Introduction

The World Wide Web (WWW) is composed of more than just text and images. In this section you will learn about digital audio and video on the web and specialized document reader software. We will cover the historical development of web-based audio and video and explore the different audio and video formats. We will list the most popular media player software and the audio and video formats each supports. Finally, we will describe how the helper application, Acrobat Reader, is used to share documents in a way that preserves their original formatting.

Background:

• History - Where did the media formats of today come from?

File Formats:

• Overview - Standard and Proprietary Formats
• Quicktime - Apple Technologies
• Real Media - Real Networks
• Windows Media - Microsoft Corporation
• Flash - Macromedia
• Acrobat - Adobe Systems

Audio and video files can become very large depending on the length and quality of the file. For that reason, it was once very difficult to play or transfer audio and video files using the web. Connection speeds were simply too slow for such large files. However, several new developments were initiated to allow for better use of audio and video on the web. These were:

• File formats that allow a media file to be cut up for transfer and re-assembled at the other end.
• Better compression that allows for longer files to be delivered with high quality.
• Progressively streamed file formats that allow for files to be played at the same time they are being downloaded.
• Streaming files that play as download occurs but do not save to the computer.

There are several kinds of audio and video formats. Each has slightly different quality and capabilities. Most media players are capable of playing all standard media files in addition to their own native formats.

A large percentage of the web based media produced are in formats that are more proprietary. Some of the most common file formats are Quicktime, Real Media, Windows Media, Flash and Adobe Acrobat.

To learn more about each of the media formats, select one of the links below

• Quicktime - Apple Technologies
• Real Media - Real Networks
• Windows Media - Microsoft Corporation
• Flash - Macromedia
• Acrobat - Adobe Systems

QuickTime is capable of playing proprietary streaming files as well as standardized audio and video media. The following file formats are native to QuickTime:

• Audio
  • AU audio file
  • AAC Audio
• Video
• QuickTime Video - mov
• Interactive
  • Quicktime VR

All versions of the QuickTime can be downloaded from the Apple website. Links for both the pay and free versions are linked on this page.

If you decide to download QuickTime, test it out by watching a Movie Trailer of your choice.

QuickTime Player is the free media player produced by Apple computer. It can play back standardized audio and video formats, as well as those native to QuickTime.

QuickTime Pro has all the playback capabilities of the free version. Additionally, QuickTime Pro includes the ability to create audio and video files.

RealPlayer is capable of playing proprietary streaming files as well as standardized audio and video media. The following file formats are native to RealPlayer:

• Audio
  • Real Audio - ra
  • Real Media - rm
• Video
  • Real Media - rm
  • Real Video - rv
  • SMIL multimedia

All versions of RealPlayer can be downloaded on the web.
To download RealPlayer 10 for the PC:

• Go to www.real.com
• For the free version select "Download Free RealPlayer" (toward the upper right corner)
• For the pay version, select "Download Now"

To download RealOne Player for the Mac:

• Go to www.real.com
• For the free version select "Download Free RealPlayer" (toward the upper right corner)
• For the pay version, select "Download RealONE"

In addition to the playback capabilities of the standard (free) RealPlayer, the pay version allows the user to do the following:

• Mix and burn CDs
• Modify audio playback with a digital graphic equalizer
• Record digital files from analog audio such as voice and tapes
• Create MP3 files

Windows Media Player (WMP), is a consolidated program that allows users to access most of the standard audio and video formats. Windows Media Player will play the following file types:

• Audio
  • Windows Media Audio - wma
  • Windows Audio - wav
  • Windows Media File - asf
• Video
  • Windows Video File - wmv

WMP is included with most versions of the Windows operating system. Additional installations for other operating systems as well as upgrades to newer versions are available at the WMP download page.

WMP is available for use on multiple platforms, and it can be used as a file viewer for multiple file formats. However, WMP works best when run on a Windows operating system. For operating systems other than Windows, it is generally best to use a viewer more compatible with that system.

Flash is a relatively new file format that was designed by Macromedia specifically for web based delivery. This file format that uses multimedia (images, audio, video, etc.) together with a comprehensive scripting language. The resulting 'movie' files can have various appearances, some of which are:

• static images
• animations
• interactive modules
• movies
• dynamic documents

Many Flash documents display using the vector drawings that are created within Flash. The vector graphics allow for small files that can be cleanly resized without difficulty. In addition to using vector drawings, developers can import nearly every other multimedia file format for use in the final distributed movie. As with any other file format, the quality, complexity and content is completely in the hands of the developer.

Some examples of common uses of flash are:

• Web based cartoons
• Banner advertisements
• Course lessons
• Data collection tools
• Interactive maps and menus

Flash format files can be viewed on most platforms without difficulty. In order to display flash files, the Flash Player must first be installed on the computer. The Flash player is often packed with current browser versions. Alternately the player can be downloaded from the Macromedia website and click on the link for "Download Flash Player." Once Flash is installed you will be able to see a movie below (click on the cow's head once the movie loads).

Flash provides for a few types of interaction rather automatically. For example the "button" object type allows for users to interact with the movie in a general way. Flash movies can grow in complexity buy using Action Script to create more complex and dynamic interactions. Action Script is the programming language that Flash files uses to import data, track user actions, navigate to various points of the movie, as well as many other functions.

The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format developed by Adobe Corporation. The primary purpose of a PDF is to allow a document to be transferred between any computer running the Acrobat Reader software. The file will look identical regardless of the platform it is viewed on. Because of the multiple versions of Acrobat Reader available, it is necessary to have a Reader that is of a equal or higher version.

In addition to formatted text, PDF files may contain images as well as hyperlinks that can be used as methods of navigating throughout the document. Another unique feature to PDF is that it allows the file to be copy protected to prohibit unwanted access.

The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for download from the Adobe website.

Select the language, platform that matches your operating system. Next choose the connection speed that matches your current Internet connection. Once all three selections have been made a download button will appear along with a few download options .

Be sure that "Download the full version of Adobe Reader" is selected." You may deselect any other options before downloading Acrobat for installation

Note: Pay versions of Adobe are available for download after purchase from the Acrobat main page.

Downloading PDF files

Typically, you can just click on the link for the PDF file and it will launch the Acrobat Reader from your web browser. But in some instances, you may receive the following link error:

If you are using Internet Explorer as your browser, you will need to download the PDF file by right-clicking on the link and choosing to "Save Target As":

If you are using Firefox as your browser, you will need to download the PDF file by right-clicking on the link and choosing to "Save Link As":

You can now choose to save the file wherever you like and then double-click it to open the PDF through Acrobat Reader.

• Acrobat Reader, is the program for viewing, navigating and possibly printing (depending upon security settings) PDF documents.The Adobe Acrobat Reader is the freeware component of the the package. Adobe makes the Reader application available for free download for almost all platforms.
• Acrobat Distiller is a pay component that converts files from postscript to the PDF file format.
• Acrobat Exchange is a portion of Acrobat that was created for annotating, creating hyper-links, and adding security control to PDF files. Basically this is the program that edits new PDF files.

To try out your new version of Adobe Reader, click here to open the IDDL's eLearning Overview.