Development of Multimedia Project

Overview

 Strategies for creating interactive multimedia.

 Designing a multimedia project.

 Producing a multimedia project.

 Members of a multimedia team.

 Roles and responsibilities in a multimedia team.

 Strategies for Creating
Interactive Multimedia

 Designing and building multimedia projects go hand-in-

hand.

 Balance proposed changes against their cost.

 Feedback loops and good communication between the

design and production effort are critical to the success of a

project.
 Strategies for Creating
Interactive Multimedia

 A user can either describe the project in minute details, or

can build a less-detailed storyboard and spend more effort in

actually rendering the project.

 The method chosen depends upon the scope of a project, the

size and style of the team, and whether the same people will

do design and development.

 If the design team is separate from the development team, it

is best to produce a detailed design first.

 Designing a Multimedia
Project

 Designing a multimedia project requires knowledge and

skill with computers, talent in graphics, arts, video, and

music, and the ability to conceptualize logical pathways.

 Designing involves thinking, choosing, making, and doing.

 Designing a Multimedia
Project

 Designing the structure.

 Designing the user interface.

 Designing the Structure

 The manner in which project material is organized has just

as great an impact on the viewer as the content itself.

 Mapping the structure of a project should be done early in

the planning phase.

 Designing the Structure

 Navigation maps are also known as site maps.

 They help organize the content and messages.

 Navigation maps provide a hierarchical table of contents

and a chart of the logical flow of the interactive interface.

 Navigation maps are essentially non-linear.

 Designing the Structure

There are four fundamental organizing structures:

 Linear - Users navigate sequentially, from one frame of

information to another.

 Hierarchical - Users navigate along the branches of a tree

structure that is shaped by the natural logic of the content. It

is also called linear with branching.

 Designing the Structure

There are four fundamental organizing structures (continued):

 Non-linear - Users navigate freely through the content,

unbound by predetermined routes.

 Composite - Users may navigate non-linearly, but are

occasionally constrained to linear presentations.

 Designing the Structure

 The navigation system should be designed in such a

manner that viewers are given free choice.

 The architectural drawings for a multimedia project are

storyboards and navigation maps.

 Storyboards are linked to navigation maps during the

design process, and help to visualize the information

architecture.
 Designing the Structure

Hotspots:

 Add interactivity to a multimedia project.

 The three categories of hotspots are text, graphic, and icon.

 The simplest hot spots on the Web are the text anchors that

link a document to other documents.

Mouse rolls over
 Designing the Structure

 Hyperlinks - A hotspot that connects a viewer to another

part of the same document, a different document, or

another Web site is called a hyperlink.

 Image maps - Larger images that are sectioned into hot

areas with associated links are called image maps.

 Designing the Structure

 Icons - Icons are fundamental graphic objects symbolic of

an activity or concept.

 Buttons - A graphic image that is a hotspot is called a

button.
 Designing the Structure

 Plug-ins such as Flash, Shockwave, or JavaScripts enable

users to create plain or animated buttons.

 Small JPEG or GIF images that are themselves anchor links

can also serve as buttons on the Web.

 Highlighting a button is the most common method of

distinguishing it.
 Designing the User Interface

 The user interface of a project is a blend of its graphic

elements and its navigation system.

 The simplest solution for handling varied levels of user

expertise is to provide a modal interface.

 In a modal interface, the viewer can simply click a

Novice/Expert button and change the approach of the

whole interface.
 Designing the User Interface

 Modal interfaces are not suitable for multimedia projects.

 The solution is to build a project that can contain plenty of

navigational power, which provides access to content and

tasks for users at all levels.

 The interface should be simple and user-friendly.

 Designing the User Interface

Graphical user interface (GUI):

 The GUIs of Macintosh and Windows are successful due to

their simplicity, consistency, and ease of use.

 GUIs offer built-in help systems, and provide standard patterns

of activity that produce the standard expected results.

 Designing the User Interface

Graphical approaches that work:

 Plenty of "non-information areas," or white space in the

screens.

 Neatly executed contrasts.

 Gradients.

 Shadows.

 Eye-grabbers.
 Designing the User Interface

Graphical approaches to avoid:

 Clashes of color.

 Busy screens.

 Requiring more than two button clicks to quit.

 Too many numbers and words.

 Too many substantive elements presented too quickly.

 Designing the User Interface

Audio interface:

 A multimedia user interface can include sound elements.

 Sounds can be background music, special effects for button

clicks, voice-overs, effects synced to animation.

 Always provide a toggle switch to disable sound.

 Producing a Multimedia
Project

 In the development or the production phase, the project

plan becomes the systematic instruction manual for

building the project.

 The production stage requires good organization and

detailed management oversight during the entire

construction process.
 Producing a Multimedia
Project

 A good time-accounting system for everyone working on a

project is required to keep track of the time spent on

individual tasks.

 It is important to check the development hardware and

software and review the organizational and administrative

setup.
 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Potential problems can be avoided by answering these

questions:

 Is there sufficient disk storage space for all files?

 Is the expertise available for all stages of the project?

 Is there a system for backing up critical files?

 Are the financial arrangements secure?

 Are the communications pathways open with clients?

 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Working with clients:

 Have a system in place for good communication between the

client and the people actually building the project.

 Control the client review process to avoid endless feedback

loops.
 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Working with clients (continued):

 Develop a scheme that specifies the number and duration of

client approval cycles.

 Provide a mechanism for change orders when changes are

requested after sign-off.

 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Data storage media and transportation:

 This is necessary so that a client is easily able to review the

work.

 There needs to be a matching data transfer system and media.

 Access to the Internet at high bandwidth is preferred.

 The most cost-effective and time-saving methods of

transportation are CD-R or DVD-ROMs.

 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Tracking:

 Organize a method for tracking the receipt of material to be

incorporated in a project.

 Develop a file-naming convention specific to your project's

structure.
 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Tracking (continued):

 Store the files in directories or folders with logical names.

 To address cross-platform issues, develop a file identification

system that uses the DOS file-naming convention of eight

characters plus a three-character extension.

 Producing a Multimedia
Project

Tracking and copyrighting:

 Version control of your files is very important, especially in

large projects.

 If storage space allows, archive all file iterations.

 Insert a copyright statement in the project that legally

designates the code as the creator's intellectual property.

 Copyright and ownership statements are embedded in <meta>

tags at the top of a HTML page.

 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.

 Members of a Multimedia
Team

A multimedia team consists of the following:

 Project manager.

 Multimedia designer.

 Interface designer.

 Writer.

 Video specialist.
 Members of a Multimedia
Team

A multimedia team consists of the following (continued):

 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-to-day

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.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

Multimedia designer - This team consists of (continued):

 Interface designers, who devise the navigational pathways and

content maps.

 Information designers, who structure content, determine user

pathways and feedback, and select presentation media.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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).

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

An audio specialist is responsible for:

 Locating and selecting suitable music talent.

 Scheduling recording sessions.

 Digitizing and editing recorded material into computer files.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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.

 Roles and Responsibilities in
a Multimedia Team

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.

 Summary

 Feedback loops and good communication between the

design and the production efforts are critical to the success

of a project.

 The four fundamental organizing structures are linear, non-

linear, hierarchical, and composite.

 The user interface should be simple, user-friendly, and

easy to navigate.
 Summary

 The three categories of hotspots are text, graphic, and

icon.

 A multimedia project is actually rendered in the production

stage.
 Summary

 The diverse skills required to create a multimedia project is

called the multimedia skillset.

 Team building refers to activities that help a group and its

members function at optimum levels of performance.

 Roles and responsibilities are assigned to each team

member in a multimedia project.