W3C SMIL 2.0 Authoring Tools & Media Players Marc Boyer March 24, 2008

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

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

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

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’

W3C - SMIL 2.0 Support Levels Software 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 - 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)

W3C - SMIL 2.0 Test Suite Example:T est SMIL code provided by W3C

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, 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:LimSee2 1.7 Overview ◦ 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 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

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

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 * A conclusion constrained in its scope, it must be noted, by the sample size.

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

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

References W3C ◦ SMIL 2.0 Spec: ◦ SMIL 2.0 Test Suite: SMIL 2.0 Editors ◦ GRiNS: ◦ LimSee2: SMIL 2.0 Players ◦ Ambulant: ◦ RealPlayer: /realone/ProductionGuide/HTML/realpgd.htm