MMS2402 Digital Media Authoring , Unit Information Guide (Semester 1, 2006)

This unit provides a focus on specialist tools and techniques that are used for developing content-rich interactive multimedia systems. This unit will cover fundamental multimedia principles, practical development processes, the integration of mixed-media assets, interactive design and programming for digital media and different technologies for product deployment. Students will create content-rich interactive CD-ROM products using industry standard authoring tools.

At the completion of this unit students will have a theoretical and conceptual understanding of:

• information technology and the software tools as they relate to (and are used in) multimedia systems;
• the Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Director authoring environments for CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and web based systems development;
• codecs and compression techniques associated with digital video, images and sound and the appropriate application of these for use in ROM development;
• the formal process undertaken for preparing and documenting the various development stages of a multimedia system;
• how to achieve a range of special effects which are commonly required for advanced interactive design in multimedia systems;
• fundamental programming techniques and how to carry this knowledge across multiple languages.

At the completion of this unit students will have developed attitudes that enable them to:

• outline strengths and weaknesses of information technology in the context of the development and use of multimedia systems;
• make informed decisions on the most appropriate blend of tools and technologies to support a given multimedia system requirement;
• formulate constructive criticism within the construct of critical analysis.

At the completion of this unit students will have the skills to:

• apply advanced interactive design techniques to a multimedia system using time/frame based authoring environments;
• use a blend of industry standard multimedia tools and products.
• write code to assist in advanced system interaction with the programming languages Lingo & ActionScript;
• further enhance and refine user interface and navigational design and creativity skills in multimedia systems;
• specify an appropriate toolset for developing and supporting advanced features/functionality in a multimedia system.

At the completion of this unit students will have developed the teamwork skills needed to:

• build confidence in formal presentation techniques presenting personal ideas, research concepts and developmental progress;
• discuss and share developmental processes and techniques within an informal populated environment.

MMS2402 Digital Media Authoring is a core unit in the Bachelor of Multimedia Systems - all majors. It is a prerequisite for MMS2701 Principles of Educational Multimedia, MMS2401 Studio 2 and MMS3402 Entertainment and Interactive Technologies and MMS3403 Creating Narrative in Multimedia.

Required text(s)

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Software requirements:

All software required for use in this unit can be accessed from allocated campus laboraties/tutorial rooms.

The software used in this unit consists of:

• Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Flash Professional 8
• Adobe (formerly Macromedia) Director MX 2004
• Adobe Photoshop CS2
• Adobe Illustrator CS2

• http://www.macromedia.com/
• http://www.adobe.com/

Hardware requirements:

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook. You will need to allocate up to 8 hours per week for use of a computer, including time for newsgroups/discussion groups.

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 : Training from the Source by Jen deHaan Publisher: Macromedia Press; Bk&CD-Rom edition (November 11, 2003) ISBN: 0321213424

Macromedia Director MX 2004 : Training from the Source by Dave Mennenoh Publisher: Macromedia Press (November 5, 2004) ISBN: 0321223659

Digital Multimedia by Nigel Chapman, Jenny Chapman Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 2nd edition (March 26, 2004) ISBN: 0470858907

Study resources for MMS2402 are:

The MMS2402 web site on MUSO will host lecture slides, weekly tutorial requirements, assignment specifications, sample solutions and supplementary material will be posted.

http://muso.monash.edu.au/

The timetable for on-campus classes for this unit can be viewed in Allocate+

Assessment for the unit consists of:

• Assignment component: Two assignments with a weighting of 60% overall.
  
• Examination component: An examination with a weighting of 40% overall.
  

This unit's assessment consists of three assessment peices:

•   Assignment 1
•   Assignment 2
•   Examination

This assignment requests the development of an interactive CD-ROM product using fundamental multimedia applications. The CD-ROM should be compiled within Macromedia Director and should demonstrate a firm understanding and knowledge of the authoring environment and the concepts attributed to developing a multimedia system. This assignment will be based on a proposed concept for students to research, design, develop and promote allowing creative freedom throughout development.

Assignment 2: Flash CD-ROM
This assignment requests the development of a content-rich Interactive CD-ROM product in Macromedia Flash. Fundamental multimedia applications should be used for the creation of content. This assignment has a strict brief based around e-learning structured product. Strict documentation is provided for Design Standards and Program Specifications in which students must adhere.

To pass this unit you must:

Students must obtain at least 40% in the Assignment component of assessment and at least 40% in the Examination component of assessment in order to be elible for a pass in this unit.

Your score for the unit will be calculated by:

Final grade = (R*A*E)/(((R-1)*A)+E)

Where:
A = overall assignment percentage
E = examination percentage
R = 100/assignment weighting (100/40 = 2.5)

If you achieve a grade of 0% for assignments your final grade will be
Final grade = E / 2.5

If you achieve a grade of 0% for the examination your final grade will be
Final grade = A / 2.5

Note: this means that if you achieve 0% for either component of your assessment your final grade cannot be higher than 40%, and you will therefore fail the unit.

Assessment Requirements

Assignment specifications will be made available on the MMS2402 MUSO pages.. Information about assignments will be published on the Unit's Notices Newsgroup.

Assignments will be submitted by hand to the students' Tutor in their allocated tutorial with the appropriate cover sheet correctly filled out and attached.

Late submission of assignments

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 10% per day (including weekend days).

This policy is strict because comments or guidance will be given on assignments as they are returned, and sample solutions may also be published and distributed, after assignment marking or with the returned assignment. 

Extensions

It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. 

Requests for extensions must be made by to the unit lecturer/tutor at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission.

Grading of assessment

Assignments, and the unit, will be marked and allocated a grade according to the following scale:

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This feedback may be provided through your participation in tutorials and class discussions, as well as through your assignment submissions. It may come in the form of individual advice, marks and comments, or it may be provided as comment or reflection targeted at the group. It may be provided through personal interactions, such as interviews and on-line forums, or through other mechanisms such as on-line self-tests and publication of grade distributions.

You will be asked to provide feedback to the Faculty through a Unit Evaluation survey at the end of the semester. You may also be asked to complete surveys to help teaching staff improve the unit and unit delivery. Your input to such surveys is very important to the faculty and the teaching staff in maintaining relevant and high quality learning experiences for our students.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem with your study. The semester is short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Communication between students and tutors is encouraged within allocated tutorial slots and the tutors allocated time of consultation.

Communication with the lecturer is encouraged during and after a Lecturer at appropriate intervals within the presented content. The Lecturer will also be available for consultation times in his/her office.

For Consultation times of tutor/Lecturer please refer to the MMS2402 MUSO pages.

Notices related to the unit during the semester will be placed on the Notices Newsgroup in the Unit Website. Check this regularly. Failure to read the Notices newsgroup is not regarded as grounds for special consideration.

Consultation Times

See MMS2402 MUSO pages.

If direct communication with your unit adviser/lecturer or tutor outside of consultation periods is needed you may contact the lecturer and/or tutors at:

Mr Timothy Zapart
Assistant Lecturer
Phone +61 3 990 47269
Fax +61 3 8622 8999

Mr William Lay

All email communication to you from your lecturer will occur through your Monash student email address. Please ensure that you read it regularly, or forward your email to your main address. Also check that your contact information registered with the University is up to date in My.Monash.