SMIL 3.0 Flexible Multimedia for Web, Mobile Devices and Daisy Talking Books

SMIL 3.0: Multimedia for the Web, Mobile Devices and Daisy Talking Books is a revised introduction to — and resource guide for — the W3C SMIL language. It covers all aspects of the SMIL specification and covers all of SMIL’s implem- tation profiles, from the desktop through the world of mobile SMIL devices. Based on the first version of the book, which covered SMIL 2.0, this edition has been updated with information from the past two releases of the SMIL l- guage. We have benefitted from comments and suggestions from many readers of the first edition, and have produced what we feel is the most comprehensive guide to SMIL available anywhere. Motivation for this Book While we were working on various phases of the SMIL recommendations, it became clear to us that the richness of the SMIL language could easily ov- whelm many Web authors and designers. In the 500+ pages that the SYMM working group needed to describe the 30+ SMIL elements and the 150+ SMIL attributes, there was not much room for background information or extensive examples. The focus of the specification was on implementation aspects of the SMIL language, not on the rationale or the potential uses of SMIL’s declarative power.

An Overview of SMIL.- Understanding SMIL Code.- Local and Streaming Media.- Basic SMIL Constructs.- SMIL Structure.- Referencing External Media Objects.- Meta-Information, Media Description and XML Accessibility.- Basic SMIL Timing.- SMIL Basic Layout.- Timed Text in SMIL.- Basic Linking.- Content Selection and Control.- Advanced SMIL Features.- Transition Effects.- SMIL Animation.- Subsetting and Extending Media.- Advanced SMIL Timing Behavior and Control.- Advanced SMIL Timing Attributes.- Advanced Layout Topics.- Extended Content Control.- SMIL State.- Integrating SMIL Timing in Other XML Languages.

Lloyd Rutledge and Dick C.A. Bulterman are both researchers at the CWI, the Dutch National Center for Mathematics and Computer Science. They were members of the W3C working group that developed SMIL during all development of the standard.

Lloyd Rutledge's research at CWI involves adaptable hypermedia, and standards for it such as SMIL. He received his Sc.D. from the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Dick C.A. Bulterman received his Ph.D. from Brown University. He lead the development of GRiNS, and authoring and playback environment for SMIL 2.0. He is now leading the development of Ambulant, an open-source player for SMIL.