Lesson 1: INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA

Introduction

Multimedia has become an inevitable part of any presentation. It has found a

variety of applications right from entertainment to education. The evolution of internet

has also increased the demand for multimedia content.

 

Definition

Multimedia is the media that uses multiple forms of information content and

information processing (e.g. text, audio, graphics, animation, video, interactivity) to

inform or entertain the user. Multimedia also refers to the use of electronic media to store

and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in

fine art, but with a broader scope. The term “rich media” is synonymous for interactive

multimedia.

 

Elements of Multimedia System

Multimedia means that computer information can be represented through audio,

graphics, image, video and animation in addition to traditional media(text and graphics).

Hypermedia can be considered as one type of particular multimedia application.

 

Categories of Multimedia

Multimedia may be broadly divided into linear and non-linear categories. Linear

active content progresses without any navigation control for the viewer such as a cinema

presentation. Non-linear content offers user interactivity to control progress as used with

a computer game or used in self-paced computer based training. Non-linear content is

also known as hypermedia content.

Multimedia presentations can be live or recorded. A recorded presentation may

allow interactivity via a navigation system. A live multimedia presentation may allow

interactivity via interaction with the presenter or performer.

 

Features of Multimedia

Multimedia presentations may be viewed in person on stage, projected,

transmitted, or played locally with a media player. A broadcast may be a live or recorded

multimedia presentation. Broadcasts and recordings can be either analog or digital

electronic media technology. Digital online multimedia may be downloaded or streamed.

Streaming multimedia may be live or on-demand.

Multimedia games and simulations may be used in a physical environment with

special effects, with multiple users in an online network, or locally with an offline

computer, game system, or simulator.

Enhanced levels of interactivity are made possible by combining multiple forms

of media content But depending on what multimedia content you have it may vary

Online multimedia is increasingly becoming object-oriented and data-driven, enabling

applications with collaborative end-user innovation and personalization on multiple

forms of content over time. Examples of these range from multiple forms of content on

web sites like photo galleries with both images (pictures) and title (text) user-updated, to

simulations whose co-efficient, events, illustrations, animations or videos are modifiable,

allowing the multimedia “experience” to be altered without reprogramming.

 

Applications of Multimedia

Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to,

advertisements, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics,

business, scientific research and spatial, temporal applications.

A few application areas of multimedia are listed below:

Creative industries

Creative industries use multimedia for a variety of purposes ranging from

fine arts, to entertainment, to commercial art, to journalism, to media and software

services provided for any of the industries listed below. An individual multimedia

designer may cover the spectrum throughout their career. Request for their skills

range from technical, to analytical and to creative.

Commercial

Much of the electronic old and new media utilized by commercial artists is

multimedia. Exciting presentations are used to grab and keep attention in

advertising. Industrial, business to business, and interoffice communications are

often developed by creative services firms for advanced multimedia presentations

beyond simple slide shows to sell ideas or liven-up training. Commercial

multimedia developers may be hired to design for governmental services and

nonprofit services applications as well.

 

Entertainment and Fine Arts

In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry,

especially to develop special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games

are a popular pastime and are software programs available either as CD-ROMs or

online. Some video games also use multimedia features.

Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of just

sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia.

Education

In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training

courses (popularly called CBTs) and reference books like encyclopaedia and

almanacs. A CBT lets the user go through a series of presentations, text about a

particular topic, and associated illustrations in various information formats.

Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education with

entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment.

Engineering

Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for

anything from entertainment to training such as military or industrial training.

Multimedia for software interfaces are often done as collaboration between

creative professionals and software engineers.

Industry

In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present

information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful

for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the

world via virtually unlimited web-based technologies.

Mathematical and Scientific Research

In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for

modeling and simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model

of a particular substance and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance.

Representative research can be found in journals such as the Journal of

Multimedia.

Medicine

In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they

can simulate how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and

bacteria and then develop techniques to prevent it.

 

Multimedia in Public Places

In hotels, railway stations, shopping malls, museums, and grocery stores,

multimedia will become available at stand-alone terminals or kiosks to provide

information and help. Such installation reduce demand on traditional information

booths and personnel, add value, and they can work around the clock, even in the

middle of the night, when live help is off duty.

A menu screen from a supermarket kiosk that provide services ranging

from meal planning to coupons. Hotel kiosk list nearby restaurant, maps of the

city, airline schedules, and provide guest services such as automated checkout.

Printers are often attached so users can walk away with a printed copy of the

information. Museum kiosk are not only used to guide patrons through the

exhibits, but when installed at each exhibit, provide great added depth, allowing

visitors to browser though richly detailed information specific to that display.

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Check Your Progress 1

List five applications of multimedia

Notes: a) Write your answers in the space given below.

1. b) Check your answers with the one given at the end of this lesson.

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Convergence of Multimedia (Virtual Reality)

At the convergence of technology and creative invention in multimedia is virtual

reality, or VR. Goggles, helmets, special gloves, and bizarre human interfaces attempt to

place you “inside” a lifelike experience. Take a step forward, and the view gets closer,

turn your head, and the view rotates. Reach out and grab an object; your hand moves in

front of you. Maybe the object explodes in a 90-decibel crescendo as you wrap your

fingers around it. Or it slips out from your grip, falls to the floor, and hurriedly escapes

through a mouse hole at the bottom of the wall.

VR requires terrific computing horsepower to be realistic. In VR, your cyberspace

is made up of many thousands of geometric objects plotted in three-dimensional space:

the more objects and the more points that describe the objects, the higher resolution and

the more realistic your view. As the user moves about, each motion or action requires the

computer to recalculate the position, angle size, and shape of all the objects that make up

your view, and many thousands of computations must occur as fast as 30 times per

second to seem smooth.

 

On the World Wide Web, standards for transmitting virtual reality worlds or

“scenes” in VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) documents (with the file name

extension .wrl) have been developed.

Using high-speed dedicated computers, multi-million-dollar flight simulators built

by singer, RediFusion, and others have led the way in commercial application of

VR.Pilots of F-16s, Boeing 777s, and Rockwell space shuttles have made many dry runs

before doing the real thing. At the California Maritime academy and other merchant

marine officer training schools, computer-controlled simulators teach the intricate loading

and unloading of oil tankers and container ships.

Specialized public game arcades have been built recently to offer VR combat and

flying experiences for a price. From virtual World Entertainment in walnut Greek,

California, and Chicago, for example, BattleTech is a ten-minute interactive video

encounter with hostile robots. You compete against others, perhaps your friends, who

share coaches in the same containment Bay. The computer keeps score in a fast and

sweaty firefight. Similar “attractions” will bring VR to the public, particularly a youthful

public, with increasing presence during the 1990s.

The technology and methods for working with three-dimensional images and

for animating them are discussed. VR is an extension of multimedia-it uses the basic

multimedia elements of imagery, sound, and animation. Because it requires instrumented

feedback from a wired-up person, VR is perhaps interactive multimedia at its fullest

extension.

 

Stages of Multimedia Application Development

A Multimedia application is developed in stages as all other software are being

developed. In multimedia application development a few stages have to complete before

other stages being, and some stages may be skipped or combined with other stages.

Following are the four basic stages of multimedia project development :

1. Planning and Costing : This stage of multimedia application is the first stage

which begins with an idea or need. This idea can be further refined by outlining

its messages and objectives. Before starting to develop the multimedia project, it

is necessary to plan what writing skills, graphic art, music, video and other

multimedia expertise will be required.

It is also necessary to estimate the time needed to prepare all elements of

multimedia and prepare a budget accordingly. After preparing a budget, a

prototype or proof of concept can be developed.

2. Designing and Producing : The next stage is to execute each of the planned

tasks and create a finished product.

3. Testing : Testing a project ensure the product to be free from bugs. Apart from

bug elimination another aspect of testing is to ensure that the multimedia

application meets the objectives of the project. It is also necessary to test whether

the multimedia project works properly on the intended deliver platforms and they

meet the needs of the clients.

4. Delivering : The final stage of the multimedia application development is to pack

the project and deliver the completed project to the end user. This stage has

several steps such as implementation, maintenance, shipping and marketing the

product.

 

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Let us sum up

In this lesson we have discussed the following points

1. i) Multimedia is a woven combination of text, audio, video, images and

animation.

1. ii) Multimedia systems finds a wide variety of applications in different areas

such as education, entertainment etc.

iii) The categories of multimedia are linear and non-linear.

1. iv) The stages for multimedia application development are Planning and

costing, designing and producing, testing and delivery.

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Lesson-end Activities

1. i) Create the credits for an imaginary multimedia production. Include several

outside organizations such as audio mixing, video production, text based

dialogues.

1. ii) Review two educational CD-ROMs and enumerate their features.

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Model answers to “Check your progress”

1. Your answers may include the following
2. i) Education
3. ii) Entertainment

iii) Medicine

1. iv) Engineering
2. v) Industry
3. vi) Creative Industry

vii) Mathematical and scientific Industry

viii) Engineering

1. ix) Commercial

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 References

1. “Multimedia Making it work” By Tay Vaughan
2. “Multimedia in Practice – Technology and applications” By Jeffcoat