Multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as writing, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. This is in contrast to traditional mass media, such as printed material or audio recordings, which only feature one form of media content. Popular examples of multimedia include video podcasts, audio slideshows, and animated videos. Creating multimedia content involves the application of the principles of effective interactive communication. The five main building blocks of multimedia are text, image, audio, video, and animation. Multimedia encompasses various types of content, each serving different purposes:
TerminologyThe term multimedia was coined by singer and artist Bob Goldstein to promote the July 1966 opening of his "Lightworks at L'Oursin" show in Southampton, New York, Long Island. Goldstein was perhaps aware of an American artist named Dick Higgins, who had two years previously discussed a new approach to art-making he called "intermedia".On August 10, 1966, Richard Albarino of Variety borrowed the terminology, reporting: "Brainchild of song scribe-comic Bob Goldstein, the 'Lightworks' is the latest multi-media music-cum-visuals to debut as discothèque fare." Two years later, in 1968, the term "multimedia" was re-appropriated to describe the work of a political consultant, David Sawyer, the husband of Iris Sawyer—one of Goldstein's producers at L'Oursin. In the intervening forty years, the word has taken on different meanings. In the late 1970s, the term referred to presentations consisting of multi-projector slide shows timed to an audio track. However, by the 1990s, 'multimedia' had taken on its current meaning. In the 1993 first edition of Multimedia: Making It Work, Tay Vaughan declared, "Multimedia is any combination of text, graphic art, sound, animation, and video that is delivered by computer. When you allow the user – the viewer of the project – to control what and when these elements are delivered, it is interactive multimedia. When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia." This book contained the Tempra Show software. This was a later, rebranded version of the 1985 DOS multimedia software VirtulVideo Producer, about which the Smithsonian declared, "It is one of the first, if not the first, multi-media authoring systems on the market." The German language society Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache recognized the word's significance and ubiquitousness in the 1990s by awarding it the title of German 'Word of the Year' in 1995. The institute summed up its rationale by stating, " has become a central word in the wonderful new media world". In common usage, multimedia refers to the usage of multiple media of communication, including video, still images, animation, audio, and text, in such a way that they can be accessed interactively. Video, still images, animation, audio, and written text are the building blocks on which multimedia takes shape. In the 1990s, some computers were called "multimedia computers" because they represented advances in graphical and audio quality, such as the Amiga 1000, which could produce 4096 colors, outputs for TVs and VCRs, and four-voice stereo audio. Changes in removable storage technology during this time were also important, as the standard CD-ROM can hold on average 700 megabytes of data, while the maximum size a 3.5-inch floppy disk can hold is 2.8 megabytes, with an average of 1.44 megabytes. Greater storage allowed for larger digital media files and therefore more complex multimedia. The term "video", if not used exclusively to describe motion photography, is ambiguous in multimedia terminology. Video is often used to describe the file format, delivery format, or presentation format instead of "footage" which is used to distinguish motion photography from "animation" of rendered motion imagery. Multiple forms of information content are often not considered modern forms of presentation, such as audio or video. Likewise, single forms of information content with single methods of information processing are often called multimedia, perhaps to distinguish static media from active media. In the fine arts, for example, Leda Luss Luyken's ModulArt brings two key elements of musical composition and film into the world of painting: variation of a theme and movement of and within a picture, making ModulArt an interactive multimedia form of art. Performing arts may also be considered multimedia, considering that performers and props are multiple forms of both content and media. In modern times, a multimedia device can be referred to as an electronic device, such as a smartphone, a video game system, or a computer. Each and every one of these devices has a main function but also has other uses beyond their intended purpose, such as reading, writing, recording video and audio, listening to music, and playing video games. This has led them to be called "multimedia devices." While previous media was always local, many are now handled through web-based solutions, particularly streaming. Major characteristicsMultimedia presentations are presentations featuring multiple types of media. The different types of media can include text, graphics, audio, video and animations. These different types of media convey information to their target audience and effectively communicate with them. Videos are a great visual example to use in multimedia presentations because they can create visual aids to the presenter's ideas. They are commonly used among education and many other industries to benefit students and workers, as they effectively retain chunks of information in a limited amount of time and can be stored easily. Another example is charts and graphs, as the presenters can show their audience the trends using data associated with their researches. This provides the audience a visual idea of a company's capabilities and performances. Audio also helps people understand the message being presented, as most modern videos are combined with audio to increase its efficiency, while animations are made to simplify things from the presenter's perspective. These technological methods allow efficient communication and understanding across a wide range of audiences throughout different fields.Multimedia games and simulations may be used in a physical environment with special effects, with multiple users in an online network, or locally with an offline computer, game system, simulator, virtual reality, or augmented reality. The various formats of technological or digital multimedia may be intended to enhance the users' experience, for example, to make it easier and faster to convey information. Or in entertainment or art, combine an array of artistic insights that include elements from different art forms to engage, inspire, or captivate an audience. Enhanced levels of interactivity are made possible by combining multiple forms of media content. Online multimedia is increasingly becoming object-oriented and data-driven, enabling applications with collaborative end-user innovation and personalization on multiple forms of content over time. Examples of these range from multiple forms of content on Web sites like photo galleries with both images and titles user-updated to simulations whose coefficients, events, illustrations, animations, or videos are modifiable, allowing the multimedia "experience" to be altered without reprogramming. In addition to seeing and hearing, haptic technology enables virtual objects to be felt. Emerging technology involving illusions of taste and smell may also enhance the multimedia experience. CategorizationMultimedia may be broadly divided into linear and non-linear categories:
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