Textbook: Digital Multimedia by Nigel Chapman and Jenny Chapman

Class Materials: Class material and assignment listing by date.

Term Project:

• Term Project Description (see below)
• Links for ideas and Project Resources

Software:
Sofware you will use in this course: Adobe Photoshop 7, Adobe Premiere 6.5, Macromedia Director 8.5, Freehand 10, Flash 5, CoolEdit 2000, Acid Pro, a DVD authoring software. The software availability will be discussed in class. Also click here to see the software availability list. For instructions on installation of keyed Photoshop and Premiere (provided by Rita Mewing at IS), click here.

Schedule: Course Schedule

Evaluation:
40%: quizzes and exams
30%: exercises and worksheets
30%: Term Project

Additional requirements for graduate students:

• Readings/exams
  • Additional in-depth reading and additional exam questions
• Term Project
  • use of vector graphics
  • multiuser networked two-player game
  • CGI/Perl scripting to retrieve and collect scores of the game
  • follow-up exercises on project

Course Objectives:

• To understand how a signal is converted from analog to digital form through appropriate sampling and bit depth.
• To learn efficient algorithms for transforming, encoding, and compressing multimedia files.
• To learn the standards and compression techniques of commonly-used file formats such as GIF, JPEG, MPEG, etc.
• To know the bandwidth limitations of commonly-used networks and services and the amount of data typically transferred by different digital media files.
• To learn the basic concepts and techniques for processing image, sound, and video files, including vector vs. raster graphics, sampling and subsampling, resolution, color representation, aliasing, dithering, streaming media, frame rates, synchronization, font managers, etc.
• To apply these concepts and techiques to process and transform images with photographic image processing programs such as Adobe Photoshop and vector graphics programs such as Freehand.
• To apply these concepts and techiques to process and transform sound files with sound processing programs such as CoolEdit.
• To learn to create music with loops using music creation programs such as Acid Pro.
• To learn how to process and transform video with video processing programs such as Adobe Premiere.
• To learn the basics of video streaming and video servers.
• To learn and have hands-on experience with interactive multimedia development and delivery with multimedia authoring software such as Macromedia Director and Flash.
  

Supplies:

• DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, or CD-RW disc: one disc for the video assignment. Note: It's DVD-R or DVD-RW, not the DVD+R or DVD+RW.
• Some backup or secondary storage: for examples, several of CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-RW, so you can back up your files and keep a copy of your files after this course is over. (All the student files will be removed after this course is over.)

Term Project Description:
Your big project for the semester will be a game programmed using Macromedia Director. You will develop pieces of the project step-by-step over the semester as you work with Photoshop, Freehand, CoolEdit, Acid Pro, and Director. The following elements are required in the project:

1. The project must be a fully-functioning game. Examples of game are:
   a. Pong
   b. Car Racing
   c. Connect Four
   d. Master Mind
   e. Mancala
   Some other game, subject to approval (Please get approval before doing your one-page write-up due.) The projects of students took this course in the past years also included battle ships, memory games, arcade games, golf,... You do not have to make the game exactly like the existing ones on the market. You can program the game play creatively.
2. Begin the game with a splash screen introduction. This will give you a place to experiment with image and sound files.
3. Include at least one photograph, to be taken with a digital camera and processed in Adobe Photoshop for interesting special effects.
4. Graduate students only – include at least one vector graphics.
5. Use small sound effects to indicate good and bad moves during the game.
6. Use a longer audio file in the splash screen introduction, processed with CoolEdit or Acid. Use original sound files or files that are not copyright protected.
7. Implement the game in Macromedia Director using its scripting language, Lingo.
8. Graduate students only – Use the object-oriented style of programming in Lingo.
9. Burn your final game onto a CD.
10. Graduate students only – Make your game Web-accessible also and use a CGI/Perl script to write scores back to the server in a text file.

The tentative due dates for the steps in the project are as follows:
February 4 One page description of the game you will implement and the splash screen that will introduce the game. Your description should include ideas for pictures and sound you could use in your splash screen.

February 25 Picture taken with a digital camera and processed with Photoshop. Also, a one to two page description of the settings you used in the digital photograph, the steps you went through in the photographic processing, and why you made the choices you did in color, image size, file type, etc.

March 18 Graduate students only. Vector drawing done in Freehand.

March 27 Splash screen introduction, without sound.

April 1 Sound file processed in CoolEdit or Acid and incorporated into the splash screen introduction. Also, a one to two page description of the steps you went through in sound processing and why you made the choices you did.

April 17 Complete project – fully functioning game and one to two page writeup telling us anything we need to know about running/playing your game and describing special features that you worked hard on and particularly want us to notice.