Reasoner system for video creation having as input a conceptual video description

In this paper we present the reasoner subsystem of the research project ANSWER (Artistic-Notation-based Software Engineering for Film, Animation and Computer Games). ANSWER is a new approach to the cinematic creative process of film production and computer game creation. ANSWER provides a tool that permits the description of a film, a video or a computer game at the conceptual level. Moreover, additional tools use this description as an input to provide animation and pre-visualisation. These tools are easy to use and hide the technicalities from the end user. The tool which is used for the artistic and technical representation of presentation-layer demands is the “DirectorNotation”. DirectorNotation is a symbolic language that describes the conceptual content of a film/video creation. It is an abstract language that describes the conception and not every detail of the desired creation. It describes the actors´ movements and camerawork, allowing expressiveness. It is as music notes that provide a language for the writing of music or as choreography for the writing of a dance. The reasoner system parses the user inserted DirectorNotation score, executes rules and finally generates automatically the video according to the given user data. So, a film director or a game designer can examine the video many times before its production and make the desired changes.