AUTHORING TOOL CONCEPT (Lesson 26)

Authoring tool is a program that helps you write multimedia applications. Authoring tools usually enable you to create a final application by linking together objects such as a paragraph of text, graphic or a video.
Multimedia applications can be classified into three concepts, which are

•  time frame,
•  icon
•  and card.

TIME FRAME CONCEPT

With time frame concept authoring tools, the multimedia elements or events are presented and organised along a time line.This type of tool helps users coordinate when each multimedia element (text, graphics, audio, video or animation) plays.

In time frame concept authoring tools, a timeline consists of layers which span several frames.

ICON CONCEPT

 The icon concept in authoring tools provides the multimedia developer with a visual programming approach to sequencing events in the multimedia application. In this concept, elements and events are organised in a structural framework. With icon authoring tools, users can present visually a logical flow of events by dragging icons from an icon menu. The icon can represent graphics, audio files, animation, text, movies, and other elements should be played in a logical flow or flow chart. These entire icon concept authoring tools use "drag and drop" to pick up and place icons on the presentation page.

These icons represent:

•  events such as mouse clicks, key press
•  actions to be performed after an event e.g. a transition, a sound
•  routines to perform loops, conditional branches

CARD CONCEPT
The card concept in authoring tools are based on the idea of card stacks containing graphics, audio, video, text and animation. Elements and events in card concept authoring tools are organised as pages in a book or a stack of cards. When card concept authoring tools starts, a blank page is displayed. Certain objects can be inserted e.g. text, pictures and buttons. By inserting objects into several pages, a multimedia "book'' is eventually created.

EXTENSION : CRITERIA IN EVALUATING AN AUTHORING TOOL
 It should be easy to use; thus non-programmers do not have to learn a programming language in order to develop multimedia courseware.

•  It should have ready-made templates, including popular buttons or signs and navigation tools.
•  It offers compatibility with the World Wide Web.
•  It has on-line help and learning aids.

HARDWARE AND EDITING SOFTWARE (Lesson 25)

In producing a multimedia program, we need to: Gather data for the 5 basic elements of multimedia: text, animation, graphics, video and audio by using hardware. To edit the elements, we need special editing software.

HARDWARE FOR PRODUCING MULTIMEDIA
The most common hardware used are scanner, video camera, camera for still photos, audio device, and video capture device. Each of these hardware has its functions and characteristics.

MULTIMEDIA ELEMENTS (Lesson 24)

THE FIVE MAIN ELEMENTS OF MULTIMEDIA

TEXT
Text is the basic element of multimedia. It involves the use of text types, sizes, colours and background colour. In a multimedia application, other media or screen can be linked through the use of text. This is what you call Hypertext. To produce an effective multimedia program there are three things that need to be considered. They are:

• The position of the text on the screen.
• Length of the message
• And legibility of the text.

GRAPHIC
Graphics make the multimedia application attractive. They help to illustrate ideas through still pictures.
There are two types of graphics used: bitmaps (paint graphics) and vector (draw graphics).

AUDIO
A multimedia application may require the use of speech, music and sound effects. These are called audio or the sound element. There are two basic types of audio or sound: analog and digital audio.

VIDEO
Video provides a powerful impact in a multimedia program. In multimedia applications, the digital video is gaining popularity because of the following reasons:

• Video clips can be edited easily.The digital video files can be stored like any other files in the computer and the quality of the video can still be maintained.The video files can be transferred within a computer network  it allows non-linear editing in any part of the video. However, these digital video files are large in size. Transferring these files can take a long time especially when using the Internet.

ANIMATION
Animation is a process of making a static image look like it is moving. In multimedia, digital animation is used. Digital animation can be categorised into two broad area: 2D (2 Dimension) and 3D (3 Dimension) animations.

MEDIUM OF DELIVERY (Lesson 23)

COMMON MEDIUMS
Generally, there are two very common mediums used in delivering multimedia contents. First, multimedia can be delivered through Web pages. Thus, this kind of content is said to be a Web-based multimedia. Secondly, multimedia can be delivered through compact discs. Therefore, the multimedia content is said to be a CD-based multimedia.

WEB-BASED MULTIMEDIA
Web-based multimedia is a combination of multimedia technology and Internet technology. Web-based multimedia is popular nowadays.

MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY IN THE INTERNET
Now, with the advancement of both technologies, most Web pages integrate elements like text, graphic, audio, video and animation. There are a lot of multimedia software including plug-ins, players and browsers used in the Internet. These software allow better quality multimedia programs to be stored and viewed.

CD-BASED MULTIMEDIA
CDs like CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) have been used to store and deliver multimedia content. CDs are usually used with computers. An improvement of the CD-ROM is the Blu-ray disc which can store better quality video. However, the main problem in using CD-ROMs as a medium is that, it can be costly as it takes a long time to produce a complete multimedia program.

INTERACTIVITY OF MULTIMEDIA (Lesson 22)

INTERACTIVITY
If you use the first multimedia application, the content progresses without you having to control the flow of the movie. Your only control is to press the “play” and the “stop” buttons. This interaction is called linear interactivity. On the other hand, the second multimedia application allows you to decide which part you would like to view, or how much you want to know about the content. This interaction is named non-linear interactivity.

WHAT IS INTERACTIVITY?
Interactivity refers to the way users interact with a multimedia application or program. The user can use input devices such as a keyboard, joystick, mouse and touch screen to interact with the application through the computer. Another example is a computer game. It allows the user to use the left and right arrow keys to control the movement of the game.

WHAT IS LINEAR INTERACTIVITY?
In linear interactivity, the user interacts with the multimedia application without controlling the progress of the content.

WHAT IS NON-LINEAR INTERACTIVITY?
Unlike linear interactivity, non-linear interactivity allows the user to interact with the content according to what the user wants from the content. In other words, it is a two-way communication.

EXTENSION : NON-LINEAR INTERACTIVITY AND VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual Reality is the best example of multimedia technology which uses non-linear interactivity.

MULTIMEDIA CONCEPTS

DEFINITION OF MULTIMEDIA
Multimedia has been used in many aspects in our lives, for example in the field of business, entertainment and the sciences. “Multimedia” comes from the word “multi” and “media”.“Multi” means various. “Media” refers to any hardware or software used for communicating.

The usage of text, audio, graphic, video and animation are all involved in describing media. So, multimedia is the presentation of information by using a combination of text, audio, graphic, video and animation.

CURRENT DEFINITION OF MULTIMEDIA IN ICT
In the field of Information and Communication Technology, multimedia means more than the use of the various media. A computer user interacts with the computer to perform tasks such as finding information or play games to develop a skill.

There are five main elements in a complete multimedia system.
Text, Graphic, Audio, Video, Animation

MORE MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS FIELDS
In business, multimedia applications are used in advertising products.
In art, artists use multimedia elements by combining drawing and animation.
In medicine, doctors can practice or be trained in performing high-risk surgery by using virtual surgery.
In engineering, Computer-Aided Design or CAD is used. By using this application, engineers can view the design from many aspects and improve on it before production.