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Multimedia (screen 12 of 17)
Movies, sounds and interaction
If your cultural organisation wants to create a website that contains multimedia such as movies, sounds, and interactive elements, this can be done. And it can look stunning.
But there are some problems with the use of multimedia. Keep in mind:
- Screens take time to download.
- Users need plug-ins such as QuickTime, Java, Shockwave, Flash and RealAudio.
- You may have to pay a licence fee for any site you create that requires a plug-in(1).
Sample sites which use multimedia
For examples of the use of multimedia you might like
to look at websites like 
<stuff-art>(2),
ABC
Family Channel(3) and Disney(4).
You'll notice that multimedia is slow to download and your computer
will need a fair amount of RAM, so if you're on a slow modem and
computer, be patient.
Have a listen to The
Last Post(5).
If you use multimedia on your site, provide links to help users obtain the plug-ins they need.
Streaming video and audio
Recent improvements in software allow streaming of some media elements, such as movies and sound, to a Web screen. This means that a sound can start playing the moment a screen starts to load. Or a movie can start playing.
Of course, users need the latest plug-ins to allow them to take advantage of this development. This may exclude a number of users.
If you know that your target audience mostly will have the latest software, then streaming is the way to go.
Over time, multimedia of all sorts will become much more common on the Web as access becomes faster and software improves.
Multimedia file formats
A range of different file formats are used to deliver and decode multimedia on the Web. The article"All
About Multimedia"(6) is a useful introduction to them. An earlier
Guide(7) provides information about plug-ins.
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12 of 17 |
References
- Guide 7 screen 4 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g7/s4.htm
- <stuff-art> http://stuff-art.abc.net.au/
- ABC Family Channel http://abcfamily.go.com/
- Disney http://disney.go.com/park/homepage/today/flash/index.html
- The Last Post http://culture.gov.au/articles/anzac/lastpost.htm
- All About Multimedia http://www.webdeveloper.com/multimedia/multimedia_qa.html
- Guide 7 screen 4 http://culture.gov.au/resources/guides/g7/s4.htm
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