Digital media technology for video and audio production

Yeung Sze Kiu
SIM University
Singapore

Since the dawn of the personal computer era in the early 1990s, information technology has progressively transformed itself from a text-based technology into one capable of processing complex arrays of data including images, graphics, audios and videos. The capabilities of today掇 personal computers are so advanced and powerful that they are delivering an altogether new and rich form of experience to users because of the convergence of information, communication and multimedia technologies. This convergence has created a new form of information technology commonly known as 'digital media technology'.

Arising from the InnovatioNation Exhibition organized by the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in October 2006 to celebrate Singapore's 25 years of InfoComm achievements and the increasing influence of digital media technology in today's technology-pervasive society, this paper discusses the tools and applications currently available for digital video and audio production.

Using a set of digital videos he created, the author aims to demonstrate that the process of video filming and production -- previously seen as a complex and technical exercise for 'experts' -- is in fact fun and simple and that, given advances in digital media technology, anyone with the right digital media tools and applications can do it.

This paper also discusses a set of digital media applications the author has used for producing video and audio objects and how he has scripted and compiled them together into video and audio stories. The video stories have been created from two sources: (1) self-produced and (2) recorded from TV; and for the audio stories, the focus is on handling digital audio data in MP3 format.

The author's personal reflections on and appreciation of the wonder of today's digital media technology and the possibilities it creates for e-learning developments are also covered in this paper.