Tel:403-678-6224
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Though
it certainly isn't for everyone, there are times when adding sound, visual
animations (movies) or video clips to web pages can enhance the viewer's experience of the
site. Unfortunately, multi-media page enhancement is not without a number of
issues. Download time associated with file size is always a challenge. Quality
multi-media files tend to be relatively large. While compression schemes are
getting more efficient and broadband connections more prevelant, load time and transmission size is still an important consideration.
"The next big thing" in web media often evolves (or disolves) very rapidly. Basing web site content too heavily on media, can tend to build in more obsolesence factors and an attendant need for more web site maintenance cost.
"New Internet [video] services may bring the the global network to its knees" - according to Internet companies including Google, who issued warnings to the Cable Europe Congress in Amsterdam in February 2007. Major bandwidth use by popular video sharing sites like YouTube has underlined the exploding consumer demand to transfer bigger and bigger media files over the Internet.
Here we have an example of embedding a YouTube video in a regular webpage. This video was uploaded to YouTube by a paraglider friend of ours. YouTube converts and compresses the file to Flash format so it can be streamed to web pages as you see here. More videos like this can be viewed at: www.heliparagliding.com
Note:Flash Player Required to View. (Internet Explorer requires a double click to start. Firefox a single click.)
Virtually all multi-media formats require some kind of "plug-in" to be installed in your web browser. These are small utilities that allow the embedded multi-media files to play within the browser. Downloading a plug-in is usually a fairly quick process and several of these plug-ins play a variety of media files including sound, movies, and video clips. Security provisions in newer browsers and operating systems do, however, tend to block some of these plug-ins from operating automatically as the page loads. In such cases the viewer is presented with a security alert requiring them to click an approval mechanism for running the control on the page. Such mechanisms make the addition of plugins to browsers somewhat questionable in terms of page useability. A majority of users could simply move away from the page owing to security alerts that confuse or frighten them.
Types of media plug-ins are illustrated on this page. - Apple QuickTime™, Macromedia Flash™ and the now obsolete Beatnik ™ sound player. Two of the three players demonstrated can be downloaded and installed by clicking on the individual logos in the left column. Beatnik is no longer available.
Hockey photos courtesy QuikClix.ca
Check out the above online application provided by internet start-up, Animoto.com . They have provided an automated multi-media application that combines pictures and sound into a motion graphics presentation. They then provide the embedding code so that the presentation can be added to your website.
QuickTime™ will play various sound and movie formats including MP3, MOV, etc. If you have the QuickTime™ player installed you can play a short QuickTime™ sound demo by double clicking the play icon in the QuickTime™ control bar that appears on the left of this page below the navigation links.
Macromedia Flash™ Sound Bytes. Flash can be used to compress a WAV sound loop into a reasonably small file that can be embedded in a web page. To see an example of this technique combined on a web page with a javascript slide show, take a look at this link: www.MullerWindsports.com
Macromedia Flash™ Web Sites. With increased broadband connections across the world, many websites now use Macromedia Flash enabled web sites to project a more media-rich message. Visit www.bluerockiesweb.com to view a Flash enabled banner built with SwishMAX™
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Beatnik™ - Unfortunately, the Beatnik player for web browsers is no longer available. Beatnik has focussed on the handheld/cell phone industry instead. If you happen to have an old Beatnik player installed, you can still hear the Beatnik sounds on this page - for no purpose other than to reminisce about those wonderful dot-com days!
Click here for Beatnik Sound Demo
Macromedia Flash™ Movie. Beatnik
sound can be combined with Macromedia Flash to create animated and sonified "Flashnik"
presentations. If you have the Beatnik player installed you can demo a Flashnik
presentation by clicking the link below. Even if you don't have the player installed
you can watch a silent Flash version.
Click here for Beatnik/Flash
Demo
We hope you enjoyed this flashback to the dying days of the last millenium!
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Contact Black Bear Ventures for web marketing, design and maintenance advice.
Sitesatwork.com is operated by Black Bear Ventures. We are based
in the Banff, Canmore area of the Canadian Rocky Mountains just west of Calgary,
Alberta. We help small to medium sized businesses in Alberta, BC and further
afield to round out marketing plans with a presence on the World Wide Web. We
do web design and maintenance. We help with the process of optimizing your web
site so that it can be searched. We know how to work with photos and other media
to maximize the speed of web page loads. We maintain an image bank, handle digital
and conventional photography as well as digital photo-editing assignments. Browse
our pages to learn more about our services and to visit some of our customer
web sites.
Black Bear Ventures,
Serving Canmore, Banff and the Columbia Valley
Tel: 403-678-6224
Email:
www.sitesatwork.com Web Design, Internet
Marketing & Digital Media for Business
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