MEDIA FOUNDATION SOURCE READER

1 . A method for obtaining content from a multimedia data store comprising:

opening the multimedia data store;

selecting, without specifying a format, a first multimedia stream from the multimedia data store;

selecting a first desired output media type for the multimedia stream;

selecting, without specifying a format, a second multimedia stream comprising a different format than the first multimedia stream from the multimedia data store; and

extracting at least one multimedia sample from each of the multimedia streams.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the first multimedia stream and second multimedia stream are the same multimedia stream.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the format of the first multimedia stream is WMV.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising dynamically selecting a second desired output media type for the multimedia stream.

5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising processing at least one multimedia sample with a codec.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the extracting at least one multimedia sample is performed asynchronously.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein the extracting at least one multimedia sample is performed synchronously.

8 . A computer storage media having instructions disposed thereon that, when executed, execute the method of claim 1 .

9 . A system for obtaining content from a multimedia data store comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

an opening module configured to open the multimedia data store;

a stream selecting module configured to select a multimedia stream from the multimedia data store;

a media type selecting module configured to select a desired output media type for the multimedia stream; and

an extracting module configured to extract multimedia samples from multimedia streams.

10 . The system of claim 9 wherein the extracting module works asynchronously.

11 . The system of claim 9 wherein the extracting module works synchronously.

12 . The system of claim 9 further comprising a processing module configured to process the multimedia stream.

13 . The system of claim 12 wherein the processing module comprises a codec module.

14 . The system of claim 12 wherein the processing module comprises a video effects module.

15 . A method to provide a common programming interface for multimedia stream access to an application, comprising:

an application programming interface to open a data store;

an application programming interface to open a multimedia stream from the data store;