Preparing and publishing applications.

Stuart Matthews
Multimedia Technology
Part 2 – Distribution
Preparing and publishing applications.

Before a multimedia application is ready for distribution and publishing it must be prepared. Preparing the application for distribution requires optimizing files, pictures, sound and video for use either on the internet or other medium. The main difference in between publishing to CD/DVD and the internet is that particular attention must be paid to file size when publishing on the internet. CDs hold up to 700mb and DVDs up to 7 GB whereas on the internet any files must be downloaded as they are needed.

When using the internet as the distribution medium file sizes are very important as large files can take a long time to be downloaded and displayed in a browser. Most applications used for creating multimedia components have built-in functions for optimizing pictures, video and sound. Drawing applications like Fireworks, Photoshop and Paint.net have options that allow the user to reduce the size of the file by reducing the quality of the picture. Different file types can also be used to reduce the size. Options for .gif files allow the user to select the number of colours in the picture and add transparency. Jpg options allow the user to reduce the quality of the picture and remove any unused colours meaning the user can find a balance between picture quality and file size. Files like .jpg and .png can be very large and would take a long time to download; this can affect the look of the page while the browser downloads the image. If there are too many large files to be viewed on a web page the page can take a long time to load and there is every possibility that the user will get fed up waiting and leave the page. Files like .jpg and .png can be very large and would take a long time to download; this can affect the look of the page while the browser downloads the image. If there are too many large files to be viewed on a web page the page can take a long time to load and there is every possibility that the user will get fed up waiting and leave the page.

Sound editing applications allow the user to record sound for a multimedia presentation and export the recording in a variety of file types including .mp3 and .wav. Mp3s allow the use of CD quality sound without the large file sizes.

Video and animation applications like Flash and Windows Movie Maker allow the user to select the quality and size of the video and sound. Some programs allow the user to set a size and the program publishes the file to meet the set size.

When publishing to CD or DVD file sizes are not as important as files are already on the system on the CD or DVD and do not need to be downloaded. On a CD or DVD instead of size like when publishing to the internet the user can focus on quality.

Part 2 – Distribution - Online and Offline delivery mediums.

Stuart Matthews
Multimedia Technology
Part 2 – Distribution
Online and Offline delivery mediums.

Online Delivery
Most programs for creating files to be used in multimedia presentations include settings and options to optimize files for publishing. Flash allows the user to choose which files type/types they want the production to use. File types that can be used for publication are .swf which exports the flash movie in a format suitable for uploading to internet, .html allows the user to export the html for the file. Gif, jpeg and png file type can be selected to export the image of the movie. Windows and Macintosh Projector option export the file for use with a projector. QuickTime movie (.qt) is an Apple files also for movies. Settings allow the user to choose which version of flash and action script should be used. Other settings allow the user to set the jpeg quality, add a password and edit sound options. Flash allows the user to create advertising animations, components for web pages, to add video and create web sites making it a popular choice to add interactivity and animation to web pages. Flash works by manipulating vector and raster graphics and supports audio and video streaming. A scripting language called Action Script is used mainly to control vector animations. There are many software applications, devices and systems that support Flash. Adobe Flash Player, available for most browsers is used to playback flash movies and animations. Mobile phones and other devices also support Flash Player to allow the use of games, web applications and movies. Flash files on the internet require a browser with Adobe Flash Player to view.
Before being uploaded to the internet web sites and web pages should be validated. Validation is the process of checking the html files for any spelling or grammar errors in the file. Browsers work by reading html files that tell the browser where and how to display text and other medium. Because browsers will accept and try to display any html file even one with problems any errors in the html language can lead to the browser not displaying the page the same in all browsers. When web pages have been validated they are ready to be uploaded to the internet. To upload a file to the internet first you must have a space on the internet to put it. There are thousands of companies offering web space both paid for and for free. Paid for hosts are generally faster, more reliable servers than free sites which can use advertising to pay for the space. Once you have somewhere to upload the web pages to you must then get it there from your computer, this is done with the use of a FTP (file transfer protocol) program. FTPs allow the user to connect to an ftp address which is the address of their space on the internet. The user must have an FTP address, sometimes called Host Name, username and password to connect to their web space. Once connected files can be uploaded by browsing to the containing folder on the computer and either dragging on to the webs pace of clicking upload. As some hosts have trouble reading files with capital letters it is important the all file names are in lower case.

Offline Delivery
Offline delivery methods include CDs, DVDs and Flash drives. CDs and DVDs have become the standard medium for delivering large amounts of data as they are cheap and reliable. Some DVDs (DVD RW) allow the user to use the disk like a drive adding and removing files as required. Flash Drives are portable drives that use flash memory to store data and allow the user to add and remove files as needed. Flash memory is used is many devices today including mobile phones, digital cameras, mp3 players and video consoles.

Part 2 – Distribution - File Types.

Stuart Matthews
Multimedia Technology
Part 2 – Distribution
File Types.
There are many different file types used to create and present interactive presentations. File formats for picture and image documents include .gif (graphics interchange format). GIF files are limited to 256 colours and supports up to 8 bits per pixel, as well as still images .gif files can be small animations. Transparency can also be used in .gif files. Most drawing and image applications can produce and use .gif files. Because of the limit of colours available on a .gif file the quality of the picture will not be as good as other file formats. Jpeg files are the most common file type used for pictures as they support much more colours than .gif files. Jpeg files allow adjustable compression meaning user can choose between picture quality and picture size. Jpeg files are the most commonly used in digital image capture devices like cameras and mobile phones. Jpegs are the most used file type for pictures on the web. Most drawing applications like Fireworks, Photoshop and Paint can produce and support jpeg files.
File types .swf (shockwave flash) and .fla (flash) are used by Flash to create interactive presentations and movies. Swf files use vectors in animations and are designed to keep files sizes down to allow publication on the internet. Fla files contain the source material for flash documents. Flash software can edit .fla files and export them as .swf files.
Ppt file types are Microsoft PowerPoint files for producing interactive presentations and can include text, pictures and sound files.
QuickTime files (.qt) are used by QuickTime player to display videos, animations, media clips, sound and music. .qt files contain one or more layer each of which stores a particular form of data, this can be sound, video, music or text. QuickTime player also supports other multimedia file types like .wav, .mp3 and .mpeg.
Html files (Hyper text mark-up language) are used for writing pages of the web. Html is the main language used for web pages. Html files can be written in many applications from simple text editors to custom software for writing web pages. Html files are read by web browsers to tell the browser how to place and display text, images, video and sound on a web page. CSS (Cascading style sheets) are used with html files to give more control over how the page is displayed. Using .css files allows the user greater control over the layout and look of the page or site.
Executable files (.exe) are used for running programs. Exe files contain binary information and are created in an IDE (integrated development environment). The finished program is then interpreted or complied to allow use of the program.
Mp3 (mpeg layer 3) files are generally used for music and sound. Mp3s are digital audio encoding formats using lossy data compression to reduce file size. The mp3s remove the very high peaks and low peaks of the sound without much loss of quality of the sound; this is possible as the human ear can’t hear the highest and lowest frequencies that are on a CD track. File sizes are generally 10 times smaller than that of a CD track. Many portable players have been produced to capitalise on the popularity of Mp3s.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Operating Systems

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Operating Systems

An operating is the main software component of a computer system. It is responsible for the management of activities and the sharing of computer resources. The operating system acts as a base for all other software on the computer and is responsible for controlling and operating all hardware. The operating system is the link between software and hardware and allows the user to use the computer. Operating systems allow the user to interact with them by the use of commands or a GUI (graphical user interface). GUI’s are commonly a display of icons and graphics navigated by a mouse.
The control panel on windows allows the user to setup how the hardware and software operates on the computer. The way the computer looks can be changed by using Colour Management and Display settings or the software supplied by the graphic card provider.
Fonts can be added, removed and edited for use in software programs operating on the computer like word processing, drawing and video software.
The user can setup how they interact with the computer by changing settings for the keyboard, mouse and any game controllers connected to computer. Different settings allow user to change the speed the mouse moves across the screen and how fast double clicks should be registered.
Power options allow the user to setup how hardware on the system operates and when display and hard drives should be shut down to save power. Screen savers can also be setup to protect display hardware.
Printers and scanners can be setup and allow the user to select print properties and how the computer interacts with the hardware. The user can view printer queues change printer setting and display printer preferences.
Programs and features allow the user to quickly view all software installed on computer and add or remove programs and software.
Most operating systems have their own security software built in and settings for these can be found in the control panel. User can see and change setting for firewalls, anti-virus programs and spy-bot programs.
Many programs allow the user to interact with speech; the operating system allows the user to setup how hardware like microphone and speakers interact with software.
Software on the computer is started by clicking on the icon in the operating system which then runs the software selected.
Memory must also be managed by the operating allowing multiple programs to be run at once without using memory already used.
Device drivers are used to allow the operating system and computer interacts with a hardware device. As each device is different a device drivers is usually included with a hardware device which means that a program can interact with it. Without a device driver the program couldn’t interact with the device.
Operating Systems usually include software for networking making it easier for the user to connect several computers together allowing sharing of files and folders.
Different operating systems available include Windows, OSX and LINUX. Most handheld devices like mobile phone and media players have an operating system installed.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Databases

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Databases
Databases are a collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system. The data is then organized into a structure according to a database model. The most common database model in use today is the relational model. The relational model uses tables to display the data allowing the user to select what data to display and what it contains by using queries.
A field is the data entry on a record. Fields are given a name and select options to determine how the fields uses the data. Fields can be given a files type based on the information the field will it contain. Text fields can contain letters, numbers and symbols. Number fields can contain up to 800 numbers. Other field types include date, time, calculation and summary. To save space the number of characters stored in each field should be minimized. Key fields allow information to be found by using unique fields.
Forms are used to put the data into a table making it easier to view and enter large amounts of information. All forms contain a number of fields each with its own name. The fields can be used to enter the data and the layout can be adjusted to make data entry easier for the user.
Reports can be used to quickly view information from table totals. The user can adjust the layout of how the data is displayed.
A query is a request for information from a database. Queries are the quickest way of searching for entries on a database to view or delete records. The layout of the query can be adjusted for the user to select and change entries quickly. Modifiers are used to select what information is displayed.
Macros can be used to automate database processes.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Video Editing

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Video Editing
Video editing is the process of arranging and modifying clips of video to form another video. The main goal of video editing is to remove unwanted footage, adding sound to video and creating a new piece of video. The term video editing can refer to linear video editing and non-linear video editing. Linear editing is mainly used for analogue editing and is the process of manually cutting and slicing pieces of video together to create a new video. Non-linear editing is mainly used for digital video editing and is the process of creating videos using computer software. The video editing software displays thumbnails representing clips of footage which can be dragged to a timeline allowing the user to change the arrangement of video.
Digital editing uses a timeline to arrange video making it easy to add effects and change the look of the video without changing the original or losing quality the more times it is cut and pasted. The software typically display a video window with play buttons, a time line showing video clips and a directory of available clips to add to timeline. Effects available include monochrome which gives the video the look of having been filmed with a coloured lens. Intensity and colour can be adjusted to change the look of the effects. Colour enhancement can be used to improve the quality of the video and allows the user to adjust brightness, colour and noise and add effects like blur. Transitions are used to merge clips together to make a more smooth transition rather than jumping from one clip to another. There are many different transition effects available and are easily applied to video clips using software. Transition effect are usually just dragged onto a timeline to apply the effect to the clips.
Video editing software also allows the user to edit the sound on the video. Sound is video is usually split over two layers to allow the use of a backing or sound effect track and a main track. Sound is video is usually record as stereo.
When the user is finished editing software it can then be exported to a suitable file format. The most popular file types include .wmv, .swf and .mp4. Export options allow the user the change the size quality to optimize the final file size of the video. Non-linear (digital) editing allows the user to easily package the the finished movie as CD, DVD, videotape or for publishing on the web. Codec for the video file will also be required for playback.
Hardware required for digital video editing includes a video capture device such as a camcorder, digital camera and even mobile phones can be used to capture video and a microphone. Another way to import video is by using a video capture card Video capture and video editing software will also be needed on the editing computer. The computer should have a large hard disk for large file sizes involved with video editing and a good amount of memory. Other useful hardware for video editing would be a dual monitor setup to allow more desktop space, handy for running multiple programs. Lan-C connections allow the user to control a camcorder from a computer keyboard.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Animation

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Animation
Animation can be used for giving instructions, catching attention and can be 2d and 3d. As with graphics and images animation can be used to convey information without language barriers. Animation is the display of a sequence of images with small changes which creates the illusion of movement. The most common animation media is motion picture and video. Software can be used to create animation using key frames, score and cast and is created by playing a series of still images in sequence. There are several types of animation, the first animations were flip books which is a book with a series of pictures with slight changes drawn on each page and when the pages are turned quickly it creates the illusion of motion. Frame-by-frame animation or stop motion is the process of making a manually moved object to appear as if it moving on its own by moving an object small amounts and photographing each frame. Tweening, or in-betweening, is the process animation software uses to key motion frames between key-frames. This process allows helps the user to create motion animation. In the past this process would have required a team of animators to manually draw the frames between the keyframes.
Animation is often also used other mediums like films, TV and all cartoons where it is also referred to as CGI (Computer-generated-imagery). To create these complex animations there is often many animations within the main animation. This allows more life-like movements for example in a walking motion the legs and arms need to be animated while the animation move across the stage. 3d rendering is the final process in creating complex and realistic animations. 3d rendering is the process of adding photo realistic graphics to a model, this can take many computers a long time to complete.
Animation software includes Flash, Pencil and 3d Blender and can be used to automate to process of creating animations. These programs have many tools and features to help the user create animations. Tools available include 3d transformation which allows 2d images to be moved through 3d space, motion tweening to allow the automation of creating frames between keyframes and frame-by-frame animation. Many of these programs allow the user to export the movie as many different file types meaning the final animation can be used on many types of media.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Sound Software

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Sound Software

Audio can be used for entertainment, giving information and instructions and conveying information. Audio editing software can be used to create and edit audio files for a final presentation. Audio files can be edited by using cut and paste tools and effects such as delay and phaser. Pitch and speed can be edited to change the characteristics of the sound. Audio editing software can also be used to clean up sound by using tools to remove noise. Files can be compressed to smaller files for use on the internet and in presentations. Audio files are created by converting audio to a digital format, they then need to be converted back to audio for playback. This process of converting is called audio-to-digital (A/D) when recording and requires an ADC (analog-to-digital converter) which converts an analogue input voltage to a digital number. Digital-to-analog (D/A) is the process for playback and converts a digital code to an analogue signal.

Analogue and Digital Signals

Tapes and vinyl can be converted to digital files most commonly mp3s by using editing software by plugging a tape or record player into the computer and recording a new track which can then be edited to remove hiss and use the cut tool to spilt the track into different songs. Voice and music can be recorded to create podcasts and to convey other information. Editing software has many tools and options to enhance and change voice and other sounds by moving parts of track around or changing the tone. Music tracks can be imported to edit and cut sections of the track to create ringtones or samples. Mp3s have the advantage of being able to transfer over the internet and are much smaller than other digital audio files. Editing software can be used to convert stereo files, using two audio channels, to mono, using one audio channel. Surround Sound uses multiple audio channels to give a 3d sound experience. Audio files require a lot of compromise when being used in multimedia media applications because of the size of the files. While CD-qualit sounds good the files are large and must be compressed, losing quality. Audio playback software such as QuickTime and Windows Media Player may be required to hear audio used in application. Audio editing software includes Audacity, Soundforge and Adobe Premier.

Assessment 2 & 3 – Graphics

Stuart Matthews
Assessment 2 & 3 – Graphics

Graphics and images can be used to convey information, add text for headlines, buttons etc, and diagrams for information and to change the look of the document. Using graphics and images means that a presentation can be understood despite language barriers, making it multilingual. Graphic and images come in two different formats, vectors and bitmaps. Vector files are made from lines which means that there is no distortion when the size of the image is increased. Bitmap files are made from pixels, the more pixels the better the resolution. Bitmap file types have a .bmp extension, are the most common and are a windows device. Other file types are used for compressing bitmap files which can be very large and therefore inappropriate for some types of multimedia applications like websites. Application for creating image and graphic files include Paint, PaintShop Pro, Photoshop (bitmap) and Fireworks, Coreldraw (vector). Most of these programs have their own files type and can also open other files. These applications have advantages and disadvantages, the main disadvantage is the price of the software, which can be very expensive but the advantage of the higher price software is the number of effects and options for manipulating images that are available.

Bitmap packages work by dividing the image into a grid of millions of cells and assigns a colour, lightness or darkness to every single cell or ‘pixel’. Once a line or text has been drawn on the canvas it cannot be edited without undoing and starting again. Because the image is made up of single pixels the image cannot be enlarged without enlarging the pixels making the image look ‘jaggy’ with rough square edges. One of the most popular bitmap applications is PhotoShop which has many tools and options for creating, editing and optimizing images.

Vector packages work by treating images as a collection of shapes and lines and stores them as mathematical equations to determine how the image should look. Since these formulas are used to produce the image there is no distortion when the image is rescaled unlike with bitmap images. However as the computer screen is displayed the same way as a bitmap file, using pixels, when zoomed in on the vector image there will still be jagged edges although the edge is perfectly smooth.

The main function of graphics software is to make images ready for publishing on the internet. Before importing files to authoring or web development software files should be compressed in order to reduce files sizes. Photographs can be very large and must be manipulated in order to make them web friendly, things that can be done to reduce file size include cropping the image to only the part that is needed and reducing picture quality. Most software applications will have the option to compress file types and allow the user to change the options for the exported image. The user can reduce the quality, number of colours used and see the final size of the optimized image. For use on the web most images will be exported as either a jpeg or gif file. Files sizes are important when developing an application for the internet because the bigger the file the longer it will take the user to be able to view it. This might not be a problem with broadband connections but users with slower modems will find they have to wait to see large files displayed. The smaller the file sizes the smaller the size of the final production. If the image is to be printed then the highest quality possible should be used to get the best resolution.

Graphics applications have many tools available to assist the user in creating and editing images. Layers allow the user to work on different elements on different layers without disturbing other elements and add effects and styles to one part of image only. Effects such as shadows, glows, bevels, overlays and strokes can be used to quickly change the appearance of layers content. Filters can also be applied to add special effects to a layer like artistic filters that replicate natural or tradition media effects, blur filters and texture filters. Slice tools can be used to divide an image into functional areas such as hotspots for html links and rollover effects. Shapes like rectangles, ovals and stars can easily be created from a variety of shape tools and predrawn shapes. The pen tool allows the users to create straight lines and curves with more precision than other tools. Pen tools can also be used to create ‘paths’ for text to follow. Transparency is possible in a number of file formats, the most popular for use on the web is gif files. Transparent images can be used on sites as spacers and to add corners and curves to tables that usually look square. Other uses for transparency include adding gradients either to images or web pages.

3D rendering software allows the creations of 2D and 3D content with tools for modelling, lighting, texturing and rendering allowing the user to create much more realistic pictures and animations.

Authoring and Web Development software

Stuart Matthews
Part 1 - Software
Authoring and Web Development software

HTML Editors are used to write html files to create web pages. The editor allows the user to write the html code that a web browser reads to display the page, some allowing the user to see the page as it develops. Although html can be written with any text editor most html editors applications use a GUI (graphical user interface) making them user friendly and have built-in functions allowing easy creation of tables, frames and CSS (cascading style sheets). This allows the user to create professional looking sites simpler than using a text editor as the software automates the process of writing html (hyper text mark-up language) and Meta tags used in the head section of the index. Some HTML editors are WISIWIG (What I See Is What I Get) providing a view of how the page should look in a browser. This makes the process of writing complex code easier for the user. There are many rules on how html is written in order for it to conform to W3C Standards. WC3 is the Worldwide Web Consortium and are the main international standards organisation for the web. These rules mean that a solid understanding is needed to write html with a simple text editor while a specialized html editor helps to write the code needed.

Web Browsers are needed to view and interact with web pages on the internet. The first browser was created by Tim Berners in 1991 while working at CERN. Browsers allow the user to view html files as text, images, video and other media. Most web pages are wrote in html code which tells the browser how to display the page and where to place image files, how text should look and what colours should be displayed. Without a web browser html files are just a list of code. There are many web browsers available like Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Opera and now Google Chrome. However as all browsers read html files differently pages look different on every browser which can cause problems for web designers and developers.

Notepad is a text editor that can also be used to write html files because it adds no other formatting to text. Notepad was released in 1985 by Microsoft and is included in all Widows Versions. Unlike other WISIWIG software Notepad and Notepad++ do not automate the writing of html code or allow the user to see how the page will look in a browser. This means the user must have a good understanding of html in order to create web pages. Notepad is often used by designers for debugging as it offers more control than WISIWIG programs as the code is ‘cleaner’ than that of code written in authoring software.

Notepad++ is a source code editor that can be used to help write html code. It is has more features for a designer than Notepad, benefits include syntax highlighting allowing the user to find sections of code easier and auto-completion for the writing of html tags. Syntax highlighting helps the designer to find any problems with the code while debugging web pages.

Authoring software is required to bring all parts of a multimedia application together. In the past this would have required the services of a professional programmer. Media including text, graphics, animation, sound and video is imported from the different applications used to create them to create a final multimedia presentation. Once media has been imported the software allows the user to assign different relationships and actions to elements to add interactivity. Interactive movies can be created using buttons, key frames and markers. To speed up the process of translating commands into binary authoring software includes binary code called Xobjects or Xcommands adding speed and functionality to a program.
Authoring software includes Flash, Director, Dreamweaver and Kompozer. These software applications use user friendly interfaces making it easy to add effects and interactivity using actions and scripts and see how the presentation looks as it develops. Most authoring software is WISIWIG (What I See Is What I Get) that allows the user to see how the finished item will look. This makes the process of writing complex files much easier and without the need of programming skills allowing novices to create professional looking content.
While there are many advantages to using authoring software to write web pages there are times when a simple text editor will be preferred. The main reason is that every browser and program displays the mark-up language differently. Also like all other computer programs web browsers have bugs that need to be fixed, many web developers and designers prefer to use a simple text editor for the debugging process as these programs don’t add any other code to the file making it easier to find problem code.

Flash was created by Macromedia in 1996 and is now developed by Adobe Studios. Flash is a popular program for creating animations and movies for web pages without the need of a programmer. Interactivity is one of the main benefits of Flash allowing the user to integrate sound and video to movies and animations. Flash is better than other forms of animated images as it allows much more interactivity meaning that Flash can also be used for the production of websites. Many web developers and designers rely on Flash animations and movies to reach the widest possible audience. Most browsers require plug-ins to allow the user to view the file. Flash files (.fla) are embedded into the html code on a web page to tell the browser how and where to display the file. The file must then be played using the Flash Player plug-in.

Dreamweaver is currently the industry leading web design and development program. It was created by Macromedia in 1997 and Adobe acquired the company in 2007. Dreamweaver is a WISIWIG tool using a GUI meaning the user can hide the code and see only how the page will look in a browser. This allows novices at html to create good looking pages. The user can create add elements to a page and Dreamweaver will automatically create the code that complies with W3C standards. Behaviours and other actions can be easily added to elements to add interactivity and usability to web pages. As with most HTML editors Dreamweaver edits files locally (on the computer) before the user must upload to the internet using a FTP client. Because Dreamweaver creates the code for the user this means they have less control over it and excess code may be created that can cause slow loading and poor performance of the page.

Kompozer is an Open-Source program meaning that it is available to download, use and improve for free. Open-Source software is programs that are open to the public domain for programmers to upgrade the code to enhance the software. It is a good alternative to Dreamweaver which is very expensive. Kompozer was originally created as a debugged version of Nvu, another open-source WISIWIG authoring program.

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