Animated Character Likeability Revisited: The Case of Interactive TV  

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.

Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos. Journal of Usability Studies (2006). Design>Multimedia>Interactive>Video

Best Practices in Online Captioning

Use of online video has grown faster than the use of accessibility in online video. Though bandwidth costs for video files can still be high compared to ordinary text-and-graphics Web pages, it is nonetheless easy to digitize video and post it online. It's easier to broadcast your video to the world via the Internet than it is to get the same video on television. Online multimedia are a useful and valid new medium of communication - for most people.

Clark, Joe. JoeClark.org (2004). Design>Accessibility>Multimedia>Video

Captioning for QuickTime

There are two methods for adding captions in QuickTime. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach. The first allows you to maintain a single file, making the captioned video easier to distribute. The second approach allows you to easily deliver a captioned and non-captioned version of your movie, but requires an understanding of SMIL (it's not too hard).

WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video

Captioning for RealPlayer

RealPlayer uses SMIL to combine media content with a RealText (.rt) file. The .rt file contains the captions themselves and information about how and when they should appear. The SMIL file is really just a pointer file. It contains information about where and how your captions and media content should display.

WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video

Captioning for Windows Media

Windows Media Player adds captions using Microsoft's Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange (SAMI). SAMI, like SMIL, which is used by Quicktime and RealPlayer, is an XML-based text language. A SAMI file contains the captions and definitions for how and when the captions should display.

WebAIM (2003). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video

Compromise and Compress  

What to keep and what to cut when making Web movies in Premiere.

Waggoner, Ben. Adobe Magazine (2000). Design>Multimedia>Web Design>Video

Creative Text Screens

TV and video are full of text screens used to fill space where there's no footage. It's something we're all stuck with, and we have an obligation to keep them well designed.

Hodgetts, Philip. Mac Design Magazine (2005). Design>Multimedia>Video

Cropping for DVD TV

Because of the size of the pictures not being close to a T.V. 4:3 aspect ratio the pictures have black side bars when viewing them. I was wondering if anyone knows a way to resize the background wider to match the 4:3 ratio?

Photoshop 911 (2005). Design>Multimedia>Video>DVD

Cutting and Arranging Clips

Once you have successfully captured your video clips, you will want to edit and arrange them to create you movie. It is very rare to flawlessly capture exactly what you need, with the exact in and out points that you want. You will need to trim unwanted frames and footage from your clips.

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

Designing for Interactive Television

We are so accustomed to watching television that we easily overlook the limited resolution of the television screen. Compared to TV, even VGA looks good. Although both use a similar display monitor, they differ in both the way the screen is 'painted' and in how much information can be placed on the screen. To design effectively for interactive television, it is essential to understand the technical constraints of the medium.

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

Don't Hide Your Multimedia Content!  

Rich or multimedia content is, of course, expensive and time-consuming to produce. So publishers that go to the trouble want plenty of their users to see it. Alas, this isn't always the case -- because links to such packages are often tucked away or presented in ways that Web users don't easily see.

Outing, Steve. Editor and Publisher (2003). Design>Multimedia>Online>Video

DVD Menu Design: The Failures of Web Design Recreated Yet Again

Designers of DVDs have failed to profit from the lessons of previous media: Computer Software, Internet web pages, and even WAP phones. As a result, the DVD menu structure is getting more and more baroque, less and less usable, less pleasurable, less effective. It is time to take DVD design as seriously as we do web design. The field needs some discipline some attention to the User Experience, concern about accessibility for those with less than perfect sight and hearing, and some standardization of control and display formats.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2002). Design>Multimedia>Video>DVD

Expanding Blurring Titles

The effect where titles spread out and then blur away to nothing has become a popular way to make 'plain old text' look more interesting. It's really not that complex: What we do is 'expand' the text by animating the tracking (the space between the letters).

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

Exporting to QuickTime or for use with iDVD

You have this great project that you've just finished, and you need to bring it into another program, display it on your web site, or turn it in on CD or DVD. To do this, you will need to export your movie. iMovie has several 'built-in' configurations that take much of the guesswork out of compressing your video for optimal playback on one of those media types. I often find, however, that the standard choices are not quite what I want or need. This is when the Expert options come into play.

Iowa State University (2003). Design>Multimedia>Video>DVD

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

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

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

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

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

The Many Faces of MPEG-4

There's a lot of confusion about what MPEG-4 is and isn't, just as there are many questions as to what it's going to be used for.

Waggoner, Ben. 3Dgate (2001). Design>Multimedia>Video>Standards

Media Player Accessibility

When delivering multimedia content for the three major media players (Windows Media Player, Quicktime and RealMedia Player), the developer must choose whether to have the viewer access the content through a player embedded in a Web page or through a standalone player. Both methods have their advantages. Embedding the player in a Web page allows the user to access the content without another application opening. The standalone players usually have more control options.

WebAIM (2005). Design>Multimedia>Accessibility>Video

Miniature Movies, Big Ideas  

Hundreds of filmmakers, huge audiences, instant reviews, and a door to Hollywood - the cinema comes to the Web.

Brunette, Peter. Adobe Magazine (2000). Design>Multimedia>Video