System and method for providing a two-part graphic design and interactive document application
View Patent ↗A method and system creates an interactive multimedia document that incorporates references to multimedia files that support a particular logical step or argument presented within the document. The method and system utilizes several modules including a builder module and a presenter module. The references are configured to determine, upon selection, a visual format and a relevant portion of the multimedia file to be displayed. Thus, only one copy of the multimedia file needs to be incorporated into the document. The multimedia files include text documents, portable document files, PowerPoint® presentations, audio files, video files, voice narrated graphics, and other types of files. In some embodiments, the interactive multimedia document is a legal brief and the multimedia files include depositions, supporting case law, evidence, and other materials.
1. A computer-implemented method for building and viewing an interactive multimedia document comprising:
determining metadata describing a location for a media file portion within a media file;
embedding a reference within a text portion of the interactive multimedia document, the reference including the metadata;
interpreting the metadata upon selection of the reference; and
displaying the media file portion over the interactive multimedia document based on the interpreted metadata.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the media file includes one or more of a text file, an audio file, or a video file.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata also specifies how the media file portion is displayed over the interactive multimedia document.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the media file includes a file type including a PowerPoint® presentation, a portable document, a Word® document, and a Windows® Media file.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising visually formatting the media file portion and displaying the visually formatted media file portion upon selection of the reference.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the interactive multimedia document is one or more of a legal brief or a memorandum.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein selection of the reference causes a processor to interpret the metadata.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein selection of the reference includes one or more of a roll over action or a clicking action of a mouse device.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the text portion is in a vector format.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata describes a visual format of the media file portion.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the visual format includes one or more of a border, a color, a position of a media window displaying the media file portion, shading, or a highlighting color.
12. A computer-readable storage medium including computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computer to:
determine metadata describing a location for a media file portion within a media file;
embed a reference within a text portion of the interactive multimedia document, the reference including the metadata;
interpret the metadata upon selection of the reference; and
display the media file portion over the interactive multimedia document based on the interpreted metadata.
13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the metadata also describes a visual format of the media file portion, the visual format including one or more of a border, a color, a position of a media window displaying the media file portion, shading, or a highlighting color.
14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein selection of the reference includes one or more of a roll over action or a clicking action of a mouse device and selection causes a processor to interpret the metadata.
15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the computer to:
determine further metadata describing another location for another media file portion within the media file; and
embed another reference within another text portion of the interactive multimedia document, the reference including the other metadata;
wherein the interactive multimedia document includes a single copy of the media file.
16. A system for building and viewing an interactive multimedia document at a computer, the system comprising:
a text document data file;
a multimedia data file;
one or more computers including:
one or more processors configured to execute computer readable instructions; and
a memory having stored therein processor-executable computer readable instructions, the instructions comprising:
a builder module to determine metadata describing a location for a media portion within the multimedia data file and to embed a reference within the text document data file, the reference including the metadata; and
a presenter module to display a text document corresponding to the text document data file, to interpret the metadata upon selection of the embedded reference within the displayed text document, and to display the media portion over the displayed text document based on the interpreted metadata.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the metadata also describes a visual format of the media portion, the visual format including one or more of a border, a color, a position of a media window displaying the media portion, shading, and a highlighting color.