WHAT IS MULTIMEDIA?

When people talk of multimedia in this day and age, they are usually referring to CD Rom packages. These use a range of types of media including text, sound, images, video and animation. Interactive multimedia allows users some level of control over how and when the information or data on the CD Rom is presented to them. In this way it differs from linear presentation systems such as video. However, multimedia in it's purest form has been with us since we first learned to talk and point. Imagine a class room in which the teacher talks to his class and writes on a chalkboard. This is multimedia using text and sound. If the teacher is generous enough to answer questions during his lesson then we have interactive multimedia. The teacher could just stand there and talk to his students, but chooses to use the written word to enhance his lesson and takes questions in order to ensure that his students get more information on points unclear to them. Clarity and Interactivity. These are the driving factors behind modern multimedia. It is merely using newly available technology to enhance traditional ideals.

WHY DO I NEED MULTIMEDIA?

This should be the first question that should be addressed when approaching a multimedia designer. There is a temptation to commission a multimedia project for its own sake. Without a clear idea of the goals and objectives of the project it is almost certainly destined to be an expensive folly. In outlining and examining the goals and objectives, it may be discovered that multimedia is not, in fact, the best solution. And if a multimedia design company does not raise these issues at the outset, then they are not providing a proper service to their prospective client.

THE BENEFITS OF MULTIMEDIA

The two main benefits to multimedia are Clarity and Interaction

Images, animation and video can be used very effectively to emphasise a point. A picture can speak a thousand words, so the saying goes (just make sure that it is saying the right words). By combining a number of media together you can make the overall effect much more appealing. This helps to maintain the attention of your target audience. Video in particular has a very powerful effect on people, lending a perceived credibility to your message which is often otherwise missing. This is thanks, in part, to the saturation of television in modern culture.

As mentioned earlier, interactivity allows the end user to concentrate on the areas of most interest to them without having to wade through extraneous material. People do not tend to think in a linear fashion, but rather tend to jump from point to point and not necessarily in any discernible order. If your product caters well to the non-linear thought processes of your target audience then it becomes more user friendly and consequently more successful. Interactivity, if implemented correctly, can also provide users with the ability to query the information provided to them, asking for further clarity or requesting related information.

THE DILEMMA OF DELIVERY

The single greatest issue to be addressed when embarking on a multimedia project is Delivery. By delivery I mean final presentation rather than the dissemination of the product to it's intended user. It is important to consider how your target audience will view the finished product, or even if they will be able to. If you produce work on a CD Rom, then you should be fairly confident that your target will have a computer on which to view it. This is by no means a certainty. And even if they do, you should consider the specification of the computer they will likely be using. Computers come in a myriad of different specifications of both software and hardware. It is a good rule of thumb to assume that no two computers are the same (not so far from the truth). If your multimedia uses sound of any form then your target's computer will need some way to play it. 3D animation needs a powerful video card installed. Quicktime movies require the right software to be installed. Even text can cause problems if you use a font not installed on the target computer. Also, multimedia, by combining a range of different visual and audio characteristics, can be very demanding on a computer's memory capabilities. It is virtually impossible to create one multimedia package that will run faultlessly on every machine. There are two ways around this dilemma. Firstly you can control the delivery hardware yourself. Obviously, if you are disseminating your product out to the general public then you cannot be expected to supply them all with computers as well. However, if your product is intended for use within a specific organisation (for example as a training package), then you may take steps to ensure that the hardware throughout the organisation is of a sufficient specification to run your multimedia package. The second option, favoured by nearly all software developers, is to print the minimum specification of machine on which the software should run.

There is always the possibility that your multimedia package will clash with third part software (other than the stated operating system as installed with factory settings). But then that is usually considered to be the responsibility of the owner of the computer who installed the extra software (well how were we to know you were going to install a screen saver?)

Site URL: www.graphicdesign.co.uk/multimedia click here to break out of frames if required

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Page URL: http://www.graphicdesign.co.uk/multimedia/
Date created: 15th July 1998
Webmaster: Bruce Wilkie
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