Multimedia Applications

Unit-01
 Media
•Media is the means of conveying the information.
•There are two basic ways to present information.
•Unimedia: In unimedia presentation a single media is used to present information for eg. A
stereo system is a unimedia device because it presents information by using only sound media.
 What is Multimedia?
•Multimedia is a combination of various media.
•Fundamentally multimedia means that computer information can be represented through
multiple media such as text, audio, graphics, images, video and animation.
•Multimedia technology facilitates integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text,
graphics, audio, video, etc in digital form in computers.
• For example, a presentation involving audio and video clips would be considered a "multimedia
presentation”.
Components of Multimedia
•Multimedia is a combination of various media:
 Components of Multimedia
Text: is words and symbols in any form, spoken or written, are the most common system of communication.
•Text is used in most Multimedia applications.
Text elements can be categorized into:
–Alphabets characters: A –Z
–Number: 0 –9
–Special characters: . , ; : ‘ “
–Symbols: @ # $ & *

Text Usages
•Heading / Title
•Paragraph
•Navigation
Hardware requirement for text: Keyboard, OCR, Monitor, Printer
Software Requirement of Text: Text Editors
 Components of Multimedia
Graphics

• Pictures, photographic, images and other artwork are called graphics.

• Graphics make the multimedia application attractive.
• In many cases people do not like reading large amount of textual matter on the screen.
• Therefore, graphics are used more often than text to explain a concept, present background information etc.

Audio
-Produced by vibration, as perceived by the sense of hearing.
• A multimedia application may require the use of speech, music and sound effects.
• These are called audio or sound element of multimedia. Audio are of analog and digital types.
• Analog audio or sound refers to the original sound signal.
• Computer stores the sound in digital form. Therefore, the sound used in multimedia application is digital audio.
 Components of Multimedia
Video

• The term video refers to the moving picture, accompanied by sound such as a picture in television.
• Is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures.
• Video is more towards photo realistic image sequence / live recording as in comparison to animation

Animation

• Animation is a process of making a static image look like it is moving.

• An animation is just a continuous series of still images that are displayed in a sequence.
• The animation can be used effectively for attracting attention.
• It is a series of graphics that create an illusion of motion.

• https://vspages.com/animation-vs-video-1508/
 FONTs and Faces
• Typeface is the design of lettering that can include variations, such as extra bold, bold, regular, light, italic,
condensed, extended, etc. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font.
• A FONT is a collection of characters of a single size and style belonging to a particular typeface family.
• The size of a font, typically represented in points (pt).
• For example, Arial is a typeface; 16pt Arial Bold is a font.
 Fonts And Faces
• Use bold fonts for emphasis, to highlight important
points.
• Use italics to emphasize small amounts of text within a
block of text.
• Underlines are appropriate for section headings and
some bibliographical notations.
• In web browsers, default settings typically distinguish
hyperlinks by underlining them.
 Applications of Multimedia
Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to: Advertisements, Art, Education,
Entertainment, Business, Scientific research etc.

Education-Multimedia has a huge impact on education.

• Many college or schools use different types of computer based teaching software based on multimedia.
• It is not necessary that teacher is available in class. (E-Learning / Distance Learning )
• Students in engineering colleges use interactive multimedia presentations to learn the basics of electronic, implement
test and manipulate the circuit they design on a computer.
• Training/classroom multimedia, appropriately known as CBT (Computer Based Training/Tutorials) uses multimedia
technology to teach academic curriculum.
• Many computer games with focus on education are now available. Consider an example of an educational game which
plays various rhymes for kids. The child can paint the pictures, increase reduce size of various objects etc. apart from
just playing the rhymes.
• Teachers can use multimedia presentations to make lessons more interesting by using animations to highlight or
demonstrate key points.
 Applications of Multimedia
Home
–Most multimedia projects reach the homes via television sets or monitors with built-in user inputs.
–Movies on demand, games, instructional videos on gardening etc.
Applications of Multimedia

Public places

–Multimedia will become available at stand-alone terminals or

kiosks to provide information and help.
 Applications of Multimedia
Business

–Business applications include presentations training,

marketing, advertising, product demos, databases, catalogues,
instant messaging, and networked communication. Staff
Training Application
 Applications of Multimedia
• Multimedia is used for advertising and selling products on the Internet.

• Some businesses use multimedia for training where CDROMs or on-line

tutorials allow staff to learn at their own speed, and at a suitable time to
the staff and the company.

• New product development using computer assisted design CAD

 Applications of Multimedia
Multimedia in Hospital- Multimedia best use in hospitals is for real time monitoring of conditions of patients in critical
illness or accident. The conditions are displayed continuously on a computer screen and can alert the doctor/nurse on
duty if any changes are observed on the screen. Multimedia makes it possible to consult a surgeon or an expert who can
watch an ongoing surgery line on his PC monitor and give online advice at any crucial juncture.

Multimedia in Entertainment:
• Entertainment and media industry are benefitted by multimedia technology. Images, animation and sound are broadly
used for creation animation movies. Multimedia technology is also used for providing special effects.
• A computer is broadly used by musicians to record, edit and mix sounds.
• It is used for entertainment CDs, games, comics and stories for children.
• Video and entertainment films are formed using computers and stored on CD-ROM. Music can also be stored on CDs
and played using multimedia software package such as media player etc.
• Some of the techniques commonly used for creating video films for different purposes like video editing, mixing and
3D animation.
Examples of Multimedia Application
Interactive TV
Multimedia courseware
Video conferencing
Video-on-Demand
Virtual reality

Digital video editing and production systems

E-Newspapers /Magazines
Games
Home shopping
Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is an extension of multimedia.

Virtual Reality (VR) is a computer-generated environment with scenes
and objects that appear to be real, making the user feel they are
immersed in their surroundings.
This environment is perceived through VR headsets or helmet.
•It uses the basic multimedia elements of imagery, sound, and
animation.
•It requires terrific computing horsepower to be realistic.
 Advantages of Multimedia
• It is very user-friendly. It doesn’t take much energy out of the user, in the sense that you can sit and watch the
presentation, you can read the text and hear the audio.

• It is multi sensorial. It uses a lot of the user’s senses while making use of multimedia, for example hearing,
seeing and talking.

• It is integrated and interactive. All the different mediums are integrated through the digitization process.
Interactivity is heightened by the possibility of easy feedback.

• It is flexible. Being digital, this media can easily be changed to fit different situations and audiences.

• It can be used for a wide variety of audiences, ranging from one person to a whole group.
 Disadvantages of Multimedia
•It can be expensive. Multimedia makes use of a wide range of resources, which can cost you a
large amount of money.
•Too much makes it unpractical. Large files like video and audio has an effect of the time it takes
for your presentation to load. Adding too much can mean that you have to use a larger
computer to store the files.
•Information overload. Because it is so easy to use, it can contain too much information at once.
•It takes time to compile. Even though it is flexible, it takes time to put the original draft together.
Linear and Non-Linear Multimedia
Linear:
Linear active content progresses often without any navigational control for the viewer such as a
cinema presentation, movie.
The linear content is usually arranged in sequence. Although a movie uses a combination of
audio, graphics and animations, the user has no control over the sequence of events. users can
sit back and watch it just as they do a movie or the television
–The presentation normally plays from the start to end or even loops continually to present the
information
Linear and Non-Linear Multimedia
Non linear (interactive) multimedia
-uses interactivity to control progress as with a video game or self-paced computer based training.
-Non-linear multimedia is a nonsequential type of multimedia where the person's participation is crucial.
–When users are given navigational control and can wander through the content at will.
Non linear means
–Interactive
–Users have control over the contents
–Users are given navigation control
–Example
–Games , course ware , interactive CD
 HyperText
A hyperlink is an element of a website by clicking
on which we can jump from one page to the other.
It is the base of the hypertext and hypermedia.
Hypertext is different from the general text because
it is non-linear. Hypertext comprises of interlinked
pieces of text.

? Hypertext ”term invented by Ted Nelson” is a text which contains links to other texts.
 HyperMedia
HyperMedia is a term used for hypertext which is not constrained to be text: it can include graphics or video.
Example of Hypermedia application World Wide Web (WWW).
 • The two terms are distinct in a manner that the hypertext
allows only text to be hyperlinked while hypermedia could
use various multimedia elements such as images, audio and
video, in order to link the text and media over the World
Wide Web.

• However, hypertext is a part of the hypermedia as

hypermedia includes text, image, audio, video, etcetera.
• Hypermedia is an extension of hypertext.

• One the best example of the hypermedia is the youtube in

which the text is usually linked to the videos.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-hypertext-and-
hypermedia/#:~:text=Hypertext%20refers%20to%20the%20system,as%20graphics%2C%20sounds
%2C%20animations. • Multimedia requires different types of devices to show the
https://pediaa.com/difference-between-hypertext-and-hypermedia/
result while hypermedia requires a computer screen to
display the results.
 Multimedia and HyperMedia
Multimedia simply can be defined as the use of multiple forms of media to present information. It is an integration of
different forms of media such as text, audio, video, images, and still or animated graphics with the computer
technology.

Hypermedia, an extension of the term hypertext, is a nonlinear medium of information that includes graphics, audio,
video, plain text and hyperlinks. This designation contrasts with the broader term multimedia, which may include non-
interactive linear presentations as well as hypermedia.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/news-wires-white-
papers-and-books/hypermedia-and-multimedia
Multimedia Software Tools
•Various Multimedia tools are available for carrying out tasks in multimedia.
•Digital Audio: Macromedia Soundedit
•Image/Graphics editing: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Fireworks
•Music sequencing and notation: Cakewalk, Cubase
•Video editing: Adobe Premiere
•Animation: Adobe Spark, OPenGL
•Multimedia authoring:
 Multimedia Authoring Tools
•Tools that provide the capability for creating a complete multimedia presentation, including interactive user
control, are called authoring programs.
•Multimedia authoring refers to that process of developing a multimedia project with different types of media
contents like text, audio, image, animations and video as a single stream of information with the help of
various software tools available in the market. Multimedia authoring tools give an integrated environment for
joining together the different elements of a multimedia production.
•It gives the framework for organizing and editing the components of a multimedia project. It enables the
developer to create interactive presentation by combining text, audio, video, graphics and animation.

e.g Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Director

 Features of Authoring Tools
•Editing and organizing features(text and image editing etc) (flowcharting and storyboarding)
•Programming features( visual/scripting/ basic programming like C etc)
•Interactivity features( Ability to jump to any part of the product)
•Performance timing and playback features
•Cross-platform(ability to perform on all platforms)
•Internet Playability (ability to create the output for web enabled application)
TYPES OF AUTHORING TOOLS
•There are 3 types of authoring tools and they are as follows:
•1. Card and page based tools:
•The multimedia elements are organized as pages of a book or a stack of cards.
•These tools are best used when the bulk of your content consists of elements that can be
viewed individually, like the pages of a book or cards in a card file.
•The authoring system lets you link these pages or cards into organized sequences using
Hyperlinks. You can jump, on command, to any page you wish in the structured navigation
pattern. It allows you to play sound elements and launch animations and digital video.
•Educational software is based on Page based tools eg. Tool book, Hypercard, Powerpoint
 TYPES OF AUTHORING TOOLS
2. Icon based- event driven tools
•Icon-based, event-driven tools provide a visual programming approach to organizing and presenting
multimedia. First you build a structure or flowchart of events, tasks, and decisions, by dragging
appropriate icons from a library.
• Each icon does a specific task, for example- plays a sound, open an image etc. The flowchart graphically
depicts the project’s logic.
•When the structure is built, you can add your content: text, graphics, animation, sounds, and video
movies. Then, to refine your project, you edit your logical structure by rearranging and fine-tuning the
icons and their properties.
Eg. Authorware professional, Icon Author
 TYPES OF AUTHORING TOOLS
3. Time based tools
•Elements and events are organized along a timeline. Time based tools are best to use when you
have a project with a beginning and an end like movies.
•Sequentially organized graphic frames are played back at a speed that you can set. Other
elements are triggered back at a given time or location in the sequence of events.
• The more powerful time based tools let you program jumps to any location in a sequence,
thereby adding navigation and interactive control like gaming.
•Eg. Macromedia flash, Macromedia Director
With multimedia authoring software, you can make
Video productions
Animations
Games
Interactive web sites
Demo disks and guided tours
Presentations
Kiosk applications
Interactive training
Simulations, prototypes, and technical visualizations
 Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
•The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) was created specifically to standardize 3D content for
the web. It was designed to allow 3D 'worlds' to be delivered over the World Wide Web (WWW).
•VRML, was a 3D modeling language intended to be, like HTML, a web standard. The idea was that web
browsers could support viewing interactive environments created in VRML, and the web would
become a world of virtual reality sites.
•VRML files are commonly called "worlds" and have the .wrl Extension.
• VRML files are analogous to HTML (hypertext markup language) files in that they are standard text
files which are interpreted by browsers.
•Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) is a language for adding 3D to the WWW. VRML is to 3D
what HTML is to 2D.
 Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)
•Like HTML, VRML has been designed to be platform independent and to work over low bandwidth (i.e.
low speed) connections. While HTML files describe a 2D page containing various text constructs, such
as paragraphs and headings, VRML files describes a 3D space, or 'world'.
•A VRML world is made up of lots of simple shapes, such as cones and spheres, grouped together to
form objects. The more shapes in the file, the more detailed the world, but at a cost of increasing the
file size and the time taken by the browser to display the world.
•While HTML specifies how two-dimensional documents are represented, VRML is a format that
describes how three-dimensional environments can be explored and created on the World Wide
Web. Since 2D is really just a subset of 3D, any two-dimensional object can be easily represented in a
three-dimensional environment.
 VRML

•Using a VRML browser the user can explore this world, zooming in and out, moving around and
interacting with the virtual environment.
•VRML can also include multimedia elements, such as texture images, video and sounds.
•The most common VRML browsers on the desktop: Live3D, Netscape's own VRML browser.
•VRML has been put to a variety of uses in higher education, from architecture through to
medical applications, and indeed could be used anywhere where there is a need to view 3D
objects
Macromedia Flash
Flash is a simple authoring tool that facilitates the creation of interactive movies. Flash allows
users to create interactive movies by using the score metaphor - a timeline arranged in parallel
event sequences.
Used to create interactive, and animated media such as motion graphics, videos, presentations
and websites.

Stage: The stage is where your work goes. The white space right in the middle of the screen is
the stage. You can place the elements of your movie, including graphics and text, on the stage.
Imagination can work wonders and create rich Internet applications on the stage
Macromedia Flash
Layers: Flash movies are composed of layers Layers are required to keep different elements of your
movie from running together. Layers allow you to keep the elements of your animation separate, and
they allow you to create scenes.
For example, if you wanted to animate a logo that has text on top of it, you would create two layers.
One layer would have the logo graphic while the other layer would include the text. This way, both
elements have their own space.
Timeline: The timeline window in the Flash environment allows you to control your movie. The
timeline window is made up of frames, which are fragments of time in your movie. Flash movies are
groups of layers placed over frames. When you group frames, or time, together and play it quickly,
you have a movie.
Timeline controls the flow, interactivity, and organization of the movie. The Timeline contains all the
layers that are used in the movie, as well as all the frames and scenes used in the movie.
Timeline represents the succession of frames in the time.
A frame represents the content of the movie at one moment of time.