Multimedia 4 All Project

Introduction

Back in 1999, the team at The Brunswick Town Charitable Trust released Conveyor v.1, a simple-to-use multimedia authoring system for use by museum staff. Now, the Conveyor system is being upgraded to Version 2 (v.2), as a part of a EU funded Culture 2000 project called Multimedia 4 All (MM4ALL).

Current Activity

Conveyor Workshop, Prague, 2009
See more photos

During 2007 and 2008, Conveyor v.2 has been developed and tested with our project co-organizers. Early in 2009 we will be working with their local partners, introducing them to the new Conveyor v.2 software and showing them how to use it make presentations. Conveyor v.2 will be made available to all European not-for-profit organizations in mid-2009, as that they can produce multimedia for themselves.

Like its predecessor, Conveyor v.2 is an easy-to-use system that enables users to make interactive multimedia presentations, without the need for any computer programming skills.

Unlike v.1, which was a desktop application with rather limited options, the new system is web-based and offers users much more flexibility in their choice of interface design and display resolutions.

Given the change from desktop to web-based authoring, the key difference with the new system is that users are now logging-on to a server to author their presentations. That is to say, the files they select for incorporation into their projects are moved, during the  authoring process, from their personal computer up to the Conveyor server. This "upload" process is a part of what allows the many benefits of the new Conveyor system to be delivered to the user.

Once an author has completed their presentation they then download the title they have made from the Conveyor server back to their personal computer. The presentation can then be purposed as required. e.g., played on a touch screen kiosk, cut to DVD for distribution, etc.

Project Activities

Activity 1

Representatives of the co-organizers meet to review the current Conveyor software system, explore development options for the project and agree requirements analysis protocols.

Activity 2

The required hardware and software to enable the co-organizers to develop and present the Conveyor system is purchased.

Activity 3 & 4

The new Conveyor application and help system is evolved in accordance with the previously estabilished protocols.

Activity 5

The translatged versions of the Conveyor system are produced.

Activity 6

The co-organizers collaborate to provide digital assets and demonstration Conveyor presentations, based on materials relating to their geographical area and work interests (or those of their collaborators). These will be used in later training workshops, for general project promotion and as an asset-base for educational purposes.

Activity 7

Training workshops are staged in the co-organizers countries to introduce the software to users. Thereafter, Conveyor authored presentations are built by those trained in the workshops and by others working under their supervision.

Activity 8

Exhibitions are staged in museums and other cultural locations in all of the co-organizers' contries introducing the Conveyor presentations build in Activities 6 and 7. These exhibitions will also be used to introduce the entire Conveyor authoring to visitors.

Activity 9

The progress of the project wil lbe reported at EVA/ICHIM/JCHIM/MGC or similar conferences and conveyor workshops will be held during these gatherings. The co-organizers will aim to encourage awareness of the initiative process across Europe and beyond.