Multimedia is any combination of text, art, sound, animation, and video delivered to you by computer or other electronic or digitally manipulated means. It is richly presented sensation. When you weave together the sensual elements of multimedia dazzling pictures and animations engaging sounds, compelling video clips, and raw textual information—you can electrify the thought and action centers of people’s minds. When you give them interactive control of the process, they can be enchanted.
Multimedia is, as described previously, a woven combination of digitally manipulated text, photographs, graphic art, sound, animation, and video elements. When you allow an end user—also known as the viewer of a multimedia project—to control what and when the elements are delivered, it is called interactive multimedia. When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes hypermedia.
Although the definition of multimedia is a simple one, making it work can be complicated. Not only do you need to understand how to make each multimedia element stand up and dance, but you also need to know how to use multimedia computer tools and technologies to weave them together. The people who weave multimedia into meaningful tapestries are called multimedia developers.
