Methods and apparatus for indexing and archiving encoded audio/video data
View Patent ↗Archival storage and retrieval of audio/video information is described. Audio and/or video information is digitized, compressed and stored in an intermediate archive format (IAF), which preserves the content at a high-enough quality for subsequent retrieval and conversion into various formats required at the time of use or distribution. A single capture operation is performed with ancillary metadata being added to facilitate subsequent searching, indexing and format conversion. Captured data content is catalogued and indexed at or subsequent to the creation of an IAF file that includes the archived information. The IAF includes a family of audio-video digital encoding formats based on public standards. The encoding format used in any particular application is determined at encoding time from information provided by the archive system user. At encoding, the particular encoding scheme is selected to optimize a tradeoff between storage constraints and end use quality requirements.
1. A data archive system comprising:
a media file comprising a first format and a second format;
a transcoder configured to:
incorporate metadata into the media file, and
modify the media file between the first format and the second format;
an archive storage manager electronically coupled to the transcoder, the archive storage manager configured to store the media file in a storage device;
a database configured to store information relating to the media file; and
an archive storage control module configured to:
control the storage device,
allocate media resources,
provide bidirectional instruction between the transcoder and the archive storage manager, and
initiate media file transfer between the transcoder and the archive storage manager.
2. The data archive system of claim 1 , further comprising:
an analysis and indexing module;
a search and retrieval module; and
wherein the database comprises a database manager.
3. The data archive system of claim 2 , wherein the analysis and indexing module is configured to:
provide indexing information to the database manager; and
retrieve data from the archive storage manager.
4. The data archive system of claim 1 ,
wherein the first format comprises an editing format; and
wherein the second format comprises at least one of a storage format, a display format and a distribution format.
5. The data archive system of claim 4 , further comprising:
a first input/output device configured to communicate with the control module, wherein at least a portion the at least one input/output device comprises a media file editing device;
a second input/output device configured to provide the media file; and
a third input/output device configured to perform at least one of play and view the first or second media format.
6. The data archive system of claim 5 , wherein the first input/output device and the second input/output device are configured similarly.
7. The data archive system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is further configured to choose a compression format based on at least one of:
associated parameters;
received user input;
pre-defined profiles; and
learned behavior.
8. A media file storage system comprising:
at least one input/output device configured to provide a media file and media file formatting parameters;
a transcoder configured to:
incorporate metadata into the media file, and
convert the media file between a first and second format, using the media file formatting parameters;
an archive media device configured to receive the media file; and
a delivery system configured to provide the media file via at least one of a digital file and an analog media signal.
9. The media file storage system of claim 8 , further comprising:
an interface configured to:
enable content management of the media file; and
communicate with a control module and initiate transfer of the media file across the delivery system.
10. The media file storage system of claim 9 , wherein
the transcoder comprises a transcoding engine;
the archive media device comprises a data storage device; and
the content management of the media file comprises storage and management of the media file.
11. The media file storage system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one input/output device comprises a remote input/output device.
12. The media file storage system of claim 8 , further comprising a control module, the control module comprising at least one central processing unit, and the control module configured to initiate data transfer in response to communicating with the at least one input/output device.
13. The media file storage system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one input/output device comprises a media file handling device.
14. The media file storage system of claim 8 , wherein the archive media device comprises:
one or more index tables;
one or more database records; and
an archive storage manager.
15. The media file storage system of claim 14 , wherein the archive storage manager is configured to provide the media file from the archive media device to the transcoder.
16. A user interface configured to:
initiate communication between a display device and storage system, wherein at least a portion of the storage system comprises a storage device;
incorporate metadata into a media file; and
transcode data in the media file from at least one of an editing format, a display format, distribution format and a storage format to another of the at least one of the editing format, display format, distribution format and the storage format.
17. The user interface of claim 16 , wherein in response to the transcoding the data comprising the display format, the data comprising the display format is provided to a media delivery system.
18. The user interface of claim 16 , wherein the transcoding comprises establishing a workflow to transcode data received from a media capture device in the display format to a media storage device in the storage format.
19. The user interface of claim 16 , wherein the user interface is further configured to initiate the transcoding.
20. The data archive system of claim 1 , further comprising a media processor configured to perform a filtering operation on the media file prior to the transcoder modifying the media file.
21. The data archive system of claim 1 , further comprising a preview module configured to preview the modified media file during the modifying the media file between the first format and the second format.