WERABE UNIVERSITY

Institute of Technology
Department of Information Technology
Chapter 1: Introduction
Multimedia is an interactive media and provides multiple ways to represent information to the
user in a powerful manner. It provides an interaction between users and digital information.
It is a medium of communications. Some of the sectors where multimedia is used extensively are
education, training, reference material, business presentations, advertising and documentaries.

The evolution of Internet has also increased the demand for multimedia content. Multimedia is the
media that uses multiple forms of information content and information processing (e.g. text, audio,
graphics, animation, video, and interactivity) to inform or entertain the user.

Multimedia also refers to the use of electronic media to store and experience multimedia content.
Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in fine art, but with a broader scope, the term
“rich media” is synonymous for interactive multimedia.

Definition
In terms of what multimedia is all about.
It refers to the storage, transmission, interchange, presentation and perception of different
information types (data types) such as text, graphics, voice, audio and video where:
Storage- refers to the type of physical means to store data.
Magnetic tape DVDs
Hard disk CD-ROMs, etc.
Optical disk
Presentation- refers to the type of physical means to reproduce information to the user.
 Speakers  Video windows, etc.
Representation- related to how information is described in an abstract form for use within an
electronic system.
E.g. to present text to the user, the text can be coded in raster graphics, primitive graphics, or
simple ASCII characters. The same presentation, different representation.

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Perception- describes the nature of information as perceived by the user
 Speech  Music  Film

Based on the word “Multimedia” It is composed of two words:

a. Multi-multiple/many b. Media- source
Source refers to different kind of information that we use in multimedia.
This includes:
 text  audio  images
 graphics  video
Text- All multimedia productions contain some amount of text. The text can have various types
of fonts and sizes to suit the profession presentation of the multimedia software.

Graphics- Graphics make the multimedia application attractive. In many cases, people do not like
reading large amount of textual matter on the screen. Therefore, graphics are used more often than
text to explain a concept, present background information etc. There are two types of Graphics:

Bitmap images- Bitmap images are real images that can be captured from devices such as digital
cameras or scanners. Generally, bitmap images are not editable. Bitmap images require a large
amount of memory.

Vector Graphics- Vector graphics are drawn on the computer and only require a small amount
of memory. These graphics are editable.

Audio- A multimedia application may require the use of speech, music and sound effects. These
are called audio or sound element of multimedia. Speech is also a perfect way for teaching. Analog
audio or sound refers to the original sound signal. Computer stores the sound in digital form.
Therefore, the sound used in multimedia application is digital audio.

Video- The term video refers to the moving picture, accompanied by sound such as a picture in
television. Video element of multimedia application gives a lot of information in small duration
of time. Digital video is useful in multimedia application for showing real life objects. Video have
highest performance demand on the computer memory and on the bandwidth, if, placed on the
internet. Digital video files can be stored like any other files in the computer and the quality of the
video can still be maintained. The digital video files can be transferred within a computer network.
The digital video clips can be edited easily.

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Animation- Animation is a process of making a static image look like it is moving. An animation
is just a continuous series of still images that are displayed in a sequence.

The animation can be used effectively for attracting attention. Animation also makes a
presentation light and attractive. Animation is very popular in multimedia application.

Multimedia refers to multiple sources of information. It is a system which integrates all the above
types.
General and working definition:
Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer-controlled integration of text, graphics,
drawings, still and moving images (video), animation, and any other media where every type
of information can be represented, stored, transmitted, and processed digitally.
Multimedia system
A Multimedia System is a system capable of processing multimedia data. And it is characterized
by the processing, storage, generation, manipulation and rendition of multimedia information.
A Multimedia system has four basic characteristics:
Multimedia systems must be computer controlled
Multimedia systems are integrated
The information they handle must be represented digitally
The interface to the final presentation of media is usually interactive
Computer Controlled:
 Producing the content of the information – e.g. by using the authoring tools, image editor,
sound and video editor.
 Storing the information – providing large and shared capacity for multimedia information.
 Transmitting the information – through the network.
 Presenting the information to the end user – make direct use of computer peripheral such
as display device (monitor) or sound generator (speaker).
Integrated:
 All multimedia components (audio, video, text, graphics) used in the system must be
somehow integrated.
 Every device, such as microphone and camera is connected to and controlled by a single
computer.

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  A single type of digital storage is used for all media type.
 Video sequences are shown on computer screen instead of TV monitor.
Digitally Represented:
Digitization: process involved in transforming an analog signal to digital signal.
Interactivity:

 Interactivity strictly on information delivery. Users select the time at which the
presentation starts, the order, the speed and the form of the presentation itself.
 Users can modify or enrich the content of the information, and this modification is
recorded.
 Actual processing of users input and the computer generate genuine result based on the
users input.
Multimedia Applications (where it is applied)
Digital video editing and production systems
Home shopping
Interactive movies, and TV
Multimedia courseware
Video conferencing
Virtual reality (the creation of artificial environment that we can explore, e.g. 3-D images, etc)
Distributed lectures for higher education
Tele-medicine
Digital libraries
World Wide Web
On-line reference works e.g., encyclopedias, games, etc.
Electronic Newspapers/Magazines
Games
Groupware (enabling groups of people to collaborate on projects and share information)
World Wide Web (WWW)
Multimedia is closely tied to the World Wide Web (WWW). Without networks, multimedia is
limited to simply displaying images, videos, and sounds on your local machine. The true power of
multimedia is the ability to deliver this rich content to a large audience.

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Features of Multimedia
 Content: movie, production, etc.
 Creative Design: creativity is important in designing the presentation
 Enabling Technologies: Network & software tools that allow creative designs to be presented.
Multimedia Application

A Multimedia Application is an application which uses a collection of multiple media sources

e.g. text, graphics, images, sound/audio, animation and/or video.

Multimedia applications are created with the help of following mentioned tools and packages.

The sound, text, graphics, animation and video are the integral part of multimedia software.
To produce and edit these media elements, there are various software tools available in the market.
The categories of basic software tools are:

Text Editing Tools- These tools are used to create letters, resumes, invoices, purchase orders,
user manual for a project and other documents. MS-Word is a good example of text tool. It has
following features:

 Creating new file, opening existing file, saving file and printing it.

 Insert symbol, formula and equation in the file.

 Correct spelling mistakes and  Align text within margins.

grammatical errors.

 Insert page numbers on the top or bottom of the page.

 Mail-merge the document and making letters and envolpes.

 Making tables with variable number of columns and rows.

Painting and Drawing Tools- These tools generally come with a graphical user interface with
pull down menus for quick selection.

You can create almost all kinds of possible shapes and resize them using these tools. Drawing file
can be imported or exported in many image formats like .gif, .tif, .jpg, .bmp, etc. Some examples
of drawing software are Corel Draw, Freehand, Designer, Photoshop, Fireworks, Point etc.

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These softwares have following features:

 Tools to draw a straight line, rectangular area, circle etc.

 Different color selection option.

 Pencil tool to draw a shape freehand.

 Eraser tool to erase part of the image.

 Zooming for magnified pixel editing.

Image Editing Tools- Image editing tools are used to edit or reshape the existing images and
pictures. These tools can be used to create an image from scratch as well as images from scanners,
digital cameras, clipart files or original artwork files created with painting and drawing tools.
Examples of Image editing or processing software are Adobe Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro.

Sound Editing Tools- These tools are used to integrate sound into multimedia project very easily.
You can cut, copy, paste and edit segments of a sound file by using these tools. The presence of
sound greatly enhances the effect of a mostly graphic presentation, especially in a video. Examples
of sound editing software tools are: Cool Edit Pro, Sound Forge and Pro Tools. These software
have following features:

 Record your own music, voice or any other audio.

 Record sound from CD, DVD, Radio or any other sound player.

 You can edit, mix the sound with any other audio.

 Apply special effects such as fade, equalizer, echo, reverse and more.

Video Editing Tools- These tools are used to edit, cut, copy, and paste your video and audio files.
Video editing used to require expensive, specialized equipment and a great deal of knowledge.

The aritistic process of video editing consists of deciding what elements to retain, delete or
combine from various sources so that they come together in an organized, logical and visually
planning manner.

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Today computers are powerful enough to handle this job, disk space is cheap and storing and
distributing your finished work on DVD is very easy. Examples of video editing software are
Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects.

Animation and Modeling Tools- An animation is to show the still images at a certain rate to give
it visual effect with the help of Animation and modeling tools. These tools have features like
multiple windows that allow you to view your model in each dimension, ability to drag and drop
primitive shapes into a scene, color and texture mapping, ability to add realistic effects such as
transparency, shadowing and fog etc. Examples of Animations and modeling tools are 3D studio
max and Maya.

Historical background

Newspaper was perhaps the first mass communication medium, which used mostly text, graphics,
and images. In 1895, Gugliemo Marconi sent his first wireless radio transmission at Pontecchio,
Italy. A few years later (in 1901), he detected radio waves beamed across the Atlantic. Initially
invented for telegraph, radio is now a major medium for audio broadcasting. Television was the
new media for the 20th century. It brings the video and has since changed the world of mass
communications.

On computers, the following are some of the important events:

1945 -Vannevar Bush (1890-1974) wrote about Memex. MEMEX stands for MEMory EXtension.
A memex is a device in which individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and
which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an
enlarged intimate supplement to his memory. 1960s-Ted Nelson started Xanadu project (Xanadu
a kind of deep Hypertext). Project Xanadu was the explicit inspiration for the World Wide Web,
for Lotus Notes and for HyperCard, as well as less-well-known systems. 1967 - Nicholas
Negroponte formed the Architecture Machine Group at MIT. A combination lab and think tank
responsible for many radically new approaches to the human-computer interface.

Nicholas Negroponte is the Wiesner Professor of media Technology at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology.

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Shared-screen collaboration involving two persons at different sites communicating over a
network with audio and video interface is one of the many innovations presented at the
demonstration.

1969 - Nelson & Van Dam hypertext editor at Brown 1976 - Architecture Machine Group proposal
to DARPA: Multiple Media 1985 - Negroponte, Wiesner: opened MIT Media Lab Research at the
Media Lab comprises interconnected developments in an unusual range of disciplines, such as
software agents; machine understanding; how children learn; human and machine vision; audition;
speech interfaces; wearable computers; affective computing; advanced interface design; tangible
media; object-oriented video; interactive cinema; digital expression from text, to graphics, to
sound.

1989 Tim Berners-Lee proposed the World Wide Web to CERN (European Council for Nuclear
Research) 1990 - K. Hooper Woolsey, Apple Multimedia Lab gave education to 100 people 1992
The first M-Bone audio multicast on the net (MBONE- Multicast Backbone) 1993 U. Illinois
National Cent er for Supercomputing Applications introduced NCSA Mosaic (a web browser)
1994 - Jim Clark and Marc Andersen introduced Netscape Navigator (web browser)1995-Java
for platform-independent application development.