Four-Dimensional Writing: Creating Content for Interactive Media  

The medium is an integral part of the message when writing for interactive delivery systems. Interactive media requires attention to details on several dimensions for communication of the content. Writers must focus not only on words and meaning, but also on how the content is presented. We can look to other disciplines for models of how they document the translation of ideas into reality. The detailed design document or storyboard is the essential tool for describing multimedia content in all four dimensions.

Wirth, Frances. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Multimedia>Interaction Design>Writing

Fundamentals of Digital Video Production  

This paper discusses tips and techniques that you may want to use in your multimedia tasks. Initially, it discusses the technical aspects of the skill and then discusses key areas of the process. Last, it concludes with a brief discussion of resources.

Lippincott, Richard J. STC Proceedings (2004). Design>Multimedia>Video

Games, Information Design, and New Technologies for Technical Communicators  

Developments in communication technologies such as video scriptwriting and interactive multimedia require that technical communicators develop the skills and literacies necessary for adapting to the demands of designing information for media other than print. This paper presents a semiotic theory and model of multimedia discourse which will help technical communicators conceptualize and produce texts in new media. The model operates on the premise that communication practices can be considered as language games. The model focuses on the rhetorical and semiotic features of multimedia language games, and how to manipulate them.

Heba, Gary M. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Information Design>Multimedia>Games

Generate Flash Movies on the Fly with PHP

Rich Internet Applications is the new buzz-phrase for Web 2.0, and a key component of the substance behind Web 2.0 is Adobe Flash. Learn how to integrate Flash movies into your application and generate Flash movies dynamically using the Ming library.

Herrington, Jack D. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

GetSmart: Interface Design and Production Meet Editorial on a New CD-ROM Magazine

The technology of magazine production is well established. Editors have access to high-resolution print screens, and can use a wide variety of fonts, layout designs and graphics to create attractive and readable pages. Readers are used to seeing a lot of information on a single page - some in body text, some in sidebars or callouts. On screen, by contrast, the resolution is relatively low - 72 dpi as opposed to 2400 dpi. Readers are not yet accustomed to reading directly from the screen, and an overly cluttered screen or one with fonts which are too small can quickly become unreadable.

Quesenbery, Whitney. WQusability (1996). Design>Multimedia>CD ROM>Typography

Graphical Design in TCO: Video and Animation  

This report is intended to give an overview of graphical design in the technical communication field as it pertains to the areas of video and animation. The purpose of this report is to a) establish core knowledge areas, b) provide information to both students and professionals in TCO, c) demonstrate excellence in TCO at Mercer University, and d) help students decide on what internships and jobs they wish to pursue. This report includes a summary and background of the video and animation field, the methods by which the information was obtained, an organized presentation of the collected information, and a series of recommendations for those going into this field.

Davis, Marjorie T. and William H. Harris II. Mercer University (2002). Careers>Multimedia>Graphic Design

Graphics, Images, and Multimedia  

Graphics are used on many, if not most, Web pages. When used appropriately, graphics can facilitate learning. An important image to show on most pages of a site is the organization's logo. When used appropriately, images, animation, video, and audio can add tremendous value to a Web site. When animation is used appropriately, it is a good idea to introduce the animation before it begins.

Usability.gov (2006). Design>Web Design>Multimedia

Guidelines for Designing Usable DVD Menus  

DVD menus often suffer from serious usability problems, which has a negative impact on the user experience. The reason for this is that there is a lack of design standards. In this paper we describe the development of user interface guidelines for DVD menus and present the final guidelines. In order to obtain usable and applicable guidelines we went through three phases, which included among other usability-engineering methods an expert walkthrough, a ua prototype, and validating and improving the guidelines.

Költringer, Thomas, Martin Tomitsch, Karin Kappel and Thomas Grechenig. University of Vienna (2006). Design>User Interface>Multimedia>DVD

Guidelines for Multimedia on the Web

Multimedia is gaining popularity on the Web with several technologies to support use of animation, video, and audio to supplement the traditional media of text and images. These new media provide more design options but also require design discipline. Unconstrained use of multimedia results in user interfaces that confuse users and make it harder for them to understand the information. Not every webpage needs to bombard the user with the equivalent of Times Square in impressions and movement.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Design>Multimedia>Web Design

Guidelines for Producing a CD-ROM Interface  

If your company wants to reduce costs compared to a hard copy version and increase convenience, for the customer, it should consider producing a CD-ROM or selecting a CD-ROM vendor. But before proceeding with the product, designers or developers must consider three factors: the data, the user’s tasks, and the CD-ROM interface. Without this preliminary analysis, your company may produce a CD-ROM with data that is difficult for the user to access.

Feinberg, Susan G. STC Proceedings (1996). Design>Multimedia>CD ROM

How to Change Interlaced Video Into Progressive Video

CGM DVE Vol. 3+ contains a tool which changes interlaced video into progressive video, making your footage look more like 35mm film.

Mac Design Magazine (2005). Design>Multimedia>Video

HTML+TIME Transitions in Internet Explorer 6

The inline transitions that Internet Explorer 6 supports are based on the latest SMIL 2.0 specification. In the HTML+TIME world, they are implemented with the use of a t:transitionfilter element. The implementation is a bit early and the browser is in beta so things can always change. But this introductory set of transitions will add a bit more punch to the HTML+TIME framework.

Kennedy, Tim. Streaming Media World (2001). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>SMIL

iMovie Tutorial: Capturing Video

This is one in a series which will take you through the act of capturing, editing, and exporting a video using Apple iMovie.

Iowa State University (2002). Design>Multimedia>Editing>Video

Implications for Designing the User Experience of DVD Menus

DVD menus often miss out on usability and are complex and difficult to navigate through. One of the main problems is the lack of design standards. By conducting an expert walkthrough we identified typical usability issues of DVD menus and verified them with usability testing and a user survey. Our research goal is to develop a set of specific solutions for designing usable DVD menus to improve the overall user experience. As a first step towards this goal we present an initial set of usability issues that are specifically relevant for DVD menu design.

Koltringer, Thomas, Martin Tomitsch, Karin Kappel, Daniel Kalbeck and Thomas Grechenig. ACM SIGCHI (2005). Design>User Experience>Multimedia>DVD

Integrating Video in a Flash Movie

Want to integrate video in your Flash movie? You have two choices. You can embed the video in your Flash document, or keep progressively download it into a SWF file using from a FLV (Flash Video) file. In this tutorial you’ll learn to use the Media Playback Component to display a FLV file in a Flash movie.

Cashman, Cyndy. Layers Magazine (2005). Design>Multimedia>Video>Flash

The Interactive Development Process

This is a very simple introduction to a development process that has been developed over years of work at vivid studios. It started out as a book, developed for Apple Computer's Multimedia Developer's Program, entitled, Multimedia Demystified. This book covers the general development process in some detail. As both the process itself and our application of it to online media have evolved, we have refined this process to what you see above. This, of course, is a fairly shallow explanation of it.

Shedroff, Nathan. nathan.com (1997). Design>Web Design>Multimedia

Interactive Multimedia: Communications of the Future  

This paper provides an introduction to interactive multimedia. It provides an overview of the emerging technology that combines video and audio with digital processing. It discusses the role that technical communicators are likely to play in the creation of multimedia titles and the potential for highly effective communication techniques. A typical multimedia production team that describes the role of each contributor is presented.

Schneider, Livingston S. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Multimedia>Interactive

Internet Explorer SMILes

Some day, Internet historians will ponder the developments of the year 2000. They will look back and argue who won and who lost the battles of the multimedia browser war.

Kennedy, Tim. Streaming Media World (2001). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>SMIL

Intriguing Possibilities  

A track matte is a simple (but somewhat hidden) masking technique that you can use in Adobe Premiere and After Effects. You may be surprised to learn how versatile it is, and your audience will think you've gone p

Shuster, Robert. Adobe Magazine (1998). Design>Multimedia>Video

Introduction to After Effects

As a broadcast designer, I'm constantly using Adobe After Effects. Broadcast designers are the people who create TV show openings, bumpers, interstitials, station IDs, corporate IDs, etc. And since After Effects became available, no type or logo on TV is ever stationary. Even low-budget commercials and TV programs now have fancy graphics. Broadcast design used to be a very expensive form of art - companies like RG/A and Pittard Sullivan were the only ones who could afford the equipment to do this kind of stuff. Now this technology is the hands of smaller companies and individuals. After Effects has democratized the whole market.

Suematsu, Dyske. Webmonkey (1999). Design>Multimedia>Video

Introduction to Information Film, Video and Multimedia Script Design  

In this all-day seminar we'll explore the basic concepts in the grammar and syntax of kinetic sight-and-sound media: film, video, and multimedia (motion media). We'll not discuss how to write scipts. Rather we'll concentrate on learning how to encode information into kinetic visual images using filmic design techniques. Throughout this seminar we'll view and critique award-wining films and videos, and explore a multimedia flowchart to see how others have applied suchfilmic techniques to solve specific communication problems.

Shelton, S. Martin 'Marty'. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Multimedia

Is Flash Too Flash?

Amongst Internet developers, Macromedia Flash is certainly something of a hot potato. On the one hand, many designers see Flash as a powerful multimedia tool that encourages originality and dynamism on the otherwise 'static' web. Proponents of usability, on the other hand, have argued that the presence of Flash on a website is a 'usability disease', '99% bad' and have even branded it as 'evil'. They ask the obvious question: why do the biggest, most well known and profitable websites in the world decide against using Flash? However, the reality is that although Flash presents many usability issues, it is not inherently unusable. It can be used to create usable websites - but this requires designers to follow strict implementation guidelines.

Gaine, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Multimedia>Software>Flash

Is The Web On TV An Oxymoron?

The convergence of the web and television throws up numerous challenges for usability engineers. As more and more of the population choose to access the Internet through their television (usually via set-top boxes and with the assistance of television remote controls), optimizing web pages for use on these devices becomes a priority. These issues tend to be exacerbated by inherent differences between the two technologies. For instance, television is usually thought of as 'lean-back' technology, whereas the computer is seen as 'lean-forward' technology. Television viewers on average sit more than 9 feet away from their sets, whereas computer users are usually within 13 inches of their monitors. Television viewers are accustomed to being passive and having information presented to them. Computer use requires more active interaction and maximizes user initiative. It is possible that the fundamental conflict between these modes of operation will mean that web-on-television is doomed to failure. But, in the meantime, what can be done to ensure high quality user-experience when viewing the web on TV?

Gaine, Frank. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Web Browsers

Is Your Multimedia Script "Listenable"?  

Recommends improving multimedia scripts by limiting the use of acronyms, passives, and abstractions.

Cohen, Gerald. Intercom (2000). Design>Multimedia>Writing

Leadership in Collaboration: Film Making and Interaction Design

There are useful parallels between making films and making web sites or software products. We'd be wise to study how they manage creativity, and how our divisions of effort, and means of collaberation, compare and contrast.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2002). Design>Collaboration>Interactive>Multimedia