Systems and methods for electronic sell-through of interactive multimedia content authored for distribution via physical media

Abstract

Systems and methods for electronic sell-through (EST) of multimedia content authored for distribution via physical media in accordance with embodiments of the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes building an object model of interactive multimedia content authored for distribution via a physical medium using a content authoring system, automatically authoring a user interface based upon the object model using the content authoring system, packing the multimedia content into at least one container file, and electronically distributing at least a portion of the authored user interface and the at least one container file via a network connection.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 364,001 entitled “Conversion of Content to a Web Centric Document Object Model”, filed Jul. 13, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to electronic sell-through of video and more specifically to the electronic sell-through of interactive multimedia content authored for distribution via DVD.BACKGROUND[0003]The DVD-Video specification created by the DVD forum has proven to be a very robust and consumer friendly method for delivering high quality interactive multimedia content to consumers. Since the release of DVDs in 1997, they have enjoyed one of the fastest consumer adoption rates of any consumer electronics device in history. Since 2007, however, DVD production has entered a period of decline. The decline in popularity of DVDs is viewed by many as ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007]Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention enable the electronic sell-through (EST) of multimedia content originally authored for distribution via physical media. When multimedia content is distributed via physical media, including but not limited to DVDs, the multimedia content is typically authored based upon the characteristics of the physical medium on which it will be distributed. For example, the DVD specification assumes that multimedia content will be distributed via an optical disk on which the multimedia content will be randomly accessible. Were the same content to be distributed electronically (e.g. via the Internet) instead of via physical media, the same assumptions concerning the availability and accessibility of the content do not necessarily apply. In addition, playback devices configured to download the content electronically may not support decoding of the multimedia content. Content authoring systems in accordance with many embodiments of the invention are configured to ingest interactive multimedia content authored for distribution via physical media and to generate interactive multimedia content formatted for electronic distribution. In this way, content owners can avoid the expense of separately authoring interactive multimedia content for distribution via physical media and EST.

[0025]In a yet further embodiment again, transcoding at least a portion of the multimedia content using the content authoring system includes transcoding a least a portion of the video content to reduce the size of the video content.

Problems solved by technology

In addition, playback devices configured to download the content electronically may not support decoding of the multimedia content.

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