W3C%20SMIL%202.0

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W3C SMIL 2.0

• Authoring Tools Media Players

Marc Boyer March 24, 2008
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Overview

• Purpose of Research
• W3C
• SMIL 2.0 Specification
• SMIL 2.0 Support Levels
• SMIL 2.0 Test Suite
• Authoring Tools GRiNS 2.2 LimSee2 1.7
• Media Players Ambulant 1.8 RealPlayer 2.0
• Conclusion
• Demo Ambulant LimSee2 (time
  permitting)
• Q A

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Purpose of Research

• Sample modern multimedia products that target the
  W3C SMIL 2.0 specification
• Authoring Tools software used to design
  multimedia presentations and to describe them
  using SMIL 2.0 tags
• Media Players software used to read SMIL 2.0
  tags and render them as an integrated
  multimedia presentation
• More importantly, assess the breadth and depth
  of SMIL 2.0 integration into contemporary
  multimedia software, six years after the
  publication of the SMIL 2.0 specification by the
  W3C

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W3C - SMIL 2.0 Specification

• Ten media function modules
• Animation vary media item attribute over time
• Content Control render based on operational
  environment
• Layout specify visual dimension of media item
• Linking anchor navigation hot spots to media
  item
• Media Object describe and control a media
  resource
• Metainformation add meta-descriptions for
  presentation
• Structure define relationships of SMIL
  elements
• Timing Synch define model for timed media
  item interactions
• Time Manipulations define time model for
  presentation items
• Transition Effects visual transitions for media
  item

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W3C - SMIL 2.0 Specification

• Each module defines attributes and behaviour of
• Basic set of elements, or tags, that support
  media function
• Additional elements for more advanced media
  function
• Example Animation module
• Basic animate, animateMotion, animateColor
• Advanced spline (path-based) animations
• Example animate element
• Attributes attributeName, targetElement,
  from, to
• Behaviour detailed description of impact of
  attribute use on
• the media item pointed to by
  targetElement

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W3C - SMIL 2.0 Support Levels

• Software support for SMIL 2.0 can then be
  measured in terms of the softwares support for
• Specific elements (tags) Product X
  supports elements P and Q of the
  Animation module.
• All elements in a module Product Y
  supports the modules Animation, Transition
  Effects and Timing Synch.
• A profile that spans all modules
• Basic the basic elements in each module are
  supported
• Language all elements in all modules are
  supported
• Product Z supports the Basic profile.

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W3C - SMIL 2.0 Test Suite

• W3C also provides sample SMIL 2.0 test code for
  each module element so software providers can
  verify tool or player compliance with the
  specification
• Example Test 1.1 for animate element (Basic
  profile)

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W3C - SMIL 2.0 Test Suite

• Example Test SMIL code provided by W3C

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Authoring Tool GRiNS 2.2

• Overview
• Publisher Oratrix (for-profit private
  company)
• System Pentium2 Windows OS only
• Cost 595 single-license fee
• Formats Export tags to SMIL, HTMLTIME and
  other formats
• Authoring Support for SMIL 2.0
• Powerful designers to author media timelines,
  layout, assets, transitions, links, etc.
  Also includes an XML tag editor.
• Code validator for SMIL 2.0 compliance check.
• SMIL 2.0 Support Level Language Profile

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Authoring Tool LimSee2 1.7

• Overview
• Publisher WAM team of the INRIA (French
  research institute)
• System Pentium2 any OS supporting Suns
  Java VM
• Cost 0 (open-source Java, subject to GNU
  GPL license)
• Formats Export tags to SMIL format only
• Authoring Support for SMIL 2.0
• Timing and layout designers provide authoring
  support for media presentation design. Mostly
  low-level element editors.
• Code validator for SMIL 2.0 compliance check.
• SMIL 2.0 Support Level Language Profile

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Media Player Ambulant 1.8

• Overview
• Publisher CWI team (Amsterdam research
  institute)
• System Pentium2 Windows, Linux, Mac OS
• Cost 0 (open-source C code, subject to GNU
  GPL license)
• Audience Researchers developers working in
  the field of
• multimedia authoring and content integration
• SMIL 2.0 Support Level Language Profile

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Media Player RealPlayer 2.0

• Overview
• Publisher RealNetworks (for-profit private
  company)
• System Pentium2 Windows, Linux, Mac OS
• Cost 0 (player is proprietary, but free to
  use)
• Audience All users on the planet wishing to
  run multimedia
• items, including those integrated using
  SMIL
• SMIL 2.0 Support Level Language Profile

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Conclusion

• Breadth of support
• For-profit vendors GRiNS, RealPlayer
• Academic community LimSee2, Ambulant
• Depth of support
• All software sampled SMIL 2.0 Language Profile
• Conclusion
• The multimedia editor and player sample shows
  that the W3C SMIL 2.0 specification
  published in 2001 enjoys both breadth and depth
  of integration and support in the multimedia
  software of 2007.
• A conclusion constrained in its scope, it must
  be noted, by the sample size.

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Demo

• Demo 1 Ambulant (SMIL 2.0 player)
• Demo 2 LimSee2 (SMIL 2.0 editor)
• Selected because both are open-source products
• Interested parties may with to explore the source
  code for an editor and player that support the
  SMIL 2.0 media integration specifications defined
  by W3C
• Of interest to those seeking to design or build
  specification-based software, whether the spec
  is their own or that of an external governing
  body

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Questions?

• W3C
• SMIL 2.0 Specification
• SMIL 2.0 Support Levels
• SMIL 2.0 Test Suite
• Authoring Tools
• GRiNS 2.2
• LimSee2 1.7
• Media Players
• Ambulant 1.8
• RealPlayer 2.0

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References

• W3C
• SMIL 2.0 Spec http//www.w3.org/TR/2005/REC-SMIL
  2-20050107/
• SMIL 2.0 Test Suite http//www.w3.org/2001/SMIL20
  /testsuite/
• SMIL 2.0 Editors
• GRiNS http//www.oratrix.com/
• LimSee2 http//limsee2.gforge.inria.fr/
• SMIL 2.0 Players
• Ambulant http//www.cwi.nl/projects/Ambulant/
• RealPlayer http//service.real.com/help/library/
  guides/
• /realone/ProductionGuide/HTML/realpgd.htm