SM 2233Multimedia Production

Introduction

School of Creative Media

What is this course about?

“the big picture” – how multimedia products are produced

How do we achieve goal? What are the different roles in a

multimedia production? What is the process? You got to involve

in the process!!!! Nothing can substitute experience!

What is this course about?

Many other courses look at individual media, small set of tools and techniques

Real-life project use multiple types of media, use many different tools

How do these tools interact? Do they work together? How do we set up a “production line” to produce the final product

What is this course about?

We will talk about:

Proposals Budgets Scheduling Management Reports

What is this course about?

To make the course more interesting we will focus on :

Work in a practical context Understand group dynamics Focus in the process

What is Multimedia? Multimedia is the use of several different media to convey

information. Multimedia may include text, spoken audio, music, images,

animation, video and interactivity. Multimedia also refers to specific computer system Not all multimedia product / project involve computers. But

using computer devices becoming a common practice. A communication form that uses any combination of

different media; Multimedia programs are often interactive and include

games, online presentations, live events and creative projects.

Also referred to as newmedia.

Types of Multimedia Projects Many type of projects in multimedia: some typical categories:

Websites Educational/Training software Games/Entertainment Commercial presentations/Advertising campaigns Exhibition/Trade show Art/Performance What else you can think of?

Types of Multimedia Projects

Project differ in: Risk Size / length of time Team size Team composition Innovation

RiskHigh risk types:

Commercial presentations (For game deveopment, risk could be as high as 90%)

Live events Projects with tight deadline Projects without a clear goal

More interesting multimedia projects. Lower risk: Art projects, no definite guideline for judgment

Risk How can we determine the level of risk?

Project size – smaller projects are safer Team size and composition – large varied

teams introduce management problems New tools and techniques – doing something

new is a source of risk Experience – the more experience the better

Project Size A commercial presentation may take one

person a few days to prepare A game could take a team of 75 three years

to produce As projects get bigger they become harder

to manage - longer time & more people

Team Size Small teams can be quite informal, no need for

management. Easier for small team to keep track of means towards

the goal / final product. Problems occur when teams get larger. Large teams may loose sight of the final product as a

whole, as individuals tends to focus on particular portion only.

Team Composition How diverse is the team? Are there only creative talents, or are there

technical people as well? How do you manage both technicians and

artists, motivated by different things? Different work cultures can produce issues

in the production process

Politics

Larger teams divided into groups or departments

Groups will fight over: Resources – money and facilities Responsibilities – two groups wanting to do the

same thing Blame – whose fault is it when something does

wrong

Innovation Is there something new about this project?

New media type? New technology? New tools ? New effects ?

InnovationHow does innovation affect a project?Pro:

Increase value of the project – commercial, artistic, academic, etc.

Increase multimedia production standard

Con: Adds risk! More planning More time, more training, Lack experience with new technique/media, need to

experiment, develop prototypes

Production Process

For standard products can have a relatively standard production process - what needs to be done according timeline

For rapidly developing areas this is much harder, don’t fully understand the media, hard to standardize production process

Production Process

There are three areas where a standard process is starting to emerge: Websites (Rich-media) CD-ROM / DVD – commercial/advertising presentations Games Live events

Websites and CD/DVD are quite similar - traditional approach

Web / Media Presentation

Usually done with relatively small teams, mainly creative people

Relatively short term, several weeks/months Projects tend to be client driven, hired to

produce a particular product

Games

High risk, high innovation projects Usually larger teams with a mixture of

creative and technical people Long term projects, usually taking several

years to complete Involve certain peripheral products, like

character figurines, posters, etc.

Live Events / Presentation More interactive Direct contact with participants/ audience Large amount of production deal with time issue All media elements need to be produced and

“rehearsed” (tested) More interesting – can be creative in electronic

media design, as well as performance elements (stage design, music, speech, lighting, etc.)

Instant response / feedback of the project