Multimedia software and Authoring tools

Multimedia software

Multimedia software was developed to create new multimedia content and enhance the visual and auditory features of already existing material. Multimedia software can be defined as the software that allows us to use a mixture of sound, pictures, film, and writing. It always involves several types of media that are interlinked with each other. Multimedia software is often used in multimedia presentations, which integrate and connect all of the elements of multimedia. This helps to liven up what has been said and makes it easier to present ideas more effectively. 

Some of the best multimedia software that is easily available on internet are:

    1.VLC Player
    2.Windows Media Player
    3.Movie maker
    4.Adobe Photoshop
    5.Media Monkey
    6.Ink space Windows
    7.Picasa
    8.Auto-desk Maya
    9.Anime Studio
    10.i Movie
    11.Adobe After Effects

Multimedia Authoring Tools

Multimedia Authoring: An authoring system is a program that has pre-programmed elements for the development of interactive multimedia software titles. Authoring systems can be defined as software that allows its user to create multimedia applications for manipulating multimedia objects.

Multimedia Authoring Tools also known as author-ware, a program that helps you write hypertext or multimedia applications. Authoring tools usually enable you to create a final application merely by linking together objects, such as a paragraph of text, an illustration, or a song.

Authoring tools should possess the following capabilities:

 1. Interactivity        
 2. Playback        
 3. Editing    4. Programming / Scripting
 5. Cross Platform    
 6. Internet Playability     
 7. Delivery/Distribution        
 8. Project organization

Features of authoring Tools:

i.    Editing and organizing features.
ii.    Programming features.
iii.    Interactivity features.
iv.    Performance tuning and playback features.
v.    Delivery, cross-platform, and Internet playability features.

Types of Authoring Tools:

Broadly classified, authoring tools can be placed under three categories:-

1.Card- and page-based tools

Card- and page-based authoring systems organize the multimedia elements in a very simple way, similar to the logical scheme of a card in a card catalog, or a page of a book. They are useful when elements of the project allow individual viewing, just like the book pages. Navigation routines consist of going to a page or card that contains appropriate images and text, and associated sounds, animations, and video clips.

These authoring tools are object-oriented. All elements – buttons, text fields, backgrounds, pages or cards, audio clips, video clips and even the whole project – are treated like objects.
The most popular authoring tools from this group are the Hyper Card for Macintosh and the Multimedia Tool-book for PC/Windows platform.

2.Icon-based, event-driven tools

Icon-based multimedia authoring tools (also called event-driven tools) offer a visual programming approach to organize and build a multimedia. First you build a structure or flow-chart of events, tasks, and decisions, by dragging appropriate icons from a library. These icons can include menu choices, graphic images, sounds, and computations. The flowchart graphically depicts the project’s logic. When the structure is built, it can be enhanced with text, graphics, animation, sounds, and video movies. Then, to refine your project, you edit your logical structure by rearranging and fine-tuning the icons and their properties.

 
There are both good and bad aspects to icons for Computer Based Training (CBT) projects. Icons help you visualize the content of a project, and they can be easy to manipulate for simple projects. However, if the icons grow too numerous, they become confusing.
Author-ware Professional for Macintosh/Windows and Icon Author for Windows are icon-based authoring tools for multimedia content creation.

3.Time-based tools

Time-based authoring tools are often regarded as the most common multimedia authoring tools. Elements and events are arranged and organized according to periods of time. Each tool from this category uses its own, distinctive approach and user interface for managing events over time. Many use a visual timeline for sequencing the events of a multimedia presentation, often displaying layers of various media elements or events alongside the scale in increments as precise as of a second. Others arrange long sequences of graphic frames and add the time component by adjusting each frame’s duration of play.

Example: – Macromedia Director / Flash (Mac/Windows).