DVD Demystified

DVD in Business and Education
Figure 10.1
The authoring
environment
spectrum: utility
versus ease of use
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lutionize the way businesses can communicate with their customers and
with other businesses. And unlike CD-ROMs, the discs can be played in
both settop players and computers. Traveling executives can be tempted to
pop a free DVD into their DVD laptop computer while flying or when sitting
in a hotel room.
Effective video-supported presentation demands on-the-fly, instant,
context-sensitive access to any point in the footage. Linear videotapes are
woefully inadequate to the task. By supporting multiple language tracks,
a single DVD can even lower geographic and cultural barriers. Whether distributed
to individuals for playback on PCs, shown to groups via settop players
or portable PCs connected to video projectors, or mounted in a network
server for remote viewing, DVD helps get the message to every recipient.
Training and Business Education
Once sufficient numbers of DVD players and DVD-equipped computers are
established in businesses, there is no question that DVD will become a leading
delivery format for business training. The Internet has certain advantages
such as low cost and timeliness, but the demand for high-quality
multimedia far exceeds the capabilities of the Internet for the near future.
DVD is better suited to deliver such multimedia and can be integrated easily
with the Internet to provide the best of both worlds.
DVD-Video is strictly defined and fully supported by DVD players and
by DVD-Video navigation software on most DVD-equipped computers. As
with all authoring systems, the ease of development is inversely proportional
to the flexibility of the tools (Figure 10.1). As the parameters of the
system are constrained, the complexity of the task is reduced. Since DVD-
Video is quite constrained, it is relatively easy to develop for it, given the
proper tools. Those considering video training programs should decide if the
features of DVD-Video meet their requirements. A very simple product containing
mostly menus, pictures, and movies may be developed in less time
and for less money than with a complex computer authoring system.