Nalanda Open University

Course Name: BCA Part II

Paper-XII (Multimedia & Animation)
Topic-Introduction to Computer Network
Coordinator: A. N. Pandey
E-mail ID : amarnathpandey@nou.ac.in

E-CONTENT

Topic- Introduction to Multimedia

1.0 Introduction

Multimedia is the combined use of text, graphics, sound, animation, and video. A primary
objective of this unit is to teach students about various multimedia tools and their applications.
The unit also discuss about the sound editing software, animation devices, spreadsheets and so
on. At the end of this unit, you will able to answer the basic concepts related to multimedia
and as well as various multimedia authoring tools. The readers shall be aware of the basic terms
and technologies involved in the development of multimedia tools.

1.2 What is multimedia?

Multimedia is the media that uses multiple forms of information content and information
processing (e.g. text, audio, graphics, animation, video, interactivity) to inform or entertain the
user. Multimedia also refers to the use of electronic media to store and experience multimedia
content. Multimedia is similar to traditional mixed media in fine art, but with a broader scope.
The term “rich media” is synonymous for interactive multimedia. People who use the term
"multimedia" often seem to have quite different, even opposing, viewpoints. A PC vendor
would like us to think of multimedia as a PC that has sound capability, a DVD-ROM drive,
and perhaps the superiority of multimedia-enabled microprocessors that understand additional
multimedia instructions. A consumer entertainment vendor may think of multimedia as
interactive cable TV with hundreds of digital channels, or a cable-TV-like service delivered
over a high-speed Internet connection.
A computer science student reading this book likely has a more application-oriented view of
what multimedia consists of: applications that use multiple modalities to their advantage,
including text, images, drawings (graphics), animation, video, sound (including speech), and,
most likely, interactivity of some kind. The popular notion of “convergence" is one that inhabits
the college campus as it does the culture at large. In this scenario, PCs, DVDs, games, digital
TV, set-top web surfing, wireless, and so on are converging in technology, presumably to arrive
in the near future at a final all-around, multimedia-enabled product. While hardware may
indeed involve such devices, the present is already exciting multimedia is part of some of the
most interesting projects underway in computer science. The convergence going on in this field
is in fact a convergence of areas that have in the past been separated but are now finding much
to share in this new application area. Graphics, visualization, HCI, computer vision, data
compression, graph theory, networking, database systems - all have important contributions to
make in multimedia at the present time.

1.3 Application of Multimedia

Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to, advertisements,
art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, scientific research
and spatial, temporal applications. A few application areas of multimedia are listed below:

1.3.1 Creative Industries

Creative industries use multimedia for a variety of purposes ranging from fine arts, to
entertainment, to commercial art, to journalism, to media and software services provided for
any of the industries listed below. An individual multimedia designer may cover the spectrum
throughout their career. Request for their skills range from technical, to analytical and to
creative.

1.3.2 Commercial

Much of the electronic old and new media utilized by commercial artists is multimedia.
Exciting presentations are used to grab and keep attention in advertising. Industrial, business
to business, and interoffice communications are often developed by creative services firms for
advanced multimedia presentations beyond simple slide shows to sell ideas or liven-up training.
Commercial multimedia developers may be hired to design for governmental services and
nonprofit services applications as well.

1.3.3 Entertainment and Fine Arts

In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry, especially to develop

special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games are a popular pastime and are
software programs available either as CD-ROMs or online. Some video games also use
multimedia features. Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of
just sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia.

1.3.4 Education

In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses (popularly called

CBTs) and reference books like encyclopedia and almanacs. A CBT lets the user go through a
series of presentations, text about a particular topic, and associated illustrations in various
information formats. Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education
with entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment.

1.3.5 Engineering

Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for anything from
entertainment to training such as military or industrial training. Multimedia for software
interfaces are often done as collaboration between creative professionals and software
engineers.

1.3.6 Industry

In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders,
superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful for providing employee training,
advertising and selling products all over the world via virtually unlimited web-based
technologies.
 1.3.7 Mathematical & Scientific Research

In Mathematical and Scientific Research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling and
simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model of a particular substance
and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance.

1.4 Multimedia Software Tools

The categories of software tools briefly examined here are:

1. Music Sequencing and Notation

2. Digital Audio
3. Graphics and Image Editing
4. Video Editing
5. Animation

1.4.1 Music Sequencing and Notation

Cakewalk: - Cakewalk is a well-known older name for what is now called Pro Audio. The
firm producing this sequencing and editing software, Twelve Tone Systems, also sells an
introductory version of their software, "Cakewalk Express", over the Internet for a low price .

The term sequencer comes from older devices that stored sequences of notes in the MIDI music
language. It is also possible to insert WAV files and Windows MCI commands (for animation
and video) into music tracks.

Cubase: - Cubase is another sequencing / editing program, with capabilities similar to those of
Cakewalk. It includes some digital audio editing tools.
Macromedia Sound edit: - Sound edit is a mature program for creating audio for multimedia
projects and the web that integrates well with other Macromedia products such as Flash and
Director.

1.4.2 Digital Audio

Digital Audio tools deal with accessing and editing the actual sampled sounds that make up
audio.

Cool Edit: - Cool Edit is a powerful, popular digital audio toolkit with capabilities (for PC
users, at least) that emulate a professional audio studio, including multitrack productions and
sound file editing, along with digital signal processing effects.

Sound Forge: - Sound Forge is a sophisticated PC - based program for editing WAV files.
Sound can be captured from a CD - ROM drive or from tape or microphone through the sound
card, then mixed and edited. It also permits adding complex special effects.

Pro Tools: - Pro Tools is a high - end integrated audio production and editing environment that
runs on Macintosh computers as well as Windows. Pro Tools offers easy MIDI creation and
manipulation as well as powerful audio mixing, recording, and editing software.

1.4.3 Graphics and Image Editing

Adobe Illustrator: - Illustrator is a powerful publishing tool for creating and editing vector
graphics, which can easily be exported to use on the web.

Adobe Photoshop: - Photoshop is the standard in a tool for graphics, image processing, and
image manipulation. Layers of images, graphics, and text can be separately manipulated for
maximum flexibility, and its "filter factory" permits creation of sophisticated lighting effects.
Macromedia: - Fireworks is software for making graphics specifically for the web. It includes
a bitmap editor, a vector graphics editor, and a JavaScript generator for buttons and rollovers.

Macromedia Freehand: - Freehand is a text and web graphics editing tool that supports many
bitmap formats, such as GIF, PNG, and JPEG. These am pixel - based formats, in that each
pixel is specified. It also supports vector - based formats, in which endpoints of lines are
specified instead of the pixels themselves, such as SWF (Macromedia Flash) and FHC
(Shockwave Freehand). It can also read Photoshop format.

1.4.4 Video Editing

Adobe Premiere: - Premiere is a simple, intuitive video editing tool for nonlinear editing
putting video clips into any order. Video and audio are arranged in tracks, like a musical score.
It provides a large number of video and audio tracks, superimpositions, and virtual clips. A
large library of built - in transitions, filters, and motions for clips allows easy creation of
effective multimedia productions.

Adobe After Effects: - After Effects is a powerful video editing tool that enables users to add
and change existing movies with effects such as lighting, shadows, and motion blurring. It also
allows layers, as in Photoshop, to permit manipulating objects independently.

Final Cut Pro: - Final Cut Pro is a video editing tool offered by Apple for the Macintosh
platform. It allows the capture of video and audio from numerous sources, such as film and
DV. It provides a complete environment, from capturing the video to edit and color correction
and finally output to a video file or broadcast from the computer.

1.4.5. Animation

Multimedia APIs

Java3D: - It is an API used by Java to construct and render 3D graphics, similar to the way
Java Media Framework handles media files. It provides a basic set of object primitives (cube,
splines, etc.) upon which the developer can build scenes. It is an abstraction layer built on top
of OpenGL or DirectX (the user can select which), so the graphics are accelerated.

DirectX: - Windows API that supports video, images, audio, and 3D animation, is the most
common API used to develop modern multimedia Windows applications, such as computer
games.

OpenGL: - It was created in 1992 and has become the most popular 3D API in use today.
OpenGL is highly portable and will run on all popular modern operating systems, such as
UNIX, Linux, Windows, and Macintosh.

1.5 OCR software

OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR technology is a software that scans
documents containing texts and converts them into documents that can be edited. However, for
the scanning to take place, the text should be clear and at times, handwritten text may not be
recognized by the software. Many flatbed and handheld scanners come with free OCR
software. However, the software is often limited when compared to commercial OCR software.
Many basic OCR programs do not cost much, but professional ones, with high conversion rates,
tend to be more expensive. Usually, the free software that comes included as a part of a scanner
is sufficient for home users, but a professional one is needed for businesses. Users can also
download free OCR programs from the Internet to meet immediate needs for one off use. OCR
engines have been developed into many kinds of domain-specific OCR applications, such as
receipt OCR, invoice OCR, check OCR, legal billing document OCR.

They can be used for:

 Data entry for business documents, e.g. check passport, invoice, bank statement and
receipt.

 Automatic number plate recognition.

 Automatic insurance documents key information extraction.

 Extracting business card information into a contact list.

  More quickly make textual versions of printed documents, e.g. book
scanning for Project Gutenberg.

 Make electronic images of printed documents searchable, e.g. Google Books.

 Converting handwriting in real time to control a computer (pen computing).

 Defeating CAPTCHA anti-bot systems, though these are specifically designed to

prevent OCR. The purpose can also be to test the robustness of CAPTCHA anti-bot
systems.

 Assistive technology for blind and visually impaired users.

1.5.1 Advantages of using OCR Software

Many businesses, educational institutes and other organizations make use of OCR programs
and software to hasten their data entry process. Furthermore, using OCR program reduces
human error, which can occur while the data is being input. However, the conversion while the
program is running has to be monitored carefully, so that unrecognized characters, words and
sentences can be identified.

1.6 Sound Editing Software

A sound editor is a creative professional responsible for selecting and assembling sound
recordings in preparation for the final sound mixing or mastering of a television program,
motion picture, video game, or any production involving recorded or synthetic sound. Sound
editing developed out of the need to fix the incomplete, undramatic, or technically inferior
sound recordings of early talkies, and over the decades has become a respected
filmmaking craft, with sound editors implementing the aesthetic goals of motion picture sound
design.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the artistic contribution of
exceptional sound editing with the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

There are primarily three divisions of sound that are combined to create a final mix, these being
dialogue, effects, and music. In larger markets such as New York and Los Angeles, sound
editors often specialize in only one of these areas, thus a show will have separate dialogue,
effects, and music editors. In smaller markets, sound editors are expected to know how to
handle it all, often crossing over into the mixing realm as well. Editing effects is likened to
creating the sonic world from scratch, while dialogue editing is likened to taking the existing
sonic world and fixing it. Dialogue editing is more accurately thought of as "production sound
editing", where the editor takes the original sound recorded on the set, and using a variety of
techniques, makes the dialogue more understandable, as well as smoother, so the listener
doesn't hear the transitions from shot to shot (often the background sounds underneath the
words change dramatically from take to take). Among the challenges that effects editors face
is creatively adding together various elements to create believable sounds for everything you
see on screen, as well as memorizing their sound effects library.

1.6.1 Equipment

The essential piece of equipment used in modern sound editing is the digital audio workstation,
or DAW. A DAW allows sounds, stored as computer files on a host computer, to be placed in
timed synchronization with a motion picture, mixed, manipulated, and documented. The
standard DAW system in use by the American film industry, as of 2012, is Avid's Pro Tools,
with the majority running on Macs. Another system in use presently
is Yamaha owned Steinberg's cross platform DAW Nuendo running on Macs using operating
system Mac OS X but also on Windows XP. Other systems historically used for sound editing
were:

 WaveFrame, manufactured by WaveFrame of Emeryville, CA

 Several DAWs have been manufactured by Fairlight
 SonicSolutions
 AMS-Neve Audiofile
 AudioVision manufactured by Avid

The WaveFrame, Fairlights, and Audiofile were of the "integrated" variety of DAW, and
required the purchase of expensive proprietary hardware and specialized computers (not
standard PCs or Macs). Of the two surviving systems, Pro Tools still requires some proprietary
hardware (either a low cost portable device such as the "Mbox" or the more expensive
multichannel A/D,D/A converters for more professional high end applications), while Nuendo
(a successor to Cubase) is of the "host based" variety.

1.6.2 Sound effect library

Sound-effects editors typically use an organized catalog of sound recordings from which sound
effects can be easily accessed and used in film soundtracks. There are several commercially
distributed sound-effects libraries available, the two most well-known publishers being Sound
Ideas and The Hollywood Edge. Online search engines, such as Sounddogs, A Sound Effect
and Sonniss allow users to purchase sound effects libraries from a large online database.

Many sound effects editors make their own customized sound recordings which are
accumulated into highly prized personal sound effects libraries. Often, sound effects used in
films will be saved and reused in subsequent films. One exemplary case in point is a recording
known as the "Wilhelm Scream" which has become known for its repeated use in many famous
films such as The Charge at Feather River (1953), Pierre Marette Story (1957), The Empire
Strikes Back (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Reservoir Dogs (1992). Credited with
naming and popularizing this particular recording is sound designer Ben Burtt.
 1.6.3 Animation sound editing
In the field of animation, traditionally the sound editors have been given the more prestigious
title of "film editor" in screen credits. As animated films are more often than not planned to the
frame, the traditional functions of a film editor are often unnecessary. Treg Brown is known to
cartoon fans as the sound effects genius of Warner Bros. Animation. Other greats of the field
have included Jimmy MacDonald of the Walt Disney Studios, Greg Watson and Don Douglas
at Hanna-Barbera, and Joe Siracusa of UPA and various TV cartoon studios.

1.7 Animation devices, digital movies and other accessories

Persistence of vision is what we call the behavior of our eyes when an image is flashed on them
and taken away suddenly. Our eyes retain the image for a fraction of a second, or even longer.
If we quickly replace the first image with a second one, the eye blends the two together. If it
weren't for this "defect" in our vision, movies and television would always have a jerky look
to them that would probably make them difficult to watch.
A variety of simple devices can be made that allow you to explore persistence of vision, while
you experiment with primitive animation techniques. I will discuss four of these devices:
Thaumatropes, Flipbooks, Phenakistoscopes and Zoetropes.

Thaumatropes from Greek thauma, wonder; and trop e, to turn. are the simplest of all
animation devices. They are made from a cardboard disk with two small holes in opposite
edges. A simple scene is drawn on one side of the disk, and a corresponding element of the
scene is drawn on the reverse side, in the correct orientation and placement. Threads are
attached to the holes, and the threads are pulled tight and twirled between the thumb and
forefinger of each hand. The disk spins and the images on the two sides blend into one.

Flipbooks are the next simplest animation device to make. They consist of a stack of blank
pieces of paper or thin cardstock stapled to form a book. A slightly different picture is sketched
on each page, and as the book is rapidly flipped, the sketches appear to move. This is a good
starting point for classroom or home investigation of the technique of animation, as it
demonstrates the need to make small changes from one drawing to the next. An important point
when making a flipbook is this: keep your drawings bold and simple. A black fine-point felt
tipped pen is best for your sketches. If you prefer the correctability of a pencil, go over the
pencil sketches with ink when you have them finished.

A Phenakistoscope is another simple animation device. The word comes from the Greek
words phainen, to show; kinein, to move; and skopos, to aim or target ("scope" is now used to
mean a viewing device like a telescope or microscope). A phenakistoscope consists of a flat
disk painted black on one side, with radial slots cut into the outer edge. It is mounted to a
wooden handle with a thumbtack through its center so it spins freely. On the unpainted side
between the slots are drawn a series of sketches having slight changes from one to the next.
The disk is spun and you look through the slots at a mirror so you can see the side with the
sketches. The major difference between the type of animation that can be done with a
phenakistoscope and a flipbook is that the phenakistoscope has only a small number of
drawings (usually eight or 12), and the movement of the sketch has to begin and end in the
same position to form a smooth repeating cyclic motion.

Zoetropes (from Greek zoion, living being; and trop e, to turn) are very similar to
phenakistoscopes except that you make a slotted cylinder rather than a slotted disk. The figures
to be animated are drawn on the inside wall of the cylinder. The outside is painted black.

The zoetrope cylinder sits in some sort of round shallow tray. A large film can work well; the
best ones I have made have used movie reel cans. What about making a zoetrope out of a lazy
Susan? Pie tins or even cardboard pizza package bottoms work. A hole is punched through the
round pan or disk, and attached to a wooden handle or base. The slotted cylinder, with
completed cartoon drawings on the inside, is attached to the disk or inserted into the can. The
whole thing is spun, and you look through the slots to the opposite inside wall, where you see
the animated action. A word of warning when making phenakistoscopes and zoetropes. Don't
forget to paint the side you look through black or to make it from black paper. It is essential
for the device to work well! If the outside is left white, then the cartoon image has to compete
with a full white after-image, which completely washes it out.

1.7.1 Laying out the slotted strip for a zoetrope

The first step is to find out how long the strip needs to be. You could measure the diameter of
the disk or pan you intend to use for the bottom, and then multiply by pi (3.14). But I prefer to
actually fit the strip to the disk, and cut away the excess material. Make the strip long enough
so that the ends of the strip overlap slightly, so that you can later glue or tape the ends together
to form a cylinder.

Now, how to lay out the slots? One method is to measure the length of the strip, and then divide
by the number of slots you want. The drawback here is that you end up with some odd fraction
that your ruler doesn't have. You then need to estimate the measurements.

If you have a CAD program, you can lay out the strip using its built-in measurement
capabilities. Your only problem then will be to plot the drawing you've made. You'll need at
least a "B" size plotter or printer to do this.

Another technique is to make another paper strip the length of the strip you're using, and fold
it in halves until you get the number of divisions you want. Then unfold the strip and use the
creases as guides. This works if you want 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 slots (or any power of 2). If you
fold the strip into thirds, then halve the thirds repeatedly, you can get 3, 6, 12, or 24 slots.

Once you've laid out the slots, cut them approximately a quarter-inch wide. If you've made
your zoetrope out of black cardstock, you are ready to assemble it. Form it into a cylinder, and
lay it into your film can, tape it to your pie tin, or pizza bottom, or whatever you've chosen.
 1.7.2 Digital movies

To the audience, the most important aspect of digital cinema is the projection system. This is
the final piece of technology that controls how the movie actually looks at the end of the line.

Pretty much everybody agrees that a good film projector loaded with a pristine film print
produces a fantastic, vibrant picture. The problem is, every time you play the movie, the film
quality drops a little. When you go to a movie that's been playing for a few weeks, you'll
probably see hundreds of scratches and bits of dirt.

Many critics hold that a projected digital movie is inferior to a pristine film print, but they
recognize that while a film print gradually degrades, a digital movie looks the same every time
you show it. Think of a CD as compared to an audio tape. Every time you play an audio tape,
the sound gets a little warped. A CD's digital information sounds exactly the same every time
you listen to it (unless it gets scratched).

Today, there are two major digital cinema projector technologies: Micromirror projectors
and LCD projectors.

Micromirror projectors, like Texas Instruments' Digital Light Processing (DLP) line, form
images with an array of microscopic mirrors. In this system, a high-power lamp shines light
through a prism. The prism splits the light into the component colors red, green and blue. Each
color beam hits a different Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) -- a semiconductor chip that is
covered in more than a million hinged mirrors.

Based on the information encoded in the video signal, the DMD turns over the tiny mirrors to
reflect the colored light. Collectively, the tiny dots of reflected light form a monochromatic
image. To see how this works, imagine a crowd of people on the ground at night, each holding
a square-foot mirror. A helicopter flies overhead and shines a light down on the crowd.
Depending on which people held their mirrors up, you would see a different reflected image.
If everybody worked together, they could spell out words or form images. If you had more than
a million people, pressed shoulder to shoulder, you could make highly detailed pictures.

In actuality, most of the individual mirrors are flipped from "on" (reflecting light) to "off" (not
reflecting light) and back again thousands of times per second. A mirror that is flipped on a
greater proportion of the time will reflect more light and so will form a brighter pixel than a
mirror that is not flipped on for as long. This is how the DMD creates a gradation between light
and dark. The mirrors that are flipping rapidly from on to off create varying shades of gray (or
varying shades of red, green and blue, in this case).

Each micromirror chip reflects the monochromatic image back to the prism, which recombines
the colors. The red, green and blue rejoin to form a full color image, which is projected on the
screen.

LCD projectors, such as JVC's Digital Image Light Amplifier (D-ILA) line, work on a slightly
different system. These projectors reflect high-intensity light off of a stationary mirror covered
with a liquid crystal display (LCD). Based on the digital signal, the projector directs some of
the liquid crystals to let reflected light through and others to block it. In this way, the LCD
modifies the high-intensity light beam to create an image.

There is a flip-side to digital projector technology. In both projector designs,

individual pixelsmay break from time to time. When this happens, it degrades the image quality
of every single movie shown on that projector. In contrast, if a film print gets scratched, it's
only that particular movie that's damaged -- the next print looks fine.

1.8 Linking Multimedia Objects

Multimedia elements can dynamically be linked with other applications and documents or
embedded on them. When an object such as an image is embedded in a destination file it
becomes part of the file, and the original or source file can be edited or changed without
changing the embedded object. When an object is linked, it is only the location of the source
file and a representation of its data are kept in the destination file. i.e. the actual data for the
object is still stored in the source file.

1.8.1 Broadcasting Video Standards

Four broadcasting (TV) video standard and recording formats:

– NTSC, PAL, SECAM, HDTV

1.8.2 Integrating Computers and Television

Current television video is based on analog technology. Computer video is based on digital
technology and other, more extensible images. To display analog video (television) images in
real-time on a computer monitor, the video signal must first be converted from analog to digital
form.
A special video digitising overlay or hardware on the motherboard must be installed in your
computer to take the video signal and convert it to digital information. The analog video signal
(converted to digital information) and the computer’s own digital graphics are mixed, yielding
either a full screen motion video.

1.8.3 Differences between Computer and Television Video

Color reproduction and display is different between televisions and computer monitors.
Because computers use RGB component video (colors are split into red, green, and blue
signals), their colors are purer and more accurate than those seen on television monitor.

When working with text and titles for video production can be produced with analog character
generator. But computer can do this digitally using video and image-editing software.

1.9 Office suites

An office suite is a collection of applications bundled together, intended to be used by

knowledge workers in an organization. It is used to simplify tasks and processes of office
workers and increase their productivity. An office suite is also known as an office application
suite or office productivity software.

There are two primary benefits of software suites:

1.9.1 Enhanced Productivity

It makes it easier for the user to work on multiple related projects at once. Someone can, for
example, make a spreadsheet in Excel and then bring it into Word, keeping all of the
formatting intact much more easily than if they used an unrelated spreadsheet program and text
editing program.

1.9.2 Saves Costs

Purchasing the entire Office suite is much cheaper than purchasing Excel, Word, PowerPoint,
and Outlook separately. However, a user may not need all of the programs in a given suite, so
buying the entire suite when only one or two programs are needed is not an ideal purchase; If
not all of the programs are needed, then it would be more prudent to individually purchase the
programs which are needed.

1.10 Word Processor

A word processor is a software program that is used to create a document, store it electronically,
display it on a screen, modify it using commands and characters, and print it on a printer. It
also processes paragraph indentation, margin size, font type, font size, font color, and spacing
within the document being created. Word processors have replaced typewriters since they allow
the user to make a change anywhere in the document without having to retype the entire page.
Word processors also come equipped with "spell-check" functions eliminating the need for
multiple editors and provide an immediate tool for grammatical correction. Some common
word processors include Microsoft Word, AbiWord, Word Perfect, and Open Office.

1.10.1 Constructing a Word Processing Script

When constructing a word document, there are a few things to keep in mind; character
formatting, paragraph formatting, and page formatting. These three basic functions lay the
foundation for most of the customization that is needed to create many word documents.

i) Character Formatting

Character formatting changes the appearance of individual characters and relates to the size,
font, color, and overall style of the letters or numbers being used. Character formatting also
involves underlining, italicizing, and making bold those characters being used. This is great for
making a word stand out or for underlining book titles.

ii) Paragraph Formatting

Paragraph formatting adjusts the spacing, alignment, and indentation of the paragraphs being
formed. Spacing refers to the amount of lines left blank in between the lines being processed.
A good example of this is double-spacing which is commonly used in an educational setting
where a student has to write a paper for a specific instructor. Commonly double-spacing is used
so that the instructor can make corrections to the document without having to mark over the
actual words on the paper. Alignment refers to the way the paragraph is positioned in regards
to the left and right margins. A left alignment is most commonly used when creating a word
document and this setting aligns the words being formed to be flush with the left margin. A
center alignment is usually used for titling a paper.

iii) Page Formatting

Page formatting refers to the width of the margins, the size of the paper being used, and the
orientation of the page. The standard margin is 1.25 inches on both the left and right but these
can be customized to suit need and preference. The paper size options reflect what can be used
in the printer, and the orientation indicates whether the document will use the traditional or
landscape positioning on that paper. Traditional orientation is 8.5 inches wide by 11 inches tall
whereas landscape is the exact opposite at 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches tall.

1.11 Word Processing Tools

Some of the basic tools that are employed in word processing programs that help to make the
application more user friendly are tables, graphics, and templates. These tools allow for
minimal effort and excellent results when adding features like these to a word document.

1.11.1 Tables

Tables are used for organizing information and are composed of rows and columns in which
data is placed. This is great for comparing and contrasting information as it's condensed and
presented in a straight forward fashion. Tables can also be used for laying out entire documents,
such as a resume, where information is sectioned off from one another. In this example, the
entire report is formulated to a table instead of a small section as mentioned earlier.

1.11.2 Graphics
Graphics are pictures, drawings, clip art, or other images that can be inserted into a document
from other programs or from stored data on a computer. This makes for easy illustrations where
a picture, or pictures, would suffice better than words or tables to highlight a point. Graphics
tools also allow the user to manipulate the images that have been imported by changing the
color, contrast, brightness, and size of the image, among other things. The customization
process of these images in a word processor provide for an easy and quick avenue of
explanation concerning the topics at hand.

1.11.3 Templates

Another useful tool are Templates. These are preprogrammed arrangements of ideas and/or
illustrations that are known to serve a purpose and are already organized for the user to interact
with. Most often this means "filling in the blanks" and some common templates that should be
recognized are resumes, business cards, identification cards, fax cover sheets, memos, invoices,
and newsletters to name a few.

Along with templates, some documents are required to look differently depending on the use;
as a result of this we change the format of our documents. Any change in format in a document
is a change in the overall appearance. Examples of formatting documents can range from MLA
to APA format, requiring different sized margins, fonts, etc. In order to do this, Word has tabs
that make navigating around your document easy and efficient. Word includes a Help Center
convenient for users to receive assistance whether it is live online help or offline. In this Help
Center, tools such as where and how the contents are organized are listed in a user-friendly
manner. While Word processing is simply creating, editing, saving, and printing, the creation
and edition are made easy by Word for a variety of end results in the overall appearance of
documents.

In the time of typewriters, the “carriage return” was used when a line of text needed to move
to the next line to continue. With present day Word, this is done automatically and is a process
called Word Wrapping. Other tools that Word offers which were not available are the ability
to contain various fonts, edit proportions, and spacing is also made more efficient.

1.12 Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet is a rectangular table (or grid) of information, often financial
information. The word came from "spread" in its sense of a newspaper or magazine item
(text and/or graphics) that covers two facing pages, extending across the center fold and
treating the two pages as one large one. The
compound word "spreadsheet" came to mean the format used to present book keeping
ledgers—with columns for categories of expenditures across the top, invoices listed down the
left margin, and the amount of each payment in the cell where its row and column intersect—
which were traditionally a "spread" across facing pages of a bound ledger (book for keeping
accounting records) or on oversized sheets of paper ruled into rows and columns in that format
and approximately twice as wide as ordinary paper.

1.12.1 Microsoft Excel Features

 Finding and replacing data in Excel includes great new options to match formats and
search an entire workbook or worksheets.
 Sending out mid-month reports and summaries just got easier. Select a range on your
worksheet, click E-mail on the Standard toolbar, type an introduction to the report, and
then send it without spending extra time on the task.
 You can insert and delete columns with Auto Filter turned on in Excel. You can even
undo the action and preserve any applied filtering.
 The cell pointer indicates the currently selected Cell. Menu Bar: The various menus
provide you with access to the features and Commands used in Excel.
 Provides standard file management, text editing and Proofing commands.
 Provides commands for formatting cells and the Content of cells.

1.12.2 Creating Presentations

Creating a presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint involves starting with a basic design; adding
new slides and content; choosing layouts; modifying slide design, if you want, by changing the
color scheme or applying different design templates; and creating effects such as animated slide
transitions. The information below focuses on the options available to you when you start the
process. The New Presentation task pane in PowerPoint gives you a range of ways with which
to start creating a presentation. These include:
Blank: Start with slides that have minimal design and no color applied to them. Existing
presentation. Base your new presentation on one that you have already written and designed.
This command creates a copy of an existing presentation so you can make the design or content
changes you want for the new presentation.

Design Template: Base your presentation on a PowerPoint template that already has a design
concept, fonts, and color scheme. In addition to the templates that come with PowerPoint, you
can use one you created yourself. Templates with suggested content Use the AutoContent
Wizard to apply a design template that includes suggestions for text on your slides. You then
type the text that you want. A template on a Website Create a presentation using a template
located on a Website.

1.13 Multimedia Authoring Tools

Multimedia authoring tools provide the important framework you need for organizing and
editing the elements of multimedia like graphics, sounds, animations and video clips.
Authoring tools are used for designing interactivity and the user interface, for presentation your
project on screen and assembling multimedia elements into a single cohesive project.

Authoring software provides an integrated environment for binding together the content and
functions of your project. Authoring systems typically include the ability to create, edit and
import specific types of data; assemble raw data into a playback sequence or cue sheet and
provide structured method or language for responding to user input.

1.13.1 Types of Authoring Tools

The various authoring tools can be classified in three categories based on the metaphor used
for sequencing or organizing multimedia elements and events.

 Card or page based tools

 Icon base, event driven tools
 Time base and presentation tools
  Object oriented tools

Now let us discuss each of them in detail.

i) Card or page based tools

In these authoring systems, elements are organized as pages of a book or a stack of cards.
These tools are best used when the bulk of your content consists of elements that can be viewed
individually, like the pages of a book or cards in a card file. The authoring system lets you link
these pages or cards into organized sequences. You can jump, on command, to any page you
wish in the structured navigation pattern. It allows you to play sound elements and launch
animations and digital video.

Card-based or page based Authoring Tools Example:

• Hypercard

• ToolBook

• HyperNext Studio

• Hyper Studio

• PhytonCard

• Revolution

Card based authoring example:

Advantages

 Easy to understand
 Easy to use
 Easy to link metaphor1=screen1=card1= page1
 It consumes very less time for developing an application.

Disadvantages

 Few applications run only on one platform.

  Card and page tools are not powerful as unique stand alone.

ii) Time based tools

In these authoring systems, elements and events are organized along a timeline, with
resolutions as high or higher than 1/30 second. Time based tools are best to use when you have
a message with a beginning and an end. Sequentially organized graphic frames are played back
at a speed that you can set. Other elements are triggered back at a given time or location in the
sequence of events. The more powerful time based tools let you program jumps to any location
in a sequence, thereby adding navigation and interactive control. Example: ‐ Macromedia
Director / Flash (Mac/Windows)

Time based authoring example:

1.14 Object oriented based tools

 It supports environment based on object.

 Every object is modified using ‘properties’ and ‘modifiers’.
 The environment is based on ‘Hierarchy’ (section and subsection).
Example of the tools:

 mTropolis
 AppleMedia Tool
 MediaForge

1.14.1 Icon based, event driven tools

In these authoring system, multimedia elements and interactions cues are organized as objects
in a structural framework or process. Icon-base, event-driven tools simplify the organization
of your project and typically display flow diagrams of activities along branching paths. In
complicate structures, this charting is particularly useful during development.
Example of authoring tools:

 Authorware(Mac/Windows)
 IconAuthor (Windows)
Icon based authoring example:
 1.14.2 Features of Authoring Tools

Features of multimedia authoring tools are as mention below:

1. Editing features
2. Organizing features
3. Programming features
4. Interactive features
5. Performance tuning features
6. Playback features
7. Delivery features
8. Cross-Platform features
9. Internet Playability

Now let us discuss each of them in detail.

i) Editing features

The elements of multimedia – image, animation, text, digital audio and MIDI music and
video clips – need to be created, edited and converted to standard file formats and the
specialized applications provide these capabilities. Editing tools for these elements,
particularly text and still images are often included in your authoring system.

ii) Organizing features

The organization, design and production process for multimedia involves storyboarding and
flowcharting. Some authoring tools provide a visual flowcharting system or overview
facility for illustrating your project’s structure at a macro level. Storyboards or navigation
diagrams too can help organize a project. Because designing the interactivity and navigation
flow of you project often requires a great deal of planning and programming effort, your
story board should describe not just graphics of each screen but the interactive elements as
well. Features that help organize your material, such as those provided by Super Edit,
Authorware, IconAuthor and other authoring systems, are a plus.

iii) Programming features

Authoring tools that offer a very high level language or interpreted scripting environment for
navigation control and for enabling user inputs – such as Macromedia Director, Macromedia
Flash, HyperCard, MetaCard and ToolBook are more powerful. The more commands and
functions provided in the scripting language, the more powerful the authoring system.

As with traditional programming tools looks for an authoring package with good debugging
facilities, robust text editing and online syntax reference. Other scripting augmentation
facilities are advantages as well. In complex projects you may need to program custom
extensions of the scripting language for direct access to the computer’s operating system.
Some authoring tools offer direct importing of preformatted text, including facilities, complex
text search mechanisms and hyper linkage tools. These authoring systems are useful for
development of CD-ROM information products online documentation products, online
documentation and help systems and sophisticated multimedia enhanced publications.

With script you can perform computational tasks; sense and respond to user input; create
character, icon and motion animation; launch other application; and control external
multimedia devices.

iv) Interactivity features

Interactivity empowers the end users of your project by letting them control the content and
flow of information. Authoring tools should provide one or more levels of interactivity:
Simple branching, which offers the ability to go to another section of the multimedia
production. Conditional branching, which supports a go-to based on the result of IF-THEN
decision or events.

A structured language that supports complex programming logic, such as nested IF-THENs,
subroutines, event tracking and message passing among objects and elements.

v) Performance tuning features

Complex multimedia projects require extra synchronization of events. Accomplishing
synchronization is difficult because performance varies widely among the different computers
used for multimedia development and delivery. Some authoring tools allow you to lock a
production’s playback speed to specified computer platform, but other provides no ability what
so ever to control performance on various systems.

vi) Playback features

When you are developing multimedia project, your will continually assembling elements and
testing to see how the assembly looks and performs. Your authoring system should let you
build a segment or part of your project and then quickly test it as if the user were actually using
it.

vii) Delivery features

Delivering your project may require building a run-time version of the project using the
multimedia authoring software. A run-time version allows your project to play back without
requiring the full authoring software and all its tools and editors. Many times the run time
version does not allow user to access or change the content, structure and programming of the
project. If you are going to distribute your project widely, you should distribute it in the run-
time version.

viii) Cross-Platform features

It is also increasingly important to use tools that make transfer across platforms easy. For
many developers, the Macintosh remains the multimedia authoring platform of choice, but
80% of that developer’s target market may be Windows platforms. If you develop on a
Macintosh, look for tools that provide a compatible authoring system for Windows or offer a
run-time player for the other platform.

ix) Internet Playability

Due to the Web has become a significant delivery medium for multimedia, authoring systems
typically provide a means to convert their output so that it can be delivered within the context
of HTML or DHTML, either with special plug-in or embedding Java, JavaScript or other code
structures in the HTML document.

1.15 Summary

Multimedia is a year-long, fun course that gives students the opportunity to learn and practice
with a selection of software applications used for graphic, audio, and video editing. Skills
learned in this class can be used at home and college to create exciting multimedia projects.
More importantly, these skills prepare students for further study or employment in various
graphic design and multimedia production career fields.

1.16 Questions

1. What is multimedia? Discucuss the applications of multimedia.

2. Discuss different multimedia tools available in markets.
3. Explain animation devices, digital movies and other accessories.
4. What is spreadsheets. Explain with example of creating presentation in Microsoft
Excel.
5. What is multimedia authoring tools? Discuss different multimedia authoring tools.

1.17 Suggested Reading

1. Multimedia Education: Theory And Practice by Anurag sethi

2. New Trends in Multimedia and Network Information Systems edited by K. Choroś,
A. Zgrzywa, A. Siemiński