Audio
Only
Audio is an extremely efficient way to deliver information. Audio can be captured
and optimised fairly easily, and it compresses well.
When
recording original audio, take time to do it
right. Low frequency background noises, such
as the hum of a ventilation system, will be
inseparable from your audio track; no amount
of tweaking will eliminate it all together.
Slide Shows
Slide shows are another way for delivering
multimedia on the Web. In a slideshow, you
synchronise audio with still images. Through
this approach you provide information via audio
and add visual emphasis with still images.
Still images compress much more efficiently
than video, and because slideshows do not require
smooth motion, the movie frame rate can be low.
This in turn means you can devote more data to
image quality and size.
Video
Video is the most challenging multimedia content
via the Web. One second of uncompressed video,
the international standard for television and
video, requires approximately 27 megabytes
of disk storage space.
The amount of scaling and compression required
to turn this quantity of data into something
that can be used on a network is significant,
sometimes so much so as to render the material
useless. If at all possible, tailor your video
content for the Web.
Animation
Most Web animation requires special plug-ins
for viewing. The exception is the animated
GIF format, which is by the far the most prevalent
animation format on the Web.
Using animated GIFs has several drawbacks. One
concerns the user interface. GIF animations do
not provide interface controls, so users have
no easy way to control a looping animation. Second,
animations generally are nothing more than a
distraction. An animation that appears alongside
primary content will simply disrupt your readers
concentration and keep them from the objective
of your site.
There is a place for animations
on the Web, however. A simple animation on
a Web site’s
homepage, or “splash” screen, can
provide just the right amount of mystery to invite
users to explore your materials.
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