Digital Multimedia, 2nd edition Nigel Chapman & Jenny Chapman Chapter 1

This presentation 2004, MacAvon Media Productions

https://sites.google.com/site/drahmedsalimxpress/ digital-multimedia

 A storyteller might use these portentous words to capture your

attention and draw you into a tale.

The dark and stormy night can be represented in different media,

each of which tells the story through different means, appealing to different senses.
One of the key insights in computing is that all these media can be

represented digitally, as a structured collection of bits, and can then be manipulated by programs on a computer, stored on disks and other storage devices, and transmitted over networks.
Their shared digital representation means that different media can

be combined into what is loosely called multimedia.

 Digital multimedia can be interactive, in a way that, for example, a

TV news bulletin is not, and that goes far beyond the simple control afforded by a VCR.
By clicking on an icon on the screen, the user could cause the scene

to play as a video clip, or add sound effects, according to their choice.

Different interface options might be offered for users with different

tastes and needs.

Programs can manipulate data in response to user input, so digital

multimedia can be interactive

 Digital multimedia may be used for many things besides stories and

forensic reconstructions.
The most prominent and economically significant uses of

multimedia at present are in the fields of entertainment and education.

Multimedia is also being used educationally in schools, and for

extra-curricular and pre-school learning, where multimedia teaching materials can be used to present information in more direct ways than traditional books and lessons.
For example, film clips and original recordings of radio broadcasts

Multimedia teaching materials can be bought in as complete CDROM titles, or they can be made by teachers in their own schools.

 Several successful multimedia CD-ROMs use elements of games for

an educational purpose.
Multimedia is also used in sales presentations and promotions for

example, computers on sale in showrooms often run multimedia presentations describing their capabilities, and Web pages often function as sales brochures.
Graphic designers produce interactive presentations of their work as

a supplement to, or even as a substitute for, a conventional portfolio.

The electronic portfolio can be inexpensively duplicated on CD-

ROM and sent to potential clients, or posted on a Web site as a virtual exhibition.

 One area in which computation plays a more active part is

visualization.
In which graphics and animation are used as a means of presenting

complex data.
for example, a program that simulates atmospheric dynamics.

 One area in which computation plays a more active part is

visualization.
In which graphics and animation are used as a means of presenting

complex data.
for example, a program that simulates atmospheric dynamics.

Applications of multimedia require a means of delivery to distribute this material from the producer to the user.
It is useful to distinguish between online and offline delivery.

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 Uses a network (usually the Internet) to send

information from one computer to another

World Wide Web is commonest form of online delivery of

multimedia
Often a server machine providing centralized storage of bulky data.

Network may be a LAN in a single organisation or

more often the public Internet.

Bandwidth requirements. Delivery of multimedia content via streaming.

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 Removable secondary storage required with significant

storage capacity and data transfer performance.

Widespread deployment of CDROM drives in mid

1990s partly accounted for surge in interest in Multimedia.

Current trend in DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) mirrors

CDROM related factors leading to different applications of multimedia, in particular widespread use in home movie industry.
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 Some dates:
CD-ROM specification published 1985 CD-ROM drives on desktop machines from ~1989 WWW publicly available at start of 1992
Handful of servers; line-based browser

HTML 3.2 adopted as W3C Recommendation in January

1997
Audio and video proprietary extensions

 The making of multimedia requires software not only for the

preparation of individual media elements, but for their integration into a finished production.
Programs that allow a designer to assemble different media elements

in space and time, and add interactive behavior to them, are usually called authoring systems.
Multimedia authoring systems take many forms, though: if we are

currently unsure about the form of multimedia, we are equally uncertain about the best means of producing it.
Director,

storyboard

and Photoshop.

 Multimedia production display and presentation is

the sole purpose

Multimedia application display is driven by

computation
e.g. Web application presenting data stored in a database

Multiple media user must switch between modalities

(read, watch, listen,) instead of combining them

 Digital multimedia: any combination of two or more

media, represented in a digital form, sufficiently well integrated to be presented via a single interface, or manipulated by a single computer program

 There are many precedents for the integration of media,

but the addition of interactivity is a novel contribution of digital multimedia.

Interactivity is frequently cited as the feature that

distinguishes digital multimedia from other forms of combined media.

Fundamental control offered to user is limited within

parameters established by the multimedia producer since interaction takes place within a finite system as defined by the controlling computer program.
Interactivity embedded in a rich environment provided by

a multimedia enhanced program can however create new user experiences eg. some types of multimedia games.

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 Text, images laid out in 2-D arrangement as in book or

magazine Time-based elements embedded as if they were images

Playback controls may be provided

Pages combined using links (hypermedia) Essentially static

 Elements arranged in time

Presented in sequence on a timeline Elements may be frames or discrete pages (slideshow)

Often incorporates parallelism

Parallel elements may be synchronized

 Film: fixed order of frames defines a single playback

sequence

Book: physical arrangement of text and pages implies

a linear reading order

 Flash: jumps between frames, controlled by

interactivity, permit branching and loops

Hypermedia: links between pages permit multiple

arbitrary reading orders

 Means of presenting choices and accepting user input

can vary enormously from

Stylized interface elements used by mainstream OSs

and applications
to
Free-form, dynamically changing interaction of games

Conventions are predictable, but limited to (static)

context in which they were developed

 If access to multimedia is the norm, those denied access

become marginalized ('digital divide') Access may be limited by lack of:

Access to equipment and skills
Network infrastructure Literacy and education

Physical and cognitive abilities

These factors may depend on wealth, geographical

location,

 Access to production of traditional media highly

restricted
Books: distributed through publishers, subject to editorial

scrutiny; barriers to newcomers

Film: very high cost; studios prefer safe bets Music: mostly distributed by few labels controlled by

small number of multinationals; hard to break in to the business

TV: video production relatively low cost, but access to

broadcast rigidly controlled

 Potentially anyone with Internet access can have their

own Web site

ISPs provide free Web space Free and inexpensive tools are adequate

WWW has potential for revolution in access to the

means of production and distribution of digital material

 All sufficiently complex societies seek to control what

people may see or hear, either by explicit policing, economic or other means
Rapid growth of the Internet and its potential for

disseminating unacceptable content has given new impetus to debates about censorship
Complicated ethical issues with no enduring

conclusion or consensus despite thousands of years of debate

 WWW is global network, hence material reaches

many different societies and cultural and religious groups within those societies
Many different models of censorship none, rigid

centralized control, self-regulation,

Unrealistic to expect a single model of censorship to

be acceptable everywhere
Difficult to assign responsibility for dissemination of

content on Internet

 Platform for Internet Content Selection

Attempt to provide a mechanism that supports a

diversity of attitudes towards content and censorship

Labels attached to each page, providing a rating of its

contents
PICS only defines standard label format

Screening software rejects material deemed unsuitable

according to user's criteria

Defers the difficult decisions