Multimedia Software

Multimedia refers to a combination of text, graphics, sound, animation and video. Multimedia is an essential element in many of the other software applications. For example, word processing and desktop publishing documents can be enhanced with graphics, photos and charts. Presentations can be more exciting when they include sound and animation. Reference and tutorial applications are more significant when they include pictures, sounds, animation and video information in addition to text.

Multimedia software can be entertaining as well as useful. You can play music on your computer, listen to the sound an animal makes while browsing a disk about the zoo, hear actual recordings of famous speeches, view a video clip of a historic event, watch an animation about how a car engine works, hear the correct pronunciation of a word or phrase, view full color photographs of famous works of art or scenes from nature, listen to the sounds of different musical instruments, hear works of music by renowned composers, or watch a movie on your computer.

There is a large selection of multimedia software available for your enjoyment. Multimedia subjects include children's learning, the arts, reference works, health and medicine, science, history, geography, hobbies and sports, games, and much more. Because of the large storage requirements of this type of media, most multimedia software comes on a compact disk (CD-ROM) format.

To use multimedia software, your system must meet certain minimum requirements set forth by the Multimedia Personal Computer (MPC) Marketing Council. These requirements include a CD-ROM drive, hard disk drive with ample storage capacity, a `486 or better central processing unit (CPU), at least 4 to 8 megabytes of RAM (memory), a 256 color or better video adapter, and a sound card with speakers or headphones. Most new computers far exceed these specifications. A microphone is optional if you want to record your own sounds. While these are suggested minimum requirements, many multimedia programs would run better on computer equipped with a Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon CPU and 512 or more megabytes of RAM.

Since much of the software purchased today contains multimedia content, we are now referring to multimedia software as the software used to create multimedia content. Examples incluse authoring software, which is used to create interactive multimedia courseware which is distributed on CD or available over the Internet. A teacher could use such a program to create interesting interactive lessons for the students which are viewed on the computer. A business could create programs to teach job skills or orient new employees.

Another category of multimedia involves the recreational use of music. Songs can be copied from CDs or downloaded from the Internet and stored on the hard drive. The music can then be burned onto a CD or transfered to a walkman-like device called a MP3 player or a "julebox."

There is also software for the creation, arranging, performance and recording of music and video. Through the use of a MIDI (Music Instrument Digital Interface) connector installed in the computer, the computer can be connected to musical instruments such as electronic keyboards. A music student or musician could then create a multiple track recording, arrange it, play it back, change the key or tempo, and print out the sheet music. Another type of software which is recently gaining popularity is digital audio recording software, which allows the computer to be connected to a digital audio mixer, usually through USB or "Firewire" connectors, and record live music onto the hard drive. The "tracks" can then be mixed, effects added, and music CDs can then be made from the master recording.

Also available are special cameras that allow you to record pictures and movies to your hard disk drive so they can easily be transferred into a multimedia presentation or edited and recorded back to video tape to create your own "home movie." These cameras range from the very inexpensive type that are wired to the computer and sit on a small stand near the monitor. This type of camera is sometimes referred to as an "Internet camera" or a "video chat" camera, and sometimes called a "golf ball" camera because many of them are in the shape of a golf ball. These cameras can also be used to send a live video feed over the Internet, such as a video "chat" or "teleconference" call. For people who enjoy using home movie cameras, the price of digital video camcorders has dropped below $400. Digital video cameras allow you to record movies and watch them with amazing clarity and resolution, or to transfer your video to the computer for editing using the included software. You can delete unwanted scenes, add titles and effects, fade in and out, create a sequence of scenes from smaller video files, and even add a musical sound track. Once the editing is complete, the movie can be recorded back to the videotape, or "burned" onto a DVD if your computer is equipped with a DVD-R or DVD-RW drive.

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