104
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 104
C H A P T E R 4
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 0
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Describe the components
■
■
and measurements of sound Use digital audio to record,
■
■
process, and edit sound Use MIDI and understand its
■
■
attributes, especially relative to digitized audio Compare and contrast the
■
■
use of MIDI and digitized audio in a multimedia production List the important steps and
■
■
considerations in recording and editing digital audio Determine which audio file
■
■
formats are best used in a multimedia project Cite the considerations
■
■
involved in managing audio files and integrating them into multimedia projects
Sound
S
ound is perhaps the most sensuous element of multimedia. It is meaningful “speech” in any language, from a whisper to a scream. It can provide the listening pleasure of music, the startling accent of special effects, or the ambience of a mood-setting background. Some feel-good music powerfully fills the heart, generating emotions of love or otherwise elevating listeners closer to heaven. How you use the power of sound can make the difference between an ordinary multimedia presentation and a professionally spectacular one. Misuse of sound, however, can wreck your project. Try testing all 56 of your ringtones on a crowded bus: your fellow passengers will soon wreck your day.The Power of Sound
When something vibrates in the air by moving back and forth (such as the cone of a loudspeaker), it creates waves of pressure. These waves spread like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a still pool, and when they reach your eardrums, you experience the changes of pressure, or vibrations, as sound. In air, the ripples propagate at about 750 miles per hour, or Mach 1 at sea level. Sound waves vary in sound pressure level (amplitude) and in frequency or pitch. Many sound waves mixed together form an audio sea of symphonic music, speech, or just plain noise.
Acoustics is the branch of physics that studies sound. When you qua- druple the sound output power, there is only a 6 dB increase; when you make the sound 100 times more intense, the increase in dB is not hun- dredfold, but only 20 dB. A logarithmic scale (seen below) makes sense because humans perceive sound pressure levels over an extraordinarily broad dynamic range.
1 0
10 100 1000 10000
Sound pressure levels are measured in decibels (dB); a decibel mea- surement is actually the ratio between a chosen reference point on a loga- rithmic scale and the level that is actually experienced. A logarithmic scale is also used for measuring the power of earthquakes (the Richter Scale) and stellar magnitudes (a first magnitude star is 100 times as bright as a
Important Multimedia Skills
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Multimedia offers many career paths that can lead to occupa- tions in such fields as graphic design, web design, animation, audio and video production, and project management. To become competent in any multimedia field, however, you need to learn the fundamental multimedia concepts first.
Multimedia: Making It Work builds a foundation for success in the discipline of multimedia by introducing you to the multi- media building blocks of text, images, sound, animation, and video while going one step further to develop an understand- ing of the process of making multimedia.
78
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 3
Multimedia: Making It Work
transformations. Morphing (see Figure 3-6) allows you to smoothly blend two images so that one image seems to melt into the next, often producing some amusing results.
Figure 3-6 Morphing software was used to seamlessly transform the images of 16 kindergartners. When a sound track of music and voices was added to the four-minute piece, it made a compelling video about how similar children are to each other.
Image-editing programs may, indeed, represent the single most signif- icant advance in computer image processing during the late 1980s, bring- ing truly amazing power to PC desktops. Such tools are indispensable for excellent multimedia production.
TIP When you import a color or gray-scale bitmap from the Macintosh to Windows, the colors will seem darker and richer, even though they have precisely the same red, green, and blue (RGB) values. In some cases, this may improve the look of your image, but in other cases you will want to first lighten (increase the brightness and possibly lower the contrast) of the Macintosh bitmap before bring- ing it into Windows.
Scanning Images After poring through countless clip art collections, you still haven’t found the unusual background you want for a screen about gardening. Sometimes when you search for something too hard, you don’t realize that it’s right in front of you. Everyday objects can be scanned and manipulated using image-editing tools, such as those described in the pre- ceding section, to create unusual, attention-getting effects. For example, to We have to keep satura-
tion in mind all the time when doing our web pages...
viewing the graphics on both Macs and PCs before actu- ally using them. For instance,
when doing our Halloween pages, we used a very cool pumpkin background that was beautifully saturated on the Mac side. On Windows, though, it was way too dark, and you couldn’t read the overlying text. We had to lighten the GIF on the Mac side a few times before using
it cross-platform.
Rich Santalesa, Editor, NetGuide Magazine
Learning Objectives set the goals of the chapter
Quote sidebars provide insight from experienced multimedia professionals
Notes, Tips and Warnings create a road map for success
Keywords, identified in red, point out important vocabulary and definitions
you need to know
Engaging and Motivational—The author explains technical concepts in a clear and interesting way using real-world examples.
Makes Learning Fun!—Rich, colorful text and artwork bring multimedia techniques and technologies to life.
Proven Learning Method Keeps You on Track
Multimedia: Making It Work is structured to give you a comprehensive understanding of multimedia tools, technologies, and techniques. The book’s active learning methodology guides you beyond mere recall and through thought-provoking sidebars, essay topics, and lab projects. It is designed to foster your creativity and the development of critical-thinking and communication skills.
78
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 3
Multimedia: Making It Work
transformations. Morphing (see Figure 3-6) allows you to smoothly blend two images so that one image seems to melt into the next, often producing some amusing results.
Figure 3-6 Morphing software was used to seamlessly transform the images of 16 kindergartners. When a sound track of music and voices was added to the four-minute piece, it made a compelling video about how similar children are to each other.
Image-editing programs may, indeed, represent the single most signif- icant advance in computer image processing during the late 1980s, bring- ing truly amazing power to PC desktops. Such tools are indispensable for excellent multimedia production.
TIP When you import a color or gray-scale bitmap from the Macintosh to Windows, the colors will seem darker and richer, even though they have precisely the same red, green, and blue (RGB) values. In some cases, this may improve the look of your image, but in other cases you will want to first lighten (increase the brightness and possibly lower the contrast) of the Macintosh bitmap before bring- ing it into Windows.
Scanning Images After poring through countless clip art collections, you still haven’t found the unusual background you want for a screen about gardening. Sometimes when you search for something too hard, you don’t realize that it’s right in front of you. Everyday objects can be scanned and manipulated using image-editing tools, such as those described in the pre- ceding section, to create unusual, attention-getting effects. For example, to We have to keep satura-
tion in mind all the time when doing our web pages...
viewing the graphics on both Macs and PCs before actu- ally using them. For instance,
when doing our Halloween pages, we used a very cool pumpkin background that was beautifully saturated on the Mac side. On Windows, though, it was way too dark, and you couldn’t read the overlying text. We had to lighten the GIF on the Mac side a few times before using
it cross-platform.
Rich Santalesa, Editor, NetGuide Magazine 104
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 104
C H A P T E R 4
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 0
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Describe the components
■
■
and measurements of sound
Use digital audio to record,
■
■
process, and edit sound Use MIDI and understand its
■
■
attributes, especially relative to digitized audio Compare and contrast the
■
■
use of MIDI and digitized audio in a multimedia production List the important steps and
■
■
considerations in recording and editing digital audio Determine which audio file
■
■
formats are best used in a multimedia project Cite the considerations
■
■
involved in managing audio files and integrating them into multimedia projects
Sound
S
ound is perhaps the most sensuous element of multimedia. It is meaningful “speech” in any language, from a whisper to a scream. It can provide the listening pleasure of music, the startling accent of special effects, or the ambience of a mood-setting background. Some feel-good music powerfully fills the heart, generating emotions of love or otherwise elevating listeners closer to heaven. How you use the power of sound can make the difference between an ordinary multimedia presentation and a professionally spectacular one. Misuse of sound, however, can wreck your project. Try testing all 56 of your ringtones on a crowded bus: your fellow passengers will soon wreck your day.The Power of Sound
When something vibrates in the air by moving back and forth (such as the cone of a loudspeaker), it creates waves of pressure. These waves spread like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a still pool, and when they reach your eardrums, you experience the changes of pressure, or vibrations, as sound. In air, the ripples propagate at about 750 miles per hour, or Mach 1 at sea level. Sound waves vary in sound pressure level (amplitude) and in frequency or pitch. Many sound waves mixed together form an audio sea of symphonic music, speech, or just plain noise.
Acoustics is the branch of physics that studies sound. When you qua- druple the sound output power, there is only a 6 dB increase; when you make the sound 100 times more intense, the increase in dB is not hun- dredfold, but only 20 dB. A logarithmic scale (seen below) makes sense because humans perceive sound pressure levels over an extraordinarily broad dynamic range.
1 0
10 100 1000 10000
Sound pressure levels are measured in decibels (dB); a decibel mea- surement is actually the ratio between a chosen reference point on a loga- rithmic scale and the level that is actually experienced. A logarithmic scale is also used for measuring the power of earthquakes (the Richter Scale) and stellar magnitudes (a first magnitude star is 100 times as bright as a 104
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 104
C H A P T E R 4
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 4 blind folio pg 0
In this chapter, you will learn how to:
Describe the components
■
■
and measurements of sound
Use digital audio to record,
■
■
process, and edit sound Use MIDI and understand its
■
■
attributes, especially relative to digitized audio Compare and contrast the
■
■
use of MIDI and digitized audio in a multimedia production List the important steps and
■
■
considerations in recording and editing digital audio Determine which audio file
■
■
formats are best used in a multimedia project Cite the considerations
■
■
involved in managing audio files and integrating them into multimedia projects
Sound
S
ound is perhaps the most sensuous element of multimedia. It is meaningful “speech” in any language, from a whisper to a scream. It can provide the listening pleasure of music, the startling accent of special effects, or the ambience of a mood-setting background. Some feel-good music powerfully fills the heart, generating emotions of love or otherwise elevating listeners closer to heaven. How you use the power of sound can make the difference between an ordinary multimedia presentation and a professionally spectacular one. Misuse of sound, however, can wreck your project. Try testing all 56 of your ringtones on a crowded bus: your fellow passengers will soon wreck your day.The Power of Sound
When something vibrates in the air by moving back and forth (such as the cone of a loudspeaker), it creates waves of pressure. These waves spread like the ripples from a pebble tossed into a still pool, and when they reach your eardrums, you experience the changes of pressure, or vibrations, as sound. In air, the ripples propagate at about 750 miles per hour, or Mach 1 at sea level. Sound waves vary in sound pressure level (amplitude) and in frequency or pitch. Many sound waves mixed together form an audio sea of symphonic music, speech, or just plain noise.
Acoustics is the branch of physics that studies sound. When you qua- druple the sound output power, there is only a 6 dB increase; when you make the sound 100 times more intense, the increase in dB is not hun- dredfold, but only 20 dB. A logarithmic scale (seen below) makes sense because humans perceive sound pressure levels over an extraordinarily broad dynamic range.
1 0
10 100 1000 10000
Sound pressure levels are measured in decibels (dB); a decibel mea- surement is actually the ratio between a chosen reference point on a loga- rithmic scale and the level that is actually experienced. A logarithmic scale is also used for measuring the power of earthquakes (the Richter Scale) and stellar magnitudes (a first magnitude star is 100 times as bright as a
78
Vaughan / Multimedia: Making It Work / 0071748466 / Chapter 3
Multimedia: Making It Work
transformations. Morphing (see Figure 3-6) allows you to smoothly blend two images so that one image seems to melt into the next, often producing some amusing results.
Figure 3-6 Morphing software was used to seamlessly transform the images of 16 kindergartners. When a sound track of music and voices was added to the four-minute piece, it made a compelling video about how similar children are to each other.
Image-editing programs may, indeed, represent the single most signif- icant advance in computer image processing during the late 1980s, bring- ing truly amazing power to PC desktops. Such tools are indispensable for excellent multimedia production.
TIP When you import a color or gray-scale bitmap from the Macintosh to Windows, the colors will seem darker and richer, even though they have precisely the same red, green, and blue (RGB) values. In some cases, this may improve the look of your image, but in other cases you will want to first lighten (increase the brightness and possibly lower the contrast) of the Macintosh bitmap before bring- ing it into Windows.
Scanning Images After poring through countless clip art collections, you still haven’t found the unusual background you want for a screen about gardening. Sometimes when you search for something too hard, you don’t realize that it’s right in front of you. Everyday objects can be scanned and manipulated using image-editing tools, such as those described in the pre- ceding section, to create unusual, attention-getting effects. For example, to We have to keep satura-
tion in mind all the time when doing our web pages...
viewing the graphics on both Macs and PCs before actu- ally using them. For instance,
when doing our Halloween pages, we used a very cool pumpkin background that was beautifully saturated on the Mac side. On Windows, though, it was way too dark, and you couldn’t read the overlying text. We had to lighten the GIF on the Mac side a few times before using
it cross-platform.
Rich Santalesa, Editor, NetGuide Magazine
