Dynamically Constructing Video from Components

iPOV's CoSolvent Flash Player (CFP) performs two important functions. The first allows easy addition and manipulation of overlays, features and enhancements onto existing videos. The second enables iPOV to dynamically assemble new videos from pieces of other videos and materials - at the very end of the development cycle.

The CoSolvent Flash Player can pull in a set of Flash movies and play them in a sequence and timing that are specified in an external XML or JSON file. Everything is downloaded to the end-user's web browser where the Adobe Flash Player assembles them in the correct order and timing to play them seamlessly. In effect, the CoSolvent Flash Player performs basic video editing each time the materials are loaded from the website. The CFP operation is pictured in the following diagram.

You can explore the playlist's dynamic power with theme online demos.

Playlist Demonstrator 1
Playlist Demonstrator

Flash based demonstration using video that might be found in an internal corporate system.

 Playlist Demonstrator 2

Javascript based demonstration using video more appropriate to a end-user system.
 
 
 

The CoSolvent Flash Player's editing power means that iPOV can postpone much of the final design of a video clip until the last moment in the development cycle. In fact, we can postpone finalization until moments before the clip is downloaded to be viewed. This has two practical effects:

  • By manipulating the source XML flies on a web server, different versions of the video clip can be delivered to different users. If this feature is combined with server-side logic, it would be very practical to deliver different instructional movies to different categories of users - instantly, seamlessly and transparently.
  • Errors can be excised and revisions can be added very quickly - without having to reprocess all of the source video. While iPOV makes some edits directly to video using conventional video editors, it prefers to make the adjustments in the CFP so that later corrections can be made in minutes, not days.
iPOV is continually refining and upgrading out CoSolvent Flash Player. As we do so, it will assume more and more responsibility for implementing the media design. That means that iPOV will do less and less of the destructive video editing that is applied in other approaches. Updates are faster, fixes are less expensive, and new features are backward compatible with earlier edits.