This presentation contains introduction to multimedia technologies as a guidance to students of BTECH, MTECH, BCA, MCA

1. Multimedia Technologies
INTRODUCTION
By Tamanna Sehgal
tamannasehgal@live.com

2. What is Multimedia?
Derived from the word “Multi” and “Media”
Multi
 Many, Multiple,
Media
 Tools 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.

3. Definition of Multimedia
Multimedia 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

4. Elements of Multimedia
TEXT
TEXT
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

5. Elements of Multimedia
TEXT
TEXT
AUDIO
GRAPHIC
VIDEO
ANIMATION
 Example

6. Elements of Multimedia
GRAPHIC
TEXT
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).

7. Elements of Multimedia
GRAPHIC
TEXT
AUDIO
GRAPHIC
VIDEO
ANIMATION
 Example

8. Elements of Multimedia
AUDIO
TEXT
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.

9. Elements of Multimedia
AUDIO
TEXT
AUDIO
GRAPHIC
VIDEO
ANIMATION
 Example

10. Elements of Multimedia
ANIMATION
TEXT
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.

11. Elements of Multimedia
ANIMATION
TEXT
AUDIO
GRAPHIC
VIDEO
ANIMATION
 Example

12. Elements of Multimedia
VIDEO
TEXT
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.

13. Interactive Multimedia
When the user is given the option of
controlling the elements.
Hyper Media
A combination of hypertext, graphics,
audio, video, (linked elements) and
interactivity culminating in a complete,
non-linear computer-based experience.

14. Example
Interactive Multimedia

15. Example
Hyper Media
Main Page
1. Video link
2. Image link
3. Audio Link

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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).

19. Authoring Tools
 Example:
 Macromedia Authorware
 Macromedia Director
 Macromedia Flash
 Microsoft Power Point

20. Importance of Multimedia
There are a number of fields where
multimedia could be of use. Examples
are:-
Business
Education
Entertainment
Home
Public Places

21. Importance of Multimedia
 Business
Use and Applications
Sales / Marketing Presentation
Trade show production
Staff Training Application
Company Kiosk

22. Importance of Multimedia
 Education
Use and Applications
Courseware / Simulations
E-Learning / Distance Learning
Information Searching

23. Importance of Multimedia
 Entertainment
Use and Applications
Games (Leisure / Educational)
Movies
Video on Demand
Music on Demand

24. Importance of Multimedia
 Home
Use and Applications
Television
Satellite TV
SMS services (chats, voting, reality TV)

25. Importance of Multimedia
 Public Places
Use and Applications
Information Kiosk
Smart Cards, Security

26. 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

27. Benefits of multimedia systems
Easy to understand and easy to use
Integrated and interactive
Conducive to cooperative work environment
Flexible
Supportive of large audience

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. Properties of a multimedia system
 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.

31. Properties of a multimedia system
 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.

32. Properties of a multimedia system
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.

33. 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?

34. 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.

35. 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.

36. 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.

37. Challenges of multimedia system
design
 Host computing power requirement
 Data storage and management
requirements
 Human interface usability requirements
 Network latency and throughput
requirements

38. Scope of Research
New merging effects in Multimedia
Authoring Tools

39. 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.