Attracting and repelling edit blocks in a user interface of a video editor
US5886692A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 12, 1997 |
| Grant date | Mar 23, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 12, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B27/34
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The use of blocks in a workspace window that depict various video elements on the user interface of a video editor for use on a digital computer having a CPU, memory and a video display. The blocks have the attributes that they attract or repel other blocks as a function of proximity to each other in order to reduce user errors and to improve user efficiency. The method of manipulating the blocks on the video display consists of the following steps: First, specify coordinates of interaction regions around a block to be dragged. Next, test the coordinates of the interaction regions against the coordinates of all other blocks on the video display. Next, repel the block to be dragged from specified surfaces of the other blocks in accordance with predetermined rules that specify which surfaces of the block to be dragged and which surfaces of the other blocks repel each other. Finally, attach the block to be dragged to the surface of blocks whose coordinates are within the interaction region in accordance with predetermined rules that specify which surfaces of the block to be dragged and which surfaces of the other blocks attract each other.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.