WEEK 4:

COMPONENTS OF MULTIMEDIA
Components of Multimedia

The various components of multimedia are

TEXT, Audio, Graphics, Video and
Animation. All these components work
together to represent information in an
effective and easy manner.
Components of Multimedia

A. TEXT:
Text is the most common medium of representing
the information. In multimedia, text is mostly use for
titles, headlines, menu etc.

The most commonly used software for viewing text

files are Microsoft Word, Notepad, Word pad etc.
Mostly the text files are formatted with ,DOC, TXT etc
extension.
Typeface and Font
Design Issue
• For small type use legible font as decorative ones are difficult to
read.
• Use as few different faces as possible in the same work but vary in
weight, size and style.
• In text blocks, adjust pleasing line spacing as too tightly packet lines
are difficult to read.
• Vary the size of font according to the importance of the message.
• Explore the effects of using different color fonts on various
background
• Use anti-aliased texts for titles and heading
• Try drop caps as the first letter f a paragraph
• If we are using centered type in a text block, keep the number of
lines and their width to a minimum.
• Bold or emphasize text to highlight ideas and concepts.
• Picks fonts that seem right for our messages, then double check our
choice against other opinions.
Symbols and Icons
Symbols are concentrated text in the form of stand-alone
graphic constructs. It conveys meaningful messages. E.g.
windows Hourglass Cursor tells us to wait while the computer
is processing.

Icons are pictogram displayed on a computer screen in order

to help user navigate a computer system. User can activate
them using a mouse, pointer, touch or voice commands.

Both symbols and icons represent other things but icon

is a pictorial representation of the product it stands for
where as a symbol does not resemble what it stands for.
Animating text and 3D effects

Text can be animated to catch viewer’s attention. We can make

our text fly from right to left, zoom in our zoom out. A headline may
grow one character at a time. Flash important texts i n a timed
automated sequence. Fly a word, dissolve others, rotate or spine
others until it is interesting to watch. We can also make our
message stand out by applying 3D effects to text. With the help of
3D programs such as Typestry and Logo Motion we can make our
texts have 3D effects of various shape, size, angle, color and
shadow.
Components of Multimedia

The various components of multimedia are

Text, AUDIO, Graphics, Video and
Animation. All these components work
together to represent information in an
effective and easy manner.
 Components of Multimedia

B. AUDIO:
In multimedia audio means related with recording,
playing etc. Audio is an important components of
multimedia because this component increase the
understandability and improves the clarity of the
concept. audio includes speech, music etc.

The commonly used software for playing audio files are:

i) Quick Time
ii) Real player
iii) Windows Media Player
The Power Of Sound

When something vibrates in the air by moving back and forth,

it creates waves of pressure, when they reach our eardrum we
experience the changes of pressure or vibrations as sound.
The branch of physics which studies about sound is Acoustics.
Sound pressure level (loudness or volume) is measured in
decibels (dB) while frequency is measure in Hertz. The
frequency range of human hearing is from 20Hz-20KHz. As a
multimedia project developer we need not know the in-depth
knowledge about sound such as harmonics and sine wave but
we must know how to record and edit sound on our computer
and incorporate them into our multimedia project.
Multimedia System Sound (Sound control panel)

• Computer has sound control panel to customize system

sound. In windows system sounds are
• wav file which reside in ~\windows\media. When window
start up Microsoft sound. war is
• played. We can also add our own sound file and install
them so that they play when a system
• event occurs. In Macintosh system sound are in AIF format
and are stored in:
• ~/system/library/sound.
MIDI Audio vs. Digital Audio

• Digital Audio data is the actual representation

of sound.
• Digital audio which needs to be re-recorded
and re-digitized to be edited.
• Digital audio, deep knowledge of music theory
is not essential.
• Digital audio depends on the quality of
recording and not the device independent.
MIDI Audio vs. Digital Audio

• MIDI is a communication standard.

• MIDI data are smaller in size than Digital Audio data.
• MIDI audio is easy to edit by simply changing the value
of instruments.
• MIDI does not represent sound but musical
instruments playback is accurate only if the MIDI
playback device is same as the device used for
production.
• MIDI data requires good knowledge about musical
scores and notations.
• Hence MIDI is device dependent.
Audio File Size is Determined by:

• Sampling rate – the number of samples per

second.
• Sample size – the number of bits used to save
one sample.
• Channels recorded – mono or stereo.
Audio File Formats

• AU – (Audio) file created by Sun Microsystems

and used on computers running the UNIX
operating system.
• MP3 – (Mpeg-1 Audio Layer 3) very compressed
file that is popular for music stored on portable
players and on the Internet because it can
reproduce near-CD quality audio in small file
sizes.
• MIDI – (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) file
format for creating and/or playing music with
instruments using synthesizers and sound cards.
Audio File Formats

• WAV – (Waveform) file format developed jointly by IBM

and Microsoft as the native format for Windows sound
files.
– Produces high-quality sound.
– Generates large file sizes because it is uncompressed.
– Commonly used to edit sound which is then saved in a different
compressed format for distribution.
• WMA (Windows Media Audio) proprietary file format
developed by Microsoft originally to compete with the
.MP3 format.
– Produces high-quality sound.
– More compressed than .WAV files.
Notation Inter change File Format (NIFF)

• It is a music notation file format used primarily for

transferring music notation between different score
writer. It is an open format that allows exchange of
music between various music OCR, editing and
typesetting programs. NIFF is based upon RIFF
(Resource Interchange File Format), a file structure in
which data is divided into lists, chunks and tags.

• NIFF is now considered out of data, since it has been

replace by music XML format.
Components of Multimedia

The various components of multimedia are

Text, Audio, GRAPHICS, Video and
Animation. All these components work
together to represent information in an
effective and easy manner.
Components of Multimedia

C. GRAPHICS:
Every multimedia presentation is based on graphics.
The used of graphics in multimedia makes the
concept more effective and presentable the
commonly used software for viewing graphics are
windows Picture, Internet Explorer etc.

The commonly used graphics editing software is

Adobe Photoshop through which graphics can be
edited easily and can be make effective and
attractive.
• Graphics are an important part of the communication
process.
• They can be used to:
– Highlight information
– Set a mood or tone
– Provide examples
– Serve as backgrounds
• The two types of graphic used in multimedia are raster
and vector.
– Vector graphics are made up of arcs and lines..
– Raster graphics are made of dots.
When using graphics, the multimedia designer must:
• Determine the best balance between the size and quality.
• Use appropriate graphics for the intended purpose and audience.
• Choose appropriate file formats
– Standard for the internet:
• JPEG (Joint Photographer Experts Group)
• GIF (Graphics Interchange file format)
• PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
– Most popular
• TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
• BMP – Bitmap
• PCX - Windows Paint
• PICT - Macintosh
Types of images

Bitmaps
• A bitmap is an information matrix describing the individual dots that
are the smallest demands of resolution called pixels on a computer
screen or printing device. A one dimensional matrix of 1-bit depth is
used to display monochrome images where pixel can be either on or
off, most commonly set to black or white. By using more bits to
describe pixels they can represent varying shades of color with
submits representing more than 16 millions color.

Morphing: An effective used to manipulate still images or to

create interesting and often bizarre transformation. Morphing
allows to smoothly lending two images so that one image
screen to melt into the next, often producing a musing results.
Types of images

Vector Drawing
• Vector drawing is the use of geometric primitives such as
lines, curves, rectangles, ovals and polygons to represent
images in computer graphics. A vector is a line that is
described by the location of its two end points. Vector drawing
uses Cartesian coordinates where a pair describes a point in
the 2-D space as the intersection of horizontal and vertical
lines(x and y)

e.g. <rect x=’0’ width=’200’ height=”150” fill=”#00ff00”/>

Types of images

3-D Drawing and rendering

• 3-D rendered graphics arts have become very popular since it
provides more life like substance and feel to projects. For 3-D
the depth (z-dimension) of cubes or spheres must be
calculated and displayed so that the perspective of the
rendered object scenes correct to the eye. We can use
programs like Google’s sketch up or Blender to experiment
with 3D drawing applying 3D effect to images of various
shape, size, angle and color.
Components of Multimedia

The various components of multimedia are

Text, Audio, Graphics, VIDEO and
Animation. All these components work
together to represent information in an
effective and easy manner.
Components of Multimedia

D. VIDEO:
Video means moving pictures with sound. It is the
best way to communicate with each other. In
multimedia it is used to makes the information more
presentable and it saves a large amount of time.

The commonly used software for viewing videos are:

i) Quick Time
ii) Window Media Player
iii) Real Player
How video works?
When light reflected from an object passes through a video camera lens
that light is converted into an electronic signal by a special sensor
called charge-coupled device (CCP). Most video cameras have 3 CCDs
to enhance the resolution of the camera and the quality of the image.
Analog video has a resolution measured in the number of horizontal
scan lines, each of those lines represent continuous measurements of
the color and brightness along the horizontal axis in a linear signal.

In an analog system, the output of the CCD is processed by the camera

into three channels of color information and synchronization pulses and
the signals are recorded onto magnetic tape. The Analog Broadcast
Video Standards are NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Digital video: signals
consist of a discrete color and brightness value for each pixel. In a
digital system, the output of the CCD is digitized by the camera into a
sequence of single frames and the audio-video data are compressed
before being digitally stored to a disc. The digital broadcast video
standard is HDTV.
Video compression

Video takes a lot of space approximately 17MB per second.

So it must be compressed before it is put as web.

Two types of compression are:

i. Lossy compression
• It means the compressed file has less data in it than the
original file. Since information has been lost, in some cases,
files are of low quality.
ii. Lossless compression
• It means compression where none of the information is lost.
1. JPEG
Standard set by joint photographic experts group. It is a
commonly used method of lossy compression. It achieves 10:1
compression with little percepable less in quality.

2. MPEG
Standard set by Moving Picture Experts Group.
MPEG-1: Used for CD-ROM, it could deliver 1.2 mps of video.
MPEG-2: Used for DVDs, it provided broader scope and wider
appeal supporting interlacing and high definition.
MPEG-4: Used for Blue Ray, it also supports 3D view.

3. DVI Indeo
Developed by Intel in 1992, I was used for the compression of
television quality video onto compact discs. It was later
replaced by MPEG.
Optimizing video files for CD-ROM
CD-ROM provides an excellent distribution medium for videos.
CD ROM player offers slow data transfer rates, but adequate video
transfer can be achieved by taking care to properly prepare the
digital video files:

i. Limit the amount of synchronization required between video and

audio by interlacing the audio and video segments where needed.
ii. Use regularly spaced key frames (10 to 15 frames apart) that can
correct seek time delays (time required to search specific data on
CD).
iii. The performance depends on the size of the video window (pixel)
and frame rate, the bigger the size and faster the rate, the better is
the performance.
iv. Defragment the files before burning the master
v. Specialized application such as Media Cleaner Pro can automatically
optimize the digital video file for playback from CD-ROM.
• Videos can be used in:
– CD-ROMS
– Games
– Presentations
– Video simulations
– Videoconferences
– Websites.

• Videos vary in quality.

Video recording formats:

The file format of the video determines:

– Which programs can open and play it.
– How much storage space it occupies.
– How fast it travels over an Internet connection.

• Analog recording formats are M-II, EBV-C, Beta

can SP, U-Matic SP, S-VHS. Digitally Recording
formats are D-1, D-2, D-3,D-4,D-6, Digitally Beta
Can, Digital S, Ampex DCT, DV/DVC PRO, DVC PRO
5.0 and Beta Can SX
Video File Format:

• AVI (Audio Video Interleave)

– Windows format, plays in Windows Media Player
– Very good quality, even at smaller resolutions
– Large file size – not recommended for delivering video over the
Internet.
– Popular format for videos stored on a computer.

• MOV (Movie)
– Apple format, plays in the QuickTime Player
– Very good quality
– Popular format for videos downloaded from the Internet.
Video File Format:

• MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group)

– The standard for compression and storage of audio and motion
video for use on the World Wide Web.
• Creates video small file sizes.
• Popular format for videos downloaded from the Internet.
– Its biggest advantage is that It will play in many different media
players.

• RM (RealMedia)
– Plays in the RealPlayer player.
– Typically contains a movie clip.
– Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet.
– Real Player is generally supported by many different computers and
operating systems.
Video File Format:

• WMV (Windows Media Video)

• Proprietary video format developed by Microsoft.
• Plays in Windows Media Player.
• Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet.

• FLV (Flash Video)

• New file format widely used on the Internet.
• Plays in Adobe Flash Player.
• Very small file size.
• Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet
Components of Multimedia

The various components of multimedia are

Text, Audio, Graphics, Video and
ANIMATION. All these components
work together to represent information in an
effective and easy manner.
Components of Multimedia

E. ANIMATION:
In computer animation is used to make changes to
the images so that the sequence of the images
appears to be moving pictures. An animated
sequence shows a number of frames per second to
produce an effect of motion in the user's eye.

Some of the commonly used software for viewing

animation are:
i) Internet Explorer
ii) Windows Pictures
iii) Fax Viewer
Power of Motion

We can animate our whole project as just here and there, adding
spices. For brief product demonstration with little user interaction,
we can design the entire project as a video and keep the
presentation always in motion. For speaker support, we can
make texts fly onto the screen, or we can make charts grow. For
parts assembly training manual, we can show each components
exploding into expanded view. We can also use other visual
effects such as zooms and dissolves.
Principle Of Animation

Animation is possible because of a biological phenomenon

called persistence of vision and a psychological phenomenon
called phi. An object seen y the human eye remains
chemically mapped on the eye’s retina for a brief time after
viewing. Combined with the human mind’s need to
conceptually complete a perceived action, this makes it
possible for a series of images that are changed one after
another to seemingly blend together into visual illusion of
movement.
Animation Technique
Cel Animation
• This Technique uses a series of progressively different
graphics or cels on each frame of a movie film which plays at
24 frames per second. The term cel is derived from clear
celluloid sheets that were used for drawing each frame,
which have been replaced today by layers of digital image ry.
Cel animation artwork begins with keyframes (the first and
last frame of an action).
• The series of frames in between the key frames are drawn in
a process called tweening. Tweening an action requires
calculating the number of frames between keyframes, and
the path the action takes, and then actually sketching onto a
cell with pencil, the series of progressively different outlines.
Animation Technique

Computer Animation
• This technique typically employs the same logic and
procedural concept as cel animation, using layers, keyframes
and tweening techniques. While in cel-based 2D animation,
each frame of an animation is provided by an animator, and
the frames are then composted into a single file of images to
be played in sequence; In path-based 2D animation, the
animator simply creates an object and describes a path for
the object to follow.
• For 3D animation, models of individual objects are created
and the characteristics of shapes and surfaces are designed.
The movement of the objects within the 3-D space is then
computed and hence each frame is rendered and stitched
together in a digital output file.
While creating an animation, organize it’s execution
into a series of logical steps.
a. First gather up all the activities you wish to provide in the
animation on your mind or write a script on paper.
b. Choose the best suited animation tool for the required job.
c. Then build and tweak your sequences.
d. Allow plenty of time when you are experimenting and
testing.
e. Finally, post-process your animation, doing any special
rendering and adding sound effects.
Animation File Formats
• File formats that are designed specifically to contain animations
along with their platform are
• Director (.dir and . dcr), animatorPro (.fli and .flc), 3D Studio Max
(.max) GIF 89a (.gif) and flash
• (.fla and .swf). File compression is an essential parts of preparing
animation files for the web.
• Hence, Director’s native movie file (.dir) is pre -processed and
compressed into shockwave
• animation file (.dcr) for the web. Similarly, Flash’s native file (.fla) is
converted into Shockwave
• Flash file (.swf) in order to play on web. For 3-D animation, the
individual rendered frames of an
• animation are put together into one of the standard digital video file
containers, such as
• windows Audio Video Interleaved Format (.avi), QuickTime(.qt,
.mov) or Motion Picture Expert
• Group Video (.mpeg or .mpg). HTML5 is animation build within .svg
file.
Additional:

Multimedia involves multiple modalities of text, audio,

images, drawings, animation, and video.

Examples of how these modalities are put to use:

•Video teleconferencing.
•Distributed lectures for higher education.
•Tele‐medicine.
•Co‐operative work environments.
•Searching in (very) large video and image databases
for target visual objects.
"Augmented"reality: placing real‐appearing
computer graphics and video objects into
scenes.
•Including audio cues for where video‐conference
participants are located.
•Building searchable features into new video, and
enabling very high‐to very low‐bit‐rate use of new
scalable multimedia products.
•Making multimedia components editable.
•Building"inverse‐Hollywood"applications that can
recreate the process by which a video was made.
•Video understanding has also been called an inverse
Hollywood problem.
•Using voice‐recognition to build an interactive
environment, say a kitchen‐wall web browser.
Tip
• Common file types include:
• Text Only: TXT
• Text with other elements: DOC, DOCX, PDF
• Images: JPG, PNG, TIF, BMP
• Audio: MP3, WAV, WMA
• Video: AVI, WMV, FLV, MOV, MP4
• Animation: GIF, FLV