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.