Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving a plurality of media items, each including an object having a plurality of variables, performing adaptive analysis and transfer analysis on the media items, generating a model based on both the adaptive analysis and the transfer analysis and recognizing, using the model, the object in media content. The model may also provide a description of at least one of the variables of the object in the media content, and/or how that variable relates to the object. The variables may be known in the media items and unknown in the media content. The adaptive analysis and/or the transfer analysis may be performed iteratively and/or simultaneously. The variables may include an intensity of the object, a viewpoint from which the object is observed, an illumination of the object, a blur of the object, and/or other variables. Other embodiments are disclosed.