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Here are some common uses of multimedia presentations.
Reference works such as encyclopaedias are now available on CD-ROM. Tens of thousands of pages of written information can be put onto a single CD-ROM disk. Videos and animations can be used to explain important concepts and show important events. Sound can be used to play famous pieces of music and important speeches. Most reference CD-ROMS include a search facility where you can type in a description of what you want to find out about and the computer will search the encyclopaedia for you. A CD-ROM encyclopaedia is usually much cheaper to purchase than an equivalent encyclopaedia provided as a set of books.
Information displayed on the World Wide Web is usually presented as a mixture of text and pictures. Sometimes sound is also used. Video can be incorporated into World Wide Web pages but this is not done very often. As video files are very large it is usually too expensive to transmit them over the Internet because it would take a long time.
A multimedia authoring package lets the user put together many different types of information to make a single presentation. Multimedia authoring packages are rather like desktop publishers but they let the user include extra types of information such as videos which could not be included in a desktop published page. It does not make sense to print out multimedia presentations like this (you can not see sound) so multimedia presentations are usually viewed either on a computer monitor or using a projector.
Here are some common uses of multimedia presentations :
| Company Promotion | Companies often have to make presentations about themselves to potential customers. Many companies do this using multimedia presentations. A salesman will talk the customers through the presentation. Diagrams can be used to present information such as profit figures as graphs. Videos can be used to present information about company products etc. |
| Training | Another type of presentation lets the user decide what information to see and in what order to see the information. Using this type of presentation is like viewing a site on the World Wide Web. This type of presentation is often used to train people. In the first stage of training users can watch a training video. They can then try out their new knowledge by selecting options within the presentation to see what the effects of making different decisions might be. |
| Public Information Systems | Public information systems such as those provided in Tourist Information Offices and Libraries are usually multimedia presentations. The public find it much easier to interact with systems that use graphics and sound rather than just text. Often touch sensitive monitors are used with these systems. Members of the public can choose options to find out about local attractions, public transport etc. |
Computer games have always made use of animation. Many games now include video sequences and advanced sound effects as well.
GCSE ICT Companion 04 - (C) P Meakin 2004