Multimedia Design and Development

• Demonstrate the importance of planning in a multimedia production environment and some of the tools and techniques used e.g. storyboarding and navigation charts; evaluate techniques used to capture, edit, store and present multimedia data, in particular images and movies
• Demonstrate competencies in the use of a widely used multimedia authoring tool e.g. Macromedia Flash; evaluate the issues involved in multimedia delivery on the World Wide Web
• Use a multimedia scripting language to add further interactivity to their applications.

In modern interactive media development it is imperative to produce compelling, tangible interfaces with engaging, dynamic multimedia content - images, video material, animated graphics - and non-linear navigation scenarios.

The module teaches both the conceptual framework within which information professionals use multimedia, including both cognitive and aesthetic aspects, and the set of skills necessary to bring those principles to life. Adobe Flash is our chosen platform - with ActionScripting used to facilitate the all important interactivity with the user.

You will be able to choose from a number of contexts in which to develop your multimedia expertise (some examples of students' coursework are given below).

• Learn how to use interface design - colour, aesthetics, layout - to best compliment and enhance the content of your application;
• Use animated graphics, video material and other multimedia content to convey meaning;
• Create scenes, actions and control components in Flash to develop non-linear navigation;
• Develop a functional, interactive application according to a given brief and well defined set of requirements.

Students' feedback

• "The course contents were clear and concise, aiming to teach the technical and aesthetics basics needed to begin working with multimedia."
• "The teaching staff has been very helpful and concerned about our learning."
• "Prior to the module I had absolutely no idea how Flash worked and what a programming language was and I am now able to make a fairly decent presentation."