Unit 17 The Concept of Multimedia ContentsLearning ObjectivesAfter you
have read this unit, you should be familiar with:1. The concept
of multimedia .2. The application of multimedia . Words&Expressio
nspictorial adj. 图示的 n. 画报universal
adj. 普遍的，全体的，通用的bitmap n. 位图dot n. 点as
pect n. 样子，外表，面貌，（问题等的）方面compress vt. 压缩gallery
n. 图库incorporate v. 合并，混合frame n. 帧，画面，框架c
artoon n. 卡通片，动画片ingredient n. 成分，因素illusion n. 幻觉，
幻影，错觉clip n. 剪辑procure v. 获得，取得shooting n. 摄影convert vt
. 使转变，转换······digitize v. 数字化处理，将资料数字化deteriorate v. 使恶化，变糟distor
tion n. 扭曲，变形，失真trailer n. 电影预告片demo n. 演示enhance v
t. 提高，增强usability n. 可用性potential n. 潜能，
潜力 adj. 潜在的，可能的instrumental adj. 乐器
的media element 媒体元素motion video 运动视频special effect
特效as a matter of fact 事实上keep in mind 紧记take
into consideration 考虑到break up into 分解成，分割成，分类video c
lip 视频剪辑digital format 数字格式frames per secon
d 每秒帧数cut down 削减，删节full potential 全部潜力ASC
II 美国信息交换标准码（American Standard Code for Information Interchange）
BMP 位图文件（BitMap Picture）VGA 视频图形阵列（Video Graphics A
rrays）Text Introduction As the name suggests
, multimedia is a set of more than one media element used to prod
uce a concrete and more structured way of communication. In other
words multimedia is simultaneous use of data from different sour
ces .These sources in multimedia are know as media elements. With
growing and very fast changing information technology, multimedi
a has become a crucial part of computer word. Its importance has
realized in almost all walks of life, may it be education, cinema
, advertising, fashion and what not. Text What Is Multimedia
Multimedia is nothing but the processing and presentation
of in a more structured and understandable manner using more tha
n one media such as text, graphics, animation, audio and video. T
hus multimedia products can be an academic presentation, game or
corporate presentation, information kiosk, fashion-designing etc.
Multimedia systems are those computer platforms and software too
ls that support the interactive uses of text, graphics, animation
, audio, or motion video. In other words, a computer capable of h
andling text, graphics, audio, animation and video is called mult
imedia computer. If the sequence and timing of these media elemen
ts can be controlled by the user, then one can name it as Interac
tive Multimedia. Different Media Elements Text I
nclusion of textual information in multimedia is the basic step t
owards development of multimedia software. Text can be of any typ
e, may be a word, a single line, or a paragraph. The textual data
for multimedia can be developed using any text editor. However t
o give special effects, one needs graphics software which support
s this kind of job. Even one can use any of the most popular word
processing software to create textual data for inclusion in mult
imedia. The text can have different type, size, color and style t
o suit the professional requirement of the multimedia software.
Graphics Another interesting element in multimedia is
graphics. As a matter of fact, taking into consideration the hum
an nature, a subject is more explained with some sort of pictoria
l/graphical representation, rather than as a large chunk of text.
This also helps to develop a clean multimedia screen, makes it d
ull in presentation. Unlike text, which uses a universal
ASCII format, graphics does not have a single agreed format. They
have different format to suit different requirement. Most common
ly used format for graphics is BMP or bitmap pictures. The size o
f a graphics depends on the resolution it is using. A computer im
age uses pixel or dots on the screen to from itself. And these do
ts or pixel, when combined with number of colors and other aspect
s are called resolution. Resolution of an image or graphics i
s basically the pixel density and number of colors it uses. And t
he size of the image depends on its resolution. A standard VGA (V
ideo Graphics Arrays) screen can display a screen resolution of 6
40×480 = 307200 pixel. And a Super VGA screen can display
up－to 1024×768 = 786432 pixel on the screen. While developing mu
ltimedia graphics, one should always keep in mind the image resol
ution and number of colors to be used, as this has a direct relat
ion with the image size. If the image size is bigger, it takes mo
re time to load and also requires higher memory for processing an
d larger dis-space for storage. However, different g
raphics formats are available which take less space and are faste
r to load into the memory. There are several graphics pac
kages available to develop excellent images and also to compress
them so that they take lesser disk-space but use higher resolutio
n and more colors. Packages like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrat
or, Paintshop Pro etc. are excellent graphics packages. There are
Graphics galleries available in CD’s (Compact Disk) with readyma
de images to suit almost every requirement. These images can dire
ctly be incorporated into multimedia development. Animation
Animation is a simulation of movement created by displayi
ng a series of pictures, or frames. Cartoons on television are on
e example of animation. Animation on computers is one of the chie
f ingredients of multimedia presentations. There are many softwar
e applications that enable you to create animations that you can
display on a computer monitor. Note the difference betwee
n animation and video. Whereas video takes continuous motion and
breaks it up into discrete frames, animation starts with independ
ent pictures and puts them together to form the illusion of conti
nuous motion. Video Beside animation there is one m
ore media element, which is known as video. With latest technolog
y it is possible to include video impact on clips of any type int
o any multimedia creation, be it corporate presentation, fashion
design, entertainment games, etc. The video clips may
contain some dialogues or sound effects and moving pictures. Thes
e video clips can be combined with the audio, text and graphics f
or multimedia presentation. Incorporation of video in a multimedi
a package is more important and complicated than other media elem
ents. One can procure video clips from various sources such as ex
isting video films or even can go for an outdoor video shooting.
All the video available is in analog format. To
make it usable by computer, the video clips are needed to be conv
erted into computer understandable format, i.e., digital format.
Both combinations of software and hardware make it possible to co
nvert the analog video clips into digital format .This alone rate
used for digitization. The computer reads a particular video cli
ps as a series of still pictures called frames. Thus vid
eo clip is made of a series of separate frames where each frame i
s slightly different frames per second so that the movement is sm
ooth. If we take fewer frames than this, the movement of the imag
es will not be smooth. To cut down the space there are se
veral modern technologies in windows environment. Essentially the
se technologies compress the video image so that lesser space is
required. However, latest video compression software make
s it possible to compress the digitized video clips to its maximu
m. In the process, it takes lesser storage space. One more advant
age of using digital video is that the quality of video will not
deteriorate from copy to copy as the digital video signal is made
up of digital code and not electrical signal. Caution should be
taken while digitizing the video from analog source to avoid fram
e droppings and distortion. A good quality video source should be
used for digitization. Currently, video is good for:
· Promoting television shows, film, or other non-computer media
that traditionally have used trailers in their advertising.
· Giving users an impression of a speaker''s personality.
· Showing thing that move. For example a clip from a motion pict
ure. Product demos of physical
products are also well suited for video. Audio Audio h
as a greater role to play in multimedia development. It gives lif
e to the static of multimedia. Incorporation of audio is one of t
he most important features of multimedia, which enhance the multi
media. They are human voices, instrumental notes, natural sound a
nd many more. All these can be used in any combination as long as
they give some meaning to their inclusion in multimedia.
There are many ways in which these sounds can be incorporated in
to the computer. For example: ·Using microphone, human voic
e can directly be recorded in a computer. ·Pre-recorded
cassettes can be used to record the sound into computer. ·
Instrumental sound can also be played directly from a musical i
nstrument for recording into the computer.Exercises1. Answer the
following question according to the text.（1）What is multimedia?（
2）What does the size of a graphics depend on?（3）What is the resol
ution of a standard VGA? And what about a Super VGA?（4）What i
s animation?（5）List what video is good for currently. 2. Transla
te the following terms or phrases from English into Chinese and v
ice versa:key3. Fill in the blanks with the information given in
the text: (1) These sources in _______ are known as media elemen
ts.(2) In other words, a computer capable of handling text, graph
ics, _______, animation and video is called multimedia computer.(
3) Another interesting _______ in multimedia is graphics.(4) Besi
de _______ there is one more media element, which is known as vid
eo.(5) Audio has a greater role to play in multimedia _______. ke
y4. Choose the best one from the items given below to complete t
he following passage. An instruction is made up of op
erations that (1) the function to be performed and operands th
at represent the data to be operated on. For example, if an instr
uction is to perform the operation of (2) two numbers, it mus
t know (3) the two numbers are. The processor’s job is to (
4) instructions and operands from memory and to perform each op
eration. Having done that, it signals memory to send it (5) i
nstruction. (1)A. skip B. smile C. smoke D. Sp
ecify (2)A. add B. added C. adding D. Addition
(3)A. when B. where C. which D. Who (4)A. get
B. make C. push D. Put (5)A. ant B. las
t C. next D. secondkey5. Mark the following stat
ements with T(true) or F(false) according to the text. (1) Mu
ltimedia systems are not those computer platforms and software to
ols that support the interactive uses of text, graphics, animatio
n, audio, or motion video. (2) Resolution of an image or grap
hics is basically the pixel density and number of colors it uses.
(3) Animation is a simulation of movement created by display
ing a series of pictures, or frames. (4) All the video availab
le is in digital format. (5) The video clips may contain some
dialogues or sound effects and moving pictures. key6. Select the
one answer to each question. (1) Software design is a _______ pr
ocess.A. create B. created C. creating D. creative
(2) It requires certain_______of flair on the part of the designe
r. A. amount B. amounted C. mount D. mounted(3) A
well_______software system is straight-forward to implement and m
aintain, easily understood and reliable.A. design B. designed
C. designing D. designs (4) Badly designed software system
, although they may work, are_______to be expensive to maintain,
difficult to test and unreliable.A. like B. likely C. u
nlike D. unlikely(5) The common gateway interface (CGI) is a _
______way for a Web server to pass a Web user’s request to an app
lication program and to receive data back to forward to the user.
A. standard B. fill C. page D. receivekey7. Transla
te the following sentences into Chinese.(1) Bus is an electrical connection between the components of a computer system along which the signals or power is transmitted.(2) A hypertext document is like a text document with the ability to contain pointers to other regions of (possibly other) hypertext documents.(3) New viruses come out every single day.(4) Try to keep your file names to 20-30 characters.(5) To run these objects, just enter the name of the file key1.略2.3. (1) multimedia (2) audio (3) element (4) animation (5) development 4. (1) D (2) C (3) B (4) A (5) C5. (1) F (2) T (3) T (4) F (5) T6. (1) D (2) A (3) B (4) B (5) A 7(1) 总线是计算机系统部件之间的电路，沿着它可以传输信号和电能。 (2) 一个超文本文档就像一个文本文档，但他包含有到超文本文档的其他区域（也可能是其他超文本文档）的指针。 (3) 新的计算机病毒每隔几天就会到来。 (4) 尽量使文件名保持在20~30个字符。 (5) 要运行这些目标，只需输入文件名。 |
|
