WHAT IS MULTIMEDIA？
MULTIMEDIA is an eerie wail as two cat’ s eyes appear on a dark screen．It’s a small window of video laid onto a map of India，showing an old man recalling his dusty journey to meet a rajah there[1]．It’s a catalog of fancy cars with a guide to help you buy one．It’s a real-time video conference with colleagues in Paris，London，and Hong Kong on your office computer．At home，it’s an algebra or geography lesson for a fifth-grader．At the arcade，it’s goggle-faced kids flying fighter planes in sweaty virtual reality．
Multimedia is any combination of text，graphic art，sound，animation，and video delivered to you by computer or other electronic means．It is richly presented sensation．When you weave together the sensual elements of multimedia-dazzling pictures and animations，engaging sounds，compelling video clips，and raw textual information-you can electrify the thought and action centers of people’s minds[2]．When you give them interactive control of the process，they can be enchanted．Multimedia excites eyes，ears，fingertips，and，most importantly，the head．
If you are new to multimedia and are facing a major investment in hardware，software，and the time to learn each new tool，take a gradual approach to these challenges[3]．Begin by studying each element of multimedia and learning one or more tools for creating and editing that element．Get to know how to use text and fonts，how to make and edit colorful graphic images and animate them into movies，and how to record and edit digital sound．Read the computer trade periodicals that contain the most up-to-date information．Your skills will be most valuable if you develop a broad foundation of knowledge about each of the basic elements of multimedia．
Producing a multimedia project or a Web site requires more than creative skill and high technology．You need organizing and business talent as well．For example，issues of ownership and copyright will be attached to some elements that you wish to use：text from books，scanned images from magazines，audio and video clips．These require permission and often payment of a fee to the owner. Indeed，the management and production infrastructure of a multimedia project may be as intense and complicated as the technology and creative skills you bring to bear in rendering it [4]．
Multimedia is，as described above，woven combinations of text，graphic art，sound，animation，and video elements[5]．When you allow an end user—the viewer of a multimedia project—to control what and when the elements are delivered， it is interactive multimedia．When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the user can navigate，interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia．
We define multimedia as anything that requires more than two trips to the car[6]．
Although the definition of multimedia is a simple one，making it work can be complicated．Not only do you need to understand how to make each multimedia element stand up and dance[7]，but you also need to know how to use multimedia computer tools and technologies to weave them together．The people who weave multimedia into meaningful tapestries are multimedia developers[8]．
The software vehicle，the messages，and the content presented on a computer or television screen together constitute a multimedia project．Of the project will be shipped or sold to consumers or end users，typically in a box or sleeve，with or without instructions，it is a multimedia title．Your project may also be a page or site on the World Wide Web，where you can weave the elements of multimedia into HTML（Hypertext Markup Language）or DHTML（Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language）documents．
A multimedia project needs not be interactive to be called multimedia：users can sit back and watch it just as they do a movie or the television．In such cases a project is linear，starting at a beginning and running through to an end．When users are given navigational control and can wander through the content as will，multimedia becomes nonlinear and interactive，and is a powerful personal gateway to information．
Determining how a user will interact with and navigate through the content of a project requires great attention to the message，the scripting or storyboarding，the artwork，and the programming．You can break an entire project with a badly designed interface．You can also break a project with inadequate or inaccurate content．
Multimedia elements are typically sewn together into a project using authoring tools．These software tools are designed to manage individual multimedia elements and provide user interaction．In addition to providing a method for users to interact with the project，most authoring tools also offer facilities for creating and editing text and images，and they have extensions to drive videodisc players，videotape players and other relevant hardware peripherals．Sounds and movies are usually created with editing tools dedicated to these media，and then the elements are imported into the authoring system for playback．The sum of what gets played back and how it is presented to the viewer is the graphical user interface，or GUI（pronounced“gooey”）．The hardware and software that govern the limits of what can happen are the multimedia platform or environment．
NOTES
[1] 指鼠標所點之處多媒體視頻小窗口的播放。
[2] when引導一個時間狀語從句，兩個破折號“——”間用逗號連接了幾個并列成分，是elements的同位語；you can...為主句。
[3] if引導一個條件狀語從句。
[4] as. . . as，像…… 一樣的……，you bring to. ..為定語從句修飾skills。
[5] woven是weave的過去分詞，在這表示“編排”。
[6] more than two trips to the car意思是不止一種路線或方法。
[7] 這里stand-up意思是指“有效”，dance的意思是指“動作”。
[8] tapestry原意為：織錦、漂亮的掛毯，在這表示“豐富多彩的多媒體項目”。
KEYWORDS
electrify 電子化，電氣化
up-to-date 最新的
hypermedia 超媒體
sensual elements 傳感元素
HTML（hypertext markup language） 超文本標記語言
DHTML（dynamic hypertext markup language） 動態超文本標記語言
GUI（graphical user interface） 圖形用戶界面
翻譯：
什么是多媒體
多媒體就像黑色屏幕上令人恐怖的一對貓眼，它是置于印度地圖上播放一位老人回憶他風塵仆仆與酋長相會的視頻小窗口；它是引導你購買一部靚車的指南；它是你在辦公室電腦上與巴黎、倫敦、香港的同行們一起進行的實時視頻會議；在家中它是五年級學生的代數和地理課堂。在街邊的游戲機上，它是緊張虛擬現實游戲中駕駛戰斗機雙眼怒睜的少年。
多媒體是用計算機和其他電子手段帶來的文字、圖像、聲音、動畫和視頻的綜合。它是感情豐富的呈現。當你將亮麗的圖片和動畫、動人的音樂和引人入勝的視頻片段、原始的文字信息等多媒體情感元素編排在一起時，就可以使人們的思維和行為中樞觸電。如果再對整個過程提供交互式控制的話，那就如同施了魔法一般。多媒體刺激著人們的視覺、聽覺和觸覺。而最重要的則是激勵了人們的思維。
如果你是一個初學者，并打算在硬件、軟件和時間方面大量投入以便掌握每一種新的工具的話，最好采取循序漸進的學習方法。首先從多媒體的各個元素學起，并學習一個或多個生成和編輯該元素的工具，了解如何使用文本和字體，如何制作和編輯色彩豐富的圖形圖像并將它們做成動畫，以及如何記錄和編輯數字聲音，并閱讀包含最新信息的計算機期刊。如果廣泛地建立了有關各種多媒體基本要素的知識基礎，憑著技能你將會創造最大的價值。
開發一個多媒體項目或網站不僅僅需要高超的技藝和技術，還需要組織和運營才能。比如，要使用的某些元素可能會涉及所有權和版權問題，如書中的文字、從雜志上掃描的圖像、視頻和音頻片段。這些都需要獲得許可，通常要向版權人付費。的確，一個多媒體項目的管理和生產設備與創建和渲染它所用的技術和技藝一樣重要和復雜。
正如前面所講的，多媒體就是將文字、圖像、聲音、動畫和視頻元素編排在一起的技術。當允許最終用戶（多媒體項目的使用者）控制播放什么和什么時間播放時，那它就成為交互式多媒體。當你提供一種可由用戶操縱的元素鏈接結構時，交互式多媒體就變成了超媒體。
可以把多媒體定義成需要用多種途徑來實現的任何事。
盡管多媒體的定義不復雜，但要實現它卻絕非易事。不僅需要了解如何使每一個多媒體元素動起來，而且需要知道如何使用多媒體計算機工具和技術將它們編排起來。將多媒體編排成豐富多彩的節目的人就是多媒體開發人員。
軟件載體、資訊和呈現在計算機和電視屏幕上的內容共同構成了多媒體項目。多媒體項目的最終產品將運送并出售給用戶，通常裝在一個帶或不帶使用說明書的盒子或封套里，這就是一個多媒體產品。你的項目也可以是萬維網的一個頁面或網站，在萬維網上，可以將多媒體元素編排成HTML（超文本標記語言）或DHTML（動態超文本標記語言）文檔。
多媒體項目并非都是互動的：用戶也可以坐在那兒進行觀看，就如同看電影和電視一樣。在這種情況下，節目是線性的，從頭開始直至結尾。當用戶能對內容進行操控和隨意瀏覽時，多媒體就變成非線性和交互式的，并且變成強大的個人信息通道。
要想確定用戶如何與項目的內容進行交互和操控就需要對內容、腳本或情節串聯、美工和編排給予極大的關注。一個設計糟糕的界面會破壞整個項目；不恰當和不準確的內容也會對項目造成影響。
多媒體的元素通常使用制作工具編排。這些軟件工具被設計用來管理各個多媒體元素并給用戶提供交互方式。除了為用戶提供與項目進行交互的方法之外，大多數制作工具也提供文字和圖像的生成和編輯手段，同時還可擴展到驅動影碟機、錄像機和其他相關硬件外設。聲音和電影通常由針對這些媒體的編輯工具來生成，然后將這些元素導入制作系統進行播放能播放什么以及能給觀眾帶來什么則取決于圖形用戶界面（GUI，發音為“gooey”）。決定這一切的硬件和軟件就是多媒體平臺或環境。
文章來源于領測軟件測試網 http://www.kjueaiud.com/
