system, or downloaded to the user computer system via the established Internet connection. In addition, the host process monitors the available computer and network resources and determines the particular component, scene, and application versions, if multiple versions exist, that most closely match the available resources.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation in part of and claims the benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 716,460, filed 21 Nov. 2000, which is expressly incorporated fully herein by reference. Further, the present application is related to and claims the benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e), U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 215,121, filed 29 Jun. 2000; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 232,078, filed 7 Sep. 2000; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 243,399, filed 27 Oct. 2000, which are expressly incorporated fully herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to methods, systems, and processes used in designing and creating applications utilizing rich-media content over the Internet. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] This invention relates to methods and systems for utilizing rich-media for the creation of Internet websites...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020] When allowing the user to edit a component, the computer process may allow the user to modify a number of features associated with a component including, but not limited to, the volume of an acoustic component, the link between a menu entry and an associated component, the font, font size, color, or effect of a text field, or the layout, size, transparency, rotation, color, position, or level of any graphical rich-media component. The computer process may allow the user to modify these components by means of a slider bar or a textual input field. In addition, the computer process may enable the user to modify the volume of a sound component by means of up and down volume buttons. The computer process may allow the user to undo modifications to a component's parameters. The computer process may also allow the user to modify the position of a graphical rich-media component by a graphical input field, by clicking and dragging said graphical rich-media component, or by text fields. When the user moves said graphical rich-media component by clicking and dragging it, the computer process may align the component to a grid point or a guide line. The computer process may also allow the user to modify the style and the URL of a component linked to a menu entry.

[0022] The present invention further relates to the method of displaying a rich-media application via a graphical interface. In a specific embodiment, the method including the graphical interface may allow the user to access the rich-media application and display scenes from the rich-media application. Specifically, the method allows for the user to display scenes by showing the current scene, displaying either the next or the previous scene, playing scenes in succession in a forward or backward direction, jumping to the first or last scene, or selecting a specific scene. When selecting a specific scene, the method allows the user to select the scene by either using a slider bar or by entering a scene number in a textual input field.

[0027] In another embodiment of the present invention, the computer process comprises a determiner for a hierarchy of rich-media application scenes based on the available CPU cycles, and a loader of rich-media application scenes based on that hierarchy. The determiner may further comprise an obtainer for the number of CPU cycles required by an specific instance of a rich-media application, an obtainer for the available number of CPU cycles, and a determiner that chooses the instance that uses the greatest portion of the available CPU cycles without exceeding the capacity of the CPU. The obtainer that obtains the available CPU cycles may look at the CPU during previous transfers to determine the required number of CPU cycles for a previous transfer and calculate the number of CPU cycles for a specific instance of the part of the application to be transferred. Finally, the loader of the rich-media application scenes based on the determined hierarchy may load the current scene as well as potential future scenes.

Problems solved by technology

Knowledge of these programming tools is now a requirement for website design and has made website design increasingly more complicated.

The average Internet user does not currently have the knowledge, ability, or tools to create a graphic-intensive website in other applications using rich-media.

First, the number of Internet users who may design high-quality sites using rich-media technologies is limited.

Second, the arduousness of designing a polished website even for an expert developer limits the overall throughput of designs for website-developing companies.

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