David D Vest

US Patent:

6970859, Nov 29, 2005

Filed:

Mar 23, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/533504

Inventors:

Eric L. Brechner - Woodinville WA, US
Dean A. Slawson - Redmond WA, US
David A. Vest - Kirkland WA, US
Krzysztof J. Cwalina - Redmond WA, US
Glen Iwasaki - Bellevue WA, US
John J. Thrall - Mountain View CA, US
Colin R. Anthony - East St. Louis IL, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F017/30

US Classification:

707 3, 707 4, 707 5, 707 7, 3482313

Abstract:

A style identifier is associated with each of a plurality of media clips stored in a database, based on a subjective evaluation of various characteristics of each media clip by an expert. The style represented by the style identifier corresponds to an impression on the expert regarding various qualities of the media clip and is not constrained by the subject of the media clip. Media clips with which style identifiers are associated can be any form of digital media, such as clip art files, sound files, photographs, animation files, fonts, etc. Also associated with each media clip in the database is an absolute ranking value for each of a plurality of different attributes based on a subjective evaluation of each media clip by an expert. A user can search the database for media clips associated with a specific style identifier and can sort the media clips that were identified by a search, based upon the absolute ranking value for a selected attribute. In one application of this invention, the database is maintained at a web site accessible over the Internet, and users can browse or search the database based upon a selected category, a keyword, or a style.