Multimedia is content that uses a combination of different forms of content (such as text, audio, images, animation, video, and interactive data). It is opposed to media using only rudimentary computer displays, such as text or traditional forms of printed matter.
Multimedia can be recorded and played back, displayed, interacted with or processed various devices(computerized and electronic), and can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia devices are electronic multimedia gadgets used to store and play such content.
Terminology
The term multimedia was coined by singer and artist Bob Goldstein to promote the July 1966 opening of his LightWorks at L "Oursin show in Southampton, Long Island.
On August 10, 1966, Richard Albarino of Variety borrowed the terminology by creating an advertisement for the newest music show. Two years later, in 1968, the term “multimedia” was re-mentioned in documents.
Over the years, the word has acquired different meanings. In the late 1970s, the term, referring to presentations consisting of multi-projection slideshows, was confined to the audio track. However, in the 1990s, the concept of “multimedia” technology acquired its present meaning.
In 1993, in the first edition of Multimedia: Making This Work, Tay Vaughan defined that it is any combination of text, graphics, sound, animation, and video that is reproduced by a computer. When you allow the user viewing these files to control this content, it is interactive media. When a structure of related elements is provided that the user can navigate through, interactive media becomes hypermedia.
The basic concepts of multimedia technology are as follows. IN general use the term refers to an electronically delivered combination of media, including video, still images, audio and text, in such a way that they can be accessed online. Most of the content on the Internet today falls into this definition, which is understood by millions. Some computers that went on sale in the 1990s were called "multimedia" because they included a CD-ROM drive that could transfer several hundred megabytes of video, images, and audio data. This era also contributed to the creation of multimedia CDs.
The term "video", unless used exclusively to describe a moving photograph, is ambiguous in multimedia terminology. This name is often used to describe a file or presentation format instead of “frames”, which denote selected moving photos from “animation” (rendered images in motion). The essence of the concept of multimedia is sometimes controversial.
Thus, plural forms of information content are often not considered modern forms of audio or video. Likewise, separate forms of information content with uniform information processing methods (for example, non-interactive sound) are often referred to as multimedia, possibly to distinguish between static media and active ones.
Main characteristics
A more detailed concept of multimedia and multimedia technologies can be as follows. The following types of content fall into this category.
Multimedia presentations can be viewed through a projector and can be streamed or played locally through a media player. The broadcast can be a live or recorded presentation. Broadcasts and recordings can be analog or digital electronic technology. Online digital media can be downloaded or streamed. Streaming data can be broadcast live or on demand of the user.
Multimedia games and simulations can be used in a physical environment with special effects, with multiple users on an online network, or locally with stand-alone computer, game system or a simulator.
Various technological or digital media formats can be designed to improve the user experience, for example, to simplify and speed up the transfer of information.
Increased levels of interactivity are made possible by combining multiple forms of media content. Internet multimedia, the concept and definition of which is still ambiguous, is becoming more object-oriented and manageable. This enables applications with innovation and personalization based on working together with multiple forms of content over time. Examples of these variations range from several forms of data on websites, such as photo galleries with user-updated images and titles (text), to animation or video. This makes it clear why the concept of multimedia is ambiguous.
Categorization
Multimedia can be broadly divided into linear and non-linear categories:
- Linear active content often develops without any navigational control for the user (for example, a movie presentation);
- Non-linear data uses interactivity to control loading and viewing (in video games or automated learning on a computer). Hypermedia is an example of non-linear content.
Use and application
The concept of multimedia technology and its field of application can be described as follows. It finds its use in a variety of fields including, but not limited to, advertising, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, scientific research, and spatial temporal applications. A few examples include the following areas.
Creative industry
The creative industries use the concept of multimedia for a variety of purposes, from visual arts to entertainment, journalism and media to software services for any industry. An individual multimedia designer can cover a wide range of activities throughout their career.
Commercial use
A significant proportion of electronic old and new products used by commercial artists and graphic designers are multimedia. The basic concepts of this technology can be traced back to these works. So, bright presentations are used to draw attention to advertising. Business and internet communications often develop creative services for their own promotion. Advanced multimedia presentations have long gone beyond simple slideshows to sell ideas or organize training. Commercial multimedia developers can even be hired to develop applications for government and non-profit services.
Entertainment and visual arts
The concept of multimedia is widely used in the entertainment industry, especially for the development of special effects in films and animations (VFX, 3D animation, etc.). Multimedia games are a popular pastime these days. They are software products available both on CD-ROM and on the Internet. Some video games use multimedia features all the time.
Applications that allow users to actively participate rather than simply remain as passive recipients of information are called interactive computer media. The concept and examples of such content are ubiquitous. Contemporary art employs multimedia artists who are able to mix the use of different media, thereby providing interaction with the viewer. One of the more interesting examples is Peter Greenway, who combines cinema with opera music and all kinds of digital media.
Another approach is to create multimedia that can be displayed in the traditional visual arts arena, such as a gallery. While such display material can be unstable, content retention is as strong as on any conventional media. Digital recording material can be just as durable and infinitely reproducible with perfect copies every time.
Education
In education, the concept of multimedia technology is used to create computer-based training courses (mainly called CBT) and reference books such as encyclopedias and almanacs. CBT allows the user to view a series of presentations, topic-specific text, and related illustrations in a variety of information formats. Edutainment is a combination of education and entertainment, especially multimedia.
Learning theory has expanded significantly in the last decade due to the introduction of multimedia. Several lines of research have evolved greatly. For example, the combination of cognitive load and multimedia learning has come to be recommended by many professionals.
Using Multimedia Learning Theory (MML), David Roberts has developed a large group lecture practice with using PowerPoint based on the use of full-scale images combined with a reduction in visible text (all text can be placed in the PowerPoint notes section). The method was applied and evaluated in 9 disciplines. In each experiment, active learning was about 66% more effective than presenting the same material using only text and speech.
Education technology
The concept of multimedia and multimedia technologies can be expanded, especially in modern conditions. They provide students with alternative ways acquisition of knowledge intended for learning across different environments and platforms. This technology allows you to learn at your own pace while giving teachers and educators the opportunity to observe the individual abilities of each student. The ability of multimedia to be used in a multidisciplinary setting is structured around the creation of a hands-on learning environment using technology.
Lessons can be tailored to a specific subject, as well as personalized for different levels of learners' knowledge of the topic. Learning content can be controlled by actions that use multimedia platforms. This type of learning encourages interactive communication between students and teachers and opens up channels feedback by introducing an active learning process, especially with the predominance of new media and social networks... This technology has had a major impact on multimedia as it is heavily associated with the use of computers or other electronic devices and digital media through its research, communication, problem-solving, simulation, and feedback capabilities.
Language connection
With the spread and development of international communication throughout the world, foreign languages have become important way communication between different people and cultures. Multimedia technology creates a platform on which a language can be taught. The traditional form of teaching English as a second language (ESL) has changed dramatically with the prevalence of new technologies making it easier to acquire skills. So, the newest tools and concepts appeared.
Multimedia encourages users to learn more languages with audio, video and animation support. It also helps to create original contexts as an important aspect of language learning is developing grammar, vocabulary and knowledge of pragmatics and genres. By improving thinking patterns, multimedia develops students' communicative competence, improving their ability to understand language.
Journalism
Media companies around the world are trying to embrace the new phenomenon by implementing this practice in their work. Many major newspapers are setting a precedent for positioning in a globalized world.
News reports are not limited to traditional media. Freelance journalists can use a variety of new media to produce multimedia content. This attracts a global audience and allows new communication methods to be developed for both media producers and consumers. The concept and essence of multimedia tools can be studied with specific examples. For example, the Common Language Project, later renamed Seattle Globalist, is an example of this type of multimedia journalism.
Engineering
Software engineers can use multimedia in computer simulations for anything from entertainment to education. Programming interface multimedia is often done in collaboration with creative professionals and software engineers.
Mathematical and scientific research
In mathematical and scientific research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model of a particular substance and manipulate it on the screen to arrive at a new substance.
Health care
In the medical field, doctors can learn by browsing virtual surgery guides, and they can use computers to predict how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and bacteria, and then develop methods to prevent it. Multimedia applications such as virtual surgeries also help doctors practice and gain experience.
Content
Introduction
What does multimedia mean? What are the areas of its application? It is advisable to start considering the issues of this work with the main initial concepts, look through the existing definitions, then consider what tasks, depending on the requirements of the scope, multimedia systems solve, what is their part, how to use a computer as a basis for creating a sound recording studio.Multimedia is a technology that allows you to combine data, sound, animation and graphics, convert them from analog to digital and vice versa. “Multimedia” is a complex word, consisting of two simple ones: “multi” - a lot and “media” - a carrier, medium, means of communication, i.e. multimedia is “multimedia”.
Thus, the term "multimedia" can be translated as "multiple media", that is, multimedia implies many different ways of storing and presenting information (sound, graphics, animation, and so on).
Multimedia systems have become a popular topic for many conferences on computer science, scientific and technical information, artificial intelligence, linguistics, psychology and learning theory. Of interest is the fundamentally nonlinear organization of information units, which can be represented by text, audio and video information, a friendly and flexible form of nonlinear control of these units in multimedia systems.
The range of successful application of multimedia systems in many areas of science, technology, education, economics, and art is rapidly expanding.
Commercial or general purpose multimedia systems are designed to organize comfortable and progressive working conditions for employees at negotiations, meetings, conferences. They are widely used in classrooms, control rooms, information processing centers, etc. Commercial multimedia systems include: audio and video conferencing system (congress system, voting system, videoconferencing terminals, etc.), video display system (plasma panels, video walls, LCD monitors, electronic boards, etc.), an integrated control system (control of video and audio systems, electrical systems, climatic equipment, lighting, etc.).
Commercial multimedia systems perform the functions of supporting business processes (this includes optimizing the work of employees, organizing situation centers and control rooms, etc.), and also serve to increase their efficiency.
Recreation and communication of a modern person is so automated that there is no need to monitor any system or function if a control panel with predefined scenarios is at hand. Modern multimedia systems are a new level of comfort at home and in the office.
A sharp breakthrough in this direction is provided, first of all, by the development of technical and systemic means. This is progress in the development of computers: dramatically increased memory capacity, speed, graphics capabilities, characteristics of external memory, and advances in video technology, laser disks - analog and CD-ROM, as well as their mass adoption.
Today the personal computer (PC) has become so firmly established in our life that many people cannot imagine their existence without it. The computer is used as a calculator, game console, TV, fax, notebook, etc. But there is another very interesting possibility of using a computer - music. And here the PC is the basis for creating a small personal "recording studio".
1. Multimedia systems
1.1. Basic concepts and types of multimedia
Multimedia Are interactive systems that provide work with still images and moving video, animated computer graphics and text, speech and high-quality sound.Multimedia- unification in one user product of text, graphics, audio and video information, animation, while for the user added the possibility of feedback, the property of interactivity. This means that multimedia is a means of exchanging information between a computer and the external environment.
Interactivity (from the Latin inter - between), the ability to actively interact with the screen, organize a kind of friendly "get-together" with it - request details, ask questions and even change the course of events, offer the screen their different options.
Multimedia can be classified as linear and non-linear.
The simplest form of presenting multiple multimedia elements is a linear project. In the case of linear multimedia, a person cannot influence the output of information in any way. In this case, the user can only perform passive viewing of the media items. The sequence in which the media items are viewed is determined by the script.
A non-linear way of presenting information allows a person to participate in the display of information, interacting in some way with the display of multimedia data.
If the user is given choice and control, the media becomes non-linear and interactive. This way of human-computer interaction is most fully represented in the categories of computer games.
As an example of a linear and non-linear way of presenting information, we can consider such a situation as a presentation.
If the presentation was recorded on tape and shown to the audience, then this method of delivering information can be called linear, since those viewing this presentation do not have the opportunity to influence the speaker.
In the case of a live presentation, the audience has the opportunity to ask the speaker questions and interact with him in other ways, which allows the speaker to move away from the topic of the presentation, for example, by explaining some terms or covering controversial parts of the report in more detail.
Thus, a live presentation can be presented as a non-linear (interactive) way of presenting information.
If a user is presented with a structure of related media items that they can sequentially select, interactive media becomes hypermedia.
Live video - "Real / live video" - a characteristic of a multimedia system in terms of its ability to work in real time.
Linking media items to a project is done using a software tool. The results of presenting media items on the screen and media controls are called user interface. The hardware and software that provides media playback and limits the capabilities of a project is called a media platform or environment.
A multimedia product is an interactive computer development, which may include:
- musical and speech accompaniment;
video clips;
animation;
graphics and slides;
Database;
text, etc.
Standards that establish for software developers the composition of hardware related to multimedia technology: МРС-1, МРС-2, МРС-3.
Hardware multimedia
Basic - a computer with a high-performance processor, large amount of RAM, hard disk from 100 GB and more, manipulators, a multimedia monitor with built-in stereo speakers and an SVGA video adapter.
Special - CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD drives; TV tuners and frame grabbers; graphic accelerators (accelerators), including those for supporting three-dimensional graphics; video playback cards; devices for inputting video sequences; sound cards with installed mixers and musical synthesizers that reproduce the sound of real musical instruments; speaker systems with headphones or speakers, etc.
Multimedia software
Multimedia applications:
- encyclopedias;
interactive training courses in all kinds of subjects;
games and entertainment;
work with the Internet;
simulators;
means of trade advertising;
electronic presentations, etc.
- video editors;
professional graphic editors;
means for recording, creating and editing audio information, allowing you to prepare sound files for inclusion in programs, change the amplitude of the signal, superimpose or remove the background, cut or paste data blocks at some time interval;
programs for manipulating image segments, changing colors, palettes;
programs for the implementation of hypertext, etc.
TV reception- output of television signals to a computer monitor against the background of other programs.
Video capture- “capture” and “freeze” in digital form of individual video frames.
Animation- reproduction of a sequence of pictures, giving the impression of a moving image.
Sound effects- preservation in digital form of the sound of musical instruments, sounds of nature or musical fragments, created on a computer, or recorded and digitized.
Three-dimensional (3D) graphics- graphics created using images that have not only length and width, but also depth.
Music MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard that allows digital musical instruments used to compose and record music to be connected to a computer.
A virtual reality(Virtual Reality, VR). The word "virtual" means "acting and manifesting itself as real."
Virtual reality is a highly developed form of computer modeling that allows the user to immerse themselves in the model world and act directly in it. The user's visual, auditory, tactile and motor sensations are replaced by their imitation, generated by the computer.
Signs of virtual reality devices:
- real-time simulation;
simulation of the environment with a high degree of realism;
the ability to influence the environment and have feedback at the same time.
1.2. Areas of use
Multimedia, as an independent direction in computer peripherals, emerged in the early 90s in America. Then the first software products on CDs began to appear. In 1990, only 10 multimedia programs on CD were published, and today there are thousands of times more.Multimedia systems, depending on the scope, solve the following tasks:
- increasing the efficiency of negotiations, meetings, conferences, voting;
improving the quality and efficiency of training;
modeling and simulation of complex processes (for example, virtual operations for doctors);
optimization of the work of employees;
organization of situational and monitoring centers;
managing a huge array of content;
prompt and convenient access to a large amount of information.
With the help of multimedia, children's fairy tales come to life, talking programs for teaching foreign languages, reference books and encyclopedias with fragments of video and sound clips, and web pages are created.
Multimedia finds a variety of uses, including education, medicine, manufacturing, science, arts and entertainment. In recent years, multimedia technology has found applications in the development of Web pages and various Web applications.
In education, multimedia is used in training courses based on information technology (media education). Special studies have found that only a quarter of what is heard remains in memory, a third of what is seen, with the combined effects of sight and hearing - 50%, and if the student is involved in active actions in the learning process using multimedia applications - 75%.
In manufacturing, especially in the mechanical and automotive industries, multimedia is primarily used at the design stage. This allows, for example, an engineer to consider a product from different perspectives, to perform other manipulations, before starting production ( computer-aided design).
In medicine, multimedia is used in the training of surgeons (virtual surgery). In science, multimedia is mainly used to simulate various processes. In art, the most prominent examples of multimedia are special effects in movies, computer animation, and 3D graphics. In the entertainment field, computer games are a prime example of multimedia.
1.3. Some examples of multimedia systems
Multimedia product "Yaroslavl Icon Painting"
There are three known approaches to organizing the storage and provision of information: placing data directly into TV programs, storing data in the form of files, and using relational databases. Each of these approaches has both advantages and disadvantages. Apparently, a reasonable combination of all three ways of organizing data is the most preferable in the development of multimedia information retrieval systems.It is this “hybrid” data organization that is used in the MMP “Yaroslavl Icon Painting”, created by the Center for New Information Technologies of the Yaroslavl State University named after P.G. Demidov in collaboration with the Yaroslavl Art Museum. The information core of the MMP is a relational database that includes more than 20 tables containing detailed information about icons from the 13th to the 20th centuries and their fragments, icon painters, icon painting subjects, literary sources of subjects, restorers, exhibitions in which icons were exhibited, etc. Full-color images of icons and their pictograms are stored in graphic files, to which there are corresponding links in the database. For each century, there is additionally video, audio and text information, also stored in the form of files of the corresponding formats.
Organization of multimedia information in the form of a relational database made it possible to implement in MMP flexible system search for icons and their fragments by specified attributes (about twenty attributes in total), which allows you to select icons, both by individual characteristics and by a given set of them. This opportunity is of significant interest for specialists studying ancient Russian art.
The task of the search database is to provide as detailed information as possible about each icon included on the CD. The search system provides for acquaintance, both with the general appearance of the icon, and with its fragments. Thus, about each monument - about the time of its creation, about its existence and its study - you can get the most complete information. This information is universal. If the inexperienced will be interested to see the reproduction of the icon and learn about the time and circumstances of its appearance, then experts - art historians, historians, museum staff - will use valuable information for them about the history of the icon's existence, exhibitions and literature about it.
The experience of using the information retrieval system based on a multimedia database has shown its high efficiency and ease of use. Such an organization makes it possible to easily expand the database itself as information about Yaroslavl icon-painting monuments accumulates.
Acting agency
The "Actor's Agency" project was implemented with the aim of systematizing data on actors applying for roles in the films of the Film Studio. Gorky and other film studios, including foreign ones, and the organization of a convenient prompt search for candidates according to specified criteria. The created computer database includes textual information about the actors, their photographs, videos presenting their work, and other information. More than 5000 actors are represented in this database. The database is published on the Internet.Stars of the XXI century
The Stars of the 21st Century project is based on a database containing image information about talented people who dream of acting and acting in films or successfully promoting in show business. The systematized information allows the director to easily select the candidates of interest to him according to the specified criteria. The database, published on the Internet, attracts the attention of not only Russian directors and organizers of show programs, but also foreign producers, which opens up wide career opportunities for gifted people.Radio Russia
The project "Internet Center" Radio Russia "is implemented in the form of an information portal with the ability to broadcast audio materials in on-line and on-demand mode. An archive of popular programs of Radio Russia is being created in a database that accumulates audio plots of programs and their textual accompaniments / transcripts. The main link of the portal is an interactive program guide, which can be presented to the user for the past and future dates upon his request.Home services and interactive television
Another, perhaps even more effective use of multimedia, is home care. All that a person can get using an interactive kiosk, he can have without leaving home, if, of course, he has a multimedia computer and teleconference facilities. Typical applications for teleconferencing are banking and shopping in the comfort of your home. Just as purchases are made from catalogs based on color photographs of goods, a customer can select a product, examine it by turning it on the screen, change the characteristics of the product (color, style), choose a suitable one and, after paying for the purchase, wait until it is brought home.Part 2. Making Music with a Computer
Today it is no surprise that you can write music using your home computer. To do this, it is enough to have: desire, a computer (preferably not the most ancient), time, and most importantly, patience.The use of computers in music has eight main areas, each of which partially overlaps with the other. Computers can be used as MIDI sequencers, for editing and printing musical scores, for recording, playing and editing digital audio signals, editing and saving synthesizer "patches" (tone sets), for "advanced" work with MIDI (composing experimental computer music) , creating MIDI accompaniment, music synthesis and musical self-education.
2.1. Basic concepts
Sample- a "piece" of an audio file. Loop- a cyclically repeating section, usually consisting of several samples, for example, a drum part. Groove- instrumental accompaniment, bass line, etc.BPM - (Beats Per Minute) - beats per minute. This is the most common and convenient way to measure tempo. Slider, fader- (Slider, fader) - a knob responsible for the value of a certain parameter - for example, volume, balance, etc.
PLUG-IN- (Plugin) - an addition in the form of a small program that serves to process sound. Mostly they use DirectX, VST and Wavelab plugins. Sequencer- (Sequencer) - a device (in particular - virtual) for mixing audio, video, MIDI, and sometimes all at once. Sequencers are responsible for synchronized playback of multiple tracks. Popular sequencers are Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 and CubaseSX.
Synthesizer- (Synthesizer) is a sound synthesizer. Initially, synthesizers were "hardware", then virtual. There are literally dozens of synthesis methods, each interesting in its own way. The most widespread are synthesizers operating on the principle of playing ready sounds (samples) - sample playback. ADSR- (Envelope) is an important parameter for specifying the sound of a note in any synthesizer. This is a curve that determines the duration of the Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release over time.
MIDI controller - (MIDI controller) - a device with which MIDI messages are sent to the MIDI input of a card, sound module, synthesizer, etc. An example would be a MIDI keyboard.
EQ- (Equalizer) - signal frequency correction device. Relatively recently, they existed only in iron form. With the development of computer technology, software-implemented EQs began to appear with large quantity strips and high precision processing. Equalizers are graphical and parametric.
Compressor- (Compressor) - a device designed to narrow the dynamic range of the signal. Expander- (Expander) - the opposite of a compressor. It works the other way around - it expands the dynamic range of the signal. It is logical to apply expander processing to sound recorded from a radio broadcast or other compressed source.
Noise gate - (Gate) - noise suppression device (PN) in pauses. As soon as the signal level falls below a certain value, the algorithm is triggered to lower the level by a certain amount.
2.2. Principles of making music
There are two basic principles for making music:- template music creation;
creating tracks in multitrack recording studios using your own samples.
Track creation in multitrack recording studios, using your own samples is by definition similar to the template. The difference from the template music creation can be seen from the names - it is the use of their own samples and loops. Such programs are also called - trackers (from the word track - track). This, of course, does not mean that other people's samples cannot be used here, they are simply not included in the bundle with a software product of this kind. the focus is not on entertainment, but on professional music production.
Such a program allows you to record several sound sources at the same time, i.e. you can mix several tracks into one, which will eventually be called music. Convenient program for creating tracks - ACID (www.sonicfoundry.com) from Sonic Foundry. In addition to it, the following programs are popular: Cool Edit Pro, n-Track, Samplitude Studio, etc.
How and with what to prepare your own samples and loops?
The simplest answer is to record through a microphone. But this option is only suitable for creating a sample with vocals, i.e. with someone else's singing. True, after that it will be necessary to remove noise, apply various kinds of effects, etc. To edit samples, be it vocals, melody, bass or whatever, you need a program like Sound Forge. This type of program is called an audio editor. Modern powerful sound editors are able to burn audio CDs, convert files to various formats, etc. And plugins greatly expand the scope of their activities. The brightest representatives of audio editors are Sound Forge, WaveLab, Cool Edit Pro, Gold Wave and others.
There are programs like groove machines, software samplers, MIDI sequencers, drum machines. Here, samples and loops are made in them.
SEQUENCERS
This is the broadest application of computers in music. A computer equipped with a sound card, MIDI interface and sequencer software can record and play back a complete orchestration by controlling several synthesizers and sound modules at the same time. When recording a song to a computer, you can create an arrangement layer by layer, change the score as you work. The editing process is displayed on the monitor screen, which makes it quite easy to master the program and work with it in the future. When the MIDI tracks are completely ready, the song is converted into audio format (recorded on tape or hard disk), after which acoustic instruments and vocals are added to it. There are powerful sequencer programs that allow you to work with both MIDI tracks and audio tracks. The computer can also control an external tape recorder and play the MIDI tracks in sync with the audio tracks recorded on the tape recorder.
EDITING SYNTHESIZED PATCHES
Such programs are called editor / librarian. These include, for example, Emagic's Sound Diver, Opcode's Galaxy and many others. They allow you to save a bank of patches (sound programs) from the internal memory of the synthesizer to the hard disk of your computer. You can combine patches from different banks and save a set of voices in a new bank, as well as edit the patches themselves. It is much easier to do this in a computer than in the synthesizer itself, since it is convenient graphical interface makes it easier to communicate with the library of sounds. The synthesizer display is liquid crystal and is smaller than the screen of a computer monitor. With the development of the Internet, it became possible to rewrite sound banks from the servers of manufacturers. The recorded data banks can then be edited on a computer. The editor / librarian program has a database that allows you to search for the desired patch by category or by keyword.
etc.................
- The concept of "multimedia"
- Technology for creating multimedia applications
- Types of multimedia applications
- Tools for creating multimedia applications
Currently, many companies and firms use various types of computer technology for seminars, business meetings, trainings and other events. In order for the information to be richer, more memorable and visual, multimedia technologies are most often used. These are both hardware multimedia and application packages that can handle various types of information such as text, graphics, and sound. There are different concepts of multimedia:
- Multimedia–Technology describing the procedure for the development, operation and use of information processing tools of various types ;
- Multimedia–Computer Hardware(the presence of a CD-Rom Drive in the computer - a device for reading CDs, a sound and video card, with the help of which it is possible to reproduce sound and video information, a joystick and other special devices) ;
- Multimedia Is the unification of several means of presenting information in one system. Usually, multimedia means combining into computer system presentation media such as text, sound, graphics, animation, video and spatial modeling. Such a combination of means provides a qualitatively new level of information perception: a person does not just passively contemplate, but actively participates in what is happening. Programs using multimedia are multimodal, that is, they simultaneously affect several senses and therefore arouse increased interest and attention from the audience .
A colorfully designed multimedia application in which the presence of illustrations, tables and diagrams is accompanied by elements of animation and sound, facilitates the perception of the studied material, promotes its understanding and memorization, gives a brighter and more capacious idea of objects, phenomena, situations, stimulating the cognitive activity of students.
There is a wide variety of different technological techniques aimed at developing high-quality multimedia applications. There are a few basic technology guidelines to follow when creating and using these applications.
As a basis for creating a multimedia application, a material content model can be used, which is a way of structuring material based on dividing it into elements and visual representation in the form of a hierarchy.
At the initial stage of designing a multimedia application, the material content model allows:
- clearly define the content of the material;
- present the content in a visual and visible form;
- determine the component composition of a multimedia application.
Taking into account the achievements of psychology allows us to formulate a number of general recommendations that should be taken into account when developing a way to visualize information on a computer screen:
- information on the screen should be structured;
- visual information should periodically change to audio information;
- the brightness of the color and / or the volume of the sound should vary periodically;
- the content of the rendered material should not be too simple or too complex.
When developing the frame format on the screen and constructing it, it is recommended to take into account that there is a meaning and a relationship between objects that determine the organization of the visual field. It is recommended to compose objects:
- close to each other, since the closer objects are to each other in the visual field (all other things being equal), the more likely they are to be organized into single, integral images;
- By the similarity of processes, since the greater the similarity and integrity of images, the more likely they are to be organized;
- taking into account the properties of continuation, since the more elements in the visual field are in places corresponding to the continuation of a regular sequence (they function as parts of familiar contours), the more likely they are to be organized into integral unified images;
- taking into account the peculiarities of highlighting the subject and the background when choosing the shape of objects, the size of letters and numbers, color saturation, the location of the text, etc .;
- without overloading visual information with details, bright and contrasting colors;
- Highlighting material intended to be remembered with color, underline, font size and style.
When developing a multimedia application, it should be borne in mind that objects depicted in different colors and on different background, are perceived differently by a person.
An important role in the organization of visual information is played by the contrast of objects in relation to the background. There are two types of contrast: forward and backward. With direct contrast, objects and their images are darker, and with the opposite, they are lighter than the background. In multimedia applications, both types are usually used, both separately in different frames, and together, within the same picture. In most cases, reverse contrast dominates.
It is preferable to operate multimedia applications in direct contrast. Under these conditions, an increase in brightness leads to an improvement in visibility, and in the opposite case - to a deterioration, but numbers, letters and signs presented in reverse contrast are recognized more accurately and faster than in the forward one, even at smaller sizes. The larger the relative sizes of the parts of the image and the higher its brightness, the lower the contrast should be, the better the visibility. Comfortable perception of information from the monitor screen is achieved with a uniform distribution of brightness in the field of view.
To optimize the study of information on the computer screen, developers of multimedia applications are advised to use boolean stress. It is customary to call logical stresses psychological and apparatus techniques aimed at drawing the user's attention to a specific object. The psychological effect of logical stress is associated with a decrease in the time of visual search and fixation of the visual axis in the center of the main object.
The most commonly used techniques for creating logical accents are: displaying the main object in a brighter color, changing the size, brightness, position, or highlighting with a flashlight. A quantitative assessment of a logical stress is its intensity. The intensity depends on the ratio of the color and brightness of the object in relation to the background, from the change in the relative size of the object in relation to the size of the objects in the background of the image. The best is highlighting with either a brighter or more contrasting color, worse is highlighting by flashing light, resizing or changing the brightness.
After reviewing and analyzing existing domestic and foreign systems for the technology of creating multimedia applications, we can offer the following classification of the most common multimedia applications and their concepts.
Multimedia applications are divided into the following types:
- presentations;
- animation videos;
- games;
- video applications;
- multimedia galleries;
- audio applications (audio file players);
- web applications.
Table 1 presents the basic concepts of multimedia applications and their types.
Table 1. Basic concepts of multimedia applications
View of the multimedia application |
Concept |
|
Presentation |
Presentation (from English. presentation) - a way of visualizing information using audiovisual means. The presentation is a combination of computer animation, graphics, video, music and sound, which are organized into a single environment. As a rule, the presentation has a plot, script and structure, organized for easy perception of information. |
|
Animation videos |
Animation - multimedia technology; reproduction of a sequence of pictures giving the impression of a moving picture. Moving picture effect occurs when the frame rate is more than 16 frames per second |
|
Games |
Game is a multimedia application aimed at meeting the needs for entertainment, pleasure, stress relief, as well as the development of certain skills and abilities |
|
Movie and video players |
Video films are a technology for the development and demonstration of moving images. Video players - video management software |
|
Multimedia galleries |
Galleries - collection of images |
|
Audio file players (digital audio) Web applications |
Audio file players are programs that work with digital sound. Digital sound is a way of representing an electrical signal through discrete numerical values of its amplitude. Web applications are individual web pages, their components (menus, navigation, etc.), data applications, multichannel applications, chats, etc. |
When studying the technology of creating multimedia applications, a scenario is built that describes how they will be created. In this regard, it is logical to assume that each multimedia application consists of different components (different topics). Identifying the composition of multimedia applications, you can break them down into the following components: choosing a theme for the created multimedia application, marking the work area (scales and backgrounds), frames, using layers, creating symbols of different types, enabling variables and writing scripts in a programming language, working with sound files, adding text, creating effects, using and importing images, using ready-made library components, creating navigation, using markup languages and scripting languages.
In turn, multimedia applications can be divided into the following subtypes. The basic concepts of the subspecies of multimedia applications are presented in table. 2.
Table 2. Basic concepts of subtypes of multimedia applications
There are many technical tools for creating a multimedia product. The creator-developer must choose the editor program that will be used to create the hypertext pages. There are a number of powerful media development environments available to help you create rich media applications. Packages such as Macromedia Director, Macromedia Flash or Authoware Professional are highly professional and expensive development tools, while FrontPage, mPower 4.0, HyperStudio 4.0 and Web Workshop Pro are their simpler and cheaper counterparts. Tools such as Power Point and text editors(eg Word) can also be used to create linear and non-linear multimedia assets. Borland Delphi is also the environment for developing multimedia applications.
The listed development tools are provided with detailed documentation that is easy to read and understand. Of course, there are many other development tools that can be used with equal success instead of these.
Currently, there are very few automated training systems on the technology of creating multimedia applications, they are almost impossible to find. A similarity of such systems are Internet pages, which contain a selection of lessons, books and articles on this topic. Most of these sites focus on the topics "Flash Tutorials for Creating Multimedia Elements" or "Creating Multimedia in Macromedia Director".
Let's take a look at some of them.
International club of flash-masters( http://www.flasher.ru )
The site presents a large number of articles and tutorials on Macromedia Flash, and they are divided into the following categories: Programming, Effects, Animation, Navigation, Sound, Tips, 3D, Beginners, etc.
Lessons in the "International Club of Flash Masters" are a description of the sequence of steps that are offered to users to complete. After completing these steps completely, the student can make the same multimedia component that is described in this lesson. Technologies for creating a full-fledged multimedia application are not presented on the site, but you can view ready-made works of professionals or advanced users.
It also provides an overview of books that help in mastering flash technology. Enrollment in the school of computer graphics is carried out on a paid basis. Competitions for the best works are constantly held.
«
Lessonsflash "(
http://flash.demiart.ru/ )
The site "Flash Lessons" is one of the projects of the Demiart.ru studio, it is dedicated to the independent study of Macromedia Flash based on the collected lessons from the world's best specialists working with flash. The tutorials describe how to create a variety of components and effects for various multimedia applications. In addition to the lessons, here are collected tutorials on flash. You can also download a demo version of the Macromedia Flash development environment. Discuss emerging issues on the forum.
Based on the results of the analysis, it can be concluded that the most complete information is presented on the A Flash Developer Resource Site portal, but the domestic training system, presented in the form of the site of the "International Club of Flash Masters", attracts with its design and convenient location of links. But to view them, you need a flash-player, not earlier than the 7th version.
Multimedia computer technology that provides the ability to create, store and reproduce heterogeneous information, including text, sound and graphics (including moving images and animation). The characteristic of multimedia systems is the quality of reproduction of all data components, as well as the possibility of their interrelated or complementary use. Multimedia finds a variety of uses, including education, medicine, manufacturing, science, arts and entertainment. In education, multimedia is used in training courses based on information technology (media education).
Multimedia(multimedia, M-media; from Latin multum - many and media, medium - focus, means) - computer technology that provides the ability to create, store and reproduce heterogeneous information, including text, sound and graphics (including moving images and animation ).
The characteristic of multimedia systems is the quality of reproduction of all data components, as well as the possibility of their interrelated or complementary use. For example, a combination of a video sequence with text and soundtrack; sound fragments of a musical work with text data about the musicians and instruments performing it; artwork images with background music and text. In addition to a PC, the components of the minimum set of a multimedia system are CD-ROM drives or DVD, sound card and stereo system.
Multimedia technology has found application in the development of Web pages and Web applications.
The complex of hardware and software multimedia allows the user to work interactively with heterogeneous data (graphics, text, sound, video), organized in a single information environment.
Multimedia finds a variety of uses, including education, medicine, manufacturing, science, arts and entertainment. In education, multimedia is used in training courses based on information technology (media education).
In production, especially in mechanical engineering, multimedia is used at the design stage (computer-aided design). In medicine, multimedia is used in the training of surgeons (virtual surgery). In science, multimedia is used to simulate various processes. In art, examples of multimedia are special effects in movies, computer animation, and three-dimensional graphics. In the entertainment field, an example of multimedia is computer games. These multimedia applications enable users to participate in their work. This form of multimedia is called conversational multimedia. Various multimedia components can be combined into a common complex called the virtual world. This technique is used in some games as well as flight simulators for training pilots.
Varieties of multimedia:
Hypermedia (H-media)- extension of the concept of hypertext to multimedia (including audio, three-dimensional graphic, animation) types of organization of data record structures.
Interactive multimedia (interactive (multi) media) - multimedia system, providing the ability to arbitrarily control video and sound in the dialogue mode.
Live video (real / live video)- characteristics of the multimedia system in terms of its ability to work in real time. Examples include IBM developments: Linkway Live and StoryBoard Live.
MPC standards - a group of standards for multimedia PCs developed by the Multimedia PC Working Group, which is a division of the Software Publishers Associations. Previously Working group was called the Multimedia PC Marketing Council.
This Council has adopted the MPC-1 and MPC-2 standards, which establish the composition of hardware related to multimedia technology and the requirements for their certification for software developers. In June 1995, the MPC-3 standard came into force, which defined the requirements for the configuration of multimedia PCs (in particular, for the minimum configuration): Pentium 75 MHz or its equivalent, RAM - 8 MB, CD-ROM drive with quadruple speed, 16 -bit digital audio system, table-wave synthesizer, MPEG support. Requirements for their functional characteristics (in particular, the need to play full-screen video), as well as a standard test software package for testing equipment during its licensing, have also been determined.
.
Multimedia Terminology:
Main technical means and solutions in the field of multimedia:
Multimedia processor- a processor that supports multimedia modes. This class of processors includes, in particular, developments carried out using the MMX program. It is assumed that multimedia processors can improve the quality of reproduction of dynamic graphics and video with a significant reduction in PC circuit elements, including microcircuits and expansion cards.
Multimedia PC (MPC, Multimedia Personal Computer)- a computer that meets the requirements of the MPC standards; trademark certificate of conformity to the requirements of MPC standards. Under the license from the MPC Marketing Council, the Multimedia Personal Computer trademark can be placed on three types of products: personal computers, devices for their expansion and software packages.
Home media server (multimedia center, media center; home media server, media center)- a multimedia PC with the ability to play and record digital images, music and video, including television programs, as well as broadband access to Internet resources, channels of conventional and satellite TV high definition, FM radio broadcasts.
AMCA (Apple Media Control Architecture)- architecture of control systems for information carriers of multimedia PCs from Apple; standard for multimedia systems based on Macintosh PCs.
Multimedia control panel - a panel displayed on a computer screen and designed to control multimedia (including musical instruments and other peripheral devices), as well as for navigation in multimedia applications
.
Multimedia applications- auxiliary means ensuring the implementation of multimedia technology.
MMX (MultiMedia eXtension, multimedia extension)- technology for home PCs based on the Pentium processor, published in March 1996 by Intel, which involves the integration of multimedia support into the architecture of Intel processors.
VSA (Virtual System Architecture, architecture virtual system)
- a multimedia tool developed by Cyrix for multimedia PCs, is a software and hardware complex that implements its main functions (central processor, graphics controller, control circuits PCI bus mathematical coprocessor, cache memory, video and sound processing subsystems, graphic accelerators) using firmware in one module (MediaGX) without using additional microcircuits.
Multimedia Terminology:
Infotainment (Infotainment, INFOrmation and enterTAINMENT; information by entertainment) - application software that presents data in an entertaining form; the greatest development has received in multimedia systems on CD-ROM.
Analog sound - The sound we hear has an analog (continuous) acoustic waveform. The digital recording is converted to analog form during playback. In the past, most sound recorders were analog.
Digital sound recording (digital audio) - a recording that represents sounds in the form of a sequence of zeros and ones. When played back, the D / A converter recreates the original sound waveform. Digital audio is used on music CDs and PCs.
A digital-to-analogue converter (DAC; DAC, Digital-to-Analogue Converter) is an electronic device that converts a signal from a digital form (binary code) to an analogue one, that is, a continuous one with a correspondingly varying voltage and / or frequency. A DAC is used when outputting data from a computer and the need for their subsequent reproduction by analog (not digital) external devices, for example, acoustic set-top boxes.
A digital converter (analog-to-digital converter, ADC; digitizer, analog-to-digital converter) is an electronic device that converts analog signal in digital form; used when entering data into a computer (including the results of sound recording and video images).
RAMDAC is a digital-to-analog converter included in the video card, which is used to convert the resulting data stream generated by the video controller into color intensity levels supplied to the monitor. Since the monitors use an analog video signal (except for flat panel monitors), the possible color range of the image is determined by the parameters of the RAMDAC, which consists of three digital-to-analog converters (DAC), one for each color channel (red, blue, green - RGB) and SRAM for storing gamma correction data.
AV (Audio / Video) - designation of the input / output (sound / video signal) of the low-frequency video signal and its sound accompaniment.
AVI-file (Audio-Visual Interleave) - a file recorded in a format in which audio and video data are sequentially interleaved, which allows you to store recordings of motion pictures with sound on a CD-ROM.
Broadcast quality - in relation to multimedia systems: high quality of the image and its sound, comparable to the quality of television images and studio sound recordings.
