On-Demand Access to Rich Media Assets

The maturation of digital asset management technology and products has enabled on-demand DAM services to emerge as an attractive alternative to on-premises installation. Organizations facing a variety of problems and constraints, such as speed to market and scalability, are finding software services models to be the most cost effective approach to digital asset management. This paper identifies the four key factors in making the decision between a services model and on-premises installation. It also argues that the decision should be analyzed in terms of discounted cash flows and presents examples of such calculations.

Zoellick, Bill. Gilbane Report (2004). Design>Web Design>Multimedia>Flash

On-Target Color

You'll probably recognize this color effect used by a certain department store that plays on the colors in its logo. The effect essentially reduces the image to three colors--a white background, red image content, and a darker red for some depth; but you can choose any color combination or mix any number of colors for a solarized or false color effect.

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

(Over)simple Answers for Simple Minds

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.

Olsen, George. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Multimedia>Interactive>Flash

Overview and Solution for Multi-Media  

Thanks to the development of multimedia methodologies, increases in the power of personal computers and the rapid spread of the Internet, video manuals are growing in popularity. In addition, nonlinear video editing systems, computer graphic animation and a variety of video compression technologies have created new multimedia solutions. This presentation will introduce current technology for creating multimedia manuals, with a focus on video. It will also present some of the technical challenges of using multimedia.

Kobayashi, Norio. STC Proceedings (2000). Design>Multimedia

Overview of a Distributed-Hard-Drive-Based Educational Plan  

Although empirical research indicates that media selection may not impact learning a great deal, results are inconsistent and sometimes contradictory. We have done recent studies indicating that inconsistent results may be caused by the extent to which educational developers are modifying the genres within which they typically teach – e.g., converting lectures to essays and converting demonstrations to posted instruction sets. Typically, the instructional developers who significantly modify their educational genres do so because digital media (usually designed for dissemination on the Internet, CD-ROM, or DVD) preclude the large format heuristics we accept as necessary in our traditional classes. New technologies, available this year, seem to provide a solution for this problem. In recent studies, we have successfully placed traditional educational genres on very large, external and/or removable hard drives which we combine with Internet technology to overcome the bandwidth problems we faced in the past. Because this involves a unique, step-by-step process of examining educational materials, re-combining them into external drive technlologies, and then developing new distribution methods, we call the process 'Distributed Hard Drive Protocol.' This paper describes six new, protocols we have developed for educators, trainers, and archivers.

Hailey, David E. and Christine E. Hailey. Utah State University (2000). Articles>Multimedia>Instructional Design>Education

Penser "Dynamique"

Il est devenu de bon ton de parler de contenus 'dynamiques'. Que veut-on dire par là au juste? En fait, la notion de 'contenus dynamiques' peut couvrir plusieurs acceptions.

Redaction (2004). Articles>Multimedia>Web Design

Penser "Multimédia"

Basé quasiment exclusivement sur le texte à ses débuts, Internet est devenu aujourd'hui un moyen d'expression multimédia, permettant d'intégrer tout autant des textes que des images, des vidéos, des sons , des animations, des programmes interactifs, etc. Ecrire pour Internet, c'est donc exploiter plusieurs supports d'expression.

Redaction (2004). Articles>Multimedia>Web Design>Writing

Planning and Designing Multimedia  

Multimedia can add another dimension to electronic documentation (Help and manuals) and computer-based training. The process of planning and developing a multimedia project draws on new skill sets. This workshop focusses on the key role of the technical writer as writer, designer, and project manager.

Rockley, Ann. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia

Planning Multimedia Segments  

Multimedia can add another dimension of information to online documentation. This progression discusses the optimum methods of presenting information (text, graphics, multimedia) and the planning and design process.

Rockley, Ann. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia

Planning Your Flash Animations

Before you start developing a Flash animation, it is a good practice to write out a plan of action. The reason is that any type of software development can be complex. Good planning helps to avoid mistakes that may be difficult to find and fix.

Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions (2002). Design>Multimedia>Planning>Flash

Podcast Metrics: A Panel Discussion

There are a number of approaches to getting meaningful data from podcast usage, each with their own advantages and drawbacks.

Federico, John, Dave van Dyke and Alex Laats. Podcast Academy (2006). Articles>Multimedia>Audio>Podcasting

PowerPoint Heaven - Shadow Fighter Series

Shadow Fighter is a PowerPoint Movie. An animated show or movie done in PowerPoint mimicking the style of Arcade Fighting games. Shadow Fighter Series will show you how PowerPoint can do extreme complex animations similar to Macromedia Flash!

Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2006). Design>Multimedia>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint Is Evil

Imagine a widely used and expensive prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn't. Instead the drug had frequent, serious side effects: It induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded the quality and credibility of communication. These side effects would rightly lead to a worldwide product recall. Yet slideware--computer programs for presentations--is everywhere.

Tufte, Edward. Wired (2003). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia>Microsoft PowerPoint

Practical Hypermedia: Using Hypertext and Multimedia in the Real World  

Multimedia and hypertext are two of the hottest topics in technical communications today. Multimedia, in one form or another, has been around for decades—so has hypertext. Both have been of enormous interest to the technical communicator specifically, and the computer user in general. Lately, we have seen advancements in computer technology that can allow a computer user to produce presentations of considerable quality. Just as the advent of the Macintosh ushered in the era of desktop publishing, the rapidly falling prices of digital video cards and image editing software are about to pave the way for another revolution in desktop computing.

Radecki, Steven Lewis. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Multimedia>Hypertext

Practicing Professional Communication Principles by Creating Public Service Announcements    

A primary goal of most introductory business and technical communication courses is to introduce students to the idea that the professional communication most of them will engage in is different from the writing they do for academic purposes. This overall idea covers several principles concerning professional writing. First, in an academic essay, a student may tell all he or she knows about a topic to an expert reader (the instructor); in professional writing situations, however, writers are most likely sharing only a small part of the information they know with nonexpert readers. Second, when writing in professional situations, writers must actively envision audiences different from themselves, audiences that will have different concerns and purposes than the writers do. Finally, the audience, purpose, and medium of a professional communication situation drive the choices a writer will make. If students are to understand these principles, discussing them in class is insufficient; students must also practice them. Implementing active learning that applies these principles authentically can be challenging. The makeup of many business and technical communication courses means that not all students share expertise in a given field that they can draw on for common assignments. Hypothetical assignments may not give students a deep sense of context, and students may continue to perceive the instructor as the real audience for such assignments.

Frederick, Terri. Business Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Education>Business Communication>Multimedia

Principles and Guidelines for Multimedia Script Development  

This workshop is designed to provide some orientation and ground rules for practitioners who are beginning to think about developing multimedia projects. The objectives of the workshop are 1) to explain the technology and theory of multimedia communication; 2) to present an overview of multimedia script development; 3) to provide strategies for developing a concept and an information map; and 4) to show approaches to multimedia scripting. Workshop participants will be involved in hands-on activities to guide them through the preliminary stages of multimedia concept and script development.

Heba, Gary M. STC Proceedings (1995). Design>Multimedia>Management

Producing a Multimedia Product—Design Phase  

Multimedia is an exciting new technology that gives technical communicators a broad range of tools for designing information. Considerations such as: content and organization, style, installation and distribution, legal issues, and cultural issues bring new challenges for technical communicators. By following a four step process of brainstorming, reviewing technical source material, preparing an information map, and developing storyboards, technical communicators can take on the opportunities that multimedia creates.

Iverson, Ellen Roscoe. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Project Management>Multimedia

Producing a Multimedia Product: Production Phase  

Producing multimedia requires new tasks and skills for technical communicators. Based on the authoring program of your choice, you need to make decisions regarding backgrounds, organization, audio and video, text and graphics, and navigation. You will also make decisions regarding media types such as text, graphics, images, animation, sound, and video.

Donney, Jerome R. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Multimedia

Producing a Multimedia Product-Planning Phase  

Today, multimedia has become a popular way to present information. Many times it increases the effectiveness of the message. Many aspects of the message and its target audience need to be examined to determine if multimedia is the best media. If it is, planning becomes crucial in the process of developing a multimedia project.

Henke, Kristine A. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Multimedia>Planning

Producing for the Ear

'Writing for the ear' is an effective way of making content engaging and interesting. Examples of this are audio-based sentence structure, writing around audio clips, making informed word choices and creating a narrative arc for your podcast. Listeners, who are often occupied with other things while listening, need audio and content that transports them to another state of mind. With this in mind, Bond explains techniques and provides examples of how podcasters can anticipate what their audience expects to hear, and how they meet listener expectations while still providing something new.

Bond, Stacy. Podcast Academy (2006). Articles>Multimedia>Audio>Podcasting

Proposed Multimedia Courseware Documentation Design  

With the growth of multimedia, design techniques to manage the contents and data structures for the media are becoming required We call this courseware in distinction from hardware or software, and we produce a production model by developing a uique technique not in imitation of the conventional ones using the following three points, layout, framework and linkage management.

Hayashizaki, Akira. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Multimedia>Documentation

A Proven Method for Developing Successful Multimedia Projects  

In today's fast-paced, 'I-want-it-all-now' society, technical communicators are challenged to deliver their messages through interactive media. However, most technical communicators don¡¯t really know how to successfully plan, produce, and manage multimedia development projects. There is a method that enables communicators to effectively deliver information that is engaging, while saving time, money, and a lot of heartache. A brief overview of this methodology follows. and the development team creates a detailed cost estimate and the project schedule. The Requirements Determination Document, project estimate, and project schedule are housed in the Project Workbook. The team refers to this workbook during production. Concept and Design. In this phase, team members define the thematic treatment used to create storyboards, scripts, technical design, and prototypes. This information is

Ebinger, Ginger. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Multimedia

Psychologically Unsound 15 Second Sitcoms

"It made me laugh, I love it," is not what you want to hear about an expensive TV commercial. Did it leave you with a powerful desire to obtain the benefit the product offers, so that you plan on purchasing it? Find out why silly TV commercials, that fail to communicate why the product is superior, are doomed to drain budgets and let the competition gain ground.

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Multimedia>Marketing>Cognitive Psychology

Putting the Poetry of Film to Use Online  

This article helps technical communicators become better informed producers of interactive, cinema-like new media objects (help systems, public information and ordering kiosks, promotional technical presentations on the web, and so on) by providing a summary of how cinema works, and then by proposing a few ways that some basic cinema editing and display techniques can be integrated into on-screen technical communications practice. The author makes the claim that if we are to begin thinking and working like film makers, the fundamental poetics and information designs we use in our new media design and development work must also change.

Gillette, David. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Video

Quantitative Evidence For Differences Between Learners Making Use Of Passive Hypermedia Learning Environments  

This paper presents a summary of the results of several relatively large studies which attempted statistical analysis of audit trails created by learners accessing information in typical hypermedia or hypertext learning environments, and interpreted them in relation to learner characteristics and study tasks. Significant differences in the information access strategy, amount of information accessed, student estimates of achievement and knowledge outcome were observed between learners in these studies. This paper concluded that some learners may be systematically disadvantaged where support for (or the delivery of) the curriculum depends on hypermedia, such as via a networked learning environment delivered passively over the WWW. It is suggested that the audit tools available from the WWW provide an opportunity to develop multi-discipline evaluation mechanisms which may enable researchers to provide learners with standard 'learning profiles' with which to reflect on their own learning effectiveness when using hypermedia educational materials.

Quentin-Baxter, Megan. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Education>Multimedia