Multimedia development platforms

Introduction

Interactive multimedia depends upon computers for both development and delivery. However, the systems used for developing a multimedia project will often need to be considerably more powerful than those required for viewing it. Systems used in multimedia development may be required to complete computationally intensive tasks such as rendering 3-D images or compressing video. They may also need to support multiple monitors to facilitate display of a product at the same time as allowing a developer to work on code and access various project assets. Some software, such as compression methods for video content, is actually designed around the asymmetry between development and delivery systems, using methods that require additional computation during compression in order to facilitate rapid extraction of the data as it is replayed.

The complete development platform comprises hardware and software. The reading from Liu and Jones (1998) provided some insights into the hardware and software used in multimedia development. Given that computer technology changes rapidly, it is most useful to focus on the general principles rather than specific details of configurations that are subject to frequent change.

Objectives

At the end of this module you should be able to:

Discuss key cross platform issues in the development and delivery of multimedia.
Identify peripheral equipment used in multimedia development.
List some forms of ancillary storage suitable for multimedia systems.
Identify some basic software tools used in multimedia creation.
Create a piece of instant multimedia using a presentation package.
Describe some common multimedia authoring systems

You should expect to spend about two weeks working through this module.

Reference

Liu, M. and C. Jones (1998) Interactive multimedia design and productive processes, Journal of Research on Computing in Education 30(3): 254-281 http://ezproxy.usq.edu.au/login?url=http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=614874&db=aph [27 Jun 2006].