Embedding interactive content into a shareable online video

1. A method, comprising:

providing, via an authoring tool, a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises a view of a plurality of scenes of a video;

providing, via the GUI, a view of a plurality of interactive features;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of a scene of the plurality of scenes;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of an interactive feature of the plurality of interactive features;

embedding directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected scene, such that a user controls placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of a frame of the selected scene at a selected spatial location in the selected frame; and

embedding directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected frame at the selected spatial location, such that a user controls a spatial and temporal placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of scenes is provided as a plurality of thumbnails in the GUI.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails shows, via the GUI, a frame of a corresponding scene.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein a selection of the thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails results in the authoring tool providing the corresponding scene via the GUI, allowing a user to scroll through the corresponding scene to one or more frames in the corresponding scene to embed a selected interactive feature in the one or more frames.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: outputting, via the authoring tool, the video with the embedded interactive feature.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

providing user account information, managed by a remote server, with the providing of the GUI; and

communicating the outputted video with the embedded interactive feature to the remote server according to the user account information.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: separating the video into the plurality of scenes according to an EDL file.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, via the GUI, a search query to a search engine;

receiving, by the authoring tool, search results from the search engine according to the search query; and

in response to receiving the search results, providing, via the GUI, the plurality of interactive features which are based on the received search results.

9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer program instructions configured to instruct a computer processor to perform at least the steps of:

providing, via an authoring tool, a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises a view of a plurality of scenes of a video;

providing, via the GUI, a view of a plurality of interactive features;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of a scene of the plurality of scenes;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of an interactive feature of the plurality of interactive features;

embedding directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected scene, such that a user controls placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool;

receiving, via the GUI, a selection of a frame of the selected scene at a selected spatial location in the selected frame; and

embedding directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected frame at the selected spatial location, such that a user controls a spatial and temporal placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of scenes is provided as a plurality of thumbnails in the GUI.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein a thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails shows, via the GUI, a frame of a corresponding scene.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein a selection of the thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails results in the authoring tool providing the corresponding scene via the GUI, allowing a user to scroll through the corresponding scene to one or more frames in the corresponding scene to embed a selected interactive feature in the one or more frames.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the computer processor to further perform at least the steps of:

outputting, via the authoring tool, the video with the embedded interactive feature;

providing user account information, managed by a remote server, with the providing of the GUI; and

communicating the outputted video with the embedded interactive feature to the remote server according to the user account information.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the computer processor to further perform at least the step of:

separating the video into the plurality of scenes according to an EDL file.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the instructions are further configured to instruct the computer processor to further perform at least the steps of:

receiving, via the GUI, a search query to a search engine;

receiving, by the authoring tool, search results from the search engine according to the search query; and

in response to receiving the search results, providing, via the GUI, the plurality of interactive features which are based on the received search results.

16. A computing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

a storage medium tangibly storing thereon program logic configured to instruct the at least one processor to at least:

provide, via an authoring tool, a graphical user interface (GUI), wherein the GUI comprises a view of a plurality of scenes of a video;

provide, via the GUI, a view of a plurality of interactive features;

receive, via the GUI, a selection of a scene of the plurality of scenes;

receive, via the GUI, a selection of an interactive feature of the plurality of interactive features;

embed directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected scene, such that a user controls placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool;

receive, via the GUI, a selection of a frame of the selected scene at a selected spatial location in the selected frame; and

embed directly, by the authoring tool, the selected interactive feature into the selected frame at the selected spatial location, such that a user controls a spatial and temporal placement of the selected interactive feature in the video directly via the authoring tool.

17. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of scenes is provided as a plurality of thumbnails in the GUI.

18. The computing device of claim 17 , wherein a thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails shows, via the GUI, a frame of a corresponding scene.

19. The computing device of claim 18 , wherein a selection of the thumbnail of the plurality of thumbnails results in the authoring tool providing the corresponding scene via the GUI, allowing a user to scroll through the corresponding scene to one or more frames in the corresponding scene to embed a selected interactive feature in the one or more frames.

20. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the program logic is configured to instruct the at least one processor to at least output, via the authoring tool, the video with the embedded interactive feature.