CMPD 434 MULTIMEDIA AUTHORING Chapter 01 Part B Introduction to Multimedia and Authoring Process.
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Transcript of CMPD 434 MULTIMEDIA AUTHORING Chapter 01 Part B Introduction to Multimedia and Authoring Process.
CMPD 434 MULTIMEDIA AUTHORINGChapter 01 Part B
Introduction to Multimedia and
Authoring Process
Objective
• At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
• Explain Multimedia Software Development Methodology
• Understand Multimedia Authoring Paradigms & Concepts
• Multimedia developing suites (Hardware and Software)
Multimedia Software Development Methodology
Multimedia Development Methodology stages
• Conceptualization and Planning
• Design and Prototyping
• Production
• Testing
• Distribution and follow-up
• and (of course) management
Stage 1 : Conceptualization and Planning
• Every multimedia project begins with an idea or concept
• The concept and the plan define a project
• Planning should make the realization of the concept as straightforward as possible
The Kickoff Meeting
• Projects often start with ameeting to discuss theproject direction and plan
• Usually only a group of key players
• Serves to create and unite the team
• Defines and/or clarifies goals, roles, expectations, and strategies
Project Scope
• What are you making? …
• What is it for? …
• What do you want to say? …
• What will be used? …
… the concept
… the purpose
… the message
… the approach
Type of project
• Electronic Books and Magazines
• Kiosks and Information Centers
• Multimedia Databases
• Corporate Training
• Interactive Education
• Interactive Games
• Interactive Music
• Interactive Movies
• Interactive Art and Performance
• Interactive Sales and Marketing
• Presentations and Communications
Target Audience
• what is their background (with respect to age, education, gender, …)
• what are their preferences (even those prescribed by current fashion)
• are there some cultural and other constraints to be observed
• what equipment will they use to access your product (environment)
Stage 2 : Design
• Bridging the gap betweenthe audience and you
• Design should embody concept, purpose, and messages
• Technology helps and often is indispensable – but technology alone without the proper design creativity cannot do the trick
Design Goals
• Simplicity
• Consistency
• User involvement
• Affordability
• Fun, efficiency, timing
Simplicity• Multimedia by definition
includes user interaction and exploration
• Note: prettiest designs may not be the simplest, nor the easiest to use
• Good interaction design should instill a desire to go on and find out more
• However, efficiency is always an issue
User involvement• Most people like to get
“involved”
• Adding a human dimension to the communication with a mindless machine
• People enjoy exploring and discovering new paths – reward curiosity by designing depth
• Allow users to explore more than one level of information – but only if they explicitly choose to do so
Affordability
• Analyze what the users fromthe target group can afford
• Different audience segments have different amounts they are willing to spend on a given product
• Design goal: accommodate as much as possible within a given price range
Other Qualities
• some applications can be fun to use (but each user can have his or her own definition of what exactly is “fun”)
• user comprehension has its own pace – try to be neither too fast, nor too slow
• performance is always an issue: but this is predominantly a technical problem
Storyboard
• An illustrated scene-by-scene plan for telling a story: represents actions, images and narration unfolding over time
• Each significant frame is described in (some) detail, the actors are outlined, and their important actions are spelled out
• Storyboard may be considered to be a specification of the prototype (and, ultimately, the product itself)
Information Design
• How to organize and present information in a clear, accurate, meaningful and useful form
• Includes the information in all media and their visual interaction (to an extent)
Stage 3 : Prototyping
• A limited implementation of a design
• Emphasizes exploration and experimentation
• Prototyping helps simplify and improve production process
• Often used as proof-of-concept and/or testing purposes
• Multimedia applications must be prototyped
.
Product Specifications
• A complete list of features that covers structure and behavior of the product should emerge from the prototyping phase
• In multimedia, this means type and amount of content, interface characteristics, and interaction
Stage 4 : Production
• Organizing people and resources
• Providing and producing content – text, graphics, videos, sound, animation, VR
• Integrating all of the above into a meaningful, coherent product
• Details of production related to different media types will be covered in a separate lecture
Production Integration
• Integrating content elements: usually the responsibility of programmer(s)
• Project manager must overview integration
• Project manager should make sure that no content is forgotten or missing
• Problems of all types tend to multiply as the delivery time is approaching
Documentation
• Different types of documentation may be needed, depending on the project
• Both size and scope depend on the project and its intended audience
• Mass audience requires the documentation to be as simple as possible, together with additional materials (getting started, tutorials, … )
• Narrow, well-educated audience require in-depth coverage, description of more sophisticated functions
Stage 5 : Testing
• Walking in user's shoes – before the user does so
• Main questions
• When to test
• What to test
• How to test
• When to stop testing
• But the crucial question is: can testing give us complete confidence in the product?
Stage 6 : Distribution
• Activities related to:
• Preparation and duplication of physical media
• Choosing distribution options and channels
• Marketing
• Sales
Stage 7 : Follow Up
• Development wrap-up
• Maintenance
• Training
• Documentation
• Customer relations
• Pursuing additional opportunities
Intro. to Multimedia Authoring Paradigms &
Concepts
Multimedia Authoring
• Multimedia Authoring the process of creating multimedia application.
• During authoring, you might need to organize or edit the elements of your multimedia project, create user interface and designing interactivity.
• This can be achieved through the use of authoring programs / tools.
Why would anyone want to use an Authoring program
• Why it is more efficient and effective to use an authoring system:
• Simplify the inherently complex task of creating interactive multimedia.
• Reduce the time needed to develop the application
• Increase productivity
• Reusability of the content e.g. graphics, animations, audio, video clips.
Multimedia Authoring Paradigms & Concepts
• Authoring paradigm for easier understanding of the methodology employed to create multimedia applications.
• Scripting-language metaphor
• Slide show metaphor
• Hierarchical metaphor
• Iconic/Flow-control metaphor
• Frames metaphor
• Card/Scripting metaphor
• Cast/Score metaphor
Scripting Language Metaphor
• uses a special language to enable interactivity (button, mouse, etc), and to allow conditionals, jumps, loops, functions/macros
• e.g., OpenScript in Toolbook by Asymetrix -- load an MPEG fileextFileName of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = “c:\windows\media\media.mpg”;-- playextPlayCount of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = 1;--if want to start and end at specific framesextSelectionStart of MediaPlayer “theMpegPath” = 103;
Example of OpenScript
Slide Show Metaphor• by default a linear presentation
• However, tools exist to perform jumps/hyperlink – seldom used
• e.g., PowerPoint, ImageQ
Hierarchical Metaphor
• User-controllable elements are organized into a tree structure.
• Often used in menu-driven applications
Iconic/Flow-control Metaphor • graphical icons are available in a toolbox
• Authoring proceeds by creating flow chart with icons attached.
• e.g., Authorware by Macromedia
Frames Metaphor
• As in iconic/flow-control metaphor, but uses C language as the programming language
• rather than represent the actual flow of the program, links between icons are more conceptual
Card/Scripting Metaphor
• index-card structure, good for hypertext/hypermedia
• e.g., SuperCard, HyperCard by Apple
Cast/Score/Scripting Metaphor
• with cast members, music scores, and scripting language;
• many synchronous horizontal "tracks" simultaneously shown in vertical columns;
• e.g., Adobe Director (Uses Lingo = scripting language)