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|a Preface, In a few years, the multimedia computer will be an anachronism. All computers of tomorrow will readily integrate images, sounds, and motion video-and this capability will be built into the motherboard as an essential part of what a computer is. In several years, 20MIPs low-end computers will be available for less than $1000; better computers will offer more than 100MIPs performance for about $5000. These computers will be connected to worldwide networkS with terabit-per-second transfer rates, to make real-time sharing of high-quality images, sounds, and video practical. Intelligent software will make the technology of multimedia transparent at the user interface. Multimedia computers per se may disappear when hardware and software platforms become more capable and we take sound, animation, and video features for granted, but the fundamental concepts and techniques required to work with these elements will not disappear. Multimedia: Making It Work is a book about the elemental parts of multimedia, as much as it is about how to sew these parts together with current technology and tools. It is a book that shows you how to use text, images, sound, and video to deliver your messages and conternt in meaningful ways. It is about designing, Organizing, echnical and and producing multimedia projects of all kinds, a practical and avoiding technical and legal pitfalls along the way. Above all, it is a answers practical gude to making multinmedia, complete with tips, pointers, elements and answers. The first part of this book explains the basic elements of multimedia. You will learn about the importance of text and how to make characters look pretty, about making graphic art on your computer and how to choose colors and about how to digitize sound and video segments. You will learn about human interaction and how to design a user-friendly computer intertace. The second part introduces vou to the step-by-step creative and organizing process that results in a completed multimedia project. Hardware andd software tools are described in detail. You will even find a chapter packaging your finished product. The last chapters of the book are rull of details that explain many of the technical aspects of multimedia, nave written this book for people who make or want to make multimedia, for people who gladly take up new challenges and are unafraid of learning curves and intensely creative work. The words and ideas of this book are the harvest of many years in the computer industry, and of hands-on experience deep in the factory where real multimedia is made every day. The book is intended to be, above all, useful. I have focused on two well-known computer environments to discuss in detail throughout the book: Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows these are the environments most widely used today for making multimedia. But multimedia is by no means limited to these platforms, and most of the ideas discussed in the book are translatable to other venues. I have made a great effort to include plentiful references to many multimedia software and hardware players, trying not to miss any. However, because the industry is fastpaced and growing rapidly, and because while writing the book I have rediscovered the finite limits of my own time, I am sure some names have fallen into the bit bucket, anyway. Immutable physical laws have prevented me from including the fine details of 40 or 50 hardware and software manuals and technical resources in the number of pages allowed for this book; but the distillation presented here will provide you with pointers to further information and study. I have also attempted to sufficiently double-check my words and statements for accuracy; if errors have slipped past, they are mine alone. Some years ago, after completing a book about HyperCard, I swore never to write another. Writing a book is much like childbirth, I believe. In the beginning it gestates slowly, usually over a few months; then it ramps up inexorably and quickly toward deadline until all attention is focused upon the delivery itself, and the pain and workload are great. Afterward, you remember it was rough, but the pain itself becomes diffused in the postpartum release. I am glad to share my multimedia experiences with you, and hope that after reading this book you will become better at what you do.
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