Designing and Delivering Multimedia Presentations

 

Producing
Multimedia Presentations


Below are some of the common methods for producing visuals. Media Services staff are available to assist you with producing visuals or to do the production work (on an hourly basis).

Copyright Restrictions

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. However, you may be able to make copies using the Fair Use provisions of the copyright law. Criteria for determining fair use in individual cases include:

  1. the purpose and character of use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes (spontaneity provision);
  2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
  3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole (brevity provision); and
  4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work (cumulative effect).

For pictures, graphics, and cartoons:

  • "If an individual picture, graphic or cartoon is copyrighted, it may not be copied without permission."
  • "If the work in which the picture, graphic or cartoon is contained is copyrighted but the individual items in the work are not, fair use will apply and may allow the reproduction of a small number of such works relative to the length of the volume in which they are contained."

Source: Austin, Sally, Gerald Brong, and Charles Vlcek (1978). The Copyright Act of 1976: Guidelines for Educators. Office of the Attorney General State of Washington; Olympia, Washington.

See also :

Computers and Peripherals

Computer hardware, software, and peripherals provide powerful tools for producing multimedia presentations. The diagram below illustrates some of the alternatives along a continuum of cost and complexity.

Media Services has multimedia workstations and various peripherals available for making visuals for your presentations. These resources are available to current students, faculty, and staff; a current PLU ID card is required. You can book these resources by calling (253) 535-7509 or by coming to the Media Services Desk in the Library.

Thermofax Transparency Maker You can use this machine to make transparencies from xerox copies. Two thermofax machines are available at Media Services as well as transparency films to produce black, red, blue, green or purple lines/letters on a clear background.
Copy Machines Copy machines are widely available on campus and can be used for enlarging or reducing materials for visuals, especially when legibility is an issue. Cropping, editing, and abstracting can also be accomplished with copy machines by carefully covering over unwanted material with white paper. A public copy machine with enlarging features is located on the second floor of the library. Media Services has a color copier with up to 400% enlargement capability. It can be used to print to paper or transparency.
Copy Stand A copy stand allows you to photograph materials from books, newspapers, journals, reports, instrument tracings, etc. A copy stand and copy camera are available for checkout in the Media Production room at Media Services.
Freehand Production If you are artistic and a legible writer, you may be able to make transparencies with colored transparency pens and acetate sheets. You can obtain acetate pens and blank acetate sheets from Media Services or the Bookstore.
Photography You can photograph equipment, people, sites, etc. directly to add continuous tone slides to your presentation. A digital camera is available for checkout. Photo Services, (253) 535-7517, can help with photography and with processing film.
Laminator and Dry Mount Press A 25" laminator can be used for enclosing materials in plastic for protection. The dry mount press can be used for mounting materials like titles, graphs, charts, etc. onto matte board for poster sessions. A large paper cutter is available for trimming materials. A variety of sandwich board, matte board, and foam core can be purchased from Media Services.

Maintained by: Layne Nordgren (nordgrle@plu.edu)
Last Update: 10/26/98