Multimedia Notes by Dharmarajan k

MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS NOTES

SUBJECT CODE: 10EBCA64

Unit 1: Introductory Concepts: Multimedia – Definitions, CD-ROM and the Multimedia Highway, Uses of Multimedia, Introduction to making multimedia – The Stages of project, the requirements to make good multimedia, Multimedia skills and training, Training opportunities in Multimedia. Motivation for multimedia usage, Frequency domain analysis, Application Domain. Unit 2: Multimedia-Hardware and Software: Multimedia Hardware – Macintosh and Windows production Platforms, Hardware peripherals – Connections, Memory and storage devices, Media software – Basic tools, making instant multimedia, Multimedia software and Authoring tools, Production Standards. Unit 3: Multimedia – making it work – multimedia building blocks – Text, Sound, Images, Animation and Video, Digitization of Audio and Video objects, Data Compression: Different algorithms concern to text, audio, video and images etc., Working Exposure on Tools like Dream Weaver, Flash, Photoshop Etc., Unit 4: Multimedia and the Internet: History, Internet working, Connections, Internet Services, The World Wide Web, Tools for the WWW – Web Servers, Web Browsers, Web page makers and editors, Plug-Ins and Delivery Vehicles, HTML, VRML, Designing for the WWW – Working on the Web, Multimedia Applications – Media Communication, Media Consumption, Media Entertainment, Media games. Unit 5 : Multimedia-looking towards Future: Digital Communication and New Media, Interactive Television, Digital Broadcasting, Digital Radio, Multimedia Conferencing, Assembling and delivering a project-planning and costing, Designing and Producing, content and talent, Delivering, CD-ROM technology. 1. Recommended Texts (i)

S. Heath, 1999, Multimedia & Communication Systems, Focal Press, UK.

(ii)

T. Vaughan, 2007, Multimedia: Making it work, 7th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill, New

(iii)

K. Andleigh and K. Thakkar, 2000, Multimedia System Design, PHI, New Delhi.

2. Reference Books (i)

Keyes, “Multimedia Handbook”, TMH, 2000.

(ii) R. Steinmetz and K. Naharstedt, 2001, Multimedia: Computing, Communications & Applications, Pearson, Delhi. (iii)

S. Rimmer, 2000, Advanced Multimedia Programming , PHI, New Delhi.. 1

Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Chapter 1:  Introduction to multimedia.  Applications of multimedia.  Virtual reality (VR). Introduction to Multimedia  Multimedia video.

combination

text,

art,

sound, animation, and

Text – collection of fonts Audio – speech, music and other types of sound Video – collection of image Graphics – collection of image as well as video Animation – an artificial movement of text or object  It is delivered to the user by electronic or digitally manipulated means.  A multimedia project development requires creative, technical, organizational, and business skills.  Multimedia becomes interactive multimedia when a user is given the option of controlling the elements.  Interactive multimedia is called hypermedia when a user is provided a structure of linked elements for navigation.  Multimedia developers develop multimedia projects.  The software vehicle, the messages, and the content together constitute a multimedia project.  A multimedia project shipped to end-users with or without instructions is called a multimedia title.  A project can also be launched on the Web.  Multimedia projects can be linear or nonlinear.  Projects that are not interactive are called linear.  Projects where users are given navigational control are called non-linear and user-interactive.  Authoring tools are used to merge multimedia elements into a project.  These software tools are designed to manage individual multimedia elements and provide user interaction.

2 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Types of multimedia 1) Interactive and non-interactive multimedia 2) Entertainment and edutainment multimedia 3) Other multimedia • Interactive and non-interactive The interactive multimedia in which user can participates in each and every stage of process. For example – gamesware, cd-rom title The non-interactive multimedia in which user can not participate just show the process from the beginning to the end in a sequential manner. For example – corporate presentation , multimedia projects •

Entertainment and edutainment

All games, novels,and movie multimedia are entertainment multimedia. Those multimedia which try to educate user in some specific curriculum is known as edutainment multimedia. • Other multimedia For example – internet multimedia, broadcast multimedia. Hyper Media: When the user provide a structure of link elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia become hypermedia. Multimedia developer The people who weave multimedia into meaningful Tapestries are multimedia developers. . Multimedia Project: The messages and the content presented on a computer or television screens together constitute, a multimedia project Multimedia Title: The project will be shipped to consumers or end users typically in a box or sleeve with or without instructions, it is a multimedia title.

3 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Applications of Multimedia  Business - Business applications for multimedia include presentations training, marketing, advertising, product demos, databases, catalogues, instant messaging, and networked communication.  Schools - Educational software can be developed to enrich the learning process.  Home - Most multimedia projects reach the homes via television sets or monitors with built-in user inputs.  Public places - In hotels, train station, shopping malls, museum and grocery store multimedia become available at stand alone terminals are kiosks to provide information and help such installation reduce demand on traditional information goods. They can work around the clock. In supermarket kiosks provide real planning to hotel kiosks risk near by restaurant, map of the city, airline, schedule on provide guess services. Printers or often attach so users can await with printed.  World Wide Web  Hypermedia courseware  Video conferencing  Video-on-demand  Interactive TV  Groupware  Home shopping  Games  Virtual reality  Digital video editing and production systems  Multimedia Database systems  In hotel, train station, shopping malls, libraries, multimedia is already available at stand-alone terminal, provide information and help for customer. Virtual Reality (VR)

 Virtual reality is an extension of multimedia.  It uses the basic multimedia elements of imagery, sound, and animation.  It requires terrific computing horsepower to be realistic.  In VR, cyberspace is made up of thousands of geometric objects plotted in three-dimensional space.  The standards for transmitting VR in Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) documents have been developed on the World Wide Web.  VRML documents have the file extension .wrl. 4

Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Compact Disc Read-Only (CD-ROM)  CD-ROM is the most cost-effective distribution medium for multimedia projects.  It can contain up to 80 minutes of full-screen video or sound.  CD burners are used for reading discs and converting the discs to audio, video, and data formats. Compact Disc Read-only memory Discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic, with a thin layer of aluminum to make a reflective surface. The most common size of CDROM disc is 120 mm in diameter, though the smaller Mini CD standard with an 80 mm diameter, as well as numerous non-standard sizes and shapes (e.g., business card-sized media) are also available. Mini CD(pocket CD) normal 120 mm CDs in many countries), much like the old vinyl single. An 80 mm disc can hold up to 24 minutes of music, or 210 MB (210 × 220 bytes) of data. storage capacity from 30 MB to 100 MB. 60 mm disc, a round version of the business card, with Comparable capacity (50 MB) First introduced in the United States [Laser] Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation VCD standard was created in 1993 XVCD (eXtended Video CD) format that stores MPEG-1 video on a compact disc in Mode 2/XA, but does not strictly follow the VCD standard DVD(digital versatile disc or digital video disk) is an optical disc storage format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonicin 1995. •Multilayered DVD technology increases the capacity of current optical technology to 18 GB. •DVD authoring and integration software is used to create interactive front-end menus for films and games. •DVD burners are used for reading discs and converting the disc to audio, video, and data formats. Copper wire, glass fiber, and radio/cellular technologies also serve a means for delivering multimedia files across a network. The DVD specification supports disks with capacities of from 4.7GB to 17GB and access rates of 600KBps to 1.3 MBps. Media type Optical disc Capacity 4.7 GB (single-sided, single-layer – common) 8.5–8.7 GB (single-sided, double-layer) 9.4 GB (double-sided, single-layer) 17.08 GB (double-sided, double-layer – rare) 5 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

HD DVD (short for High-Definition/Density DVD) is a discontinued highdensity optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.[1] Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format. In February 2008, after a protracted format war with rival Blu-ray Disc, Media type High-density optical disc Capacity 15 GB (single layer) 30 GB (dual layer) Read mechanism 405 nm laser: Blu-ray Disc: Blu-ray Disc (BD) is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Conventional (pre-BD-XL) Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature-length video discs. Triple layer discs (100 GB) and quadruple layers (150 GB) are available for BD-XL re-writer drives. The name Blu-ray Disc refers to the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. The major application of Blu-ray Discs is as a medium for video material such as feature films. Besides the hardware specifications, Blu-ray Disc is associated with a set of multimedia formats. Generally, these formats allow for the video and audio to be stored with greater Media type High-density optical disc r definition than on DVD. Capacity 25 GB (single-layer)50 GB (dual-layer) 100/128 GB (BDXL) Block size 64 kb ECC Dimensions 120 mm diameter 1.2 mm thickness

Stages of a multimedia project. Planning and costing:  The needs of a project are analyzed by outlining its messages and objectives.  A plan that outlines the required multimedia expertise is prepared.  A graphic template, the structure, and navigational system are developed.  A time estimate and a budget are prepared.  A short prototype or proof-of-concept is prepared. Design and production:  The planned tasks are performed to create a finished product.  The product is revised, based on the continuous feedback received from the client.

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Testing:  The program is tested to ensure that it meets the objectives of the project, works on the proposed delivery platforms, and meets the client requirements. Delivery:  The final project is packaged and delivered to the end user. Requirements for a Multimedia Project  Hardware.  Software.  Creativity and organizational skills. Hardware  The most significant platforms for producing and delivering multimedia projects are Macintosh operating system and Microsoft Windows.  These systems provide an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI).  The Macintosh as well as Windows PC offers a combination of affordability, and software and hardware availability.  The Macintosh platform is better suited for multimedia production than the Windows platform.  The hardware platforms provided by Apple are better equipped to manage both, sound and video editing. Software.  Multimedia software provides specific instructions to the hardware for performing tasks.  Software tools are divided into production tools and authoring tools. Creativity and organizational skills.  In a multimedia project, being creative implies knowledge of hardware and software.  It is essential to develop an organized outline detailing the skills, time, budget, tools and resources needed for the project.  Assets such as graphics, sound and the like should be continuously monitored throughout the project’s execution.  A standardized file-naming procedure should be followed for precise organization and swift retrieval. 7 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Motivation for multimedia Multimedia development, motivation must be carefully considered. Motivation is one of the primary factors that influence the effectiveness of instruction. Multimedia provides an opportunity to incorporate many motivational factors. Motivating a student means the student is excited and will maintain interest in the activity or subject. Mark Lepper and Ruth Chabay state in their article “Intrinsic Motivation and Instruction: Conflicting Views onthe Role of Motivational Process in computer-Based Education”: “To be most effective, instructional choices must be suited to the motives and interests of students as well as their cognitive aptitudes and capabilities.” The two types of motivation are intrinsic and extrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is when a student’s goal is outside his or herself, and not necessarily related to the task at hand. When a student is extrinsically motivated he or she is not interested in learning for knowledge, but for the rewards offered, such as good grades or financial gain. Extrinsic motivation can also be triggered by a desire to avoid unpleasant consequences. An intrinsically motivated student desires to learn the information simply because they are interested, or because they believe it will be useful them later. Intrinsic motivation is more likely to create lifelong learners than extrinsic motivation, because reward systems are temporary. A combination of both types of motivation may be necessary in order to motivate as many students as possible in the classroom. (Omrod, 2002) To define where motivations in games come from, cognitive theories, affect, and the motivational components of games must be explored. Multimedia Skills To produce good multimedia, you need a similar diverse of skill – detailed knowledge of computers, text, graphic arts, sound and video. These skills the multimedia skill set may be available in an individual or more is likely in composite of individual working as a team.

8 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Members of a Multimedia Team A team of skilled individuals is required to create a good multimedia project. Team building refers to activities that help a group and its members function at optimum levels. The diverse range of skills required for a project is called the multimedia skillset. A multimedia team consists of the following: Project manager. Multimedia designer. Interface designer. Writer. Video specialist  Audio specialist. Multimedia programmer. Producer for the Web. Computer programmers. Roles and Responsibilities in a Multimedia Team The project manager is responsible for: The overall development, implementation, and day-today operations of the project. The design and management of a project. Understanding the strengths and limitations of hardware and software. Ensuring people skills and organizational skills. Conveying information between the team and the client.

Multimedia designer - This team consists of: Graphics designers, illustrators, animators, and image processing specialists who deal with visuals, thereby making the project appealing and aesthetic. Instructional designers, who make sure that the subject matter is presented clearly for the target audience. Interface designers, who devise the navigational pathways and content maps. Information designers, who structure content, determine user pathways and feedback, and select presentation media. An interface designer is responsible for: Creating a software device that organizes content, allows users to access or modify content, and presents that content on the screen. Building a user-friendly interface.

9 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

A multimedia writer is responsible for: Creating characters, actions, point of view, and interactivity. Writing proposals and test screens. Scripting voice-overs and actors' narrations. A video specialist needs to understand: The delivery of video files on CD, DVD, or the Web. How to shoot quality video. How to transfer the video footage to a computer. How to edit the footage down to a final product using digital nonlinear editing system (NLE). An audio specialist is responsible for: Locating and selecting suitable music talent. Scheduling recording sessions. Digitizing and editing recorded material into computer files. Multimedia programmer also called a software engineer: Integrates all the multimedia elements into a seamless project, using authoring systems or programming language. Writes codes for the display of multimedia elements, and to control various peripheral devices. Manages timings, transitions, and record keeping. Multimedia producer for the Web: Web site producers put together a coordinated set of pages for the Web. They also co-ordinate updates and changes.

10 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS QUESTION BANK UINT I PART A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Define multimedia. Name some of the uses of multimedia What is known as multimedia highway, how itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s used. How school childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are benefited by multimedia Name any members in multimedia project team. What are the skills needed for project manager? What is the role of multimedia designer? What are the requirements to build the multimedia project ? Who is interface designer? What is the role of writer in multimedia project? UNIT I PART B 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Explain Applications of multimedia in day to day life? Explain the basic stages in a multimedia project. Briefly explain the basic requirements of multimedia? Explain Virtual Reality in Multimedia? Write short notes on: 1.Project manager 2.Interface Designer 3. Multimedia designer UNIT-1 PART C

1. Explain multimedia with its application? 2. What are various stages and requirements need to build the multimedia project? 3. Explain the various team members for developing Multimedia Project? 4. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of multimedia. 5. Explain about interactive and non-interactive multimedia with an example.

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Unit 2: Multimedia-Hardware and Software: Macintosh versus Windows platform The Macintosh platform: Was launched by Apple in 1984. Has a good built-in audio and high-quality graphics capability. Includes hardware and software for digitizing and editing video and producing DVD discs. Makes multimedia project development easier and smoother. . The Windows platform: Is a collection of different vendor-neutral components that are tied together by the requirements of the Windows operating system. Initially focused on business computing and was not suitable for multimedia. However, it is now easier to find multimedia hardware and software for Windows as compared to the Macintosh. Networking Macintosh and Windows computers Networking is essential for direct communication and sharing of resources across platforms. Local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),and Internet connections provide connectivity and networking capabilities. In a LAN, workstations are located within a short distance. They are relatively less expensive. In a WAN, communication systems span great distances and are typically set up and managed by large corporations. They are expensive to install and maintain. A dial-up connection to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) also enables communication. To establish communication between a Macintosh and Windows PC, install Ethernet system and client-server software. Ethernet is a method of wiring up computers. Client/server software is required for communication and transfer of files. Macintosh computers have built-in Ethernet networking, while Windows PCs require an additional Ethernet card. Connections The various connection methodologies include: Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE). 12 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Universal Serial Bus (USB). FireWire. Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) SCSI can connect internal and external peripheral equipments and devices that conform to the SCSI standard. SCSI cards can be installed on Macintosh and PC platforms. SCSI is preferred for real-time video editing, network servers, and situations that require mirroring. SCSI ID conflicts should be avoided by providing unique IDs to devices. Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) IDE connections are also known as Advanced Technology - Attachment (ATA). They connect only internal peripherals. They can connect four peripherals mounted inside the PC. The circuitry for IDE is less expensive than SCSI. IDE utilizes processor chip time. Universal Serial Bus (USB) It is a standard for connecting devices to the computer using the plug-and-play system. USB uses a single cable to connect 127 USB peripherals to a single PC. It can be attached to one computer at a time. FireWire FireWire was introduced by Apple in the 1980s. It is the industry standard and provides support for high band width serial data transfer, particularly for digital video and mass storage. Can connect multiple computers and peripheral devices (peer-to-peer). It is the most common method for connecting and interconnecting professional digital video equipment. Memory Sufficient memory must be allocated for storing and archiving files. Memory requirements of a multimedia project depend on the project's content and scope. The two types of memory are random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM). RAM enables the simultaneously running of many applications. ROM is non-volatile. The BIOS program that boots up the computer resides in the ROM. 13 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Storage devices Floppy disk - Is a inexpensive, removable, and portable device for storing binary data. They are made of flexible mylar plastic coated with a thin layer of special magnetic material. Hard disk - Is a non-removable mass-storage device, and has a higher data storage capacity and data transfer speed. Syquest cartridge - Is a removable storage medium and can hold 44 MB of data. Zip cartridge - Is inexpensive and can hold 100MB of data. Jaz cartridge - Is a removable storage medium that can hold 1GB of data. Magneto-optical drive - Is rewriteable and uses a high power laser. It is suitable for archiving data. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD): Is an optical disc technology for distributing multimedia and feature length movies. Can store 1GB of data. They provide sharp and detailed video resolution. The two types of DVDs are DVD-video and DVD-ROM. Compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) player – Is an important delivery medium for large, mass-produced multimedia projects. CD Recordable (CD-R) - Is very inexpensive, and suitable for short-run distribution of finished multimedia projects. These write-once CDs can be used as high-capacity file archives. Input devices Keyboard - Is the most commonly used input device. The most common keyboard for PCs is the 101 style, which provides 101 keys. Mouse - Is the standard input device for a graphical user interface (GUI). Trackball - It is suitable to small confined environments such as a portable laptop. Touch screen - They are monitors that usually have a textured coating across the glass face. Magnetic card encoder and reader - Is useful when an interface is needed for a database application or multimedia project that tracks users. Graphic tablet - Provides great control for editing finely detailed graphic elements. Scanner - Is the most useful device for producing multimedia. They are categorized as flat-bed, handheld, and drum. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) device - Is used to convert printed matter into ASCII text files. Infrared remote - Is used to interact with the project when the user needs to move about. Voice recognition system - Is used to facilitate hands free interaction with the project. Digital camera - Is used to capture still images of a specific resolution, and store them in camera’s memory. These images can then be uploaded to a computer. 14 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Output devices Audio devices: They include sound chips and microphones. Amplifiers are required when the project has to be presented to a large audience or in a noisy setting. Speakers can be internal or external. Video devices: Video creates the maximum visual impact. Video devices include videodisc players and video cards. Videodisc players provide precise control over the image being viewed. Video cards enable the user to place an image in a window on the computer monitor. Projectors: Projectors are used when you have a larger audience that can be accommodated around a computer monitor. The different types of projectors include cathode-ray tube (CRT), liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, standalone LCD projectors, and light-valve projectors. CRT projectors are compatible with the output of most computers as well as televisions. LCD panels are portable devices that are popular for on the road presentations. Light-valve projectors use liquid crystal technology. The images generated are very bright and color saturated and can be projected onto wide screens. Printers: The two types of printers are laser and inkjet. Laser printers offer higher print quality, lower operating costs, but a higher initial cost. Inkjet printers are comparatively cheaper, but require higher maintenance. Color printers have become an important part of multimedia development. Communication devices Modems ISDN Cable modems Modems Modems modulate and de-modulate analog signals. They provide connectivity through standard phone lines. Modems can be internal or external. Modem speed is measured in baud, and the standard modem speed should be at least 56 Kbps.

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ISDN ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network. It is used for higher transmission speeds by telephone. They transfer data at the rate of 128 Kbps. ISDN lines are used for networking, Internet access, and audio-video conferencing. They are more expensive than the conventional analog lines. Cable modems They provide Internet access at speeds faster than a telephone modem, over the same cable network that supplies the television signal. However, due to noise in the system, sending rates may be much slower than receiving

rates. Basic Software Tools Word Processing: Using a computer to create, edit, and print documents. Of all computer applications, word processing is the most common. To perform word processing, you need a computer, a special program called a word processor, and a printer. A word processor enables you to create a document, store it electronically on a disk, display it on a screen, modify it by entering commands and characters from the keyboard, and print it on a printer. The great advantage of word processing over using a typewriter is that you can make changes without retyping the entire document. If you make a typing mistake, you simply back up the cursor and correct your mistake. If you want to delete a paragraph, you simply remove it, without leaving a trace. It is equally easy to insert a word, sentence, or paragraph in the middle of a document. Word processors also make it easy to move sections of text from one place to another within a document, or between documents. When you have made all the changes you want, you can send the file to a printer to get a hardcopy. Word processors vary considerably, but all word processors support the following basic features:    

insert text: Allows you to insert text anywhere in the document. delete text: Allows you to erase characters, words, lines, or pages as easily as you can cross them out on paper. cut and paste : Allows you to remove (cut) a section of text from one place in a document and insert (paste) it somewhere else. copy : Allows you to duplicate a section of text. 16 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

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page size and margins : Allows you to define various page sizes and margins, and the word processor will automatically readjust the text so that it fits. search and replace : Allows you to direct the word processor to search for a particular word or phrase. You can also direct the word processor to replace one group of characters with another everywhere that the first group appears. word wrap : The word processor automatically moves to the next line when you have filled one line with text, and it will readjust text if you change the margins. print: Allows you to send a document to a printer to get hardcopy. Word processors that support only these features (and maybe a few others) are called text editors. Most word processors, however, support additional features that enable you to manipulate and format documents in more sophisticated ways. These more advanced word processors are sometimes called full-featured word processors. Full-featured word processors usually support the following features:

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file management : Many word processors contain file management capabilities that allow you to create, delete, move, and search for files. font specifications: Allows you to change fonts within a document. For example, you can specify bold, italics, and underlining. Most word processors also let you change the font size and even the typeface. footnotes and cross-references: Automates the numbering and placement of footnotes and enables you to easily cross-reference other sections of the document. graphics graphics: Allows you to embed illustrations and graphs into a document. Some word processors let you create the illustrations within the word processor; others let you insert an illustration produced by a different program. headers , footers , and page numbering: Allows you to specify customized headers and footers that the word processor will put at the top and bottom of every page. The word processor automatically keeps track of page numbers so that the correct number appears on each page. layout : Allows you to specify different margins within a single document and to specify various methods for indenting paragraphs. macros : A macro is a character or word that represents a series of keystrokes. The keystrokes can represent text or commands. The ability to define macros allows you to save yourself a lot of time by replacing common combinations of keystrokes. merges: Allows you to merge text from one file into another file. This is particularly useful for generating many files that have the same format but different data. Generating mailing labels is the classic example of using merges. spell checker : A utility that allows you to check the spelling of words. It will highlight any words that it does not recognize. tables of contents and indexes: Allows you to automatically create a table of contents and index based on special codes that you insert in the document. 17 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

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thesaurus: A built-in thesaurus that allows you to search for synonyms without leaving the word processor. windows : Allows you to edit two or more documents at the same time. Each document appears in a separate window. This is particularly valuable when working on a large project that consists of several different files. WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get): With WYSIWYG, a document appears on the display screen exactly as it will look when printed. The line dividing word processors from desktop publishing systems is constantly shifting. In general, though, desktop publishing applications support finer control over layout, and more support for full-color documents. Text Editor: Sometimes called text editor, a program that enables you to create and edit text files. There are many different types of editors, but they all fall into two general categories:

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line editors: A primitive form of editor that requires you to specify a specific line of text before you can make changes to it. screen -oriented editors: Also called full-screen editors, these editors enable you to modify any text that appears on the display screen by moving the cursor to the desired location. The distinction between editors and word processors is not clear-cut, but in general, word processors provide many more formatting features. Nowadays, the term editor usually refers to source code editors that include many special features for writing and editing source code. Compressing Movie Files Image compression algorithms are critical to the delivery of motion video and audio on both the Macintosh and PC platforms. Without compression, there is simply not enough bandwidth on the Macintosh or PC to transfer the massive amounts of data involved in displaying a new screen image every 1/30 of a second. To understand compression , consider these three basic concepts: Compression Ratio: The compression ratio represents the size of the compressed imagethat is, how much the data is actually compressed. Some compression schemes yield ratios that are dependent on the image content: a busy image of a field of multicolored tulips may yield a very small compression ratio, and an image of blue ocean and sky may yield a very high compression ratio. Video compression typically manages only the part of an image that changes from image to image.

18 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Image quality: Compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossy schemes ignore picture information that the viewer may not miss, but that means the picture information is in fact lost - even after decompression. And as more and more information is removed during compression, image quality decreases. Lossless schemes preserve the original data precisely--an important consideration in medical imaging, for example. The compression ratio typically affects picture quality because, usually, the higher the compression ratio, the lower the quality of the decompressed image. Compression/decompression speed: You will prefer a fast compression time while developing your project. Users, on the other hand, will appreciate a fast decompression time to increase display performance. For compressing video frames, the MPEG format used for DVD employs three types of encoding :I-Frames(Intra), P-Frames(Predicted), and B-Frames(Bi-directional Predicated).Each type crams more or less information into the tiniest possible storage space. Image Editing Tools: Image - editing applications are specialized and powerful tools for enhancing and retouching existing bitmapped images. These applications also provide many of the features and tools of painting and drawing programs and can be used to create images from scratch as well as images digitized from scanners, video frame -grabbers, digital cameras, clip art files, or original artwork files created with a painting ordrawing packages. Here are some features typical of image-editing applications and of interest to multimedia developers:          

Multiple windows that provide views of more than one image at a time. Conversion of major image-data type and industry-standard file formats. Direct inputs of images from scanner and video sources. Employment of a virtual memory scheme that uses hard disk space as RAM for images that requir large amounts of memory. Capable selection tools, such as rectangle, lassos, and magic wands, for selecting portions of a bitmap. Image and balance controls for brightness, contrast, and color balance. Good masking features. Multiple undo and restore features. Anti-aliasing capability and sharpening and smoothing controls. Color-mapping controls for precise adjustment of color balance. 19

Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

 Tools for retouchinjg, blurring, sharpening lightening darkrning smudging and tinting.  Geometric transformations such as flip, skeq, rotate and distort, and perspective changes.  Ability to resample and resize an image. 24-bit color, 8- or 4-bit indexed color, 8- bit gray-scale, black-and-white, and customizable color palettes. Ability to create images from scratch, using line, rectangle, square circle ellipse polygen airbrush, paintbrush, pencil, and eraser tools with customizable brush shapes and userdefinable bucket and gradient fills. Multiple typefaces, styles and sizes and type manipulation and masking routines. Filters for special effects such as crystallize dry brush emboss, facet, fresco, graphicpen, mosaic, pixelize, poster, ripple, smooth, splatter, stucco, twirl, watercolor, wave and wind. Support for third-party special- effect plug-ins. Ability to design in layers that can be combined, hidden, and reordered. Sound Editing Tools: Sound editing tools for both digitized and MIDI sound let you see music as well as hear it. By drawing the representation of the sound in a waveform, you can cut, copy, paste and edit segments of the sound with great precision and making your own sound effects. Using editing tools to make your own MIDI files requires knowing about keys, notations and instruments and you will need a MIDI synthesizer or device connected to the computer. OCR Software: OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR software transforms printed or hand-printed text into electronic data that can be used in a computer system. All OCR software starts with an electronic image of the text, usually created with a document scanner. Some people think of this as an OCR scanner, but the OCR is actually performed by optical character recognition software after scanning. The scanner only produces an image of the document, much like taking a picture of it.

20 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

The OCR software then examines the image of the scanned document; identifies each letter, number and punctuation mark; and produces equivalent text in a machinereadable digital form that can be used by a computer system. Why OCR Software Alone is Not Enough: OCR software is extremely accurate for machine-printed or typewritten text. A related technology, ICR (intelligent character recognition) can convert clearly written hand-printed text. But OCR alone is not enough when a company or government agency must deal with documents as part of a business process. Companies that rely on a document-driven business process must do more than simply convert written text to digital text. For example, just doing OCR for invoices does not identify the important pieces of information (vendor, address, items, prices, payment terms, and so on). It does not verify that the OCR software has converted the information correctly. And it does not match the invoices with the corresponding purchase orders. With OCR alone, these important steps require time-consuming and costly manual effort. Also, OCR software results depend on the image quality of the scanned documents. Documents that have colored or patterned backgrounds, that have been marked with highlighter pens, or that are crooked when scanned can yield poor OCR results. Fixing these bad results means either adjusting the scanner settings and rescanning the document (perhaps multiple times) or manually keying in corrections to the electronic data.

21 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Painting, Drawing and Animation Drawing: Drawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint. An artist who practices or works in drawing may be referred to as a draftsman or draughtsman.

almost anything. The medium has also become popular as a means of public expression via graffiti art, because of the easy availability of permanent markers.

The most common support for drawing is paper, although other materials such as cardboard, plastic, leather, canvas and board, may be used. Temporary drawings may be made on a blackboard or whiteboard, or indeed Painting: Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base). In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete. Paintings may be decorated with gold leaf, and some modern paintings incorporate other materials including sand, clay, and scraps of paper. Animation: Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although several other forms of presenting animation also exist. 22 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

3-D Modeling and Animation Tools 3-D Modeling software has increasingly entered the mainstream of graphic design as its ease of use improves. As a result the graphic production values and expectations for multimedia projects have risen. With 3-D modeling software, objects rendered in perspective appear more realistic; you can create stunning scenes and wander through them, choosing just the right lighting and perspective for your final rendered image. Powerful modeling packages such as AutoDesk's Discreet, Strata Vision's 3D, Specular's LogoMotion and Infini-D, Alias' Wavefront, Avoid's Softimage, and Caligari's trueSpace are also bundled with assortments of prerendered 3-D clip art objects such as people, furniture, buildings, cars, airplanes, trees and plants. Important for multimedia developers many 3-D modeling applications also include export features enabling you to save a moving view or journey through your scene as a QuickTime or AVI animation file. Each rendered 3-D image takes from a few seconds to a few hours to complete. Depending upon the complexity of the drawing and the number of drawn objects included in it. If you are making a complex walk-through or flyby, plan to set aside many hours of rendering time on your computer. A good 3-D modeling tool should include the following features: 1. Multiple windows that allow you to view your model in each dimension from the camera's perspective, and in a rendered preview. 2. Ability to drag and drop primitive shapes into a scene. 3. Abillity to create and sculpt organic objects from scratch with Bezier spline drawing tools. 4. Lathe and extrude features. 5. Color and texture mapping. 6. Ability to add realistic effects such as transparency, shadowing, and fog. 7. Ability to add spot, local, and global lights, to place them anywhere, and manipulate them for special lighting effects. 8. Unlimited cameras with focal length control. 9. Ability to draw spline- based paths for animation.

23 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Painting and Drawing Tools Painting software, such as Photoshop, Fireworks, and painter is dedicated to producing crafted bitmap images. Drawing software, such as CorelDraw, Freehand, Designer and Canvas, is dedicated to producing vector- based line art easily printer to paper at high resolution. Some software applications combine drawing and painting capabilities, but many authoring systems can import only bitmapped images. Typically, bitmapped images provide the greatest choice and power to the artist for rendering fine detail and effects, and today bitmaps are used in multimedia more often than drawn objects. Some vector-based packages such as Macromedia's Flash are aimed at reducing file download times on the web and may contain both bitmaps and drawn art. Look for these features in a drawing or painting packages: 1. An intuitive graphical user interface with pull-down menus, status bars, palette control, and dialog boxes for quick logical selection. 2. Scalable dimendions, so you can resize stretch and distort both large and small bitmaps. 3. Paint tools to geomatric shapes from aquares to circles and from curves to complex polygons. 4. Ability to pour a color, pattern, or gradient into any area. 5. Ability to paint with patterns and clip art. 6. Customizable pen and brush shapes and sizes. 7. Eyedropper tool that samples colors. 8. Autotrace tool that samples colors. 9. Autotrace tool that turns bitmap shapes into vector- based outlines. 10. Support for scalable text fonts and drop shadows. 11. Multiple undo capabilities,to let you try again. 12. Painting features such as smoothing coarse-edged objects into the background withanti-aliasing; airbrushing in variable sizes, shapes, densities, and patterns; washing colors in gradients; blending; and masking. 13. Support for third-party special affect plug-ins. 14. Object and layering capabilities that allow you to treat separate elements independently. 15. Zooming, for magnified pixel editing. 16. All common color depths: 1-, 4-, 8-, and 16-, 24-, or 32- bit color, and gray-scale. 17. Good color management and dithering capability among color depths using various color models such as RGB, HSB, and CMYK. 18. Good palette management when in 8-bit mode. 19. Good file importing and exporting capability for image formats such as PIC, GIF, TGA, TIF, WMF, JPG, PCX, EPS, PTN, and BMP.

24 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Multimedia authoring Tools Authoring Tools: The integration of audio, video, graphics and text on the desktop promises to fundamentally challenge the centuries-old model of the printed document as the basis for information exchange. Before this potential can be realized, however, systems must be devised that enable the production and presentation of complex, inter-related media objects. These systems are generically called multimedia authoring tools. In this article, we consider the development of multimedia authoring tools, examine the current state of the art, and then discuss a set of research challenges that need to be addressed before the full potential of multimedia output technology can be effectively utilized to share information. Types of Authoring Tools: 1. Card- or page-based tools. 2. Icon-based, event-driven tools. 3. Time-based tools. Card-based or page-based tools: 1. The elements are organized as pages of a book or a stack of cards. 2. Card-or page-based authoring systems 3. best used when the bulk of your content consists of elementsthat can be viewed individually 4.the pages of a book or cards in a card file. 5. link these pages or cards into organized sequences. 6. jump, on command, to any page 7. play sound elements and launch animations and digital video.

25 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Icon-or object-based, event-driven tools 1. multimedia elements and interaction cues ( events) are organized as objects in a structural framework or process. 2. simplify the organization of your project 3. display flow diagrams of activities along branching paths. 1.In complicated navigational structures, this charting is particularly useful during development Time-based tools 1. Elements and events are organized along a timeline with resolutions as high as or higher than 1/30 second. 2. Time-based tools 3. best to use when you have a message with a beginning and an end. 4. played back at a speed that you can set 5. Other elements (such as audio events) are triggered at a given time or location in the sequence of events. 6. Jumps to any location in a sequence 1. navigation and interactive control. Features of Authoring Tools 1. Editing and organizing features. 2. Programming features. 3. Interactivity features. 4. Performance tuning and playback features. 5. Delivery, cross-platform, and Internet playability features.

26 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

Editing and Organizing Features 1. Editing tools 1.to create, edit, and convert multimedia elements such as animation and video clips. 2. The organization, design, and production process for multimedia involves storyboarding and flowcharting. 1. Visual flowcharting or overview facility illustrates project structure at a macro level. Programming Features 1. Visual programming with icons or objects 1. the simplest and easiest authoring process. 2. Authorware and IconAuthor 3. suitable for slide shows and presentations. 2. Authoring tools offer â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;very high level languageâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (VHLL) or interpreted scripting environment. Interactivity Features 1. Interactivity 1. the end user control over the content and flow of information 2. Simple branching 1. go to 3. Conditional branching 1. IF-THEN decisions or events.

27 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

2. Structured language 1. complex programming logic, subroutines, event tracking, and message passing among objects and elements. Performance Tuning and Playback Features 1. Synchronization is difficult 2. Authoring system should facilitate precise timing of events. 3. It should enable developers to build a part of a project and then test it immediately. Delivery, Cross-Platform, and Internet Playability Features 1. Delivering the project may require building a run-time version of the project, using the multimedia authoring software. 2. Run-time version or standalone 1. allows a project to play back without the complete authoring software and all its tools and editors. 3. Across platforms 4. Authoring systems provide a means for converting their output to be delivered within the context of HTML or DHTML.

28 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.

MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS QUESTION BANK UNIT II PART A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Mention some of the painting and drawing tools? Define multimedia hardware? Define multimedia software? List some CAD and 3-D drawing tools? List some image editing tools? Name some sound editing tools? What is a DDE? What do you mean by OLE? Name some input devices used for the development and delivery of a MM project? Write a note on trackballs? What is a bitmap? What is fractal? List 3 multimedia authoring tool? Differentiate hypertext and hypermedia?

PART B Compare Macintosh platform with windows? Explain the output devices used in MM? Explain any two spreadsheet tools? What is the difference between bitmap and vector graphics? Explain OLR, painting and drawing tools? Explain any two types of authoring tools in MM? What is memory? Explain about types of memory in details? PART C

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Explain the basic software tools used in multimedia? Describe the various types of authoring tools in multimedia? Describe the storage and Connections devices used in multimedia environment? Describe the hardware peripherals required for multimedia? Explain the uses of word processors, spread sheets and databases?

29 Created by K.Dharmarajan.,M.Sc.,M.Phil.,(Ph.D), Asst. Professor ,Vels University, www.professordharma.webs.com.