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Multimedia Authoring Tools - Coggle Diagram
Multimedia Authoring Tools
Introduction
It enables the developer to create, edit, and import data.
Most authoring systems also support a scripting language for more sophisticated applications.
Authoring software provides an integrated environment for combining the content and functions of a project.
Authoring tools require less technical knowledge to master and are used exclusively for applications that present a mixture of textual, graphical, and audio data.
Multimedia authoring tools provide the framework for organizing and editing the elements of a multimedia project.
multimedia authoring tools
Product (the result of combining all multimedia components)
Developer (designers, programmers, and multimedia authors)
Tool (any software package that could authors multimedia product)
End user (customer or viewer)
Authoring Systems in Multimedia
Each object is assigned properties and modifiers.
On receiving messages, objects perform tasks depending on the properties and modifiers.
Objects exist in a hierarchical order of parent and child relationships.
In multimedia authoring systems, multimedia elements and events are often regarded as objects.
Features of Authoring Tools
Interactivity features.
Simple branching is the ability to go to another section of the multimedia production.
Conditional branching is an activity based on the results of IF-THEN decisions or events.
Interactivity gives the end user control over the content and flow of information in a project.
Structured language supports complex programming logic, subroutines, event tracking, and message passing among objects and elements.
Performance tuning and playback features.
Achieving synchronization is difficult, considering that performance of the different computers used for multimedia development and delivery varies.
Authoring system should facilitate precise timing of events.
It should enable developers to build a part of a project and then test it immediately.
Programming features.
Visual programming with icons or objects is the simplest and easiest authoring process.
Visual authoring tools such as Authorware and IconAuthor are suitable for slide shows and presentations.
Authoring tools offer ‘very high level language’ (VHLL) or interpreted scripting environment.
Delivery, cross-platform, and Internet playability features.
Run-time version or standalone allows a project to play back without the complete authoring software and all its tools and editors.
It is important to use tools that facilitate easy transfer across platforms.
Delivering the project may require building a run-time version of the project, using the multimedia authoring software.
Authoring systems provide a means for converting their output to be delivered within the context of HTML or DHTML.
Editing and organizing features.
The organization, design, and production process for multimedia involves storyboarding and flowcharting.
Visual flowcharting or overview facility illustrates project structure at a macro level.
Authoring systems include editing tools to create, edit, and convert multimedia elements such as animation and video clips.
Types of Authoring Tools
Icon-based, event-driven tools.
Icon-based, event-driven tools provide a visual programming approach to organize and present multimedia.
Multimedia elements and interaction cues are organized as objects in a flowchart.
Flowchart can be built by dragging appropriate icons from a library, and then adding the content.
With icon-based programs, you use symbols in a flowchart scheme.
Each icon represents a particular event.
An advantage of icon-based programs is that you can easily see how a title is structured, that is, the flow of a program and especially the branching.
Example : Multimedia Authoware
Time-based tools.
Some time-based tools facilitate navigation and interactive control.
Time Based Authoring Programs use a movie metaphor. Like a movie on videotape, you start the multimedia title and it plays until some action causes it to pause or stop.
Time-based tools are best suited for messages with a beginning and an end.
Macromedia’s Director and Flash are time-based development environments.
Macromedia Director
Score is a sequencer for displaying, animating, and playing Cast members.
Lingo is an object-oriented scripting language that enables interactivity and programmed control.
A multimedia database, ‘Cast’, contains still images, sound files, text, shapes, scripts, movies, and other Director files.
Macromedia Flash
Flash is used for delivering rich multimedia content to the Web.
It allows the creation of simple static HTML pages with the Flash Player plug-in.
Card- and page-based tools.
It provides a facility for linking objects to pages or cards. You can link the cards by allowing the user to click on buttons or other elements and jump to a different card in the stack.
Cards are developed that have different elements associated with them and are put in stacks. It contains media objects such as buttons, text fields, and graphic objects.
Example : Hypercard, ToolBook, HyperNext Studio, Hyper Studio, PhytonCard, Revolution
Card- and page-based authoring systems provide a simple and easily understood metaphor for organizing multimedia elements.
Cross-platform Authoring Notes
While using text fields, ensure that the text displays correctly on both platforms.
Outline and shadow styles on text should be avoided on Macintosh since they are not currently supported in Windows.
Macintosh and Windows computers use different schemes to manage text and colors.
