An automatically readable medium encoded with a time-based media file which comprises a factory object which uniquely identifies the instantiation of an object of a particular type. The factory object can be one of the following: a scene object; a behavior object; or a filter object. The scene object can include at least one of the following: global setting for the scene; or the last settings used to render to a resulting time-based media file. The scene object can ultimately contain a reference to media used by the object. A scene object can include a reference to another scene object.