Chapter 7: Multimedia

 Introduction: Multimedia consist of two words ‘Multi’ and ‘Media’, Where multi means many and media means way/medium of expressing information. Hence, multimedia is the way of expressing information in different forms. The information can be expressed in either text, audio, video, graphics and animation. We use several forms of media for better understanding and effective communication. By using multimedia any information can be illustrated in greater depth.

Since single form of media is inefficient for better communication and greater understanding, we integrate several components of multimedia (text, audio video, animation and graphics) by using multimedia computer system. Hence the integration of different forms of media is mandatory for effective communication. Multimedia computer system consist of multimedia hardware and multimedia software. Printer, projector, webcam, microphone, digital camera etc are some of the widely used multimedia computer hardware. Similarly software like text editor (MS Word), Presentation tool (Power Point), Photo editing (Photo Shop), Video editing (iMovie), Accounting package (Tally) etc are used as a multimedia software. These multimedia hardware and software works together in order to integrate several components of multimedia. for eg: video can be a created by integrating audio and images.

Advantages/Merits/Pros/Importance of multimedia

1. It helps to make communication much more effective
2. It enhances the level of understanding in any particular topic.
3. Games, Cartoons, movies are made more effective and realistic by using multimedia.
4. It makes teaching and learning process much more interesting and intuitive.
5. Virtual reality and simulation has become more realistic.

Disadvantages/De-merits/Cons/Limitation of multimedia

1. Multimedia Components may be expensive.
2. Technical knowledge and IT literacy is required to operate multimedia.
3. Technology is always changing and never constant.
4. Multimedia devices runs on electricity.

Components/Elements of multimedia

1. Text: It is the collection of alpha numeric values or any characters. It can be a word, single line or a paragraph. We can create and customize text by using several text editor or word processor such as MS-Word, Notepad etc. It is the basic form or way of expressing information. By using multimedia software we can customize the text by giving several size, color, type, style etc. Extension of text documents are .docx, .txt etc.
2. Graphics / Images: ”A picture is of thousand words" which means picture can describe things more than a text. Graphics generally refers to image or pictures. The smallest element of picture is called Pixel (Picture Element). Hence the quality of image or picture is denoted by number of pixel available in that picture, Generally termed as resolution. We use several multimedia software such as Adobe Photo shop, Corel draw, Adobe indesign etc. Extension of images are .jpeg, .png etc.
3. Audio: Audio is the one of the important components of multimedia. It gives the sensation of hearing. Audio can be used to enhance the understanding level in any particular topic. Audio can be human voice, instrument notes, natural sound, digitally synthesized sound and many more. In these days Audio can be transfer from one place to another by converting it into digital signal. FM radio use this component to express their information. Several multimedia software such as windows media player can be used to play audio. Extension of audio are .mp3, .wma etc.
4. Video: The video is the running frames of static pictures that means video are generated by capturing maximum number of images in unit time. Frame per second [FPS] is the term widely used to describe the smoothness of a video. Generally there are 15-25 frame per seconds, to generate smooth movement in video. But 30 and 60 FPS are the widely used standard in different devices. We can use different multimedia software such as iMovie, Final cut pro, Filmora etc to edit and customize our video. Extension of video are .mp4, .mpeg etc.
5. Animation: Animation is the sequence of vector(Computer Generated) image displayed in rapid succession to provide visual effects. These image are computer based images. The animation is created to express ideas where complex explanation should be effectively deliver. These components are widely used in movie industry, and in other entertainment industry. Animation can be either 2D or 3D. 3D animation are more realistic in nature. So, different movies used 3D animation to express information which are not feasible in real life. We use several multimedia software such as Maya animation, Auto CAD, Macromedia flash etc. Extension of animation are .flv, .gif etc.

Application of areas of multimedia. [Explain on your own]

1. Education
2. Communication
3. Entertainment
4. Medicine
5. Science and technology
6. Advertisement
7. Websites/Webpages
8. Research and engineering