Digital Media Tools - Compression and more!

For the most part, yesterdays lesson was about compression. This was a useful topic to discuss because it enabled me to learn about how to use media and jpeg files in an efficient way.
We spoke about 'lossy' and 'lossless' forms of compression. Lossless is when the compression lowers the amount of data in the video through the loss of redundant content. Lossy is when the compression reduces the quality of the video through the application of a codec.
I didn't know what a codec was until this lesson, so I will explain for those of you who do not know. Codec stands for compressor/decompressor.  They can be hardware based (used in cameras) and software-based available with software. The range available is extensive and the successful application will depend on choice and the nature of the content (film or animation).
Popular formats of film are: QuickTime (.mov), Real Player (.rm), Windows Media Player (.wmv) and Macromedia Flash (.flv). Depending on where and when you need you film, you should always look at what type of format you are going to use. It is important that your content is compatible with the software installed on which ever device you are using.
Here is a similar table to the one we were shown in this lesson, showing the various sources a video may come from and the details of its codec, resolution and bit-rate:

We also spoke about digital camera files which is very useful to me because I do a lot of photography. We talked about the fact that if we upload images on to something, it will take longer depending on the amount of pixels. For example, we were speaking about the websites that we are going to be making. And if the file sizes are too large for other peoples computers, they will take forever to load. The internet is a fast pace process and people want fast results so this would be something to think about when creating my website.

After the presentation on compression, we spoke about the websites that we are going to be creating in the near future. We have been asked to look at what we want our site to be like and what content we would like to include on the site. I am excited about doing this website because I will learn new skills through using Dreamweaver and I will also be able to showcase my work on my own site rather than through a blog or on Youtube. I cant wait to get started!

Speak soon!