Chapter 3

Multimedia Skills and Training

Skills and Background
• 1. What are some of the skills needed
to develop good multimedia ?
• 2. What is the responsibility of each
member of the software team?
• 3. What background/training/skill is
required of each?
Multimedia Development Team
• Project Manager
• Multimedia Designer
• Interface Designer
• Writers
• Video Specialist
• Audio Specialist
• Multimedia Programmer
• Multimedia Producer for the Web
Project Manager
• Responsibilities
– Overall project
– Day to day operations and budget
– Put together good core team
– Maintain the “big picture” – the vision
• Background/skills
– Understand hardware & software
– Communication skills
– Good “people” skills- a good listener
Multimedia Designer
• Responsibilities:
– Overall content and structure
– Prepares blueprint for project: content, media,
interaction
– Sometime overlaps with Interface Designer
Graphic Designers
Graphic designers, illustrators, animators, and image
processing specialists deal with the visuals.
 Instructional Designers
are specialists in education or training and make sure
that the subject matter is clear and properly presented
for the intended audience.
Interface Designers
• Devise the navigation pathways and content
maps. Provides access to media and control to
people who use it.
• Makes interface “transparent” to users ( effective use
of windows, icons, backgrounds, controls, etc.)
 Information Designers
• structure content, determine user pathways
and feedback, and select presentation media
based on an awareness of the strengths of
the many separate media that make up
multimedia. All can be multimedia designers.
Multimedia Designer
• Background/skills
– Ability to analyze content structurally and
match it with effective presentation
– Expert with different media types
– Ability to look at information from different
points of view
– Interpersonal skills
– Understand resources- both technological and
human
– Solid organizational skills, attention to detail
Writers
• Responsibilities:
– Create character, action, point of view,
interactivity
– Write proposals, script actor’s
narration, write text screen( content
writers)
• Background/skills:
– Background in marketing
– Ability to work within tight deadlines
Video Specialist
• Responsibilities:
– Coordinate videographers, sound
technicians, lighting designers, set
designers, script supervisors,
production assistants, actors
• Background/skills:
– Skilled with QuickTime or MS Video for
editing
– Macromedia Premiere for special effects
Audio Specialist
• Responsibilities:
– Locating and selecting suitable music and
talent
– Scheduling recording sessions
– Editing recorded materials
• Background/skills:
– Skilled in studio recording
– Fluency in MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
– Experience with sequencing software
 Multimedia Programmer
• Responsibilities:
– Integrates multimedia elements into
“seamless” whole using programming
language or authoring system
(Authorware)
– Coding displays to controlling devices
• Background/skills:
– Multimedia languages (C++, Java)
– HTML, VRML(virtual reality modeling
language), XML(extensible markup
language)
– Ability to quickly learn new systems
Multimedia Producer for the Web

• Responsibilities:
– Coordinates set of pages for the web
• Background/skills:
– Knowledge of HTML, Photoshop, etc.
Good Multimedia
• Many multimedia systems are too
passive- users click and watch
• For fully interactive systems,
designers need clear picture of what
happens as user interacts
• Adaptive systems modify themselves
based on user input