Unit 18 Multimedia,Unit 18 Multimedia,Passage A What Is Multimedia?,Passage B Characteristics,Passage C Multimedia,Passage A What Is Multimedia?,Interest in multimedia is currently pervasiveentertainment and educational groups are exploring new applications,and the computer,telecommunications,and consumer electronics industries are actively developing underlying technology.As a term,“multimedia frequently used but rarely defined.Among hardware and software engineers,attempts to provide a meaning range from the whimsical“multimedia definition(multimedia is when you have too many cables)to those emphasizing communication or interaction(Grimes and Potel,1991).It is difficult to pin down the essence of multimedia since the term appears in numerous contexts,each with its own nuances.Computer users have multimedia presentation,multimedia workstations,and multimedia databases,but the people involved the presentation authors,workstations designers,and database researchers view multimedia from different perspectives.One point where they agree,however,is on the essential role played by multimedia data.,1,For instance,multimedia presentations,as their name suggests,involve the presentation of multimedia data,multimedia workstations deal with the processing of multimedia data,and multimedia databases with its storage and retrieval.Perhaps,then,the notion of multimedia data is a unifying thread to digital multimedia.,So what is multimedia data?Lets first look at the related notion of media data.McLuhan,in Understanding Media,considers media as“extensions to man,as technologies and products giving our senses access to further forms of information.2 This very broad definition encompasses two more specific views.The first relates the term media to how information is conveyed and distributed;for instance,we have print and broadcast media.Second,we also use the term media when describing the materials and forms of artistic expression.This occurs when we speak of digital media,not in the sense of digital storage media,but in the sense of digital counterparts to natural media.,The distinction between natural and digital media may not always be clearcut,but the idea is that natural media rely on physical elementspaper,stone,inks and paints,musical instruments,and the stage while digital media rely on the computer.Suppose we call artifacts the objects produced in a particular medium;we can then define media data as machine-readable representations of artifacts.For instance,prints,paintings,musical performances,musical recordings,films,and video clips are all artifacts;media data corresponding to these artifacts consist of digital images,digital video recordings,and digital audio recordings.,We have described three related terms:media,both natural digital;artifacts,objects produced in media;and media data,digital representations of artifacts.Some examples are shown below:,Although media data are bits and bytes used by the computer,this data can represent artifacts from both natural and digital media.Digital images produced by scanning either photographic prints or hand drawings are representations of natural artifacts,while digital images produced by a computer paint program are representations of digital artifacts.,Now that we have the notions of media,media data and artifacts,we define multimedia artifacts as the composition of artifacts from various media.Different composition techniques are possible and will depend upon the media involved.Composition is sometimes divided into two broad categories:spatial composition,for instance,one image being juxtaposed with a second,and temporal composition,as when an audio track is added to a visual sequence.In analogy with the definition of media data,we define multimedia data as machine-readable representations of multimedia artifacts.Notice that the artifacts being represented may be natural,digital,or a mix of both natural and digital.,NOTES,1 One point where they can agree,however,is on the essential role played by multimedia data.但是有一个看法是能取得一致的，即多媒体的主要角色是由多媒体数据来扮演的。,本句主语是one point，where引导的定语从句用来修饰one point，是指可以取得一致看法的一点。介词短语on the essential role意为：论及重要作用方面(表示条件),谓语动词为is played,表被动语态。,2 Mcluhan,in Understanding Media,considers media as“extension to man,as technologies and products giving our senses access to further forms of information.McLuhan在他的?了解多媒体?一书中，把多媒体看作是人类感官的延伸，其技术和产品为人们提供进一步接触各种形式的知觉。本句是简单句，McLuhan为主语，considers为谓语，media为宾语。第一个as引导的短语补充说明宾语media。第二个as引导的是一个现在分词短语，分词短语的逻辑主语是technologies and products,our senses 是giving的宾语。,EXERCISES,1.True/False.,(1)This existing tradition is being enlarged by a new type of multimedia.(),(2)As a term,multimedia is frequently used but rarely defined.(),(3)People involved in presentation authors,multimedia workstations,and multimedia databases researchers have the same view on multimedia.(),(4)Although media data are bits and bytes used by the computer,this data can represent artifacts both natural and digital media.(),(5)In analog with the de