Department of Collegiate and

Technical Education

UNIT 1
SESSION 1

MULTIMEDIA AND ANIMATION – 20CS21P

MULTIMEDIA & ANIMATION 20CS21P

UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Significant Features
Multimedia presentations may be viewed in person on stage, projected, transmitted, or played
locally with a media player. A broadcast may be a live or recorded multimedia presentation.
Broadcasts and recordings can be either analog or digital electronic media technology. Digital
online multimedia may be downloaded or streamed. Streaming multimedia may be live or on-
demand.
Multimedia games and simulations may be used in a physical environment with special effects,
with multiple users in an online network, or locally with an offline computer, game system, or
simulator. Enhanced levels of interactivity are made possible by combining multiple forms
of media content But depending on what multimedia content you have it may vary. Online
multimedia is increasingly becoming object-oriented and data-driven, enabling applications with
collaborative end-user innovation and personalization on multiple forms of content over time.
Examples of these range from multiple forms of content on web sites like photo galleries with
both images (pictures) and title (text) user-updated, to simulations whose co-efficient, events,
illustrations, animations or videos are modifiable, allowing the multimedia "experience" to be
altered without reprogramming.
1.1.2 Classifications
Multimedia may be broadly divided into following categories:
i) Linear
Linear active content progresses without any navigation control for the viewer such as a cinema
presentation.
ii) Non-linear
Non-linear content offers user interactivity to control progress as used with a computer game or
used in self-paced computer based training. Non-linear content is also known as hypermedia
content.
Multimedia presentations can be live or recorded. A recorded presentation may allow
interactivity via a navigation system. A live multimedia presentation may allow interactivity via
interaction with the presenter or performer.

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1.1.3 Applications

Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to, advertisements,
art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, scientific research
and spatial, temporal applications.
A few application areas of multimedia are listed below:
i) Multimedia in Creative industries
Creative industries use multimedia for a variety of purposes ranging from fine arts, to
entertainment, to commercial art, to journalism, to media and software services provided for any
of the industries listed below. An individual multimedia designer may cover the spectrum
throughout their career. Request for their skills range from technical, to analytical and to
creative.
ii) Multimedia in Commercial
Much of the electronic old and new media utilized by commercial artists is multimedia. Exciting
presentations are used to grab and keep attention in advertising. Industrial, business to business,
and interoffice communications are often developed by creative services firms for advanced
multimedia presentations beyond simple slide shows to sell ideas or liven-up training.
Commercial multimedia developers may be hired to design for governmental services and
nonprofit services applications as well.
iii) Multimedia in Entertainment and Fine Arts
In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry, especially to develop
special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games are a popular pastime and are
software programs available either as CD-ROMs or online. Some video games also use
multimedia features. Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of
just sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia.
iv) Multimedia in Education
In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses (popularly called
CBTs) and reference books like encyclopaedia and almanacs. A CBT lets the user go through a
series of presentations, text about a particular topic, and associated illustrations in various
information formats. Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education with

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entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment. Many computer games with focus on

education are now available. Consider an example of an educational game which plays various
rhymes for kids. The child can paint the pictures, increase reduce size of various objects etc apart
from just playing the rhymes. Several other multimedia packages are available in the market
which provide a lot of detailed information and playing capabilities to kids.
v) Multimedia in Engineering
Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for anything from
entertainment to training such as military or industrial training. Multimedia for software
interfaces are often done as collaboration between creative professionals and software engineers.
vi) Multimedia in Industry
In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders,
superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful for providing employee training, advertising
and selling products all over the world via virtually unlimited web-based technologies.
vii) Multimedia in Mathematical and Scientific Research
In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling and
simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model of a particular substance and
manipulate it to arrive at a new substance. Representative research can be found in journals such
as the Journal of Multimedia.
viii) Multimedia in Medicine
In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they can simulate how the
human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and bacteria and then develop techniques
to prevent it.
ix) Multimedia in Public Places
In hotels, railway stations, shopping malls, museums, and grocery stores, multimedia will
become available at stand-alone terminals or kiosks to provide information and help. Such
installation reduce demand on traditional information booths and personnel, add value, and they
can work around the clock, even in the middle of the night, when live help is off duty. A menu
screen from a supermarket kiosk that provide services ranging from meal planning to coupons.
Hotel kiosk list nearby restaurant, maps of the city, airline schedules, and provide guest services
such as automated checkout. Printers are often attached so users can walk away with a printed
copy of the information. Museum kiosk are not only used to guide patrons through the exhibits,

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but when installed at each exhibit, provide great added depth, allowing visitors to browser
though richly detailed information specific to that display.

x) Multimedia in Business

Multimedia can be used in many applications in a business. The multimedia technology along
with communication technology has opened the door for information of global wok groups.
Today the team members may be working anywhere and can work for various companies. Thus
the work place will become global. The multimedia network should support the following
facilities:

a. Voice Mail

b. Electronic Mail

c. Multimedia based FAX

d. Office Needs

e. Employee Training

f. Sales and Other types of Group Presentation

g. Records Management

xi) Multimedia in Marketing and Advertising

By using multimedia marketing of new products can be greatly enhanced. Multimedia boost
communication on an affordable cost opened the way for the marketing and advertising
personnel. Presentation that have flying banners, video transitions, animations, and sound
effects are some of the elements used in composing a multimedia based advertisement to appeal
to the consumer in a way never used before and promote the sale of the products.

xii) Multimedia in Entertainment

By using multimedia marketing of new products can be greatly enhanced. Multimedia boost
communication on an affordable cost opened the way for the marketing and advertising
personnel. Presentation that have flying banners, video transitions, animations, and sound
effects are some of the elements used in composing a multimedia based advertisement to appeal
to the consumer in a way never used before and promote the sale of the products.

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xiii) Multimedia in Bank

Bank is another public place where multimedia is finding more and more application in recent
times. People go to bank to open saving/current accounts, deposit funds, withdraw money,
know various financial schemes of the bank, obtain loans etc. Every bank has a lot of
information which it wants to impart to in customers. For this purpose, it can use multimedia in
many ways. Bank also displays information about its various schemes on a PC monitor placed
in the rest area for customers. Today on-line and internet banking have become very popular.
These use multimedia extensively. Multimedia is thus helping banks give service to their
customers and also in educating them about banks attractive finance schemes.

xiv) Multimedia in Hospital

Multimedia best use in hospitals is for real time monitoring of conditions of patients in critical
illness or accident. The conditions are displayed continuously on a computer screen and can
alert the doctor/nurse on duty if any changes are observed on the screen. Multimedia makes it
possible to consult a surgeon or an expert who can watch an ongoing surgery line on his PC
monitor and give online advice at any crucial juncture.

In hospitals multimedia can also be used to diagnose an illness with CD-ROMs/ Cassettes/
DVDs full of multimedia based information about various diseases and their treatment. Some
hospitals extensively use multimedia presentations in training their junior staff of doctors and
nurses. Multimedia displays are now extensively used during critical surgeries.

xv) Multimedia Pedagogues

Pedagogues are useful teaching aids only if they stimulate and motivate the students. The audio-
visual support to a pedagogue can actually help in doing so. A multimedia tutor can provide
multiple numbers of challenges to the student to stimulate his interest in a topic. The instruction
provided by pedagogue have moved beyond providing only button level control to intelligent
simulations, dynamic creation of links, composition and collaboration and system testing of the
user interactions.

xvi) Communication Technology and Multimedia Services

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The advancement of high computing abilities, communication ways and relevant standards has
started the beginning of an era where you will be provided with multimedia facilities at home.
These services may include:

a. Basic Television Services

b. Interactive entertainment

c. Digital Audio

d. Video on demand

e. Home shopping

f. Financial Transactions

g. Interactive multiplayer or single player games

h. Digital multimedia libraries

i. E-Newspapers, e-magazines

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1.2 Multimedia Building Blocks

Any multimedia application consists any or all of the following components :
1. Text :
Text and symbols are very important for communication in any medium. With the recent
explosion of the Internet and World Wide Web, text has become more important than ever. Web
is HTML (Hyper text Markup language) originally designed to display simple text documents on
computer screens, with occasional graphic images thrown in as illustrations.
2. Audio :
Sound is perhaps the most element of multimedia. It can provide the listening pleasure of music,
the startling accent of special effects or the ambience of a mood-setting background.
3. Images :
Images whether represented analog or digital plays a vital role in a multimedia. It is expressed in
the form of still picture, painting or a photograph taken through a digital camera.
4. Animation :
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-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.
5. Video :
Digital video has supplanted analog video as the method of choice for making video for
multimedia use. Video in multimedia are used to portray realtime moving pictures in a
multimedia project.
6. Image Data Types :

An image consists of a rectangular array of dots called pixels. The size of the image is specified
in terms of width X height, in numbers of the pixels. The physical size of the image, in inches
or centimeters, depends on the resolution of the device on which the image is displayed. The
resolution is usually measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch). An image will appear smaller on a device
with a higher resolution than on one with a lower resolution. For color images, one needs
enough bits per pixel to represent all the colors in the image. The number of the bits per pixel is
called the depth of the image.

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Images can be created by using different techniques of representation of data called data type
like monochrome and colored images. Monochrome image is created by using single color
whereas colored image is created by using multiple colors.

Some important data types of images are following:

• 1-bit images- An image is a set of pixels. Note that a pixel is a picture element in digital
image. In 1-bit images, each pixel is stored as a single bit (0 or 1). A bit has only two
states either on or off, white or black, true or false. Therefore, such an image is also
referred to as a binary image, since only two states are available. 1-bit image is also
known as 1-bit monochrome images because it contains one color that is black for off
state and white for on state.

A 1-bit image with resolution 640*480 needs a storage space of 640*480 bits.

640 x 480 bits. = (640 x 480) / 8 bytes = (640 x 480) / (8 x 1024) KB= 37.5KB.

The clarity or quality of 1-bit image is very low.

• 8-bit Gray level images- Each pixel of 8-bit gray level image is represented by a single
byte (8 bits). Therefore each pixel of such image can hold 28=256 values between 0 and
255. Therefore each pixel has a brightness value on a scale from black (0 for no
brightness or intensity) to white (255 for full brightness or intensity). For example, a
dark pixel might have a value of 15 and a bright one might be 240.

A grayscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single
sample, which carries intensity information. Images are composed exclusively of gray
shades, which vary from black being at the weakest intensity to white being at the
strongest. Grayscale images carry many shades of gray from black to white. Grayscale
images are also called monochromatic, denoting the presence of only one (mono) color
(chrome). An image is represented by bitmap. A bitmap is a simple matrix of the tiny
dots (pixels) that form an image and are displayed on a computer screen or printed.

A 8-bit image with resolution 640 x 480 needs a storage space of 640 x 480 bytes=(640
x 480)/1024 KB= 300KB. Therefore an 8-bit image needs 8 times more storage space
than 1-bit image.

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• 24-bit color images - In 24-bit color image, each pixel is represented by three bytes,
usually representing RGB (Red, Green and Blue). Usually true color is defined to mean
256 shades of RGB (Red, Green and Blue) for a total of 16777216 color variations. It
provides a method of representing and storing graphical image information an RGB
color space such that a colors, shades and hues in large number of variations can be
displayed in an image such as in high quality photo graphic images or complex graphics.

Many 24-bit color images are stored as 32-bit images, and an extra byte for each pixel
used to store an alpha value representing special effect information.

A 24-bit color image with resolution 640 x 480 needs a storage space of 640 x 480 x 3
bytes = (640 x 480 x 3) / 1024=900KB without any compression. Also 32-bit color
image with resolution 640 x 480 needs a storage space of 640 x 480 x 4 bytes= 1200KB
without any compression.

Disadvantages

o Require large storage space

o Many monitors can display only 256 different colors at any one time. Therefore,
in this case it is wasteful to store more than 256 different colors in an image.

• 8-bit color images - 8-bit color graphics is a method of storing image information in a
computer's memory or in an image file, where one byte (8 bits) represents each pixel.
The maximum number of colors that can be displayed at once is 256. 8-bit color
graphics are of two forms. The first form is where the image stores not color but an 8-bit
index into the color map for each pixel, instead of storing the full 24-bit color value.
Therefore, 8-bit image formats consists of two parts: a color map describing what colors
are present in the image and the array of index values for each pixel in the image. In
most color maps each color is usually chosen from a palette of 16,777,216 colors (24
bits: 8 red, 8green, 8 blue).

The other form is where the 8-bits use 3 bits for red, 3 bits for green and 2 bits for blue.
This second form is often called 8-bit true color as it does not use a palette at all. When a

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24-bit full color image is turned into an 8-bit image, some of the colors have to be
eliminated, known as color quantization process.

A 8-bit color image with resolution 640 x 480 needs a storage space of 640 x 480
bytes=(640 x 480) / 1024KB= 300KB without any compression.

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