Building Dynamic Multimedia Courses - Part II

In our last article, we discussed the importance of planning and prep when making a multimedia production. Once that phase of the project is underway, the next step is to consider how and what you need to make your project elements. Ask yourself, “What are the elements I want to have, and in what order?”

This phase is typically called a storyboard and includes some type of scene-by-scene description of how the elements will be assembled. If you are using video, those segments could use transition to flash elements or other types of media you’ll want to play in the project. If you are planning for interactivity with the audience, that will also need to be specified in the storyboard. Chose your elements, such as video, animations, bulleted talking points, interactions, transitions, and title pages up front.

Decide how and where you’ll use audio. This should be laid out in a linear timeline even though you may not (and likely won’t) create the content in a linear mode. However, it is important when you think about the design of backgrounds, sets, and transitions. A warning here is to keep it simple – too much of a good thing is still too much! There are lots of sound effects and visual effects you can use, but think about the experience you want in the finished product. Ask, “Is the effect working to enhance the project or is it just something I added?” You do want to keep it entertaining so be really careful and stay focused on the message. With multimedia it really is a balance of visual and audio effects that work well together. Remember, just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

Now that you’ve got your storyboard or script laid out and are ready to start, we suggest you create all your title pages, backgrounds, and transitions first. These can be created in various programs and if you’re new to this kind of production, you might use Microsoft’s PowerPoint or a program like it for the original design layout. PowerPoint has templates that work pretty well and are designed with beginning to intermediate users in mind. You can modify them if you want and even add some of your own backgrounds into the templates. Pay close attention to using “masters” as this will save you tons of time and layout issues. There is nothing more irritating to the eye than lines that jump in a presentation, not to mention they are distracting and can even cause the message to be lost. If you aren’t that comfortable with PowerPoint, a LearnKey training course will really give you the A-to-Z of building PowerPoint presentations. In this series we will talk more on using PowerPoint as a program for creating multimedia presentation.

Here’s an important issue that needs to be addressed before the project is started – What format are you going to be delivering your content in? Is it being delivered via a web page, a DVD, on a desktop as an exe, or by using SharePoint Server? This is a fundamental decision that needs to be carefully considered. Think of your audience. Are they able to access a computer, DVD or the Internet? As you consider this, your decision will lead you to other decisions and software needs.

Content played in different formats needs different formats or compressions. To ensure your presentation plays back on a device or player correctly, the user’s needs need to be determined now. This will affect the whole project so really think about this. If you’re going to give your presentation to your internal teams, are they all in one location? If you’re using the web, where will the content be stored and how will it be accessed? If this is just a one-time event, then maybe you don’t need to consider this too much, but if you think your project will expand or have additional segments, then plan upfront to have a web server that can store the information.

If you use video, will the users be able to stream on their desktops? What kind of bandwidth do you have in the office? Usually video needs at least 200K to stream to the desktop. On a web server, plan for about 200 to 400 MB for every hour of content if you are making a graphic-intensive program for storage consideration. The good news is most environments support this pretty easily though you should check with your MIS department prior to creating content that you intend to send over the web. They will need to set up the web configurations and help you through the process.

Once your delivery format is chosen, many things will become clearer, though there are still a few final decisions to be made. Typically, CD or an exe format that plays on the desktop is the easiest content to build as there aren’t production issues with the files. BUT… you’ll need to know if this presentation is for a Mac or Windows environment, or both. One problem with desktop applications is exactly that, it’s an application and will need to be built in a tool or use a tool that outputs an application. We won’t go into the details for now but in Windows, security can be a real kill joy!

Using the Web as a delivery tool is also pretty efficient. You’ll just need to create the files so they play on the web efficiently and have the hardware to deliver the content. There are many schools of thought here. We use a lot of Flash and have been playing with the compression settings for years. Sometimes we still have to tweak our files to make sure they play back as expected. And we QC the heck out of them! Sometimes when you compress files you end up with different outcomes. We’ll spend a whole article on compressing files and share experiences we’ve had.

If you are using a web delivery format, we have many courses to help you get started. First and foremost, get to know Flash; it can be a real friend.

Tools you’ll need:

PowerPoint Training from LearnKey, Inc.
Flash Training from LearnKey, Inc.
Flash and PowerPoint software


Things you need to consider:

What interface am I going to use?
Am I building it or buying it?
Do I need to get MIS involved for online delivery?
What environment am I delivering to? Mac, Windows, Linux or other?
Will my users have Internet access?
What type of connection will users have at their desktops?