Multimedia Usage

Multimedia finds its application in various areas including, but not limited to, advertisements, art, education, entertainment, engineering, medicine, mathematics, business, scientific research and spatial temporal applications. Several examples are as follows:

Creative industries

Creative industries use multimedia for a variety of purposes ranging from fine arts, to entertainment, to commercial art, to journalism, to media and software services provided for any of the industries listed below. An individual multimedia designer may cover the spectrum throughout their career. Request for their skills range from technical, to analytical, to creative.

Commercial
Much of the electronic old and new media used by commercial artists is multimedia. Exciting presentations are used to grab and keep attention in advertising. Business to business, and interoffice communications are often developed by creative services firms for advanced multimedia presentations beyond simple slide shows to sell ideas or liven-up training. Commercial multimedia developers may be hired to design for governmental services and nonprofit services applications as well.

Entertainment and fine arts
In addition, multimedia is heavily used in the entertainment industry, especially to develop special effects in movies and animations. Multimedia games are a popular pastime and are software programs available either as CD-ROMs or online. Some video games also use multimedia features. Multimedia applications that allow users to actively participate instead of just sitting by as passive recipients of information are called Interactive Multimedia. In the Arts there are multimedia artists, whose minds are able to blend techniques using different media that in some way incorporates interaction with the viewer. One of the most relevant could be Peter Greenaway who is melding Cinema with Opera and all sorts of digital media. Another approach entails the creation of multimedia that can be displayed in a traditional fine arts arena, such as an art gallery. Although multimedia display material may be volatile, the survivability of the content is as strong as any traditional media. Digital recording material may be just as durable and infinitely reproducible with perfect copies every time.

Education
In Education, multimedia is used to produce computer-based training courses (popularly called CBTs) and reference books like encyclopedia and almanacs. A CBT lets the user go through a series of presentations, text about a particular topic, and associated illustrations in various information formats. Edutainment is an informal term used to describe combining education with entertainment, especially multimedia entertainment.
Learning theory in the past decade has expanded dramatically because of the introduction of multimedia. Several lines of research have evolved (e.g. Cognitive load, Multimedia learning, and the list goes on). The possibilities for learning and instruction are nearly endless.
The idea of media convergence is also becoming a major factor in education, particularly higher education. Defined as separate technologies such as voice (and telephony features), data (and productivity applications) and video that now share resources and interact with each other, synergistically creating new efficiencies, media convergence is rapidly changing the curriculum in universities all over the world. Likewise, it is changing the availability, or lack thereof, of jobs requiring this savvy technological skill.
various educational packages are now available which are imparting information to kids .They are generally available in CDs etc.

Journalism
Newspaper companies all over are also trying to embrace the new phenomenon by implementing its practices in their work. While some have been slow to come around, other major newspapers like The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post are setting the precedent for the positioning of the newspaper industry in a globalized world.
News reporting is not limited to traditional media outlets. Freelance journalists can make use of different new media to produce multimedia pieces for their news stories. It engages global audiences and tells stories with technology, which develops new communication techniques for both media producers and consumers. Common Language Project is an example of this type of multimedia journalism production.

Engineering
Software engineers may use multimedia in Computer Simulations for anything from entertainment to training such as military or industrial training. Multimedia for software interfaces are often done as a collaboration between creative professionals and software engineers.

Industry
In the Industrial sector, multimedia is used as a way to help present information to shareholders, superiors and coworkers. Multimedia is also helpful for providing employee training, advertising and selling products all over the world via virtually unlimited web-based technology

Mathematical and scientific research
In mathematical and scientific research, multimedia is mainly used for modeling and simulation. For example, a scientist can look at a molecular model of a particular substance and manipulate it to arrive at a new substance. Representative research can be found in journals such as the Journal of Multimedia.

Medicine
In Medicine, doctors can get trained by looking at a virtual surgery or they can simulate how the human body is affected by diseases spread by viruses and bacteria and then develop techniques to prevent it.

Document imaging
Document imaging is a technique that takes hard copy of an image/document and converts it into a digital format (for example, scanners).

Disabilities
Ability Media allows those with disabilities to gain qualifications in the multimedia field so they can pursue careers that give them access to a wide array of powerful communication forms.

Miscellaneous
In Europe, the reference organisation for Multimedia industry is the European Multimedia Associations Convention (EMMAC).

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun (a medium with multiple content forms) or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which only use traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material. Multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content forms.
Multimedia is usually recorded and played, displayed or accessed by information content processing devices, such as computerized and electronic devices, but can also be part of a live performance. Multimedia (as an adjective) also describes electronic media devices used to store and experience multimedia content. Multimedia is distinguished from mixed media in fine art; by including audio, for example, it has a broader scope. The term "rich media" is synonymous for interactive multimedia. Hypermedia can be considered one particular multimedia application.

Categorization of multimedia
Multimedia may be broadly divided into linear and non-linear categories. Linear active content progresses without any navigational control for the viewer such as a cinema presentation. Non-linear content offers user interactivity to control progress as used with a computer game or used in self-paced computer based training. Hypermedia is an example of non-linear content.
Multimedia presentations can be live or recorded. A recorded presentation may allow interactivity via a navigation system. A live multimedia presentation may allow interactivity via an interaction with the presenter or performer.

Major characteristics of multimedia
Multimedia presentations may be viewed in person on stage, projected, transmitted, or played locally with a media player. A broadcast may be a live or recorded multimedia presentation. Broadcasts and recordings can be either analog or digital electronic media technology. Digital online multimedia may be downloaded or streamed. Streaming multimedia may be live or on-demand.
Multimedia games and simulations may be used in a physical environment with special effects, with multiple users in an online network, or locally with an offline computer, game system, or simulator.
The various formats of technological or digital multimedia may be intended to enhance the users' experience, for example to make it easier and faster to convey information. Or in entertainment or art, to transcend everyday experience.

Enhanced levels of interactivity are made possible by combining multiple forms of media content. Online multimedia is increasingly becoming object-oriented and data-driven, enabling applications with collaborative end-user innovation and personalization on multiple forms of content over time. Examples of these range from multiple forms of content on Web sites like photo galleries with both images (pictures) and title (text) user-updated, to simulations whose co-efficients, events, illustrations, animations or videos are modifiable, allowing the multimedia "experience" to be altered without reprogramming. In addition to seeing and hearing, Haptic technology enables virtual objects to be felt. Emerging technology involving illusions of taste and smell may also enhance the multimedia experience.

Game Maker Language

Game Maker Language (GML) is a scripting language developed for use with a computer game creation application called Game Maker. It was originally created by Mark Overmars to supplement the drag-and-drop action system used in Game Maker. However, in the latest versions, all the drag-and-drop actions translate to GML rather than being separate from it.
GML is heavily integrated with the Game Maker environment. Usually, elements such as sprites and sounds are all organized within the Game Maker IDE (though they can also be loaded from external files). Game Maker's architecture is designed to handle such things as event detection, level design, and object configuration without the need to code them manually, minimizing code verbosity with intuitive interface features.
A common misconception is that languages such as Pascal and C++ can be directly used in GML. This is incorrect, and is a common mistake due to GML's ability to utilise Pascal and C++ style syntax (e.g. "&&" is interchangeable with "and").

Libraries
In Game Maker, a set of drag-and-drop actions is called a library. In the Game Maker interface, these libraries are displayed as tabs containing icons called actions. Each action is a GML script or function that users can use in their games. Game Maker comes with a default set of libraries that contain the common actions used by most games; it is also possible to create libraries using the Library builder provided separately from Game Maker. There are many libraries that a Game Maker user may download to avoid using GML to achieve certain tasks. For example: If a user wants to make a simple 3D game but has no experience with GML, they can download a 3D Library.

GML syntax and semantics
GML is structurally similar to C-based languages in its use of code blocks, function calls, variable assignments, operator syntax, and so on.
GML makes a difference between statements and expressions. For example g < 1; is not a valid statement and GM will return an error. Also, variable assignment is always a statement in GM, and cannot be used in an expression.

Game Maker

Game Maker (often abbreviated to GM) is a Windows and Mac IDE originally developed by Mark Overmars in the Delphi programming language. It is currently developed and published by YoYo Games, a software company in which Overmars is involved. Game Maker allows users to easily develop computer games without the requirement of prior computer programming experience, while allowing advanced users to create complex applications with its built-in scripting language.
The latest stable release of Game Maker for Windows is version 8 as of December 2009, and version 7 on Mac as of 11 August 2010. Since its initial release in 1999, Game Maker gained many new features, notably 3D graphics support, as well as a significant user base, with YoYo Games providing free hosting for user-created games.

Development history
Game Maker was originally titled Animo, a program specializing in 2D animation. Overmars released the first public version (version 1.1) on November 15, 1999. While this version of Game Maker had a built-in scripting language, which was not as complex as in more recent versions, it and the next few versions of Game Maker did not have DirectX support, a separate runner to run games independently from Game Maker, or the ability to compile games into executable files.Each major release of Game Maker added substantial new features and improved stability, while gaining steadily in popularity. In 2001, version 3.0 implemented DirectX for the first time, while version 4.0 (released July 2001) was rewritten from scratch, changing the interface significantly. Version 5.0 was released in April 2003, adding support for external data files and time lines. In version 6.0, released October 2004, Game Maker's graphics engine was rewritten using Direct3D as a base, allowing for more complex operations such as easier alpha transparency and sprite rotation, as well as introducing 3D graphics functions. Overmars began work on version 7.0, which introduced the ability to extend its functionality, around the summer of 2006, and released it on February 28, 2007, through YoYo Games. Game Maker 8 was released on December 22, 2009, adding new features such as a revamped script editor window, and the ability to import and export resources from game source files.Starting with Game Maker 7 RC2, game data created with the program was encrypted[citation needed], due to concerns over hacking.

Design and Uses
Game Maker is designed to allow its users to easily develop computer games without having to learn a complex programming language such as C++ or Java.
Game Maker's primary development interface uses a drag-and-drop system, allowing users unfamiliar with traditional programming to intuitively create games by visually organizing icons on the screen. These icons represent actions that would occur in a game, such as movement, basic drawing, and simple control structures. Users also have the ability to create their own "action libraries" using the Library Maker.
For experienced users or those with computer programming experience, Game Maker contains a built-in scripting programming language called the Game Maker Language (GML), allowing more complex games to be made with the program.
Game Maker allows the creation of many types of games, including platform games, first-person shooters, third-person shooters, massively multiplayer online games and construction and management simulation games.

Educational use
As a professor of the University of Utrecht, Mark Overmars developed Game Maker partly as a teaching aid for his students. It is gaining recognition as a useful teaching tool in primary and secondary schools because of its easy entry and sophisticated scripting language.

Lite and Pro editions
Two versions of the Game Maker software are offered on Windows. The Lite version is free to use, while the Pro edition requires purchase. The Lite version displays a small Game Maker advertisement during the loading of the game, while the Pro version removes this. The Lite version contains most of the functionality that allows users to create games and share them either by compiling them into a Windows executable file, or publishing them on YoYo Games' website. The Lite version locks out several advanced features and functions, which are available in the Pro edition. The Pro edition contains functionality and features not available in the free Lite edition. Such features include the ability to use DLLs, particle systems, advanced drawing functions, and 3D graphics. On the Macintosh version of Game Maker, a trial version with all features unlocked can be used for 10 hours before it requires activation.

Graphics capabilities
Game Maker primarily runs games that use 2D graphics. Game Maker's graphics capabilities underwent significant improvements with each major release version, allowing for additional functionality including more efficient alpha adjustments and blending settings for sprites and other shapes. By version 6.0 (Windows), Game Maker incorporated DirectX, allowing more advanced graphics functions. Version 7.0 (Macintosh) uses OpenGL to render sprites.
Additionally in version 6.0 (Windows), Game Maker incorporated Direct3D, allowing the use of limited 3D graphics. Version 7.0 (Macintosh) uses OpenGL for 3D graphics. It also adds limited support for simple 3D models. Converters make it possible to use more popular 3D formats such as .3ds, and .obj for use in a 3D project. It also supports the ability to create particle effects such as rain, snow and clouds. Support for the editing of 32-bit PNG files was added in the 8.0 version of the Game Maker, which has also enabled users to use images with alpha channels.
One such example of a popular three-dimensional game would be Paradox 3D.