Method and apparatus for controlling volume

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 further comprising providing a graphical representation of the audio track along a time axis.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2 , wherein displaying comprises superimposing the deformable line on the graphical representation of the audio track.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 further comprising: a) identifying when the line is being dragged; b) deforming the line based on the identified dragging.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 , wherein the two points of a modification are two data points in the graphical user interface, wherein at least one of the two points is moveable to adjust the modification.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies the volume after the modification.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies the duration of the modification.

Claim 9

The method of claim 5 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies a location of the modification in the deformable line.

Claim 10

A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor controls the volume of an audio track, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for: a) representing the volume of the audio track with a graph that is a deformable line, wherein the graph is defined along two axes, wherein one axis represents time and the other represents the volume level; b) displaying the deformable line graph in a graphical user interface; c) receiving a set of modifications to the graph wherein receiving a set of modifications to the graph comprises receiving a set of click-and-drag operations in the graphical user interface; d) illustrating each modification in the set of modifications as two points on the graph, each click-and-drag modification producing three different portions of the line graph; and e) based on the points illustrated for the modifications, specifying the volume level of the audio track at different instances in time.

Claim 11

A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor controls the volume of an audio track, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for: a) representing the volume of the audio track with a graph that is a deformable line, wherein the graph is defined along two axes, wherein one axis represents time and the other represents the volume level; b) displaying the deformable line graph in a graphical user interface; c) receiving a set of modifications to the graph wherein receiving a set of modifications to the graph comprises receiving a set of click-and-drag operations in the graphical user interface; d) illustrating each modification in the set of modifications as two points on the graph, each click-and-drag modification producing three different portions of the line graph; and e) based on the points illustrated for the modifications, specifying the volume level of the audio track at different instances in time.

Claim 12

The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the computer program further comprises a set of instructions for providing a graphical representation of the audio track along a time axis.

Claim 13

The computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein displaying the deformable line graph comprises superimposing the deformable line on the graphical representation of the audio track.

Claim 14

The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for: a) identifying when the line is being dragged; b) deforming the line based on the identified dragging.

Claim 15

The computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the two points of a modification are two points in the graphical user interface, wherein at least one of the two points is moveable to adjust the modification.

Claim 16

The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies the volume after the modification.

Claim 17

The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies the duration of the modification.

Claim 18

The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the point that is moveable specifies a location of the modification in the deformable line.

Claim 19

The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the two points of a modification is selectable to adjust the modification to the line.

Claim 20

The method of claim 1 wherein the two points of a modification are independently selectable to adjust the modification to the line.

Claim 21

The method of claim 1 wherein the two points of a modification are separated on the line by a predetermined time interval.

Claim 22

The method of claim 1 wherein the three portions of the line comprise a first flat portion representing the volume level of the audio track before a time t 1 , a ramping portion representing the volume level of the audio track between times t 1 and t 2 , and a second flat portion representing the volume level of the audio track after time t 2 .

Claim 23

The method of claim 20 wherein the two points in the line specify the beginning and end of the ramping portion, the two points being produced by the single click-and-drag operation that produces the three different portions of the line.

Claim 26

A computer readable medium comprising a computer program which when executed by at least one processor controls the volume of an audio track, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for: a) representing the volume of the audio track with a graph, wherein the graph is defined along two axes, wherein one axis represents time and the other represents the volume level; b) receiving a set of modification to the graph at a location on the graph wherein receiving a set of modifications to the graph comprises receiving a set of click-and-drag operations each click-and-drag modification producing three different portions of the graph; c) changing the volume level of the audio track on a first portion of the graph; d) changing the volume level of the audio track for a distance representing a specified amount of time on a second portion of the graph; and e) not changing the volume level of the audio track on a third portion of the graph.

Claim 27

A computer readable medium comprising a computer program which when executed by at least one processor controls the volume of an audio track, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for: a) representing the volume of the audio track with a graph, wherein the graph is defined along two axes, wherein one axis represents time and the other represents the volume level; b) receiving a set of modification to the graph at a location on the graph wherein receiving a set of modifications to the graph comprises receiving a set of click-and-drag operations each click-and-drag modification producing three different portions of the graph; c) changing the volume level of the audio track on a first portion of the graph; d) changing the volume level of the audio track for a distance representing a specified amount of time on a second portion of the graph; and e) not changing the volume level of the audio track on a third portion of the graph.

Claim 28

The computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein changing the volume on the first portion changes the volume along the graph from the location to a vicinity of a previously modified location on the graph.

Claim 29

The computer readable medium of claim 23 , wherein changing the volume level of the audio track for a distance representing a specified amount of time on a second portion of the graph, changes the graph along said distance to a spline on the graph connecting the location to the third portion of the graph.