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IntroductiontoAuthoringLanguageSPPM2333

Introduction

1 2

4 3 What is multimedia

program?

How to produce a multimedia software?

Programming Language Authoring Language

What is multimedia?

Adobe CS, Final Cut Studio, Picasa, Windows Movie Maker, Media Monkey, Inscape, ect

content that uses a combination of

different forms of digital media such

as text, audio, images, animations, videos or interactive

content

Hardware: CPU, Monitor, Sound/Video Card Software:

•  Authoringtoolsandmultimedia-orientedapplicationshavebeenpopularsincethemid1990s.

•  Theabilityofauthoringsystemstointegratenumerousmultimediaelements(audio,video,animation,text,andgraphics)intoasingleapplication/presentationhasbroughttremendouschangestothewaysocietydealswithanddispersesinformation.

•  Inaddition,theabilitytoinjectinteractivitywhereby,enduserscandynamicallyengageindirectinteractionwiththeapplicationandnavigatethemovementsorinteractionwiththemultimediaapplicationhasbroughtahugeimpactontheeducationalsystem

Introduction

•  ALhastheadvantageoverPL–specialbuilt-insubroutinestohandleinstructionalproblems.

•  DifferencesbetweenALandPL?

DifferencesbetweenALandPL

DifferencesbetweenALandPL

AuthoringLanguage

ProgrammingLanguage

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

•  ProgrammingLanguage??

•  Powerfulandflexible,Requirecomplicatedcoding

• Difficulttolearn.•  Settinguporchangingacomputerprogrammeanttogiveaseriesofinstructionstoacomputer.

•  Forexample,theinstructionsaskthecomputertodotheprintontheprinter,showatextorgraphicsonthescreenandsoon.

AboutProgrammingLanguage

PLversusAL• UnlikeaPL,theALprovidesthetools/optionsmenu,theiconofthescreen(on-screentools)-allowsuserstoentertext,graphics,animation,orprovideoptionsfeederandsoon.

•  Allprogrammingcodethatensuresthecomputerunderstandsinstructionsgiveninternallyhandledbythecompositelanguagesoftwarewithoutrequiringusersthinkoflogic,commandsyntaxorprogramrequiredasaprogramminglanguage

ThePowerofAL•  Toproduceinteractivecourseware–

thepowerofALvariesfromsystemtosystem

•  Somesystems–canproducelessonsthatcontainonlytext,somehavetemplatesforcreatingmultiple-choiceandtrue-falsequestions.

FunctionofAL•  SoftwareCompositionLanguageprovidesfieldworkrequiredtoenableanmultimediadevelopersmanageandupdatetheelementsofamultimediaproject.Italsohelpsonemultimediasoftwaredeveloperimplementvariousoftasks,including????:

•  TrytodiscussthefunctionoftheAL??

AboutAuthoringSystemsDefinition:

•  Aprogramwhichhaspre-programmedelementsforthedevelopmentofinteractivemultimediasoftware.

•  Authoringsystemsvarywidelyinorientation,capabilities,andlearningcurve.

• Whetheryourealizeitornot,authoringisactuallyjustaspeeded-upformofprogramming;youdon'tneedtoknowtheintricaciesofaprogramminglanguage,orworse,anapplicationprogramminginterface(API),butyoudoneedtounderstandhowprogramswork(Merrill,1985).

AboutAuthoringLanguage•  Softwarethatcanbeusedtodevelopinteractivecomputerprogramswithoutthetechnicallydemandingtaskofcomputerprogramming

•  user-friendlycomputersystem:asoftwaredevelopmentsystemthatletsusersdevelopapplicationssuchasdatabasesandmultimediaeducationalmaterialswithouthavingtolearnaformalprogramminglanguage.

•  Providenon-programmingenvironment

•  Anapplicationdevelopmentenvironmentfornonprogrammers.

•  SomeexistingpopulartoolssuchasToolbook,FlashandGuideusetheirownprogrammingtoolscalledscripting.

•  Theonlydifferencebetweensuchtoolswithaprogramminglanguageisthatanonprogrammercanlearntousesuchatoolinashortspaceoftime(relativetothattakentolearnaconventionalprogramminglanguage,suchasC++orPascal)anduseittoproducehigh-qualityapplications.

AboutAuthoringSystems

CategoriesofAuthoringSystem•  HowtocategorizeAuthoringSystem??

• Discussingroup.

AboutAuthoringSystems• Mostauthoringpackagesaimatthesamegoal-creationoftheenvironmentprovidingthedesigntoolsandautomatingmostoftheprogramming,lettingtheuserfocusonthetask;buttheyachievethetaskindifferentways.

•  Thesedifferentwaysarecalledparadigms.Aparadigm,alsoknownastheauthoringmetaphor,isthereforethemethodologybywhichtheauthoringsystemaccomplishesitstask

Authoringmetaphor•  ALforamultimediasystemcanbecategorizedbasedonhowtheywork/operate,thatmetaphorisused:• ElectronicSlidePresentation(ElectronicSlideShow)

• ALcards-basedorsheetsofBooks(StackCardorBook)

• ALicon-based• ALtime-based

ElectronicSlideShow•  Closelyresemblestheuseoftransparenciesandprojector

•  Exampleofanapplicationunderthiscategory:• MicrosoftPowerPoint• AdobePersuasion• AsymetrixCompel• MacromediaAction• HarvardGraphics• Astound

ElectronicSlideShowAdvantages•  Reasonableprices(cheap)•  Easytolearnandeasytouse.•  Providesa"template"withvariouspatterns,•  Providingfeaturesincludeaudio,video,andanimationintoapresentation.

•  Somesoftware-providesbuildhyperlink.• Mostofthistypeofsoftwarereleasedforuseonbothmajorplatforms.

•  Applicationsdevelopedcanbeusedonanycomputerwithouttheneedfortheoriginalsoftwareisonthecomputersystem.

ElectronicSlideShowDisadvantages

•  It’slinear,notveryinteractiveandwasonlyabletoproduceanon-complex.

•  It’sstandalone-itdoesnothavethefeaturestobuildrecords,databasesandsoon.

TheCardStackandBookMetaphors•  Everyapplicationfordevelopmentformedfrombasicunitscalledcards.

•  Eachcardisbuiltandcontainmaterialtobepresentedtotheuser.

•  Thesecardswerethencompiledintoaarrayor"stack“

•  HypercardisanexampleofsoftwarethatusestheconceptofcompositelanguageArrayCard.

•  ForAppleMacintoshplatform

TheCardStackandBookMetaphors

TheCardStackandBookMetaphors•  Eachcardcanbeconnectedtoprovidefeaturesfortheusertopressabutton(button)orotherelementsthathavetomovetoanothercardinthearray.

•  Itisorientedobjects(object-oriented).•  Theobjectherecanbeabutton,atextfield,graphic,background,sheetorcardbuttheprojectitself.

•  Characteristicsofeachobjectwasrepresentedbyitsnature(bold,red,active,etc.)

•  Eachobjectmayalsocontainprogrammingscriptsthatwillbeactivatedasappropriateorconditions(egwhenthemouseisclicked).

TheCardStackandBookMetaphors•  BasedcompositesheetsBooks.-Eachsheetrepresentsadifferentscreenpresentation.Eachsheetwillthenformabook.

•  Example-ToolbookfromAsymetrix•  Thesoftwarehastwolevelsnamely:LevelWriters&ReadersLevel(InstructorandAssistant).

•  LevelWriterallowsyoutodevelopapplications•  LevelReadersallowyoutointeractwiththeapplicationasanormaluser.

•  Toolbookalsoprovidesfacilitiesfordrawingandalsobuildatwo-dimensionalanimationofroutes(pathanimation).

TheCardStackandBookMetaphors• WhenthisALbook-basedcanbeused??Developingapplicationsthathavevariouscontenttobedisplayedinindividual/distinctiveasinbookorcardsheetoncardsarray.

TheCardStackandBookMetaphorsAdvantages

•  Metaphoreasytounderstand

•  Easytouse.•  Directrelationshipbetweenwhatisdisplayedonascreenpresentationofwhatwasbuiltincardorbook.

•  Usuallyprovidesa"template"thatshortensthetimedevelopmentofanapplication.

TheCardStackandBookMetaphorsDisadvantages

•  Canonlybeusedonlyononetypeofplatform(WindowsorMacintosh).

•  Fordrawingandanimationfacilitiesprovidedareusuallylesspowerful/attractivecomparedtothefacilitiesprovidedbythelanguageoftheothercompositions.

ALIcon-based•  Usingtheiconsintheflowchart.

•  Example-basedcompositelanguagesoftwareiconsthatareverypopular&widelyusedespeciallyinthefieldofeducation

•  Eachiconhasadifferentfunctionandrole.Forexample,theiconWaitwillstoptheapplicationuntiltheuserpressesthebuttonorclickingthemouse,orafteracertainperiodoftime.

ALIcon-based•  Theiconsarearrangedinalinetoformalogicalflowoftheprogramarerequired.

•  Althoughknowledgeoftheprogramminglanguageisnotanecessary-thinklikeaprogrammerpatternsareveryimportanttofacilitatethedevelopmentofanapplication.

ALIcon-based

ALIcon-based

AuthoringSystemIcon-basedAdvantages

•  Allowsyoutoviewthestructure,flowandfeederapplicationsyoudevelopwithease.

•  Easyforyoutoupdateoraddaswelltoreducethecontentofanapplicationthatwasdevelopedjusttoaddorremoveiconsthatrepresentthecontents.

•  Doesnotrequireanyuseofcodeorscripttoproduceabasicmultimediaapplications

Disadvantages

•  Quiteexpensive

•  Difficulttomasterindepthinashorttime.

•  Requiresalotofinputfromthemouse-notsuitableforthelessskilledtousethemouse.

•  "insteadofwritinglinesofcode,theuserspendsagreatdealoftimecheckingoptionsindialogboxes,clickingbuttonstoloadfiles,andselectingobscureeventsfromlistboxes".

AuthoringSystemIcon-based

AuthoringSystemIcon-based•  Suitableforthedevelopmentofapplicationsthatrequireahighlevelofinteractivitysuchasapplicationsfortraining/computer-basedinstructionorforkioskapplications.

•  ApartfromMacromediaAuthorware,usingthemetaphorofcompositelanguageiconisIconAuthor,Layout,TXInteractiveAuthoringandHSC

TimeBasedAuthoringPrograms•  Conceptormovieframesmetaphor.Asinthefilmorvideocassette,youstartamultimediaapplicationuntilastuntoractionstop.

•  Comparedwiththeuseofacardorsheetofthebook,"Movie"inthecompositelanguagesoftwareconsistsofaseriesofindividualsinblinds(frame)ofitsown.Whentheapplicationisplayed,eachframewillbeactivatedandtheframeelementintheserieswillbepresented.

TimeBasedAuthoringPrograms

TimeBasedAuthoringPrograms•  Giventhetime-basedcompositelanguageoperatesbydisplayingeachframeinseries-idealforproducinglearningobject.

•  ExamplesofthisALcategoryofsoftware:AdobeDirector,Flash,Swishetc.

•  ApplicationsdevelopedusingMacromediaDirectorandarrangementbetweenaseriesof"castmember"suchastext,audio,video,animationworkonspacearrangementcalledthe"score".

TimeBasedAuthoringPrograms•  "Score"ismadeupofinterlacedorsequentialframes-eachframerepresentsaprocessorapplicationenvironment.

•  Each"castmember"canwriteorinsertedatanydesiredframe.

TimeBasedAuthoringProgramsAdvantages

•  Suitabletoproduceanimation.

Disadvantages

•  Thistypeofsoftwareisusuallyquiteexpensiveanddifficulttomaster:Idealforadvancedlevel.

Othercategories•  ScriptingLanguage•  Frame•  Cast/Score/Scripting•  HierarchicalObject•  HypermediaLinkage•  Tagging

WhatisMultimediaAuthoring?Processofmultimediaproduction

• Assemblingmediaelements• Addinginteractivity•  Exportprojectfordistributiontoendusers

•  Finalproductcanbe:• Astand-aloneexecutable•  PlayedbackinaWebbrowser

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MultimediaAuthoringProgram•  Allowyoutocombinetext,images,audio,video,animationintoaninteractivepresentation

•  Mayhaveitsownscriptinglanguage•  toaddinteractivity

•  Examples:• AdobeFlash/ActionScript• AdobeDirector/Lingo

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MediaElements•  Oftencreatedoutsideofthemultimediaauthoringprogram

•  InFlash:• Usepencilandbrushtools•  Createvectorgraphics

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Usesofmultimediaauthoringprograms•  Createmultimediatitles

•  Createinteractivity

•  Designscreenlayouts

•  Producecontentwithpaint,text,andanimationtools

•  Incorporatetext,sound,video,animation,andgraphics

•  Createhyperlinks

ProductsofMultimediaAuthoring•  InteractiveVideoProduction•  Demodiscand"InteractiveGuidedTours“

•  Electronicpresentation•  InteractiveKioskApplications•  ApplicationsTraining/InteractiveLearning•  Simulation,prototypingand"TechnicalVisualizations“

•  LearningObjects

•  etc