Clip generation based on multiple encodings of a media stream

An apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• a network interface configured to:
• receive a media stream;
• and
• receive, at a first time, a request to generate a media clip from a destination device, wherein the request identifies a start point of the media clip, the start point corresponding to a second time in the media stream that precedes the first time;
• a transcoder executable by the processor to generate a first encoded version of the media stream and a second encoded version of the media stream, wherein the first encoded version is associated with a first key frame interval and the second encoded version is associated with a second key frame interval that is greater than the first key frame interval;
• and
• a clip generator executable by the processor to generate, after receiving the request, in response to a determination that the start point indicated by the request identifies a particular frame of the second encoded version that is decodable using one or more other frames of the second encoded version, and after the generation of the first encoded version of the media stream and the second encoded version of the media stream, the media clip based on a first sequence of frames of the first encoded version and a second sequence of frames of the second encoded version, the media clip having a shorter duration than the media stream, wherein the first sequence begins at a first frame corresponding to the start point and ends at a second frame corresponding to a transition point, and wherein the second sequence begins at a third frame following the transition point and ends at a fourth frame corresponding to a stop point of the media clip.

A computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a media stream;
• generating a first encoded version of the media stream and a second encoded version of the media stream, wherein the first encoded version is associated with a first key frame interval and the second encoded version is associated with a second key frame interval that is greater than the first key frame interval;
• receiving, from a destination device at a first time, a request to generate a media clip, wherein the request identifies a start point of the media clip, the start point corresponding to a second time in the media stream that precedes the first time;
• after receiving the request, in response to a determination that the start point indicated by the request identifies a particular frame of the second encoded version that is decodable using one or more other frames of the second encoded version, and after generating the first encoded version of the media stream and the second encoded version of the media stream, generating the media clip based on a first sequence of frames of the first encoded version and a second sequence of frames of the second encoded version, the media clip having a shorter duration than the media stream, wherein the first sequence begins at a first frame corresponding to the start point and ends at a second frame corresponding to a transition point, and wherein the second sequence begins at a third frame following the transition point and ends at a fourth frame corresponding to a stop point of the media clip, and wherein the first and second sequence of frames arc of a same quality;
• and
• sending at least one of the media clip or a link to the media clip to the destination device.