Multimedia Production: Top Down

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Multimedia ProductionTop Down Bottom Up

• CSE5060 Multimedia Applications on the Web
• Lecture 8
• Dan Eaves

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Multimedia Development Isnt Like IT Development

• We will look at
• The organisation and logistics of multimedia
  production
• The computer tools which are used to create and
  assemble the different parts of the production
• Typically, multimedia does not follow the
  standard IT production cycles
• The way a film is produced is a better model

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IT Development

• The SDLC/Waterfall/Spiral/Incremental development
  models are appropriate
• There are a small number of roles in IT system
  development, which are closely related in tools
  used and knowledge required
• Manager
• Data modeller
• Systems analyst
• Programmer
• User interface specialist
• Tester
• Documenter
• These roles tend to be sequential in time
• Creativity is limited, both in extent and to a
  few of the roles
• (Creativity is much less important than other
  aspects of the process)

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IT Development, 2

• The tools used are small in number
• Perhaps a modelling/diagramming product
• DBMS
• Project planning/documenting software
• Word processor
• Programming language with IDE
• Version control software
• Again, the tools are closely related in the
  knowledge required to use them.
• While people specialize in different roles, a
  career tends include a number of different roles
• Programmer --gt analyst --gt manager

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IT Development, 3

• There are only a few specialist roles
• Data communications specialist
• Sometimes consultant data modeller
• Sometimes consultant analyst

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MM Development, 1

• Contrast this to the possible roles in a Flash
  animation
• Script writer
• Actor/Character
• Voice over
• Video creation director
• Video editor
• Composer
• Musician (manual or electronic)
• Sound and music editor
• Graphic Designer
• Computer artist -- 2D
• Computer artist -- 3D and/or animation
• Non linear editor Flash expert
• Director
• Producer

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MM Development, 2

• Note that most of these roles do not overlap
• Many roles require a unique skill set
• Many of the processes overlap
• Many of the roles provide a small, discrete
  contribution
• The problems of organisation, coordination and
  supervision are enormous.
• All this sounds more like a movie, rather than a
  computer system!

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MM Development, 3

• Multimedia productions (with the exception of
  games) cost a lot less than films.
• Many of the roles are combined.
• Most of them are farmed out
• The assets assembled may be already available,
  bought off the shelf (stock photography, etc.) or
  commissioned
• In a small production house, there is probably
• A director/producer/writer (who is overloaded)
• A 2D artist with a collection of assets
• A programmer/analyst
• All the other roles are farmed (contracted) out

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Tools

• Non-linear editors in order of price and
  sophistication
• Flash
• Director
• Media 100
• Avid
• What is a non-linear editor?
• Can take lots of chunks of video, music and sound
• Put them all onto hard disk (big hard disk)
• Assemble them together
• (Non-linear because of the way you used to have
  to do it, splicing together bits of film or video
  tape. All the chunks were linear, as was the
  process.)
• With increase of desktop power, price of NLE
  suites in freefall.

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Tools, 2

• Further Standard Video Tools
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Premier
• Final Cut Pro
• Media Cleaner
• With any presentation, the standard raster and
  vector products are used to create many of the
  materials integrated into the final product

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Assignment 3

• This is intended to be doable in 2 weeks
• It requires you to
• to build a short animation using Flash. Take your
  favourite song and make an animation using its
  lyrics. You should animate the presentation of
  the words on the screen. There should be an
  interesting/beautiful/appropriate background, and
  the music should play in synchronisation with the
  words. The words can spin, slide in and out,
  tumble into the foreground, fade in and out,
  dance in at a 90 degree angle, grow and shrink,
  etc., etc.
• Heres my inspiration for the assignment, from
  YouTube.Com ? Categories ? Music and search for
  Prince Times Signs
• Note
• this music video predates both the Web and Flash
  (1987)
• it cost a lot to make without the contemporary
  tools now available
• I dont expect anything this fancy!

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How to Get Started

• Get the song (probably already in your
  possession!)
• Get the lyrics
• Carefully annotate the lyrics with the time they
  start
• Build a rough storyboard
• This can be thought of as a map of the stages of
  the presentation.
• You should have perhaps 15-25 sketches in your
  storyboard
• Indicate the time of the storyboarded visual
• Use arrows to indicate the movement of text and
  other elements
• With luck, the storyboard images can indicate the
  keyframes of your Flash animation

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Design the Environment

• The colour scheme(s)
• The look and feel
• These should relate to the emotions communicated
  by your song
• The rhythm of the presentation
• Determine the assets you need
• Background images perhaps
• May need none
• Worry over which font(s) to use
• 2D, 3D, consistent, inconsistent
• Are you going to use another tool to build words
• Illustrator
• Corel Draw
• FireWorks

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After You Have a Good Idea of These Things

• Go back to the Flash tutorials and manual
• Learn what you need to know to develop the
  presentation you have storyboarded
• (DO NOT try to learn all of Flash)
• Try to animate the first 20-30 seconds of your
  presentation
• Now exploit your friends who have
• A better colour sense
• A real sense of rhythm
• In a perfect world you will have friends who are
• Artists
• Musicians
• Designers

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Fred

• Fred
• fred
• fred

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Fred

• Fred
• fred
• fred