Video Editing Using Lenses and Semantic Zooming

Digital video is becoming increasingly prevalent. Unfortunately, editing video remains difficult for several reasons: it is a time-based medium, it has dual tracks of audio and video, and current tools force users to work at the smallest level of detail. Based on interviews with professional video editors and observations of the use of our own editor, we have developed new interaction techniques for digital video based on semantic zooming and lenses. When copying or cutting a piece of video, it is desirable to select both ends precisely. However, although many video editing tools allow zooming into a fine level of detail, they do not allow zooming at more than one location simultaneously. Our system provides multiple lenses on the same timeline, so the user can see more than one location in detail.