Course Description

In Multimedia Systems, students will study the fundamentals of

multimedia production such as text, graphics, audio, animation,
and video. Students will participate in such hands-on
experiences as editing videos, creating web pages, burning CDs,
building applications with authoring tools, and implementing
multimedia in presentations.

Course outline

Introduction to Multimedia Systems

Broad characteristics,

Requirements,

What makes them different?

Operating System Requirements

Disk layout, and scheduling

Media Characteristics & Compression Techniques

Audio, Images, Video, 3D Models, and 3D Motions

Image & Video Segmentation,

Shape-based 3D Retrieval

Streaming Multimedia Data

Video streaming, 3D models streaming AND 3D animation

streaming
Watermarking Techniques & Security

General strategies,emphasis on 3D watermarking,

Security Architectures

Multimedia Server Architectures

Focusing on Video-on-Demand architectures

Aims and Objectives

In this lesson we will learn the preliminary concepts of

Multimedia. We will discuss the various benefits and applications
of multimedia. After going through this chapter the reader will be
able to:

• define multimedia

• list the elements of multimedia

• enumerate the different applications of 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, and 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.

Multimedia is a media that uses multiple form of information

content and information processing

BASIC ELEMENTS OF MULTIMEDIA

 TEXT
Characters that are used to create words, sentences, and
paragraphs.
 Graphics
A digital representation of non-text information, such as a
drawing, chart, or photograph.
 Animation
Flipping through a series of still images. It is a series of graphics
that create an illusion of motion.

Video
photographic images that are played back at speeds of 15 to 30
frames a second and the provide the appearance of full motion.
 Audio
music, speech, or any other sound.

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.