1. The intangible assets in multimedia:
1.1. Creativity- Being creative implies knowledge of hardware and software; Most precious asset.
1.2. Organization- It is essential to develop an outline detailing the skills, time, budget, tools and resources needed for the project.
1.3. Communication- Communication among the workgroup and clients is essential to the efficient and accurate completion of your project.
2. Connections:
2.1. IDE- Connecting a motherboard to storage devices such as hard drives and CD-ROM/DVD drives.
2.2. USB(Universal Serial Bus)- Most popular connection used to connect a computer to devices such as digital cameras, printers, scanners, and external hard drives; Is a plug-and-play interface.
2.3. FireWire- Connecting devices to personal computer; Single plug-and-socket connection on which up to 63 devices.
3. Four Basic Stages in a multimedia project:
3.1. 1. Planning.
3.2. 2. Designing and Producing.
3.3. 3.Testing.
3.4. 4. Delivering.
4. Memory and Storage devices:
4.1. RAM- Volatile storage and it enables the simultaneous running of many applications. Storage thataalows to read and write data as many time as needed.
4.2. ROM- Is nonvolatile storage. the BIOS program that boots up the computer resides in the ROM.
4.3. Hard Disk- Nonvolatile storage. Is rewriteable permanent memory and have a high data storage capacity and data transfer speed; Supports up to 1 tera.
4.4. Flash or Thumb Drives.
4.5. CD-ROM
4.6. DVD
4.7. Blu-Ray Discs
5. Input Devices:
5.1. OCR- Is used to convert bitmapped characters into electronically recognizable text.
5.2. Microphones
5.3. Digital Cameras
6. Output Devices:
6.1. Stereo
6.2. Monitor
6.3. Projector
7. Software:
7.1. 1.OCR software- Converts bitmapped characters into electronically recognizable text.
7.2. 2.Text editing and word processing tool- Word processors such as Microsoft word and WordPerfect.
7.3. 3.Painting tools allow you to create and modify bitmap images- For example; Photoshop, Firework and Painter.
7.3.1. Painting features such as smoothing coarse-edged objects into the background.
7.4. 4. Drawing tools allow you to create and modify vector graphics- Vector graphics are used by Adobe Flash to reduce download time and scaling problems with web graphics. For example; CorelDraw, Illustrator and Canvas.
7.5. 6. Painting and drawing software features include:
7.5.1. 1. An intuitive graphical user interface.
7.5.2. 2. Scalable dimensions.
7.5.3. 3.Multiple undo capability.
7.5.4. 4. Scalable text font support.
7.5.5. 5. Support for third-party special effect plug-ins.
7.5.6. 6. Layering capability.
7.6. 7. 3-D Modeling tools- Allows rendering of object in a three-dimensional perspective. For example VectorWorks, AutoDesk Maya, Strata 3D.
7.7. 8. Image editing tools- Powerful tools for enhancing, retouching, blurring, sharpening, lightening existing bitmapped images; Support third party plug-in.
7.8. 9. Sound editing tools- Cut,copy,paste and edit certain segments of the music; Enable the user to see music as a waveform as well as hear sound.
7.9. 10. Animation, video and digital movie tools.
8. Two Phases Of Testing:
8.1. Alpha testing- Often performed only by users within the organization developing the software as a form of internal acceptance testing; The application may be missing part of the content or functionality and the main interest is to review the concept, format, user interface and the layout.
8.2. Beta Testing- The product is evaluated just before the final release and it is a fully functioning product and should be relative bug free. Main interest is to find bugs or content errors. The testing group should be represented by the real users and should not include the people who have been involved in the project.
9. Multimedia Skills
9.1. Project Manager- Leader of the project; Oversee the entire project and responsible for overall development.
9.2. Multimedia Designer- Looks at the overall and structure for content of the project.
9.3. Interface Designer- In charge of designing each screen or page interface that lets the user access or modify the content simplicity.
9.4. Writer- Create characters and actors' narrations; Write text screens to deliver message.
9.5. Video/Audio Specialist- Focus on the audio and video production; Shooting,capturing and editing video, digitizing and audio recording.
9.6. Multimedia Programmer- Multimedia programmers integrate all the elements of the project using an authoring system or programming language.
10. Hardware:
10.1. Windows Vs Macintosh- Microsoft windows operating system can run on assemblages of hardware from countless manufacturers; Apple has its own proprietary software to run the hardware.
10.2. Production Platforms- Most significant platforms for producing and delivering multimedia are the Macintosh operating system and Microsoft Windows; The Macintosh and the Microsoft PC offer a combination of affordability and software and hardware availability.
11. Authoring Systems
11.1. An authoring tools is a software package which allow developers to:
11.1.1. A. Organize and edit multimedia elements of multimedia project.
11.1.2. B. Design screen layouts(interface) using templates.
11.1.3. C. Create interactivity.
11.1.4. D. Assembling diverse multimedia elements into a single, cohesive product.
11.2. Types of authoring tools:
11.2.1. 1. Card- and page-based authoring tools- Elements are arranged like pages of a book or cards in a stack. These tools contain media objects such as buttons, text fields and graphic objects. It is easy to move from page to page because the programs use buttons and hotspots which allow the user to choose their own path. For example; Live code.
11.2.2. 2. Icon- and object-based authoring tools- It provides a visual programming approach to organizing and presenting multimedia application. Multimedia elements and interaction cues are organized as object in a flow chart. Flow chart can be build by dragging appropriate icons from a library and then adding the content.
11.2.3. 3. Time-based authoring tools- The elements of the program are organized along atime line. Best suited for the messages with a beginning and an end. Developer can coordinate the time, speed and display length of each elements. For example; Adobe Flash and Abode Director.
11.3. Objects- Authoring tools generally treat multimedia elements as objects. Each object is assigned properties or modifiers. Object may contain scripts that specify a related action.
11.4. Choosing an authoring tool:
11.4.1. 1. Editing and organizing features.
11.4.2. 2. Programming features.
11.4.3. 3. Interactivity features.
11.4.4. 4. Peformance tuning and playback feautures.
11.4.5. 5. Delivery, cross-platform, and internet playability features.