If you really want to add some sizzle and create a truly cutting edge site, then the use of Multimedia is the best way to achieve this.

Multimedia on the web is the use of video, sound and animation. There are several technologies used to achieve this, however the most common are Flash, Shockwave, Real Media & Java.

Flash is by far the most popular and effective of all the technologies and comes pre-installed on most browsers, having a user base covering 95% of Internet traffic.

Each of the main multimedia technologies are explained below:

Flash: This is by far the most popular multimedia technology available today. One of the reasons for this is because it comes pre-installed on most modern browsers. It therefore accounts for 95% of the market, since 95% of web surfers already have the Flash plug-in installed on their browser, so no additional downloading is necessary. Another reason why it is so popular is that it is able to compress animations into extremely small files that look very impressive. It is different from other multimedia technologies in that a whole web site can be created using Flash instead of html and the effects can be amazing.

 

Shockwave: This was the first multimedia technology and was brought out by Macromedia who created Flash. It is a technology adapted from the most popular program used in traditional multimedia - Macromedia Director. This is the program used by advertising and multimedia agencies to create multimedia presentations and promotional CD's. Macromedia took this technology and adapted it for the web so they could harness an established user base. While Shockwave is an excellent technology, it is not as good as Flash. The reason for this is that Flash was created for the web from scratch, whereas Shockwave is simply the modification of an existing program created for an entirely different purpose. This results in larger file sizes, and a more complex development environment.

 

Real Media: This encompasses Real Video and Real Audio and allows videos, music and sound to be played on the web. What makes Real Media superior to other products is its streaming technology. This means the file can start playing almost immediately, before the full file has downloaded. It does this by playing the file as it downloads. It is useful for showing video presentations and is a better choice than Shockwave.

 

Java: This is the exception to the rule, in that it is the only multimedia technology that doesn't require a plug-in. It is a full cross-platform programming language and as most browsers support the Java language, it can be viewed by anyone. Shockwave files also have the option of allowing you to save them in Java format, thereby avoiding the need for the Shockwave plug-in. The downside of Java is that it is slow to load.

We have a specialist team of multimedia developers who can create dynamic presentations for your site, using any of the above technologies.

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