Multimedia Computing
Lawrence Goetz
What is multimedia?
Media=Way of Transmition
There are multiple ways to display information using different
medias, hence the name Multimedia.
Any combination of text, graphics, sounds, etc. that is viewed
to you on a computer. Basically a mixture of medias.
When a user can choose the media content, then you have
interactive multimedia.
When the user can navigate (such as topic to topic), then you
have hypermedia.
Social Media
Social Networking. Chatting, interacting, posting material. Facebook/Twitter
Blogging. Generally oneway, the user posts information for others to see. A web log
(blog) like a diary.
Microblogging - limited to certain content, such as images or video.
Wiki. People can collaborate on a topic and edit pages related to the topic (or post a
new topic).
Content Sharing. Such as sharing video.
Social bookmarking. People rate and share website link
Content Producers
Consumers are the Producers. Social medial
allows people to easily create and post content
for others to view. Such as YouTube or Instagram
Broadcast – For general audience
Narrowcasting – For a specific targeted audience
Old vs New Media
Old:
Physical media (analog). Record, tape, paper, etc.
New:
Digital. Electronic. Digital media is sampled
(measurement of the physical properties) and digitized to
electronic form.
Modular. Adjust values of the various parts of the project
at any time (generally) during production.
Automation lets you easily create content.
You can use various formats for your content (some are
more universal than others). Such as JPG for images.
History Of Multimedia
70’s
Pong first commercial multimedia product
Atari: Home System, Cartridges.
80's
Nintendo
VR, head-mounted display, data glove.
i386 gave PCs power to use multimedia well.
People could burn their own CDs
History Continued
90's
Adobe Photoshop
WWW - broswer, mosaic. HTML
MPC - Multimedia Personal Computer standard.
DVDs
USB Devices
History Continued
Current Multimedia Devices
Smartphones
Tablet Computers
Bluray Discs
3D TVs
eBooks
Cloud Storage
Building Multimedia
Convergence of technology - Devices will merge.
Education & Edutainment
Bandwidth – How fast the content will take to load.
Storyboarding - visual layout or map of your
project.
Multimedia makes for a good interface to an
application.
Intuitive Interface. Make sure icons are meaningful.
Evolution of the interface
The Interface is how you interact with the software running on the computer.
Hardware and Software have changed to allow the Interface to evolve.
Command Line
Text Menus by keys
Text by mouse. Drop down menus.
Icons and graphics (GUI, graphical User Interface. Pronounced ‘gooey’)
Sound and Sight
Multimedia Styles
Immersive Experience - software application takes over the
entire computer screen.
Applications across platforms should have the same look and
feel. Also similar programs have the same general concepts.
Index: visually and textually
Graphical User Interface and Metaphors
Hot Spots & Importance
Styles Continued
Make careful use of multimedia in your application. Have
the right blend of multimedia.
Linear vs. nonlinear (interactive) media
Scripting or storyboarding helps you see the choices a
user can make in your application.
Authoring tools allow you to combine your media files
into a navigational project with minimal programming.
Multimedia Uses
Business uses for multimedia
•
Computer Based Training - study at your own pace, various forms of media, cheaper, safer,
more fun.
•
Marketing (Catalogs)
•
Video conferencing
Schools -Simulations of hazardous topics. Like chemistry where chemicals can explode.
Look up databases of various topics, like encyclopedias
Home - Video games , Interactive TV
Public Places - Information Kiosks
Multimedia Tools
Sound
Image
Video - Movie clips, DVDs
Interleaving - synchronizing the audio with the video.
QuickTime - Can mix various forms of data together. Such as titles, multi
track files, etc. You can add various features, like 3D, etc, to your
multimedia files. It has a Media Abstraction Layer that explains to the
computer how to access the media elements contained inside of it.
AVI - not as flexible as QuickTime.
Compressing Movies will be covered when we get to video later on in
the term.
Screen Capture
Tools Continued
File Conversions
Word Processors - Edit multimedia documents
Presentation Packages - produce multimedia
shows consisting of slides, audio clips, animations,
movies, etc. Powerpoint is one such package.
Hypermedia Programs - go beyond linear slideshows and allow the user to navigate through
them. We will use Powerpoint to make an
interactive Kiosk.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition)- turns printed
text to electronic text.
Tools Continued
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•
•
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Paint & Drawing Tools
3D Modeling software - Sketchup from Google
Photoshop (bitmaps)
Fireworks (vectors or bitmaps)
Image editors typically allow you to import a
photo from a camera, scanner, etc.
They also allow you to have plugins to enhance
the features. Such as a special effects plugin.
Tools Continued
• Authoring Systems - allow you to evaluate input
from the user, branch in your program
according, and allow for a wider range of user
interaction are called authoring systems. They
typically have a flow chart showing the
organization of the program.
• Web Page Creation - Dreamweaver, Front Page,
and other programs allow you to create web
pages by using WYSIWYG (what you see is what
you get)
Computer Parts
Memory
RAM
More is needed for media production, because the programs that
create the content demand more power (generally) than those that
view the content. If you run out of memory, the system will swap
memory to the hard drive and this slows things down conciderably.
Flash Memory
Hard Drive
DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc) can hold GBs of data.
CD-R/W
Blu-ray
Input Devices
Keyboards
Mice/Trackballs
Touchscreens
Scanners
Video Capture Cards
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) helps get
printed text into electronic text.
Microphone
Voice Recognition
Digital Camera
Output Devices
Speakers
Monitor
Printers
What others can you think of?