[uf-discuss] Show Microformat Brainstorming

[Charles Iliya Krempeaux]

Hello,

Thought I'd do some thinking out load about possibilities for a show
microformat.

What is a show?  Think TV show.  Although it doesn't have to be a TV show.

First, listing some existing uses cases.  These are what I've seen
people do already.  Note, I've made the example HTML very simple (so
as not to clutter things).  Usually people use all sorts of extra
markup to make things look nice.  But I don't include that here.)

#1: Single clip with a preview image.  The clip is the full show.

        <a href="clip.mpeg"><img src="preview.png" /></a>

#2: Single clip with a preview image.  The clip is the teaser of the
full show.  And there is a link that you can go to pay to see the full
show.

        <a href="teaser.mpeg"><img src="preview.png" /></a>

        <a href="http://example.com/go">Pay to View</a>

(The "Pay to View" link may or may not directly go to the "pay" page. 
And you may or may not have to pay for more than just this show to
view it.)

#3: A show divided up in multiple clips, each with a preview image. 
Together the clips make up the show.

        <a href="clip-1.mpg"><img src="preview-1.png" /></a>

        <a href="clip-2.mpg"><img src="preview-2.png" /></a>

        <a href="clip-3.mpg"><img src="preview-3.png" /></a>

(Note, there's a specific order here that matters.)

#4: A set of teasers for a show.  Together they don't make up the full
show.  And the may or may not overlap in time.  There's a "Pay to
View" link there too.

        <a href="clip-blue.mpg"><img src="preview-blue.png" /></a>

        <a href="clip-red.mpg"><img src="preview-red.png" /></a>

        <a href="clip-green.mpg"><img src="preview-green.png" /></a>


        <a href="http://example.com/go">Pay to View</a>

#5: A single clip that comes in different formats.  (Could be a
teaser, a clip, or a full show.)

        <img src="preview.png" />
        <a href="clip.mpg">MPEG</a>
        <a href="clip.ogm">Ogg</a>
        <a href="clip.avi">AVI</a>

And of course, you can do combos of these.

So, the orthogonal concepts here seem like:
  * there's the concept of a "preview" image.  (maybe thumbnail would
be a better name.)
  * there's the concept of a "show"
  * there's the concept of a "teaser"
  * If it is a teaser there is a "Pay to View" link
  * show can divided up into multiple contiguous files
  * teaser can be made up of multiple files
  * alternatives of the same media
  * you can combine all these

Did I miss anything?

(If anyone else knows SMIL here, you'll probably notice that alot of
this stuff has already been dealt with there.  Although SMIL does much
much more.)


There's already some related stuff on the wiki:
  http://microformats.org/wiki/media-metadata-examples
  http://microformats.org/wiki/video-metadata-model

And I wrote this before:
  http://changelog.ca/log/2005/10/16/thoughts_on_video_and_audio_microformats

And SMIL and Media RSS are good references too.


Comments?


See ya

--
    Charles Iliya Krempeaux, B.Sc.

    charles @ reptile.ca
    supercanadian @ gmail.com

    developer weblog: http://ChangeLog.ca/
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