The term authoring refers to a category of computer software
that enables programmers to produce multiple interactive media products such as
games, websites and presentations.
“Multimedia authoring is the process of designing and developing a
multimedia product. The author brings all of the different multimedia
components together into one program and provides structure, navigation, and
interactivity for the user.”
Interactive media authoring includes the process of creating
various different assets for a product. For instance, using Adobe Flash to
produce navigation buttons or hotspots for a webpage or developing sound and
video files for a presentation. Authoring a webpage requires a HTML code which
stands for Hypertext Markup Language and enables the webpage programmer to jump
from the pages layout and the HTML and can be done using Adobe Dreamweaver
which is a form of software that enables web designers to produce websites and
other various applications. Other examples of authoring tools include Adobe
Flash, Microsoft Front Page and Authorware.
When a designer is hired to develop an interactive media
product they must undergo thorough planning and pre-production processes which
might include the consideration of the layout of a webpage or game, the colour
scheme, placement of images and text and any hyperlinks that may be included.
This process is important because the end product must be finished to a high
professional standard and still appeal to the given audience. Following the
planning process both the designers and the programmers work closely together
to develop the product. Any problems that may arise throughout the production
process will be brought up and discussed between both parties and a solution
will be made.
The uses of interactive media authoring vary from
presentations, where authoring is used to create sound and video files,
animation, images and text, it can be used in entertainment for example in
games, it is used in marketing and is often used in websites. Companies will
often use authoring as a way of promoting their service and can use a variety
of formats to do so. For instance a company may choose to use the web, a DVD
ROM, interactive television, a handheld device such as an iPhone or an
information kiosk to promote their company and attempt to sell a product to the
public. An example of this could be in the Tesco supermarket where there are
photo printing facilities open to the public that also include features that
gives the user the option to transfer their photos onto a mug or key ring. This
is essentially an attempt to try and sell an additional product to the public
using an information kiosk where various forms of interactive media authoring
will have been used to create it.
Another example of where a company may use authoring to promote their service could be on an iPhone, or handheld device as I said previously. The app store and many applications available on the app store include thousands of advertisements for companies and services therefore this may be a place companies choose to advertise their service to the public. This would be an ideal place to advertise a company as the app store is used worldwide by millions of people every day so a company has the potential to be exposed to the public globally.
As what I said previously could be considered an opportunity
or companies, designers and programmers also face various limitations within
development. For example, creating a product using interactive media authoring
may require the use of many video and sound files, especially within a
presentation, which could mean that the file size of the finished product is
large making the downloading process time consuming. Another possible
limitation could be in relation to the development of a game. For instance, a
game must follow strict content guidelines so that it is suitable for the age
certificate for the product therefore limiting programmers to what content they
can include within the game.
