introduction to multimedia technologies

Multimedia Technologies

INTRODUCTIONBy Tamanna Sehgal

[email protected]

What is Multimedia?Derived from the word “Multi” and “Media”

MultiMany, Multiple,

MediaTools that is used to represent or do a certain

things, delivery medium, a form of mass communication – newspaper, magazine / tv.

Distribution tool & information presentation – text, graphic, voice, images, music and etc.

Definition of MultimediaMultimedia is a combination of text, graphic,

sound, animation, and video that is delivered interactively to the user by electronic or digitally manipulated means.

TEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Elements of Multimedia

TEXTTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

A broad term for something that contains words to express something.

Text is the most basic element of multimedia. A good choice of words could help convey the intended message to

the users (keywords). Used in contents, menus, navigational buttons


TEXTTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Example


GRAPHICTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Two-dimensional figure or illustration Could be produced manually (by drawing, painting,

carving, etc.) or by computer graphics technology. Used in multimedia to show more clearly what a

particular information is all about (diagrams, picture).


GRAPHICTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Example


AUDIOTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Produced by vibration, as perceived by the sense of hearing.

In multimedia, audio could come in the form of speech, sound effects and also music score.


AUDIOTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Example


ANIMATIONTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

The illusion of motion created by the consecutive display of images of static elements.

In multimedia, animation is used to further enhance / enriched the experience of the user to further understand the information conveyed to them.


ANIMATIONTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Example


VIDEOTEXT

AUDIO

GRAPHIC

VIDEO

ANIMATION

Is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures.

Video is more towards photo realistic image sequence / live recording as in comparison to animation.

Video also takes a lot of storage space. So plan carefully before you are going to use it.

Interactive Multimedia

When the user is given the option of controlling the elements.

Hyper MediaA combination of hypertext, graphics,

audio, video, (linked elements) and interactivity culminating in a complete, non-linear computer-based experience.

ExampleInteractive Multimedia

ExampleHyper Media

Main Page

1. Video link

2. Image link

3. Audio Link

Linear VS Non-Linear

A Multimedia Project is identified as Linear when: It is not interactive User have no control over the content that is being showed to

them. Example:

A movie A non-interactive lecture / demo show

LINEAR

Linear VS Non-Linear

A Multimedia Project is identified as Non-Linear when: It is interactive Users have control over the content that is being showed to them. Users are given navigational control

Example: Games Courseware Interactive CD

NON-LINEAR

Authoring Tools Use to merge multimedia elements (text,

audio, graphic, animation, video) into a project.

Designed to manage individual multimedia elements and provide user interaction (if required).

Authoring Tools Example:

Macromedia Authorware Macromedia Director Macromedia Flash Microsoft Power Point

Importance of Multimedia

There are a number of fields where multimedia could be of use. Examples are:-BusinessEducationEntertainmentHomePublic Places


BusinessUse and Applications

Sales / Marketing PresentationTrade show productionStaff Training ApplicationCompany Kiosk


EducationUse and Applications

Courseware / SimulationsE-Learning / Distance LearningInformation Searching


EntertainmentUse and Applications

Games (Leisure / Educational)MoviesVideo on DemandMusic on Demand


HomeUse and Applications

TelevisionSatellite TVSMS services (chats, voting, reality TV)


Public PlacesUse and Applications

Information KioskSmart Cards, Security

Classifications of multimedia data

Captured versus synthesized media captured from real-world synthesized by computers

Discrete versus continuous media discrete space-based only e.g. Text continuous space-based and time-based

e.g. animation, motion video

Benefits of multimedia systems

Easy to understand and easy to useIntegrated and interactiveConducive to cooperative work environmentFlexibleSupportive of large audience

Characteristics of a multimedia systems

A Multimedia system has four basic characteristics:

1. Multimedia systems must be computer controlled.

2. Multimedia systems are integrated. 3. The information they handle must be

represented digitally. 4. The interface to the final presentation of media

is usually interactive.

Properties of a multimedia system

Combination of Media : Any application which contains at least one continuous (time-dependent) and one discrete media (time-independent) are utilized.Example: A text processing program with incorporated images is therefore not a multimedia application. Hence, multimedia system not only depend upon quantity of media used but on quality (kind) of media used.


Independence: An important aspect of different media is their level of independence from each other and multimedia may require several levels of independence.

Computer-supported integration: The media-independence prerequisite provides the

possibility of combining media in arbitrary forms. The multimedia system should be capable of

computer-controlled media processing and the system should be programmable by system programmer or even a user.


A text processing program that supports text, table calculations and video clips does not satisfy the demand for integration if program supporting the connection between the data can not be established. A high integration level is accomplished if changing the content of a table row causes corresponding video scene and text changes.

Communication capable multimedia systems: Most of today’s computer’s are interconnected; so,

considering multimedia function from only a local processing point of view would be a restriction.


Moreover, distributed environments enable particularly interesting multimedia applications. Here multimedia information cannot only be created, processed, presented and stored, but also distributed above the single computer’s boundary.

Challenges of a multimedia systems

Multimedia systems may have to render a variety of media at the same instant -- a distinction from normal applications. There is a temporal relationship between many forms of media (e.g. Video and Audio. There 2 are forms of problems here

Sequencing within the media -- playing frames in correct order/time frame in video

Synchronization -- inter-media scheduling (e.g. Video and Audio). Lip synchronization is clearly important for humans to watch playback of video and audio and even animation and audio. Ever tried watching an out of (lip) sync film for a long time?

Challenges continue… The key issues multimedia systems need to deal with here are:

How to represent and store temporal information. How to strictly maintain the temporal relationships on play back/retrieval

Data has to represented digitally so many initial source of data needs to be digitize -- translated from analog source to digital representation. The will involve scanning (graphics, still images), sampling (audio/video) although digital cameras now exist for direct scene to digital capture of images and video.

The data is large several Mb easily for audio and video -- therefore storage, transfer (bandwidth) and processing overheads are high. Data compression techniques very common.

Desirable features of a multimedia systems

Very High Processing Power -- needed to deal with large data processing and real time delivery of media. Special hardware commonplace.

Multimedia Capable File System -- needed to deliver real-time media -- e.g. Video/Audio Streaming. Special Hardware/Software needed e.g RAID technology.

Data Representations/File Formats that support multimedia -- Data representations/file formats should be easy to handle yet allow for compression/decompression in real-time.

Efficient and High I/O -- input and output to the file subsystem needs to be efficient and fast. Needs to allow for real-time recording as well as playback of data. e.g. Direct to Disk recording systems.

Desirable features of a multimedia systems

Special Operating System -- to allow access to file system and process data efficiently and quickly. Needs to support direct transfers to disk, real-time scheduling, fast interrupt processing, I/O streaming etc.

Storage and Memory -- large storage units (of the order of TERABYTES or more) and large memory (GIGABYTES or more). Large Caches also required for efficient Management.

Network Support -- Client-server systems common as distributed systems common.

Software Tools -- user friendly tools needed to handle media, design and develop applications, deliver media.

Challenges of multimedia system design

Host computing power requirement Data storage and management

requirements Human interface usability requirements Network latency and throughput

requirements

Scope of Research

New merging effects in Multimedia Authoring Tools

Assignment 1

1. What is Multimedia? Give an example of Multimedia application.

2. List salient features you think there should be in any multimedia application for Gaming.

introduction to multimedia technologies

Engineering