CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO MULTIMEDIA

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 What is Multimedia?
 Derived from the word “Multi” and
“Media”
 Multi
• Many, Multiple,
 Media
• Tools that is used to represent or do a certain
things, delivery medium, a form of mass com-
munication – newspaper, magazine / tv.
• Distribution tool & information presentation –
text, graphic, voice, images, music and etc. 2
 What is Multimedia? …
 Multimedia can have many definitions these in-
clude:
 Multimedia means that computer information can be rep-
resented through audio, video, and animation in addition to
traditional media (i.e., text, graphics drawings, images).

 Multimedia is the field concerned with the computer

controlled integration of text, graphics, drawings, still and
moving images (Video), animation, audio, and any other
GRAPHIC
media
TEXT where every type of information can be represented,
stored, transmitted and processed digitally .

VIDEO
AUDIO 3

ANIMATION
 What is Multimedia? ….
 Text
 Text is most commonly used to communicate
information.
 It has alphanumeric characters, in addition
to special characters.
 It involves the use of text types, sizes, fonts,
colors and background colors.
 Multimedia applications support linked con-
tent, through Hypertext.
 Text in SMS, FAX, Email are examples of this
element in Communication.
 Common file types include: TXT, DOC, DOCX,
PDF. 4
 Cont’d…
 Audio
 The speech, music and sound effects used in multimedia is dig-
ital audio.
 Multimedia applications use audio or the sound element like,
website or presentation
 There are two basic type of audio or sound; analog and digital.
 The original sound signal is termed as Analog audio.
 The digital sampling of the original sound is termed as Digital
audio.
 Common file types for Audio include: MP3, WAV, WMA
 Still Image
 Images/Illustrations are the oldest form of media
 There are two types of images – Bitmap and Vector image types
 Bitmap images are real images that can be captured from devices such as
cameras. 5

 Vector graphics are created using software in the computer. (what is com-
 Cont’d…
 Video
 Video presents moving pictures and typically combines
images and sound for a multimedia experience.
 This technology records, synthesizes, and displays im-
ages known as frames in such sequences at a fixed
speed that makes the creation appear as moving; this is
how we see a completely developed video.
 Common file types for Video include AVI, WMV, FLV,
MOV, MP4
 Animation:
 Animation is the process of making a static image to look
as if it is moving.
 Animation refers to any time sequence of visual changes in
a computer-generated image
 It helps in creating, developing, sequencing, and displaying
a set of images technically known as frames.6
 Digital animation can be classified as 2D two dimension
 Linear VS Non-Linear
LINEAR

 A Multimedia Project is identified as Linear

when:
• It is not interactive
• User have no control over the content
that is being showed to them.
 Example:
 A movie
 A non-interactive lecture / demo show

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 Linear VS Non-Linear
Non-LINEAR

 A Multimedia Project is identified as Non-

Linear when:
• It is interactive
• Users have control over the content that
is being showed to them.
• Users are given navigational control
 Example:
• Games
• Courseware
• Interactive CD
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 What is Hypertext?

 Hypertext is a text which contains links to other

texts.
 Hypertext is therefore usually non-linear (as indi-
cated below).

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 What is Hypermedia?
 HyperMedia is not constrained to be text-based.
 It can include other media, e.g., graphics, images,
and especially the continuous media -- sound and
video.
 Example Hypermedia Applications?
 The World Wide Web (WWW) is a clear example of a
hypermedia application.
 Adobe Acrobat (or other PDF software)
 Adobe Flash

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 Basic tools supporting Multimedia
 Basic tools supporting Multimedia development in-
clude:
 HTML 5, CSS,Macromedia Flash,
Dreamweaver,
 Programming Applications (native
playback) :Director,LiveCode
 Artwork Development - Photoshop, Illustrator
 Animation Development (2D and 3D) - After Ef-
fects, Maya
 Audio Editing - Sound Forge, Audition
 Video Editing - Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro

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 Multimedia System
 A Multimedia System is a system capable of pro-
cessing multimedia data and applications.
 A Multimedia System is characterized by the pro-
cessing, storage, generation, manipulation and ren-
dition of Multimedia information.
 A Multimedia system has four basic characteris-
tics:
 Multimedia systems must be computer con-
trolled.
 Multimedia systems are integrated.
 The information they handle must be represented
digitally.
 The interface to the final presentation of media is
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usually interactive.
 Examples of Multimedia Applica-

tions
Digital video editing and production sys-
tems
 Electronic Newspapers/Magazines
 Games
 Groupware
 Home shopping
 Interactive TV
 Multimedia courseware
 Video conferencing
 Video-on-demand 13

 Virtual reality
 Components of a Multimedia System
 Now let us consider the Components
(Hardware and Software) required for a
multimedia system:
 Capture devices -Video Camera, Video
Recorder, Audio
Microphone, Keyboards, mice, graphics
tablets, 3D input devices, tactile sensors
 Storage Devices -Hard disks, CD-ROMs,
DVD-ROM, etc
 Communication Networks - Local Net-
works, Intranets,
Internet, Multimedia or other special high
speed networks.
 Computer Systems - Multimedia Desktop
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machines, Workstations, MPEG/VIDEO

 System Implications of Multimedia Systems
 Multimedia imposes new requirements on all parts of the system archi-
tecture:
 Representation
 digitization and coding (compressing)
 Storage
 database, larger volumes and new access patterns
 Processing
 OS, scheduling, indexing, searching
 Understanding
 speech/object recognition, content analysis
 Production
 more complex authoring and user interface software
 Presentation
 user perception, user friendly in HCI (Human Computer Interface)
 Protection
 media encryption, copyright, privacy
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Key Issues for Multimedia Systems
 Thekey issues multimedia systems need
to deal with here are:
 How to represent and store temporal in-
formation.
 How to strictly maintain the temporal rela-
tionships on play back/retrieval
 What process are involved in the above.
 Data has to represented digitally | Ana-
log{Digital
Conversion, Sampling etc.
 Large Data Requirements | bandwidth,
storage, Data compression is usually
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mandatory
Challenges for Multimedia Systems
 Distributed Networks
 Temporal relationship between data
 Render different data at same time | contin-
uously.
 Sequencing within the media: playing
frames in correct order/time frame in
video
 Synchronization | inter-media scheduling
E.g. Video and Audio | Lip synchronization
is clearly important for humans to watch
playback of video and audio and even an-
imation and audio. 17
 Desirable Features for a Multimedia Sys-
 tem
Given the above challenges the following feature
a desirable (if not a prerequisite) for a Multi-
media System:
 Very High Processing Power | needed to deal
with large data processing and real time delivery
of media.
 Special hardware commonplace.
 Multimedia Capable File System | needed to
deliver real-time media | e.g. Video/Audio Stream-
ing.
 Special Hardware/Software needed { e.g. RAID
technology.
 Data Representations | File Formats that sup-
port multimedia should be easy to handle yet allow
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for compression or decompression in real-
time.
 Cont’d…
 Efficient and High I/O : input and output to the file subsystem
needs to be efficient and fast.
 Needs to allow for real-time recording as well as playback of
data. e.g. Direct to Disk recording systems.
 Special Operating System : to allow access to file system and
process data efficiently and quickly.
 Needs to support direct transfers to disk, real-time scheduling,
fast interrupt processing, I/O streaming etc.
 Storage and Memory | large storage units (of the order of hun-
dreds of Tb if not more) and large memory (several Gb or more).
 Network Support | Client-server systems common as distributed
systems common.

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Producing a Multimedia Project
 Requires

a) creative skill
b) technology tools
c) organizational and business talent
d) knowledge of ownership and copy-
right rules

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 Requirements
 Multimedia requires:

 large amounts of digital memory and network

bandwidth;

 GUI (“gooey”) - a graphical user interface

 CD-ROM or DVD technology for storage

 In the future these may be replaced by "con-

nected” fiber, and radio/cellular technology

 DVD – Digital Versatile Disc

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 Why Multimedia Important?
 Digital audio/video is revolutionizing music, film,
game, and video &
audio industries
 Convergence of computers, telecommunication, ra-
dio, and TV
 Caused by technology and competition
 Dramatic changes in products and infrastructure
 New application potential
 Huge potential markets
 Improving our lives (learning, entertainment, and
work)
 Interesting technical issues
 Multimedia enhances learning, memory and reten-
tion
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 audio stimulation - 20% retention rate