W3C W3C SMIL 2.0SMIL 2.0Authoring Tools & Media Players

Marc BoyerMarch 24, 2008

OverviewOverviewPurpose of ResearchW3C

◦ 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

ConclusionDemo: Ambulant & LimSee2 (time

permitting)

Q & A

Purpose of ResearchPurpose of ResearchSample 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

W3C - W3C - SMIL 2.0 SMIL 2.0 SpecificationSpecificationTen 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

W3C - W3C - SMIL 2.0 SMIL 2.0 SpecificationSpecificationEach 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’

W3C - W3C - SMIL 2.0 SMIL 2.0 Support Support LevelsLevelsSoftware support for SMIL 2.0 can then be measured

in terms of the software’s 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.”

W3C - W3C - SMIL 2.0 SMIL 2.0 Test SuiteTest SuiteW3C 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)

W3C - W3C - SMIL 2.0 SMIL 2.0 Test SuiteTest SuiteExample: Test SMIL code provided by W3C

Authoring Tool:Authoring Tool: GRiNSGRiNS 2.2 2.2

Overview◦ Publisher: Oratrix (for-profit private company)

◦ System: Pentium2; Windows OS only

◦ Cost: $595 single-license fee

◦ Formats: Export tags to SMIL, HTML+TIME 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

Authoring Tool:Authoring Tool: LimSee2 LimSee2 1.71.7Overview

◦ Publisher: WAM team of the INRIA (French research institute)

◦ System: Pentium2; any OS supporting Sun’s 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

Media Player: Ambulant Media Player: Ambulant 1.81.8

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

Media Player: RealPlayer Media Player: RealPlayer 2.02.0Overview

◦ 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

ConclusionConclusionBreadth 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.

DemoDemoDemo 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

Questions?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

ReferencesReferencesW3C

◦ SMIL 2.0 Spec: http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/REC-SMIL2-20050107/

◦ 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