Foundations of Information Technology

1. Foundations of Information Technology Identify characteristics, file structures, and formats. 2.01b

2. Types of Multimedia Applications • Words • Used in all types of multimedia production • May be text, spoken or sung • Different attributes may be given to text as it is displayed • Images (or graphics) • Included in almost all multimedia productions • May include maps, charts, diagrams, paintings, photo’s, or drawings • Graphics may or may not be animated • Animation may include text which bounces or rolls onto a screen • Virtual environments may b created with images

3. Types of Multimedia Presentations • Sound (or Audio) • May be music, speech, or sound effects (like a bell or buzzer) • Voice-over is used to explain a situation you may be viewing • The sound is usually recorded, but it could be live • Video • Used frequently on Internet sites • Training programs also use video to demonstrate procedures • Used as entertainment or educational purposes on the Internet • Can be live, but is usually recorded

4. Types of multimedia production • Presentations (or Slide Shows) • Slides presented in an orderly fashion that may include sound, graphics, text and animation • The screen progresses in a linear method • Usually viewed on a computer • Text is limited on each slide • Tutorials • Used in computer-based instruction to teach a skill or procedure • Used for education or training • The user can move around in the tutorial randomly without going in a linear directions

5. Types of multimedia production continued… • Simulations • A computer-based model of a real-life situation • May be used for training, entertaining or informing • Usually interactive, allowing the user to interact with a given situation • Games • Played by viewing a computer monitor or TV screen • Similar to tutorial since they give the user choices about which direction to move within the program • Uses a large amount of graphics and sound elements • Sometimes combined with tutorials • Web pages • May contain any type of multimedia application • Hypermedia is sued to link pages, images, sound, and text in a non-linear method • User decides which direction to move on the web page

6. File Structures and Formats • Audio • Video • Graphics • Text

7. Audio structure and formats • MP3 – for music files sent over the Internet • Compresses audio file to about 1/12 of the space used on a CD • WAV – for sound files on PCs and MACs • Not used for music • For sound effects and other small files • Does not compress as much as MP3 • AU and SND – do not compress like MP3 • Can be played on PCs or MACs • MIDI – used to record music from synthesizers and electronic instruments • Does not contain actual recorded music • Can only be played on a MIDI player or computer with a sound card

8. Video structure and formats • MOV – developed by Apple for QuickTime video player • Can be used for streaming video and audio • WMV – developed by Microsoft • Streaming video and audio format • May us DRM technology to prevent unauthorized copying • AVI – developed by Microsoft • Not streaming • MPEG-4 – developed by an independent group while setting standards for audio compression • Uses greater compression • Developed to work with HDTV

9. Graphics Structure and formats • GIF – supports streaming • Standard format for Web to support animation • Can have maximum 256 colors • JPEG – standard format for the Web • Preferred for photographic images • TGA – first high quality graphics format • Supported by most paint programs • Can use lower color resolution • PICT – standard for MAC operating systems • Not supported by Web • PNG – larger than JPEG • Designed to replace GIF and TIF • Not supported by Windows • BMP – used in Windows and some MAC programs • Larger than files in other formats • TIF – file format for storing bitmaps • Standard for desktop publishing

10. Text structure and formats • TXT – most all word processing programs recognize this extension • Also called plain text • Does not save text formatting attributes • WPF – for documents created with Word Perfect • RTF – recognized by many programs • Saves text formatting attributes • DOC – used in many word processing programs • PDF – Snapshot of a final text document • Text cannot be edited • HTML – main language of Internet • Uses embedded codes called tags to determine appearance of text • XML – similar to HTML • Used to write code for Web Uses embedded codes called tags to determine appearance of text

11. File Extensions • MPEG – Moving Pictures Expert Group • WAV – WAVeform • AU – Audio • SND – SouND • MIDI – Musical Instrument Digital Interface • MOV – MOVie • WMV – Windows Media Video • DRM – Digital Rights Management • AVI – Audio Video Interleave • EPS Encapsulated PostScript • TIFF – Tagged Information File Format • PICT - PICTure • WMF – Windows Metafile Format • DOC – DOCument • WPF – Word PerFect • TXT- TeXT • RTF – Rich Text Format • HTML (HTM) – HyperText Markup Language • XML – eXtensible Markup Language • PDF Portable Document Format • JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group • GIF – Graphic Interchange Format • PNG – Portable Network Graphics