Re: Multimedia

[Kristi L Koscianski <kosc0001 -at- GOLD -dot- TC -dot- UMN -dot- EDU>]

On Wed, 23 Nov 1994, Mike Melby wrote:

> Greetings All,

> I'm brand new to the Tech Writers mailing list (this is my first
> message)! I'm doing my internship at Harris Corp. in Melbourne, FL,
> and will be graduating with a BS in Technical Communication from
> Florida Tech (Melbourne) in May of '95.

> This semester I am taking an Advanced Professional Presentations class.
> The class is doing a "proposal/presentation" on why Florida Tech should
> offer multimedia classes. My part of the presentation is the "bells and
> whistles"; that is, I am doing the actual multimedia demo.

> I would like to know if any of you out there can steer me to sources
> on:
> 1) Free Windows sound files
> 2) Free Windows video clips
> 3) The number of multimedia jobs out there - where are the most, what's
>    the average pay, etc.
> 4) What do other schools offer in the way of multimedia training


I am a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in Scientific and
Technical Communications. One of the courses we are required to take is
Document Design. The core of this class is to create a multimedia
presentation using MacroMedia Director. We are put in groups and assigned
a to a research group at the University. We are then supposed to get
information from the research group and create a multimedia presentation
that demonstrates what they are doing, the benefits of it, the resources
they need, etc.
For example, my group was assigned to a research team that consisted of
Computer Scientists and Neurologists who were creating a zoomable brain
database. We took the information they gave us and using a scanner,
PhotoShop, Sound Edit Pro, and MacroMedia Director created the
presentation.
Just to let you know, we were not taught how to use this software in
class. We had to do that on our own time and with basically no
assistance. The class was very difficult but I learned a lot. I encourage
your school to offer a class like this. Maybe I am wrong but I think
future employers will be impressed that I have an optical disk with a
multimedia presentation on it in my portfolio.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to contact me directly
kosc0001 -at- gold -dot- tc -dot- umn -dot- edu