This book is aimed at “all the people who now need to design pages, but who have no background or formal training in design.”

Multimedia: Making It Work by Tay Vaughan ; McGraw Hill, 2004; ISBN: 0072230002

“ Master the building blocks of Web and CD-ROM multimedia. Take advantage of the latest Web, hardware, and software technologies, and produce powerful multimedia. ”

Optional: The Web Wizard's Guide to Multimedia on the Web by James Lengel; Addison-Wesley, 2001; ISBN: 0201745615

“This book introduces readers to the multimedia possibilities of the Web, then teaches them how to incorporate each from of media into their Web pages. From adding sound to integrating animation, this book will help readers how to create well-designed, user-friendly Web sites.” Readings for the class will be assigned from the required textbooks as well as in the form of handouts; handouts will be handed out at least one week prior to the date the reading is to be completed. All readings should be done before coming to class on the assigned date. There will also be additional text material on the Web; links to online material is included on the course Web site.

Multimedia Concepts: Enhanced Edition by Jim Shuman ; Thomson Course Technology , 2003; ISBN: 061911052X

“Learn the basics of Multimedia from understanding Multimedia elements to management and distribution on Multimedia titles. ”

Software
We will demonstrate a variety of applications common to today's multimedia producer. Some packages are shareware; others will be the same packages found in a successful multimedia studio. A multimedia authoring package is included in the textbook but if you do not desire to use this one I strongly suggest you obtain an authoring package in the first few weeks, especially if you have access to a computer off-campus. I'll give you list of titles and prices, as well as a disc of Windows freeware, shareware and demonstration multimedia tools. OBTAINING AN AUTHORING PACKAGE IS NOT REQUIRED, but you'll get more out of the course if you do...

Some of these titles can be downloaded from the net; you can find them online on our Software page at http://multimedia.rice.iit.edu/software.html. If you would like to write "Browser-based" multimedia, we have Macromedia Dreamweaver installed in many labs.