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Introduction to Multimedia Development - Introduction.
This module has six main aims:
- to enable you to practise the development of multimedia applications
of reasonable complexity
- to give you experience of developing multimedia within a disciplined
design and implementation framework
- to give you experience of 'multimedia fieldwork' and the collection
of materials from real locations
- to give you experience of documenting multimedia developments
- to enable you to develop skills in popular multimedia development
tools (this year, we are using Flash 5)
- to enable you to explore ways of designing a common kind of multimedia
artifact: the kiosk which acts as a guide to a place or building
The design, implementation and documentation framework will be an extension
of that which was introduced in 'Multimedia Applications'. You may have
already had some experience of Flash 5; but this will be taught from first
principles and no previous experience is assumed. We will be using Flash
5 slightly 'against the grain', as we will probably be embedding a large
volume of bit-mapped graphics in our applications (photographs of places)
and Flash is primarily a vector graphics package. The final aim means that
you will be doing some 'field work' - visiting places and capturing sounds
and images. This involves the formation and execution of a plan to capture
materials effectively in a brief visit.
Teaching is based on these various skills. There will be sets of lectures
on Flash 5, development methods, organising field work, kiosk design and
representing places.
1. Notes and Supporting Materials.
2. Lecture and Tutorial Programme.
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Lecture |
Tutorial |
| Week
1 |
introduction
and orientation |
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| Week
2 |
the 'canal
zone' project |
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| Week
3 |
digital
pictures |
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| Week
4 |
kiosk
structures 1 |
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| Week
5 |
kiosk
structures 2 |
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| Week
6 |
kiosk
structures 3 |
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| Week
7 |
software
engineering for Flash 1 |
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| Week
8 |
software
engineering for Flash 2 |
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| Week
9 |
places
and media 1 |
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| Week
10 |
places
and media 2 |
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| Week
11 |
troubleshooting
and contingency |
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| Week
12 |
troubleshooting
and contingency |
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3. Assignment.
Introduction.
There are two parts to the assignment. Firstly, there is a common project
to be completed before the Easter vacation. Secondly, there is a project
of your own choice which must be completed at the end of the semester. In
both cases you have a choice about the kind of kiosk which you produce,
and this is defined by both the subject matter and the intended location
of the kiosk. The kiosks will be implemented as a Flash 5 animations - these
may be embedded in a web page or played through a stand-alone Flash player.
Task Specifications.
- Common Project. This involves constructing a kiosk to represent and
to guide people around 'the Canal Zone' - the basin of the Chelmer and
Blackwater Canal. This area is rich in history, it has many intriguing
features, and it is also a site of intense development, high property
prices and an expensive water front cafe. You can choose any or all
of these features as your main focus; and you can choose one of the
following locations for your kiosk: the site itself (you decide exactly
where), the foyer of the public library, the local museum, an art gallery
(e.g. the art display area at APU's Sawyers Building).
- Personal Project. Choose your own place - a shopping mall, a park,
a visitor attraction of some sort, a development area, etc. you have
complete freedom - and design a kiosk for it. Represent the place in
any way you like, and place the kiosk anywhere you like.
It is difficult to specify exact volumes of multimedia material, but each
project should not exceed more than 10 (dense, interactive) screenfulls.
You will not be limited by volume (submit your finished work on a cd-rom
attached to your documentation), but be careful about producing Flash animations
that collapse under their own weight. The documentation of each project
should not exceed 8 pages. Use a word-processing or DTP package to produce
high-quality documentation. Your designs will potentially include certain
hand-drawn elements - these must be scanned and included in your documentation
as computer-based images.
Assessment Timetable.
The common project must be completed by the last week before the Easter
vacation. The project should be demonstrated during tutorial time in that
week, and the documentation handed in on that Friday. The personal project
should be demonstrated during week 13 (the week after the end of the teaching
period) and documentation handed in on the Friday of week 12.
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4. Assessment Criteria.
1. Process - Use of Development Methodology.
- audience, purpose and objectives clearly
set out - location and type of kiosk determined and design consequences
derived
- content assembled and subject to a
selection process determined by overall design concept
- content arranged in coherent themes,
overall structure of kiosk informed by a thematic map
- storyboarding used as appropriate
to verify design concept, further verification by prototyping
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| Comments: |
- overall s/w architecture of kiosk
considered, attempt to break project down into manageable modules
- practical navigation scheme designed
- realises thematic structure
- coherent and consistent look and feel
developed, accords with chosen design concept, and draws on
established design traditions
- clear decisions made over range of
technologies to be used, and consequences of these decisions
worked out
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Comments:
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2. Product - Quality of Finished Kiosk.
Technical.
- kiosk holds together
- all buttons, animated sequences, etc. function as intended
- reasonable range
of technical features used (rollovers, pop-ups, animations of
various types, sound, etc.) - in service of overall design concept
- treatment of content
items (images, sounds, etc,) appropriate
- any evidence of
advanced technical features and scripting (eg. innovative use
of movie clips and object-oriented techniques, etc.)?
Cognitive.
- overall design
concept communicated clearly to user, kiosk suitable for intended
audience
- navigation model
suitable for intended audience, and gives access to content
via suitable cues and controls
- detailed items
of content relate to, and expand on, chosen design theme - and
are comprehensible to chosen audience
Aesthetic.
- design concept
realised with a kiosk with consistent look and feel
- overall colour
scheme, layout, fonts, images, etc. are suitable for the chosen
audience and location
- content, navigation,
dynamic effects, etc. are inventive and engaging (within the
remit set by the kiosk's purpose and audience)
- kiosk appears
to have been constructed within an identifiable design tradition
(which could range from 'popular' to 'high art' styles)
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Comments:
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Grade Criteria:
- a (70+): meets all or
nearly all of check points, penetrating insight and surprising perspectives,
elegant and economical expression of ideas, high degree of technical
proficiency. A kiosk of this standard should be just about ready
to be installed in its chosen location.
- b (60+): meets nearly
all check points, clear grasp of most issues, well-expressed ideas,
technically effective with few flaws. Perhaps another prototyping
cycle, and this kiosk should be ready for installation - a few technical,
content or design improvements needed.
- c (50+): fair coverage
of check points but some omissions, principles are not always grasped
clearly but work is coherent, some difficulties with expression of ideas,
some technical weaknesses. A good basis for further design thought
and a careful re-implementation; a usable kiosk should emerge.
- d (40+): poor coverage
of check points, does not seem to grasp underlying principles, poor
expression of ideas, technically flawed. Has a few interesting features
which could be developed into aspects of a usable kiosk; but is a long
way from achieving this objective.
- e (30+): has largely missed
point of exercise, very thin framework holding ideas together, haphazard
writing style, minimal technical capability.
f (29-): completely clueless,
couldn't grasp an idea if it was fired into head with a gun, writes little
more than drivel, technical shambles.
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