intro

 

ITECH1004/5004 Introduction to Multimedia Week 01: Course introduction

 

This week’s topics  topics  • Staff Introduction • Course content and objectives • Course structure

 

Staff Introduction • Lecturer: • Grant Meredith • T158 • [email protected]  [email protected]  • Consulting hours • See my door  • Contact me by email to ask a question or make an appointment. • Walk past my office. I may be in and free

 

Moodle • Can everyone see this course on Moodle? • If not please tell someone • Lecturer or tutor  • Moodle will contain all your learning materials and assignment submissions

 

Course Objectives After successfully completing this course students will be able to: •

discuss the range and use of multimedia;

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understand the need for analysis and design to precede production and implementation of multimedia;

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understand the digital representation of media, and the constraints imposed by this representation;

• •

understand how multimedia can be incorporated into web pages. appreciate ethical behaviour in relation to multimedia and the internet, in particular issues relating to privacy, security, copyright and censorship.

 

Course Objectives (continued) After successfully completing this course students will be able to: •

create and edit a range of multimedia assets (bitmaps and vector  imagery,, digital audio, digital video, animation) imagery

•

produce an effective design for a multimedia product;

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use software tools to produce a small multimedia application;

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create a small multimedia webpage using HTML coding

 

Course Content • Definitions, characteristics, and properties of multimedia. • All forms of multimedia • text, images, audio, video, animation 

• Uses and applications of multimedia. • Hardware & software requirements. • Delivery platforms for multimedia, including the World Wide Web Web • Multimedia authoring tools. • Legal issues, censorship and copyright. • The multimedia design and development process. • Using multimedia to enhance communication. • Current trends and developments in multimedia.

 

Course Structure

• Lectures will focus primarily on the more theoretical aspects • digital representation of media • characteristics and limitations of digital media • etc

• Lab classes will focus primarily on the development of practical skills in multimedia design, development editing • based on specific media and authoring tools • skills that can be transferred to other tools

• assessment will cover both aspects

 

Assessment • Type A: • digital animation assignment (Week 7): 20% • multimedia assignment (Week 11): 20% • some variations in theand assignment specifications between ITECH1004 ITECH5004 students

• Type B: • lab test – test – theory & digital manipulation (Week 4): 10% • final exam (exam period): 50% • 2 hours, closed book & a sample has been provided • some variations in the exam between ITECH1004 & ITECH5004

• Check the course description for assessment criteria

 

How to pass this subject

• attend lectures, if possible • if not, read and review notes before next class • pay attention to the Notes Page view in the PowerPoint slides, as it will provide extra details for some topics

• attend lab for classes, • worthall marks Lab Testand complete the exercises • Lab questions are great exam revision • develops practical skills required for the assignments

• seek help early if you don’t understand something  something  • • • •

discuss with other students ask tutor in lab class ask lecturer in consulting hours email the lecturer 

• know the theory very well. You MUST aim to pass the final exam

 

How to pass this subject (2)

• do all the assignments • be organised

YOURSELF!!!

• start assignments early, not at the last minute • plan workload based on deadlines for other courses • keep your files organised • don’t lo lose th them  • keep multiple backups (not only on a USB memory stick)

• double-check submission details • get the dates right • don’t don’t submit submit incor incorrec rectt files, files, submi submitt in the wrong wrong submi submissi ssion on box etc • check all assignment requirements

 

Definitions of multimedia • multimedia is a combination of 2 or more forms of media • text, images, sound, animation, video • digital multimedia is multimedia delivered via a computer or other digital electronic device • interactive multimedia allows the user some control over their experience

 

Digital media and multimedia • the first half of this course will examine the various forms of digital media separately • images • • • •

animation video audio text

• we will look at how to create media assets of each type • latter half of the course will examine combining these assets to form a multimedia product

 

Advantages of Multimedia • The main advantages of multimedia are: • it c can an ““gra grab” b” tthe he atte attenti ntion on of of us users ers   • it engages all the senses of the user  • if smartly designed it is not passive in its effect • the combination of these factors can lead to more effective understanding of the message being communicated

 

Disadvantages • Misuse

• poorly designed multimedia can distract from the message

• Investment costs. • hardware/software costs to develop or view multimedia • labour costs to develop multimedia • “dig “digit ital al divi divid de” – societies or people with access to IT have a distinct advantage over those without access

• Technical • multimediabarriers. can involve large amounts of data • storage or network bandwidth limitations may restrict what can be achieved

 

Disadvantages • Social/psychologica Social/psychologicall barriers. • social or cultural factors may affect the interpretation of  multimedia • accessibility issues – issues – can someone with a sensory disability access a multimedia product?

• Legal problems e.g. copyright, censorship • the technology has often outpaced the legal framework

 

An overview of digital data • a major issue in multimedia design and development is data usage • digital media requires a lot of data • designers need to be familiar with the data representation of the media • places constraints on what the media can represent • determines the amount of data required • may impact on some media editing operations

 

An overview of digital data (2) • computers represent all data in binary format (0s and 1s) • a single b i t of data can be either 0 or 1 • b i t s  are grouped together into b y t e s   • generally a byte consists of 8 bits

• 1 bit can represent 2 possible values (0, 1) • 2 bits can represent 4 possible values (00, 01, 10, 11) • (000, 3 bits001, can 010, represent 8 possible values 011, 100, 101, 110, 111) n • more generally, n bits can represent 2   possible values

 

An overview of digital data (3) • a group of bits can be interpreted as a number  1001 (a 4 bit value) 3 2 1 0 = 1 x 2 + 0 x 2 + 0 x 2  + 1 x 2 =1x8+0x4+0x2+1x1 =8+0+0+1 =9

 

An overview of digital data (4) • a group of bits can also be interpreted as an arbitrary code for any sort of symbolic information • e.g. 01000001 (65) is the ASCII ASCII code for the letter A

• early computers were ‘number crunchers’ – designed purely for numeric calculation, mostly for scientific or business purposes • the realisation that binary numbers could represent other types of data lead to a huge growth in the use of computers • e.g. for word-processing

• lead directly to the development of digital multimedia

 

Bytes (big & small)! • Basic units of data storage • Bit Byte – • Byte  – 8 bits per byte • Kilobyte Kilobyte –  – 1024 bytes • Megabyte - 1024 kilobytes • Gigabyte - 1024 megabytes • Terabyte Terabyte –  – 1024 gigabytes

 

Uses of multimedia • business • education and training • medicine • advertising • entertainment

 

Multimedia in Business/Commerce • multimedia presentations are increasingly common • e.g. PowerPoint presentations combine text, images, animation, audio, video • graphs can communicate business statistics more readily than tables of figures

• teleconferencing can be seen as an example of  multimedia • training materials may be delivered using multimedia products

 

Multimedia in Business/Commerce • Digital Business Cards  Cards  • Real Estate 'Virtual Tours‘  Tours‘  tours   • Virtual tours

 

Multimedia in Education • multimedia educational materials can be more effective than textbooks • can use all forms of media to convey information (e.g. audio, animation) • can be more engaging • can be interactive – interactive – makes the student an active participant in learning

• need careful design and consideration of  educational needs to work well

 

Multimedia in Education • Mathletics Mathletics   • How to tie your shoelaces  shoelaces  circuits   • Electric circuits

 

Multimedia in Medicine • digital media are increasingly being used for  medical purposes • digital images can be more easily manipulated and enhanced than traditional physical image media

 

Multimedia in Medicine • Virtual Surgery Surgery  

• Enhancement of medical images images   • 3D imaging  imaging 

 

Multimedia in Advertising • online adverts frequently use animation/video/sound to grab the viewer’ viewer ’s attention Herald-Sun   • The Herald-Sun

 

Multimedia in Entertainment • computer games are a form of multimedia • Linerider  

 

How to use multimedia poorly • The World's Worst Website  Website  •  Yale  Yale School of Art Art   • Got Milk  Milk 

 

How to use multimedia well • use it for a specific reason, when it will help achieve your purpose • avoid overuse of audio, animation and video • consider the end-user 

 

Why is multimedia design important? • all multimedia projects should start with a careful design phase • avoids development of ineff ineffective ective products • avoids wasted effort

• we will cover some basic design principles in this course • further coverage in later courses in the multimedia stream

 

Multimedia hardware • to display multimedia a computer requires: • a monitor  • speaker(s) • sufficie sufficient nt memory / processor speed • CD/DVD drive; network connection

• to develop multimedia: • same requirements, plus:

• more memory and processor speed • input devices (microphone, graphics tablet, scanner, scanner, digital camera etc)

 

Multimedia delivery platforms • there are 3 commonly used delivery platforms for  multimedia: • standalone PC • content delivered via CD-ROM / DVD-ROM • networked PC • content delivered over the network

• kiosk • content is tied to the machine

• the choice of platform will impact on design decisions •• may limit the the speed total amount of data available may limit of access to material • may alter the characteristics/purpose of  the user 

 

Week 1 review • structure of the course • how to pass • do the required work • ask for help

• • • •

nature and uses of multimedia the need for multimedia design delivery platforms and hardware digital data