Introduction to
multimedia
What is multimedia
- The term is multimedia has been coined from two terms :multiple and
media.
- Multiple means many and media means the different ways
information can be presented.
- Multimedia means usage of multiple medias to communicate.
-It is a combination of different media elements like text , audio , video,
animation.
-A computer capable of handling text , graphics , audio , video and
animation is sometimes called multimedia computer.
Elements of Multimedia
Text
Audio
Graphic/photos
Video
Animation
Text
It is basic step to development of multimedia presentation.
Text is used to communicate information to the user.
The textual data for multimedia can be developed using any text editor. Ex:-
OpenOffice or Ms Word.
The text can be of any type a word , paragraph or ,single line.
Terminology of text element:
Typeface
Fonts
Size
Style
1.Typeface
A typeface is family of character or letters which have similar look.
for ex:-Times New Roman, html.
typeface categorized into :sans and sans-serif
1.serif:-serif is a little decoration at the end of the character .
serif fonts are easy to read on a printed page so they usually used.
ex:-Times , Century , Bookman etc.
2.sans-serif:-sans-serif without the decoration.
They are usually used for headlines and titles.
ex:-Arial , Verdana , Helvetica etc.
Audio
Sound is the most important element of multimedia.
The term sound is used in the analog form , and the digitized form of the sound is
called audio.
Now a days computers support multimedia application. We get inbuilt sound card ,
speaker , microphone and web camera which are required for multimedia application.
The operating system provides application that can be directly used for capturing
audio and video.
The commonly used audio formats :midi(Musical Instrument Digital interface),.rm(Real
media),.wav(wave format Audio file format), .wma(windows media audio),.mp3(MPEG-
1 Audio layer ),.mpga(MPEG Audio).
.wav is the most popular uncompressed sound format on the internet
.mp3 is the new compressed format for recorded music.
Graphics/photos
Photographs converted into digital form of pixels map.
A map is a two dimensional matrix of these dots.
Each pixels contains values representing a colour .when an image is
sent to be displayed on the screen , the pictures data is converted to
pixels.
Another form of image generated by computers is vector graphics.
They store the images in the form of mathematical equations.
On the screen both bitmap and vector graphics looks the same . But
when you enlarge the bitmap image ,it will blur.
The vector image looks the same when enlarge . This is because the data is stored in
the mathematical form and the value are redeclared when displayed on the screen.
The commonly used image formats are .bmp(bitmap),.gif(Graphics
Interchange,.png(portable network graphics),.jpeg/.jpg(joint photographic Experts
group) etc.
Video & Animation
The term video refers to the sequence of natural scenes captured
using analog or digital video capturing device.
This device can be a web camera , digital camera or even mobile
phones.
Animation is a visual change overtime. The digital images are played
one after the other to create a moving effect.
We can say that, animation is created from drawn pictures and video
is created using real time visuals
Some examples of animation movies kung fu panda and the angry
birds.
Animation can be classified as two dimensional(2D) or three dimensional (3D).
In 2D animation the visual change occurs on the x and y axis of the screen.
This type animation is simple . Ex:-Macro flash , Synfig studio and pencil.
In 3D animation the visual change occurs along three axis namely x , y, and z.
This type of animation gives almost a realistic view of images . Ex:-Maya , Blender and 3D max.
The commonly used video formats are .avi (audio video interleave), .wmv(windows media
video),.mpeg(moving picture experts group),.flv(flash video) and mp4(MPEG-4).
Now a days mp4 is most widely used format for the internet video. It is supported by flash players
and Youtube.
Interactive objects
Earlier the internet browser supported only one media element : text
Text was also limited to single font and colour.
Now a days, all the media elements supported by latest internet browser in different
ways.
Some media element can be handled inline and some require plug in.
Inline media objects are specified inside the program using a specific <inline media
object> tag.
Plug-in are extra helper programs that can be easily installed and used as a part of
the web browser.
Classification of multimedia
It is classified into two namely:
Interactive multimedia
Non interactive multimedia
In interactive multimedia , the sequence and timing of multimedia
elements can be controlled by the user.
For example, a multimedia CD on “learn musical instruments”, the
user can select on the different musical instrument he/she wants to
play.
User can also select his favourite song which he/she wants to play
using that instrument.
In non interactive multimedia the user simply watches the media as it plays from
beginning to the end.
He/she has no control over the flow.
For example :- A corporate presentation or multimedia demo.
Another classification of multimedia is based on its application : Entertainment or
edutainment(that are both educational and entertaining)
All types of games, movies are example of entertainment multimedia where in the
purpose is to entertain the user.
The multimedia titles that educate the user are classified under edutainment
multimedia.
All types of educational CD’s are example of edutainment multimedia.
Usage of multimedia
1.Education and training: we have been using presentation consist of
charts , tables and other objects to impart knowledge since a long time.
2.Advertising: Advertising is the major source of launching and
promoting a product by the manufacturing companies in the market
Example : Vodafone Ads.
3.Entertainment: multimedia is heavily used in the environment industry
to develop special effects in animation and movies. Example : ice age,
Jurassic park, avtar
4.journalism: there are many magazines and newspaper that are
published periodically . E-newspaper and E-magazines are also
available online where we can see the videos related to particular
news .
Stages of multimedia
Any multimedia presentation must be carefully planned and
designed and a plan should be according to the field selected .
For example, an application made for entertainment may not work
with and educational application and vice versa.
Following are the stages in multimedia productions:
1.Research and analysis:
-we need to find our about the audience , their skills ,needs and
qualification .
-we should also gather as much information as possible about the
content to be presented .
2.Scripting and flowcharting:
-scripting or flowcharting means deciding the flow of the multimedia project.
-for example:- multimedia project on science for standard XI, the homepage would
display all the chapter names , explanation , exercise, test and other aspects related to
chapter.
3.Storyboarding:
-now actual visualization of the project takes places . The designer decides how each
screen should like , which media elements are to be used and where to place them on
the screen.
4.Collection of media elements and construction:
-the designer is ready with the prototype and starts creating the graphics and other
media element to be used in the project.
5. Programming:
-after the collection and construction of media elements , they are combined together
into a final product using software packages.
6. Testing:
-this is a final stage of any multimedia projects . In this stage we check if all the media
elements are working as per the requirements or not
-if we work as per the stages mentioned here then most of the application that we may
develop will turn out to be good.
MCQ
1.The term multimedia has been coined from which of the following terms:
->multiple , media
2.How many maximum media elements are combined in multimedia?
->five
3.Which of the following terms defines a meaningful speech any language?
->sound
4.Times , Century , Bookman are some examples of which following fonts?
->serif
5.Which of the following is an audio file compressed with windows media compression?
->.wma
6.Which of the following terms represents the distance between the top of the letter to
the bottom point?
->size
7.Which of the following term represents typefaces that have different style and sizes?
->font
8.Macromedia flash ,Synfig studio and pencil are examples of which of the following
animation types?
->2D animation
9. Which of the following term represents a small dot on the computer screen?
->pixel
10. Which of the following term represents a classification of images?
->vector , raster
11. Which of the following term represents a visual change over time?
->Animation
12.Which of the following terms represents a two dimensional matrix of dots?
->map
13.Which of the following terms is fullform of MIDI?
->musical instrument digital face
14.Which of the following terms represents the most common image format used by
digital cameras?
->.jpeg
15.Which of the following is used to store the images are stored in form of mathematical
equations?
->vector
16.Which of the following devices helps us to convert photographs into a digital format.
->scanner
17.Which of the following terms represent PNG?
->portable network graphic
18.Which of the following terms represents a helper programs that can be easily installed
and used as a part of the web browser?
->plug-in
19.In which of the following terms can multimedia be classifies?
->interactive and non interactive
20.In which of the following animation types does the visual change occur in the x and y
axis?
->2D
