"Synchronized Multimedia" Working Group (SYMM WG) Charter
This charter is written in accordance with section
6.2.6 of the W3C
Process Document.
This is the Charter Extension of the former SYMM WG Charter. The deliverable
remains the same. The charter is extended for 2 years. The co-chairs have
changed.
Table of Contents
- Mission Statement
- Scope
- Deliverables
- Duration
- Success Criteria
- Milestones
- Dependencies/Relationship with other
W3C Activities
- Coordination with External
Groups
- Membership, Participation and
Resources
- Communication, Meetings and
Logistics
- Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
- Related Documents
The mission of the SYMM Working Group [SYMM WG] is to continue W3C's
work on synchronized multimedia that started with SMIL 1.0, SMIL 2.0. Its main
contribution is extending the functionality contained in the current SMIL 2.0 Recommendation. In the event
of a conflict between this document and the W3C Process, the W3C Process shall
take precedence.
Since SMIL 2.0 has been released, a number of extension proposals have been
received by the SYMM Interest Group [SYMM IG]. This section
describes the work items to be treated by the Working Group. The Working Group
is free to decide that some of the extensions listed below are not worthwhile
pursuing, and to potentially develop and evaluate new extension proposals.
SMIL Next Generation
Work on a future version of SMIL will allow the SYMM WG to investigate some
of the proposals that have not yet reached wider consensus and for which
deployment is less certain at the time of writing. Only proposals with industry
consensus on their necessisity should be pursued.
The SYMM WG once done with the SMIL 2.1 for Mobile Devices version, should work
on a SMIL Future Version requirement document that lists these work items.
Potential work items include:
Media Identification and Linking
- Mechanism for passing parameters to hyperlink destination: Similar to
MediaParam module, we should have a mechanism for passing parameters for
linking. This also includes, for example, specifying start time of a
destination SMIL file, etc.
- Professional Media Clipping : Subframe definition of current SMIL
2.0 seems to have an error to be fixed and in addition professional media
may have more variety of time scales/frame rates. Some means should be
provided by the next version (see SMIL
SUB).
- Media Type Casting: Each media type (video, audio, text, ref,..) should
have individual meaning and function. (see SMIL
SUB).
- Media Track Manipulation: To specify individual audio/video track out of
a multi-track material (see SMIL
SUB).
- Visual Area Clipping: To clip out some specific region from full visual
area of video material (see SMIL
SUB).
- Time Container Clipping: To manipulate par/seq elements as media elements
(see SMIL
SUB).
Media Layout
- CSS, Style and Media Filtering: Determine how SMIL handles CSS (and
other) style sheets. The proposal is to have SMIL specify that media being
integrated can be styled by external style sheet.
- Media Time Destination: To place time containers on exact time
coordinates with professional time scales/ frame rates (see SMIL
SUB)..
Media Manipulation
- Visual Effects: alpha blending, visual deformation, color correction (see
SMIL
SUB).
- Text handling: harmonize the different approaches used to style text
today. A further idea would be to integrate text directly in SMIL, similar
to SVG.
Others
- Support for various types of metadata schemas of any type of XML
descriptions (e.g. MPEG-7, TV-Anytime, etc, many of which are industry
dependent metadata and not in RDF but only in XML. Such metadata must be
properly embedded into content descriptions.), (see SMIL
SUB).
- Metadata Synchronization: Some metadata need not only to be associated
with media objects but also to be synchronized along with the timeline of
media objects. Such metadata may be considered as a kind of media objects
itself. This functionality is to provide a means to synchronize metadata
streaming objects with other media streaming objects, (see SMIL
SUB).
- Reconsider the scalability to accommodate evolving modules into scalable
profiles.
2.4 Miscellaneous
The Working Group should investigate the potential needs within the industry
before addressing the following areas of functionality:
- Investigate into integration of SMIL into other languages e.g. XHTML+SMIL Profile and XSS
Compact 1.0 - An XHTML + SVG + SMIL Profile.
- Release the XMMF draft: External Media Markers
for SMIL 2.0 as a Working Group NOTE.
This draft proposes an XML-based syntax to define a set of IDs and a
time-code syntax for referencing either a single frame/sample in a media
object or a ranges of frames/samples.
- Design a DOM for synchronized multimedia documents. In addition to
functions from DOM level 1, 2 and 3, this Working Group should design a
higher level "convenience" interface that is specific to the SMIL.
Note: The SYMM WG may also take over the results of the Timed Text Working
Group [TTWG] if that group
terminates without having finished its work.
- A Recommendation for SMIL Next Generation (including WD,
Last Call, CR, PR phases).
- A "disposition of comments" document for Last Call comments for SMIL Next
Generation Recommendation.
- A test suite for SMIL Next Generation
- A report on existing SMIL implementations at CR stage for SMIL Next
Generation.
- A summary of patent statements for SMIL at CR stage.
This Working Group is scheduled to terminate on 31 December
2010.
The main criterion of success for SYMM WG is that:
- Next Generation becomes a W3C Recommendation in 2008
- The SYMM WG has achieved consensus in the industry on the relevance and
adoption of SMIL extensions and profiles..
A tentative schedule of deliverables is given here:
- June 2006
- SYMM WG extended.
- SMIL NG Requirements document publication.
- September 2006
- SMIL NG Working Draft first publication.
- December 2006
- Last Call Working Draft of SMIL NG
- February 2007
- Create "disposition of comments" document for SMIL NG Last Call
comments
Provide a final summary of patent statements for SMIL SMIL NG.
- June 2007
- Advance SMIL NG to Candidate Recommendation.
- Sept 2007
- Provide a Test suite for SMIL SMIL NG
- Interoperability testing of SMIL extensions implementations with test
suite.
- Dec 2007
- SMIL NG moves to Proposed Recommendation.
- Jan 2008
- SMIL NG becomes a W3C Recommendation.
- Life after Rec starts.
- June 2008
SYMM WG ends.
The Working Group has to take into account technologies developed by other
groups within W3C, and ask them to review specifications prepared by the SYMM
Working Group. At the time the charter was written, the following ongoing W3C
activities are concerned:
- Hypertext Coordination Group
- The Hypertext Coordination Group has the responsibility for ensuring
that reviews between Working Groups are planned and carried out so as to
meet requirements for deliverables and deadlines. The Hypertext
Coordination Group includes representatives for the XML Coordination
Group and for the Web Accessibility Initiative, as well as the Working
Groups in the Interaction Domain.
- HTML
Working Group
- The Working Group cooperates with the HTML WG for the SMIL
modularization framework and for SMIL integration into others languages
e.g. XHTML+SMIL Profile
, XSS
Compact 1.0 - An XHTML + SVG + SMIL Profile.
- CSS Working
Group.
- The Working Group coordinates with the CSS WG on presentation and
layout issues.
- Timed Text
Working Group
- The Working Group cooperates with the TT WG to ensure that SMIL meets
the requirements of this group and for proper integration of timed text
into SMIL.
- Scalable
Vector Graphics Working Group
- The Working Group cooperates with the SVG WG for SMIL integration into
others languages e.g. XSS
Compact 1.0 - An XHTML + SVG + SMIL Profile.
- Device
Independence Working Group
- The Working Group cooperates with the DI WG to ensure that SMIL meets
the requirements for device independent access, e.g. to ensure that the
format is usable both on mobile devices and PCs.
- Multimodal Interaction
Working Group
- The Working Group coordinates with the MMI WG to ensure that SMIL meets
the requirements for a range of modalities including speech, pen and
keypads. The Working Group will work with the MMI WG to look into:
- the role of SMIL as a host language for a range of modalities
including speech, pen and keypads. The goal is to combine a number of
different markup modules into a language profile.
- the use of the SMIL timing model as part of interaction management,
e.g. for fine grained control over timing
- the extension of the SMIL switch element and test attributes into a
more flexible solution based upon the MMI WG's work on an object
model framework for properties relating to device capabilities,
device configuration, user preferences and environmental conditions
(e.g. low battery alert).
- Internationalization Working Group
- The Working Group cooperates with the I18N WG to ensure SMIL provides
effective support for internationalization.
- QA Working
Group
- The Working Group coordinates with the QA WG to develop SMIL test
suites.
- TAG Working
Group
- The Working Group ensures that SMIL meets the general Web architecture
of the TAG and helps coordinate cross-technology architecture
developments inside and outside W3C.
- XSL Working
Group
- The work of the Working Group coordinates with the XSL WG on
presentation and layout issues.
- Web
Accessibility Initiative
- The Working Group cooperates with the Web Accessibility Initiative
(WAI) to ensure SMIL meets W3C accessibility goals
Outside W3C, a number of groups are working technologies relevant for the
SYMM WG.
- 3GPP MMS (Multimedia
Messaging Service) and Streaming Service, specified in the 3GPP
specifications (TS 26.140, TS 26.234 and
TS 26.246
defines the MMS SMIL profile). Work on SMIL 2.1 should be coordinated with
3GPP and 3GPP2.
- The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is maintaining an "MMS
Conformance Document". Work on SMIL 2.1 should be coordinated with
OMA.
- MPEG-7
has developed the Multimedia Content Description Standard which may also be
used in SMIL as XML descriptions.
- Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) The WG should take care of SMPTE at
large in terms of description formats of professional digital video. e.g.
Television Systems Technology (S22), Metadata and Wrapper Technology
(W25).
- Audio Engineering Society (AES) is
developing a description format of professional digital audio
presentation.
Membership
To become a member of the SYMM Working Group, a
representative of a W3C Member organization must be nominated by their Advisory
Committee Representative (please send email to the Working Group co-chairs and
the W3C team contact). The nomination must include explicit agreement to this
charter, including its goals, a Patent disclosure and the level of effort
required of the representative.
Membership is also open to invited experts from the community, as
per W3C process.
Participation is expected to consume at least one day per week of each Working
Group member's time.
The SYMM WG is co-chaired by Dick Bulterman (CWI) and Eric Hyche
(RealNetworks).
The W3C team contact for this working Group is Thierry Michel.
The W3C team will provide a team contact whose task are
described in the document "Role of the Team
Contact". W3C team members are expected to adopt the same requirements for
meeting attendance, timely response and information disclosure as are required
of W3C Members. 30% of the W3C team contact's time is expected to be devoted to
the SYMM Working Group.
Email Communication
The SYMM Working Group utilizes a member-confidential
mailing list <symm@w3.org> and a public
mailing list <www-smil@w3.org>.
The Working Group has a home page that records the history
of the group, provides access to the archives, meeting minutes, updated
schedule of deliverables, membership list, and relevant documents and
resources. The page is maintained by the Chair (s) in collaboration with the
W3C team contact.
A one to two hour Working Group phone conference is held
every week. When necessary to meet agreed-upon deadlines, phone conferences may
be held twice a week.
Participation in face-to-face meetings is limited to SYMM
Working Group members. Decisions may be taken in face-to-face meetings but must
be announced on the Working Group mailing list.
The Chair (s) makes Working Group meeting dates and locations available to the
group at least eight weeks before the meeting, per W3C
Process.
The current Working Group is operating under the W3C Patent Policy
(05 February 2004 Version). To promote the widest adoption of Web
standards, W3C seeks to issue Recommendations that can be implemented,
according to this policy, on a Royalty-Free basis.
- W3C Recommendation: Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL
2.0)
- This document is the latest W3C Recommendation for the SMIL
language.
- SMIL 2.0 Extension for Professional Multimedia Authoring - Preliminary
Investigation
- This document is the a W3C Note of the Sony Submission.
This charter has been extended:
For questions on this document, please contact:: Thierry Michel <tmichel@w3.org> (last modified on
$Date: 2009/12/22 18:23:11 $)
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