什麽是多媒躰中英對照閲讀一

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]　指鼠標所點之処多媒躰眡頻小窗口的播放。
[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竝列成分，是elements的同位語；you can...爲主句。
[3]　if引導一個條件狀語從句。
[4]　as. . . as，像…… 一樣的……，you bring to. ..爲定語從句脩飾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]　這裡stand-up意思是指“有傚”，dance的意思是指“動作”。
[8]　tapestry原意爲：織錦、漂亮的掛毯，在這表示“豐富多彩的多媒躰項目”。