Unit 3-6 Streaming Media and Synchronized Multimedia

After completing this unit, you will be able to:

• Understanding why streaming is an important strategy for delivering multimedia over the Internet.
• Define streaming and name the different kinds of media that are being streamed over the Internet.
• Go to Web sites where you can see and hear streaming media in action
• Know when and where to download the latest streaming media plug-ins and drivers.
• Understand how the synchronized multimedia integration language (SMIL) is making it possible to create, publish, and deliver synchronized multimedia content over the Web.

Reading

Read chapter 10 of the Internet Literacy textbook to study the concepts covered by this unit.

Online Activities

A stream is a real-time feed from an audio or video source, encoded in such a way that the media can begin playing steadily without making the user wait for the entire file to download to their computer. This chapter introduces the three major brands of streaming media products: RealNetworks, Apple QuickTime, and Microsoft Windows Media Player.

• RealNetworks is one of the best-known multimedia streaming companies on the Internet. Its two main families of products are RealAudio and RealVideo. True to its name, RealAudio is used for media that are audio only, such as radio stations and recorded music. RealVideo adds moving pictures to the audio experience. To download either the free version or the more fully-featured enhanced version of the RealPlayer, follow the Interlit Web site link to RealNetworks.
• One of Apple Computer’s greatest gifts to the world is QuickTime, which is Apple’s brand of multimedia. Originally for the Macintosh only, QuickTime is now one of the finest cross-platform tools available for multimedia creation and delivery. It plugs in seamlessly to both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, and it works on Windows as well as Macintosh computers. The QuickTime player is free. For a modest fee, you can upgrade the free player to QuickTime Pro, which lets you edit audio and video clips as well as play them. To learn more, and to download either the free player or the more fully-featured QuickTime Pro, follow the Interlit Web site link to QuickTime.
• Microsoft is aggressively pursuing the market for streaming video and has created its own product line of streaming media servers. The player, which is free, is called the Windows Media Player. If you have windows, there is probably a version of the Windows Media Player installed on your computer. To find out, click your computer’s Start button, select Programs, and look under Accessories or Multimedia for the Windows Media Player. To check whether a more recent version is available, follow the Interlit Web site link to Windows Media Player.
• Yahoo! Broadcast is Yahoo’s directory of audio and video content. There you can access streaming media programming from more than 500 radio stations and networks, 65 television stations and cable networks, and game broadcasts from hundreds of college and professional sports teams. To click through the directory, follow the Interlit Web site link to Yahoo! Broadcast.
• If you ever watched a movie in which the video moved a second or two ahead of the sound, then you know why it is important to synchronize multimedia. To provide a standard way for Web page authors to synchronize different kinds of multimedia events, the World Wide Web consortium (W3C) is creating a new language called SMIL (pronounced smile), which stands for Synchronized Multimedia Implementation Language. SMIL will enable you, for example, to create a narrated slide show in which photos you have taken appear in sync with an audio commentary, and provide your users with onscreen controls to pace the presentation. All three of the multimedia streaming vendors featured in this chapter, including Apple, Real Networks, and Microsoft, have built support for SMIL into their streaming media players. To learn more about the status of SMIL, follow the Interlit Web site link to Synchronized Multimedia.

Assignment

This unit has no formal assignment. Its purpose is to make you aware of the streaming media that will become increasingly important as the 21st century unfolds and vendors provide more and more streaming content on the Internet. You may simply enjoy exploring the streaming media presented in Chapter 10 without worrying about formal assignments at this time.