Sympathy for the Plug-in

If Flash is indeed a cancer on the Web, how come so many artists (and viewers) adore it? The much-maligned multimedia plug-in bites back, with help from Flash artist Peter Balogh.

Balogh, Peter. List Apart, A (2000). Articles>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

Talking-Head Video Is Boring Online

Eyetracking data show that users are easily distracted when watching video on websites, especially when the video shows a talking head and is optimized for broadcast rather than online viewing.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Multimedia>Video>Eye Tracking

Technical Illustration and the Video Camera  

A video camera is an excellent tool for preparing technical illustrations and procedures. A video tape of a procedure provides chronological information. It provides visual images that can be used as the basis for technical illustrations. Visual images and details are recorded permenantly so that they are not forgotten. The research information can be passed on to another author. A case study illustrates how a video tape can be used to document a procedure and produce electronic illustrations.

Schneider, Livingston S. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Multimedia>Video>Technical Illustration

The Technical Writer – The Movie

Why would someone make a movie and call it The Technical Writer? I did a quick rundown of similar titles from a movie web site, but I couldn't detect much of a pattern.

Kyle, Charlie. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>Multimedia>Video

Technologies of the Visual

The progression of computer-generated images in motion pictures gives a sense of where we are headed.

Faigley, Lester. University of Texas (1999). Articles>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric>Multimedia

The Ears Have It: Podcasting in the Enterprise and Out  

Podcasting is more than a platform for reviews or polemic. It's also a powerful tool within the enterprise for training, for marketing, and for documentation. Imagine being able to carry product information or supplementary material with you and not have to worry about stacks of paper? You can do that with a podcast.

DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Multimedia>Audio>Podcasting

Things Momma Never Told Us: Technical Issues of Successful CD-ROM Development  

The amount of complexity involved in providing technical documentation on CD-ROM depends on the document formats you want to support, the extent to which you customize the publishing packages and the design expectations for the finished product. Issues and decisions include: (1) choosing software packages, (2) structuring files, directories and writing style for the medium, (3) adding navigation and userfriendly features, (4) providing (and obtaining!) technical support and (5) working with a CD-ROM manufacturer. The payoff includes the satisfaction of providing a truly value-added product and—not incidentally—the increased technical skills acquired by documentation staff.

Grieve-Zerkel, Shelley. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Multimedia>CD ROM

Towards Multimodal Public Information Systems    

In the future e-Home, information from various sources, located both globally and locally, are at hand for a wide range of tasks. Many of these tasks involve finding out about public authorities' rules and regulations. The Public Tax authorities, for instance, provide hundreds of documents on their web site (forms, FAQ’s, tax rules, etc.). Currently, the user is restricted to navigating and searching these information sources by clicking hyperlinks or typing in keywords in a search box. Suppose a citizen needs to know what the local tax in his area is. By providing the keywords “kommunalskatt” (local tax) and “Linköping” to the search engine five documents are retrieved and the user can continue clicking on the provided links to see if the answer is provided in the documents found. On the other hand, supposing that the user had the ability to state the information problem in natural language.

Merkel, Magnus and Arne Jonsson. Linkopings Universitet (2002). Articles>Information Design>Government>Multimedia

Under the Desktop: The Real Nitty Griddy

For creative professionals working in digital video and other media that demands high-performance computing, dual-processor machines are a godsend. But what happens when even two processors aren't enough? Welcome to the world of grid computing.

Morgenstern, David. Creative Pro (2004). Articles>Computing>Multimedia

Understand Film Language: An Introduction for Technical Communicators  

The techniques of film language areas important to video and multimedia presentations as the techniques of written language are to technical documentation. Film language consists of such components as shot content, frame composition, camera movement, color (or shade), lighting, and film transitions. Film transitions are the way in which shots and sequences are connected and carry specific semantic weight for the viewer. However for many technical video-makers, the meanings of film transitions are overlooked in favor of flashy presentations or are abused to cover a problem. In developing videos for training or informational purposes, we should respect and understand the significance of film transitions and other aspects of film language.

Tillman, Michael A. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Multimedia>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Writing

Use Data URIs to Include Media in XML

There are many ways to link to non-XML content within XML, including binary content. Sometimes you need to roll all such external content directly into the XML. Data scheme URIs are one way to specify a full resource within a URI, which you can then use in XML constructs. In this tip, Uche Ogbuji shows how to use this to bundle related media into a single file.

Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>Multimedia>XML

Using Interactive Television to Teach Professional Communicators: Overcoming Perceptions and Negotiating First Impressions    

As an educational medium, interactive television (ITV) is shaped by perceptions that all participants bring into the ITV classroom. Many articles, handbooks, and other support material already deal with standard operating advice for leading courses using ITV; here, the authors focus on the physical and mental spaces produced by ITV and explore the expectations created by the presence of such technological artifacts as television screens, microphones, and lighting banks. They explain the roles that teachers and students may assume in the ITV classroom and discuss how lack of familiarity with the technology's purpose and potential tends to reify those roles and the interactions they proscribe. Finally, they offer suggestions for responding to these issues by concentrating on students' crucial first impressions with the technology–impressions that instructors can help negotiate so they and their students can engage in pedagogically sound, educationally rich interactions in the ITV classroom.

Racine, Sam J. and Denise Dilworth. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2000). Articles>Education>Multimedia

Using New Media to Tame a Crisis

New media have drastically altered the way we communicate, particularly during a crisis. With the blogosphere, Web 2.0, Second Life and social media sites like Flickr, Twitter, Blogger, Facebook and MySpace, it seems that a new way to spread information crops up on a daily basis. Since crises can originate or be perpetuated online, communicators must incorporate social media into their existing media monitoring efforts.

Griffin, Chip. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Multimedia>Crisis Communication

Vision 2000: Multimedia Electronic Performance Support Systems  

Multimedia Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) are becoming a driving force in information technology. The purpose of an EPSS is to replace or supplement human experts, paperbased documentation, and costly training programs. A multimedia EPSS provides resources for employees to do their jobs better and faster.

Myers Cantando, Mary. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Multimedia>EPSS

Voice XML 2.0 Nears Final W3C Standard

It may already be the de facto voice platform for the Internet, but this week the Voice XML 2.0 specification has moved closer to becoming an official World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard. The W3C, the body responsible for maintainin many of the core standards and protocols at the heart of the Internet, has publishe the new Voice XML 2.0 specification as a Proposed Recommendation

Lyman, Jay. TechNewsWorld. Articles>Multimedia>XML>Voice

Walking the Intellectual Property Law Labyrinth on Multimedia Projects  

With the advent of new technology, we can quickly combine video, text, sound and other media in exciting ways. But, because of intellectual property laws, there can be limits to what we can do. In developing multimedia products, we need to be careful not to infringe on existing rights and patents. We can do this by discovering and documenting the origins of each work used in our products to ensure that we hold the appropriate rights. When we use works that weren’t created by our company, we need to work with company counsel to ensure that all requisite licenses, releases and other documents are obtained.

Doudnikoff, Gregory M. and Pamela S. Helyar. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Multimedia>Intellectual Property

Walking the Labyrinth of Multimedia Law    

Recommends discovering and documenting the origins of each work used in our products to ensure that we hold the appropriate rights. Advises working with counsel and contract negotiators to ensure that all requisite licenses, releases, and other documents are obtained.

Helyar, Pamela S. and Gregory M. Doudnikoff. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Multimedia

Welcome to the Lab: Making the Transition to Multimedia  

You’re an experienced technical communicator. Recently you’ve been assigned a multimedia project. What is involved, and how do you get started? This demonstration utilizes audio, video text, graphics, animation and a computer-generated, 3-dimensional multimedia lab as an interface to discuss these and related issues.

Hiett, Malcolm D. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Multimedia

Writing in Multimodal Texts    

Frequently writing is now no longer the central mode of representation in learning materials--textbooks, Web-based resources, teacher-produced materials. Still (as well as moving) images are increasingly prominent as carriers of meaning. Uses and forms of writing have undergone profound changes over the last decades, which calls for a social, pedagogical, and semiotic explanation. Two trends mark that history. The digital media, rather than the (text) book, are more and more the site of appearance and distribution of learning resources, and writing is being displaced by image as the central mode for representation. This poses sharp questions about present and future roles and forms of writing. For text, design and principles of composition move into the foreground. Here we sketch a social semiotic account that aims to elucidate such principles and permits consideration of their epistemological as well as social/pedagogic significance. Linking representation with social factors, we put forward terms to explore two issues: the principles underlying the design of multimodal ensembles and the potential epistemological and pedagogic effects of multimodal designs. Our investigation is set within a research project with a corpus of learning resources for secondary school in Science, Mathematics, and English from the 1930s, the 1980s, and from the first decade of the 21st century, as well as digitally represented and online learning resources from the year 2000 onward.

Bezemer, Jeff and Gunther Kress. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Writing>Multimedia

Storyboarding PowerPoint 2003 Presentations to Video and DVD

More and more people are asking how to burn their Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 presentations to DVD. Using PowerPoint and a DVD, you have an easy method of getting your message out, whether as a training video or a digital business card promoting your products or services. And your audience can view your material at home as well as in their offices.

Microsoft (2006). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia>DVD

How I Create Video Tutorials

Creating video tutorials is no trivial task. When you sit down to create 20+ video tutorials for a project, you’re faced with dozens of questions. What screen size should the videos be, what recording tool should you use, what microphone is best, how long should the videos be, what file size is acceptable? Should you use voice or captions? Where will you create the recording? You can create video tutorials using dozens of different methods. There are no official steps to create videos, because situations and audiences vary so widely.

Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Video

The Education of Geeks and Freaks

if Post Secondary Educators don’t change their attitude towards you—and soon—you are going to find it really hard to find trained staff for your businesses.

Green, Tom. Digital Web Magazine (2008). Articles>Education>Technology>Multimedia

Lessons from the Death of HD-DVD

Over the last few months, HD-DVD appeared to rapidly fall from its apparent position as promising new disc format–touted by supporters as being technically superior, significantly cheaper, and less restrictive–down to a harsh new reality of scheduled death. However, the fate of HD-DVD wasn’t nearly as unpredictable as some seemed to think. Here’s why HD-DVD’s end should not have been a surprise, what lessons can be learned from its death, and what its demise means for Microsoft.

Dilger, Daniel Eran. RoughlyDrafted (2008). Articles>Multimedia>Standards>DVD