1. SCA 3103 - Introduction to Multimedia
Semester II 2003/04
LECTURE 10 MEDIA INTEGRATION
(Multimedia Authoring Packages)
Lecture 10

2. SCA 3103 - Introduction to Multimedia
Objective
SCA Introduction to Multimedia
Semester II 2003/04
The difference between authoring and programming
The components of an authoring tool
Types of authoring system
Examples of PC products
Programming systems
Lecture 10

3. Authoring versus Programming
Authoring tools are what we call high level tools
A lot of the technical details of how things are done is hidden from the developer. The developer can concentrate on the functionality instead of how to make the hardware work
Can be used by non-programmers
Programming tools are low level tools
They provide access to the low level hardware features for those who want to get the most out of the computer
Are used by programmers or software engineers

4. The Components of an Authoring Tool
Most authoring systems provide facilities for:
Loading and saving media assets (graphics, sounds, videos, text, etc.)
Creating or editing audio and graphic images
Page or slide building (layering multimedia data to create a single page)
Animation / transition effects
Specifying the sequence of the application
Adding interactive controls for navigation and actions at run-time
Creation of CD-ROM or web-based distributions

5. Types of Authoring System
There are numerous development models that can be used for multimedia applications
Authoring systems generally fall into one or more of the following categories:
Slide, card or frame based
Icon based
The score model
Object-oriented models
Scripting language based
Some systems combine one or more of these to create more sophisticated tools

6. Slide, Card or Frame Based
Each part of the application is self-contained in a single page
Each page is created separately and then integrated into the final application
A page may contain hyperlinks to other pages to provide navigation or pages may be sequentially viewed
There may be global parameters that can be set to affect the entire application
e.g. background colour, default font, etc.

7. Icon-Based Authoring
Each part is represented an icon (symbolic picture)
Each icon does a specific task, e.g. plays a sound
Icons are then linked together to form complete applications
Can easily visualise the structure and navigation of the final application
A screenshot of Macromedia Authorware

8. The Score Model This model has an analogy with a musical score
Instead of musical instruments playing notes we have multimedia objects (sounds, images, video, text, etc.) that do something at specific points (times) in the score
There is usually some way to animate the objects (e.g. rotation, scaling, colour changes, etc.) between each transition (i.e. when they start and when they finish)
Each multimedia object lives in a track
A score has one or more tracks

9. Voice over (narration)
Scores and Timelines
Timelines are a useful way of representing multimedia data during the course of a presentation or application
Time is represented along the x-axis
Tracks are represented along the y-axis
The developer can move objects left and right to change the order of the information and can lengthen or shorten the bars to change their duration
5 seconds
0 seconds
10 seconds
15 seconds
Animation
Voice over (narration)
Video
Background music
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4

10. Scripting Language Based Models
Scripting languages are cut-down versions of complete programming languages
They tend to have less features and are therefore easier to learn
Scripting models allow the developer to write small scripts (programs) which can be associated with a multimedia object
e.g. you may write a script to make a graphic image move across the screen or to make a window pop up when an item is clicked

11. Object-oriented models
SCA Introduction to Multimedia
Semester II 2003/04
In an object-oriented model, everything that can be put in an application is considered an object
Every object has:
State - A description of its unique properties
e.g. a graphic image’s state would describe its size, colour depth, author’s name, etc.
Behaviour - The things that the object can do
e.g. a video can be played, stopped or rewound
Icon and score-based models usually have object-oriented features also
Objects are self contained and can be reused in later projects
Lecture 10

12. Microsoft PowerPoint http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/
PowerPoint is:
a “business graphics” package
a slide-based multimedia tool
Supports vector graphics, bitmapped
images, sound, video and hyperlinks
Supports many slide transitions and
animations (see right)
Developers can script objects to make
them display at specific times or events
The events are represented by a limited number of presets
and cannot be altered

13. Sound Forge 6. 0 http://www. sonicfoundry. com/products/showproduct
Audio editing, audio recording, effects processing, and rich media encoding.
Powerful and fast non-destructive audio editing
Supports a wide range of audio formats, including 15 import formats and 17 export formats, such as WAV, Windows Media™ Audio and Video, MPEG-1&2*, RealAudio® and MP3

14. Macromedia Flash http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/
Flash is a tool for creating animated vector graphics and multimedia
It uses a timeline and object-oriented model
Has a very useful feature called tweening which can be used to create animations
You specify a start and end point and Flash calculates all the in-between frames of the animation
Flash is a popular format on websites. See

15. Macromedia Flash Screenshot
Tracks
Timeline
Tweening

16. Macromedia Director http://www.macromedia.com/software/director/
Director is a package with many features
Sound and audio editing
Bitmap and vector graphics editing
Asset management
Uses a metaphor of cast, stage and score
The Cast are the media assets
The Stage is the screen or individual page
The Score is the sequence of events
Director has its own programming language called Lingo which can be used to add new functionality
Director is one of the most widely used PC tools

17. Multimedia Programming Tools
Programming tools differ from authoring tools in that they tend to be much lower level and require the developer to have more knowledge of the underlying hardware and programming language
Programming tools give the developer access to much more functionality than authoring tools but require much more effort (and money!)

18. Summary
Today we have looked at the two types of tools that can be used to create multimedia applications:
Authoring tools
Programming tools
Each has their own set of pros and cons:
Authoring tools are generally quicker to learn and can be used by non-programmers but may have limited flexibility
Programming tools are more difficult to use and require good programming knowledge but can be much more flexible