UNIT IV
MAKING MULTIMEDIA
You will be introduced to the workshop where multimedia is made, with guidance and
suggestions for getting started, and you will learn about planning a project. You will learn
about producing, managing, and designing a project; getting material and content; testing
your work; and, ultimately, shipping it to end users or posting it to the web.
The Stages of a Multimedia Project
Most multimedia and web projects must be undertaken in stages. Some stages should be
completed before other stages begin, and some stages may be skipped or combined. Here
are the four basic stages in a multimedia project:
1. Planning and costing : A project always begins with an idea or a need that you then refine
by outlining its messages and objectives. Identify how you will make each message and
objective work within your authoring system. Think it through before you start! Your
creative ideas and trials will grow into screens and buttons and your proof-of-concept will
help you test whether your ideas will work. You may discover that by breaking the rules, you
can invent something terrific!
2. Designing and producing : Perform each of the planned tasks to create a finished
product. During this stage, there may be many feedback cycles with a client until the client
is happy.
3. Testing: Test your programs to make sure that they meet the objectives of your project,
work properly on the intended delivery platforms, and meet the needs of your client or end
user.
4. Delivering : Package and deliver the project to the end user. Be prepared to follow up
over time with tweaks, repairs, and upgrades.
Hardware :
You understand the two most significant platforms for producing and delivering multimedia projects:
the Apple Macintosh operating system (OS) and the Microsoft Windows OS, found running on most
Intel-based pcs (including Intel-based Macintoshes).
Connections
Memory and Storage devices
Input /output devices
Communication
Connections :
The equipment required for developing your multimedia project will depend on the content of the
project as well as its design. You will certainly need as fast a computer as you can lay your hands on,
with lots of RAM and disk storage space.
SCSI
IDE, EIDE, Ultra IDE, ATA, and Ultra ATA
USB
FireWire and [Link] (IEEE 1394)
SCSI :
The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI—pronounced “scuzzy”) adds peripheral equipment such
as disk drives, scanners, CD-ROM players, and other peripheral devices that conform to the SCSI
standard.
SCSI connections may connect internal devices such as hard drives that are inside the chassis of your
computer and use the computer’s power supply, and external devices, which are outside the chassis,
use their own power supply, and are plugged into the computer by cable.
IDE, EIDE, Ultra IDE, ATA, and Ultra ATA :
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) connections, also known as Advanced Technology Attachment
(ATA) connections, are typically only internal, and they connect hard disks, CD-ROM drives, and
other peripherals mounted inside the PC. With IDE controllers, you can install a combination of hard
disks, CD-ROM drives, or other devices in your PC. The circuitry for IDE is typically much less
expensive than for SCSI, but comes with some limitations. For example, IDE requires time from the
main processor chip, so only one drive in a master/slave pair can be active at once.
USB :
A consortium of industry players including Compaq, Digital Equipment, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NEC,
and Northern Telecom was formed in 1995 to promote a Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard for
connecting devices to a computer. These devices are automatically recognized (“plug-andplay”) and
installed without users needing to install special cards or turn the computer off and on when making
the connection (allowing “hotswapping”).
FireWire and [Link] (IEEE 1394) :
FireWire was introduced by Apple in the late 1980s, and in 1995 it became an industry standard
(IEEE 1394) supporting high-bandwidth serial data transfer, particularly for digital video and mass
storage.
Memory and Storage Devices :
As you add more memory and storage space to your computer, you can expect your computing
needs and habits to keep pace, filling the new capacity. So enjoy the weeks that follow a memory
storage upgrade or the addition of a gigabyte hard disk; the honeymoon will eventually end.
To estimate the memory requirements of a multimedia project—the space required on a hard disk,
thumb drive, CD-ROM, or DVD, not the random access memory (RAM) used while your computer is
running— you must have a sense of the project’s content and scope. Color images, text, sound bites,
video clips, and the programming code that glues it all together require memory; if there are many
of these elements, you will need even more.
Random Access Memory (RAM)
Read-Only Memory (ROM)
