Audio, Video, and Synchronized Multimedia

Summary|Highlights | SMIL | Events

Summary

To make authoring of TV-like multimedia presentations on the Web easier, W3C has designed the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounded "smile"). SMIL is an easy-to-learn HTML-like language allowing to use a text editor to write multimedia presentations with streaming audio and video.

There is significant interest to integrate and synchronize Web content with audio and video information transmitted over the TV signal. To study this in more detail, W3C has organized a workshop on "Television and the Web".

Highlights

• justsmil.com - just redecorated ! The most complete collection of SMIL-related information
• W3C Workshop on "Television and the Web"
• Video of talk "SMIL - The Inside Story" by P. Hoschka at April RealNetworks conference available (requires G2)
• Advanced implementations available
  • CWI Grins
  • RealNetworks G2 beta

SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language)

Getting Help

• RealSystem G2 Production Guide by RealNetworks
• Writing a SMIL Document in six easy steps (CWI)
• Slides SMIL tutorial by L. Hardman
• Mailing list www-smil@w3.org (archive)
  The list is open to everyone. To subscribe, send a mail with "Subject: subscribe" to www-smil-request@w3.org. If you have problems subscribing/unsubscribing, see more info on W3C mailing list administration.

Players

• CWI Grins
• RealNetworks G2 beta
• HPAS

Authoring Tools

• CWI Grins
• TAG Editor 2.0 - G2 release by Digital Renaissance
• VEON authoring tool

Background

• Video of talk "SMIL - The Inside Story"  (SMIL source) by P. Hoschka at April RealNetworks conference (requires G2)
• justsmil.com - the most complete collection of SMIL-related information
• SMIL DTD
• W3C Activity Statement
• W3C SYMM Working Group (members only) - the technical forum for development of SMIL

Other Tools

• Check your SMIL document with the Validator (by CWI)
• Perl program to convert SMIL DTD into BNF
  Note: The BNF only contains syntactic restrictions expressed in the DTD, e.g. the syntax of attribute values is missing.
  The perl program used for the conversion was not tested on DTDs other than the SMIL DTD.

Status

• W3C Recommendation

• Press Release: W3C Issues SMIL 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation

Events

• Aug 1998: Talk "Integrating SDP Functionality into SMIL" at IETF meeting
• Aug 1998: VEON authoring tool
• Jul 1998: CWI makes SMIL player available
• Jul 1998: RealNetworks makes beta SMIL implementation (G2) available
• Jun 1998: W3C Workshop on "Television and the Web"
• Apr 1998: Talk at RealNetworks Conference (Video, requires G2 - SMIL source)
• Apr 1998: W3C Proposed Recommendation
• Mar 1998: HPAS, the first SMIL implementation is available
• Feb 1998: Second public version of SMIL draft available
• Nov 1997: First public release of SMIL (Press release)
  Press reactions (Selection):
  • Web Review: Streaming Media to Make you SMIL
  • ZDNet: SMIL - You're on the Net
  • Wired News: SMIL Hopes to Weave the Streams
  • CNET: Spec to bring TV-like content to the Net
  • Web Developer News: W3C Releases Draft of Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language
• Mar 1997: Article "Towards Synchronized Multimedia on the Web" (published in World Wide Web Journal)
• Oct 1996: W3C Workshop: Real Time Multimedia and the Web
  • Presentation
• Jun 1996: Presentation at Advisory Committee Meeting, Boston
• May 1996: Developer's day session "Real Time" at 5th WWW conference, Paris
• May 1996: Tutorial "Sound and Video on the Web" 5th WWW conference, Paris
• May 1996: Article Integration of Real-Time Multimedia into the Web in special issue on WWW of ERCIM news
• Dec 1995: Birds of a Feather session Towards a Real-Time Multimedia Web, 4th WWW conference, Boston

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