http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Multimedia/Interactive A listing of the most recently indexed works about Design and Multimedia and Interactive in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Multimedia/Interactive http://tc.eserver.org/30049.html http://tc.eserver.org/30049.html Animated characters have been a popular research theme, but the respective desktop applications have not been well-received by end-users. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of an animated character for presenting information and navigating music videos within an interactive television (ITV) application. Information was displayed over music video clips with two alternative user interfaces: 1) semi-transparent information overlays, 2) an animated character. For this purpose, the differences between ITV and desktop computing motivated the adaptation of the traditional usability evaluation techniques. The evaluation revealed that users reported higher affective quality with the animated character user interface. Although the success of animated characters in desktop productivity applications has been limited, there is growing evidence that animated characters might be viable in a domestic environment for leisure activities, such as interactive TV. http://tc.eserver.org/24489.html http://tc.eserver.org/24489.html Flash provides a way to create a projector file—a self-executable application that doesn’t require the Flash player. http://tc.eserver.org/24321.html http://tc.eserver.org/24321.html This article describes how to quickly add an interactive interface to any collection of Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. It demonstrates how one document author put on three hats - DTPer, Designer and “Programmer” - to deliver a quick and inexpensive solution to providing interactive, serverbased access to company policies and procedures. http://tc.eserver.org/21352.html http://tc.eserver.org/21352.html Part of me feels for Jakob Nielsen for the grief he’s taken over deciding to work with Macromedia after declaring 'Flash 99 percent bad.' After all, the pressures and temptations to provide simple answers to complex issues are ones we all face in our professional practices. http://tc.eserver.org/20900.html http://tc.eserver.org/20900.html Alhough Flash has some intrinsic usability problems, designers can respect user expectations about consistency, accessibility, and common sense, and therefore make better Flash websites. http://tc.eserver.org/18830.html http://tc.eserver.org/18830.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/18670.html http://tc.eserver.org/18670.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/14628.html http://tc.eserver.org/14628.html Coleman presents a four-step process to develop an animation project while insuring consistency and quality. http://tc.eserver.org/14735.html http://tc.eserver.org/14735.html Chu details the roles technical communicators will play in the production of corporate and industrial videos for training classes, employee communications, product manuals, user guides, and video press releases. http://tc.eserver.org/14329.html http://tc.eserver.org/14329.html In these modern days, Web animators may not have to spend 17 hours hand painting cells to make Dopey wink, but bandwidth, platform, and browser issues make animation for the Web its own special hell. Anna and Emily have navigated many circles of this hell, and they make animation ... well, if not easy, then easier.