Multimedia Fundamentals: Formats and Applications

Posted on Nov 27, 2024 in Computers

Multimedia

A system using multiple communication means to present information, such as text, animation, images, video, and sound.

Benefits

  • Improved Attention
  • Enhanced Understanding
  • Effective Learning

Hypermedia

The result of merging hypertext and multimedia.

Multimedia Applications

  • Art
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Engineering
  • Medicine
  • Mathematics
  • Business
  • Scientific Research

Multimedia in Education

Used for computer-based learning courses, reference books, and encyclopedias. MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) enables sending and receiving emails with multimedia content.

Types of Multimedia Information

  • Text: Unformatted, formatted, linear, and hypertext.
  • Graphics: Used for drawings, plans, and line art.
  • Images: Composed of pixels, generated by scanning or digital photography, often large files.
  • Animation: A sequence of images creating the illusion of movement.
  • Video: Presentation of images in rapid succession to simulate motion.
  • Sound: Speech, music, or other audio elements.

Multimedia Production Steps

  1. Define Key Message and Target Audience: Develop a script or game-play concept, involving specialist agencies.
  2. Prototyping: Create a preliminary version.
  3. Product Creation: Final development.

File Formats

  • .txt: Plain text file, containing only characters.
  • .doc: Microsoft Word document, supporting text formatting, images, and more.
  • .rtf: Rich Text Format, supporting text formatting and images, used by WordPad.
  • .odt: OpenDocument Text, used by OpenOffice.org Writer and other programs.
  • .bat: Text file with MS-DOS command sequences.
  • .html: Hypertext Markup Language file for web pages.
  • .pas: Pascal or Object Pascal source code file.
  • .c: C language source code file.

Text Editors

Programs for creating and editing plain text files.

Key Features

  • Mark Region: Visually selecting text for further actions.
  • Find and Replace: Searching for and replacing text strings.

Examples

  • Notepad: Basic text editor for viewing and editing plain text files.
  • WordPad: Simple word processor for generating and modifying text files.
  • Microsoft Word: Advanced word processor for creating various document types.
  • OpenOffice.org Writer: Open-source word processor similar to Microsoft Word.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

Software that converts images of text into editable text.

Example

  • Omnipage: Converts scanned documents and PDFs into editable formats.

Image Formats

  • GIF: Uses up to 256 colors, suitable for images with large areas of solid color.
  • JPG: Higher quality than GIF, larger file size, used for photos.
  • TIFF: Tagged-Image File Format, used for exchanging files between applications and platforms.
  • PICT: Used extensively in Macintosh graphics.
  • EPS: Adobe Photoshop format, supported by most graphics programs.

Audio Formats

  • AAC: Advanced Audio Coding, recognized by ISO, smaller file size than MP3, used by Apple.
  • WAV: Developed by Microsoft and IBM.
  • WMA: Windows Media Audio, compressed audio format.
  • MIDI: Musical Instrument Digital Interface, standard for electronic music.
  • ATRAC: Used in minidisc compression and playback.

Audio Players

  • RealPlayer: Created by RealNetworks.
  • Winamp: Created by Nullsoft.
  • iTunes: Created by Apple.

Video Formats

  • AVI: Audio Video Interleave.
  • MPEG: Moving Picture Experts Group.
  • WMV: Windows Media Video.

Animation Formats

  • GIF: Graphic Interchange Format.
  • MNG: Multiple-image Network Graphics.
  • SVG: Scalable Vector Graphics, XML-based language for describing vector graphics.

Animation Techniques

Creating the illusion of movement in pictures or drawings.

Types

  • Cartoons: Created by drawing each frame.
  • Stop Motion: Animation of physical objects, capturing static pictures to create movement.