Audio & Visual Media
(as opposed to
analog media) are usually
electronic media that work on digital
codes. Today, computing is primarily based on the
binary numeral system. In this case digital refers to the discrete states of "0" and "1" for representing arbitrary data.
Computers are machines that (usually) interpret binary digital data as
information and thus represent the predominating class of digital information processing machines. Digital media ("Formats for presenting information" according to
Wiktionary:media) like
digital audio,
digital video and other
digital "
content" can be created, referred to and distributed via digital information processing machines. Digital media represents a profound change from previous (
analog) media.
Digital data is per se independent of its interpretation (hence representation). An arbitrary sequence of digital code like "0100 0001" might be interpreted as the
decimal number 65, the
hexadecimal number 41 or the glyph "A". See also:
ASCII,
Code.
Florida's digital media industry association, Digital Media Alliance Florida, defines digital media as "the creative convergence of digital arts, science, technology and business for human expression, communication, social interaction and education".
There is a rich history of
non-binary digital media and
computers.
Electronic Business Media
According to Schmid, media can basically be defined as follows: They are enablers of interaction (i.e. they allow for exchange) particularly the communicative exchange between agents. Such interaction enablers can be structured into three main components:
First, a physical component (
C-Component) allows for the actual interaction of physical agents. This component can also be referred to as carrier medium or channel system. Second, a logical component (
L-Component) comprises a common “language” (i.e. symbols used for the communication between agents and their semantics). Without such a common understanding, the exchange of data is possible (with the help of the C-Component), but not the exchange of knowledge. Third, an organizational component (
O-Component) defines a structural organization of agents, their roles, rules which impact the agents’ behavior as well as the process-oriented organization of agents’ interactions.
Together, these basic three components have been identified to constitute various kinds of media. Among others, it is appropriate to describe electronic media such as those deployed to support cross-organizational collaboration. Based on these components which already represent a first, scientific approach to modeling, understanding and reorganizing media, a layer/ phase reference model has been introduced as well.
The Media Reference Model (MRM) comprises four different layers (which all represent dedicated views on media) and structures the use of media into four sequential phases. Similar to the emerging field of software engineering in the software context, the MRM aims to provide a comprehensive, coherent and systematic framework for the description and analysis of various media.
The Community View (first layer) thereby accounts for the set of interacting agents, the organization of the given agents’ population, i.e. the specific roles of involved stakeholders, the situations in which they act as well as the objects with which they deal. Summing up, it models the structure of the social community sphere in a situation-dependent, but static fashion. The Process View (Implementation Aspects) deals with the modeling of the process-oriented organization of agents and can also be referred to as "Interaction Programming". It is also called implementation view as it connects the needs of the community with the means provided by the carrier medium and thus implements the "community-plot" on the basis of the carrier medium. The Service View (Transaction View) models the services provided by the carrier medium which can be used in the different interaction steps to reach the respective interactions’ goals. The Infrastructure View models the production system, which creates the services provided by the service view, i.e. in the case of electronic media the actual underlying information technology.
The above discussed three major components can seamlessly be integrated into the MRM: The upper two views (Community Aspects and Implementation Aspects) represent the organizational component (O-Component) which accounts for the structural as well as process-oriented organization. The lower two layers are mapped to the physical component (C-Component) which focuses on the creation and provision of services. Last, the logical component (L-Component) concerns all four layers as it ensures that interaction of agents is based on a common understanding of exchanged symbols.
Digital and analog data
The transformation of an
Analog signal to
Digital information via an Analog-to-digital converter is called
sampling. According to information theory, sampling is a reduction of information. Most digital media are based on translating analog data into digital data and vice-versa (see
digital recording,
digital video,
television versus
digital television).
Working with digital media
As opposed to analog data, digital data is in many cases easier to manipulate and the end result can be reproduced indefinitely without any loss of quality. Mathematical operations can be applied to arbitrary digital information regardless of its interpretation (you can add "2" to the data "65" and interpret the result either as the
hexadecimal number "43" or the letter "C"). Therefore, it is possible to use the same
compression operation onto a text file or an image file or a sound file. The foundations of operation on digital information are described in
digital signal processing.
Examples of digital media
The following list of digital media is based on a rather technical view of the term media. Other views might lead to different lists.
Digital art
Picture produced by Drawing Machine 2
is any
art in which
computers played a role in production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation,
video,
CD-ROM,
DVD-ROM,
videogame,
web site,
algorithm,
performance or gallery installation. Many traditional disciplines are now integrating
digital technologies and, as a result, the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created using computers has been blurred. For instance, an artist may combine traditional
painting with
algorithm art and other digital techniques. As a result, defining computer art by its end product can thus be difficult. Nevertheless, this type of art is beginning to appear in art museum exhibits.
Comic book artists in the past would generally
sketch a
drawing in pencil before going over the drawing again with India ink, using pens and brushes. Magazine illustrators often worked with India ink, acrylics or oils. Currently, an increasing number of artists are now creating digital artwork.
Digital artists do, simply, what centuries of artists have always done by exploring and adopting a culture's new technology toward the making of a personal imagery. In doing so the culture is also reflected in the artwork as is the artist's personal vision. As our culture becomes increasingly digitized, digital artists are leading the way in exploring and defining this new culture. Digital Artists use a medium that is nearly immaterial, that being
binary information which describes the color and brightness of each individual
pixel on a computer screen. Taken as a whole an image consisting of pure light is the feedback devise that tells an artist what is being made and simultaneously stored on the computer's hard drive. Digital Artists employ many types of user interfaces that correspond to the wide variety of brushes, lenses or other tools that traditional artist use to shape their materials. Rather than manipulating digital
code directly as math, these electronic brushes and tools allow an artist to translate hand motions, cutting and pasting, and what were formerly chemical dark room techniques into the mathematical changes that effect the arrangement of screen pixels and create a picture.
Digital Art is created and stored in a non-material form on the computer's memory systems and must be made physical, usually in the form of prints on paper or some other form of printmaking substrate. In addition,
digital art may be exchanged and appreciated directly on a
computer screen in gallery situations or simultaneously in every place on the globe with access to the web. Being immaterial has its advantages and with the advent of high quality digital printing techniques a very traditional long lasting print of this artwork can also be produced and marketed.
The list of digital artists continues to lengthen:
Companies
Several design houses are active in this space, prominent names being:
See also
