MUMD-290: Multimedia Development

1. MUMD-290: Multimedia Development Dr. Eric Breimer

2. Introduction • Chapter 1 of • Digital Multimedia, 2nd edition • Nigel Chapman & Jenny Chapman

3. 2 Digital Multimedia • The same story, information, etc can be represented in different media • Text, images, sound, moving pictures • Can you think of any other form of media besides the ones above?

4. Taste, Smell, Touch • How do you store and transmit these digitally? • Taste & Smell are still open problems • Touch is already developed • 3D printers and faxes • http://www.zcorp.com/home.asp

5. 2 Digital Multimedia • Almost all media can be represented digitally as a structured collection of bits • Manipulated by programs, stored, transmitted over networks • Digital media can be combined into multimedia • Besides the Internet (computer networks) what are some other ways to transmit digital media?

6. 3–4 Interactive Multimedia • Combination of media is actually commonplace (e.g. TV news) and natural – we perceive the world through all our senses at once • Novelty of digital multimedia is that all media can be treated as data • Programs can manipulate data in response to user input, so digital multimedia can be interactive

7. 4 Historical Context • Some dates: • CD-ROM drives on desktop machines from ~1989 • WWW publicly available at start of 1992 • Handful of servers; line-based browser • HTML allows audio and video to be embedded 1997

8. 5–6 Cultural Development • Takes time for conventions about content and consumption to become established: • 1895 footage of train arriving at station • People had no idea how “film technology” would be used? • Analogy, in the early days of the Internet people had no idea that it would be used to share music (Napster, Kazaa, iTunes).

9. Cultural Development • Early film: animations and magic tricks shown as part of vaudeville acts (Novelty only). • Meanwhile narrative films started to show up (Content with substance). • Film technology turned Playhouses become cinemas • Can you think of a similar analogy with respect to Internet technology? • i.e., Internet technology turned computers into…

10. Cultural Development • In the beginning, Established forms of media are translated into the new technology. • Film allows newspapers to be “shown” as newsreels. • Can you think of a modern analogy with respect to the web?

11. Novelty vs. Innovation • Newsreels were a novelty: Instead of reading a paper you’d get all your news in a 5 minute film. • Newsreels are still passive. • Internet news feeds (innovation?): Instead of reading a paper, you get all you news on the web. • The web is interactive. • Content can be customized to your interests (RSS). • You can choose to watch the video, read the article, or see the pictures.

12. 6–7 Terminology • Multimedia production – display and presentation is the sole purpose • Multimedia application – display is driven by computation • e.g. Web application presenting data stored in a database • Multiple media – user must switch between modalities (read, watch, listen,…) instead of combining them

13. 7 Definition • Digital multimedia: any combination of two or more media, represented in a digital form, sufficiently well integrated to be presented via a single interface, or manipulated by a single computer program

14. 8–9 Delivery • Online • Uses a network (usually the Internet) to send information from one computer to another • Offline • Removable storage medium is used to carry the data (CD-ROM, DVD) • Other delivery forms? Are we forgetting the obvious?

15. 10 Page-Based Multimedia • Text, images laid out in 2-D arrangement as in book or magazine • Pages combined using links (hypermedia) • Content itself is static

16. 11 Time-Based Multimedia • Elements arranged in time • Presented in sequence on a timeline • Elements may be frames or discrete pages (slideshow) • Often incorporates parallelism • Parallel elements may be synchronized • e.g., Sound clips start when objects appear

17. 10 Linearity • Film: fixed order of frames defines a single playback sequence • Book: physical arrangement of text and pages implies a linear reading order

18. 11 Non-Linearity • Flash: jumps between frames, controlled by interactivity, permit branching and loops • Hypermedia: links between pages permit multiple arbitrary reading orders

19. 13–14 Interactivity • User input may control a multimedia production • But, only choices that are coded into the program are possible • Alternatively, user can control events at many points, leading to combinatorial growth in number of possibilities (common in games). • e.g. 4 choices at each of 5 points implies 1024 possible sequences, not 20. • Where does 1024 come from?

20. 15–16 User Interfaces • Means of presenting choices and accepting user input can vary enormously • Often you’ll see interface elements used by mainstream OSs • But, you’ll also see Free-form, dynamically changing interfaces (again, common in games) • Consider interactive multimedia on the web…what “format” is the media? How does this effect the user interface?

21. 17–20 Access • If access to multimedia is the norm, those denied access become marginalized ('digital divide') • Access may be limited by lack of: • Access to equipment and skills • Network infrastructure • Literacy and education • Physical and cognitive abilities • These factors may depend on wealth, geographical location,…

22. 21–23 Traditional Media Production • Access to production of media highly restricted • Books: distributed through publishers, subject to editorial scrutiny; barriers to newcomers • Film: very high cost; studios prefer safe bets • Music: mostly distributed by few labels controlled by small number of multinationals; hard to break in to the business • TV: video production relatively low cost, but access to broadcast rigidly controlled • What is the new, non-traditional production outlet?

23. 21 Web Site Production • Potentially anyone with Internet access can have their own Web site • ISPs provide free Web space • Free and inexpensive tools are adequate • WWW has potential for revolution in access to the means of production and distribution of digital material

24. 24–25 Control of Content • All sufficiently complex societies seek to control what people may see or hear, either by explicit policing, economic or other means • Rapid growth of the Internet and its potential for disseminating unacceptable content has given new impetus to debates about censorship • Complicated ethical issues with no enduring conclusion or consensus despite thousands of years of debate

25. 25–26 Diversity & Censorship • WWW is global network, • hence material reaches many different societies and cultural and religious groups • Many different models of censorship – none, rigid centralized control, self-regulation, … • Why is it so difficult (impossible) to censor the WWW?

26. Diversity & Censorship • Unrealistic to expect a single model of censorship to be acceptable everywhere in the world. • Difficult to assign responsibility for dissemination of content on Internet • Growing too fast…its impossible to police every page, every site, every part of the world.

27. 27–29 PICS • Platform for Internet Content Selection • http://www.w3.org/PICS/iacwcv2.htm • Attempt to provide a mechanism that supports a diversity of attitudes towards content and censorship • Labels attached to each page, providing a rating of its contents • PICS only defines standard label format • Screening software rejects material deemed unsuitable according to user's criteria • Defers the difficult decisions to the user.

28. Summary • Be sure to review key terminology in Chapter 1 • Remember we are only studing media that can be stored and transmitted digitally. This is the crux of this course • Digital media is • Easier to combine, hence multimedia • Easier to process (in theory) • Easier to make interactive • The web is becoming the #1 production outlet for digital multimedia • Unlike, radio, TV, publishing, etc, the web is unique: • Difficult to censor/regulate • Right now, access depends on wealth, location, but that could all change.