IT - Multimedia overview

Multimedia: The use of a computer to present text, sound, graphics, animation and video in an electronic publication that lets users navigate, interact, create and communicate. Multimedia is a subset of hypermedia which combines and links the multimedia objects. eg. Hypertext is the linking of a word to object or file in the publication.

Multimedia means many things..

• Computer gamers
  • Voodoo graphics accelerator card, Pentium II, Sidewinder force feed joystick
• Internet surfers
  • Real audio and MPEG players
• Teachers & Students
  • CD based maps, videos and encyclopedias
• Home users
  • Digital cameras, scanners and colour printers
• Graphics designers and artists
  • Photo-quality printers and high resolution digital cameras.
• Parent,P. (1998,Dec)

Example applications

• Business and web presentations
• Product presentation
• Entertainment (many computer games rely heavily on multimedia to keep interest eg. Fly by in MS-golf),
• Teaching
• Reference (encyclopedias) material.

Example tools

• Graphics software (Paintbrush, Paintshop Pro, CorelDraw!)
• Sound Software (MS Sound system, Musical Instrument Digital Interface - MIDI)
• Animation Software (CorelDraw!, Take One)
• Video Software (MS Video for Windows, Adobe Premier)
• Presentation software (Powerpoint, Action)
• Development software (Macromedia Director, Illuminatus)

[Rev 1/9/98] 20/5/97  © 1997-98 V/2-Com (Verhaart), P O Box 8415, Havelock North, New Zealand.