Undergraduate Independent Study Projects
(Fall 1998)

This semester I will be offering a multimedia projects class for undergraduates.  The course will meet once a week for 1.5 hours during which we will cover the MASH System for developing distributed multimedia applications that involve streaming media and multicast networks protocols.  All students will a) learn about the Internet MBone tools, b) the Berkeley Internet Broadcasting System (BIBS) we are developing to deliver streaming interactive media at Berkeley (e.g., several classes will be broadcast this semester using this technology), c) the Tcl/Tk scripting language, and d) the MASH toolkit including the OTcl/Tcl-CL object systems.  In addition, all students will learn about the Internet MBone tools and how they can be used to produce/view a broadcast.

Projects may involve other relevant tools such as the Real Networks G2 Technology (RNG2) or the Microsoft Direct X Toolkit (MSDX). (Direct X was formerly known as Active Movie.)

Some example projects are:

  1. Implement an H.263 video codec for MASH.
  2. Implement a broadcast guide for BIBS.
  3. Resurrect the QuestionBoard and incorporate it into the MIG Seminar. Extend the QuestionBoard to include chat rooms through which participants can  interact during a lecture/seminar.
  4. Integrate Landay's Note Pals with Angie Schuett's MARS MBone/RTP archiving tool.
  5. Implement gateway between MBone and Real Networks (RN) G2 and/or Microsoft NetShow.
  6. Implement video FX's modules for the Software-only Parallel FX System.  Some examples are chromakey, composition, etc.
  7. Design/implement a class viewer web browser plug-in for BIBS sessions that incorporates note taking, chat, or other class interaction tools.
  8. Port Mash to the Macintosh.
  9. Develop a web title using streaming video, Javascript, etc. For some example titles, see http://bmrc.berkeley.edu/.
  10. Resurrect Carousel which is an end-user tool for constructing galleries of video material for the web.  Extend the system to support user-defined attributes and more flexible authoring.
  11. Implement a program that will convert MARS stored MBone sessions into .avi files that can be loaded into Premier for post production editting.
  12. Experiment with the Real Text/Real Picture features of RN G2 system.  Develop sample web title using these features.  Compare "timed events" in G2 -vs- RNv5.
  13. Develop software for capturing and annotating human factors experiments.  Need to create time synchronized annotations and browsing interfaces for finding and marking useful events.  The software should also allow duration activities to be identified as well.  The browsing interface should support rapid skimming through the material, searching using the annotation or time code data, and extracting useful clips for incorporation into other documents.
  14. Modify the Mash video codec's to use the Intel MMX libraries to speed-up encoding/decoding. Start by incorporating the DCT routine call, then analyze and optimize the remaining code.
  15. Add a Windows video capture device to Mash so various hardware capture/codec boards can be used.

If you have another idea that you would like to do, send email or stop by during office hours to discuss it. The class will meet on monday August 24, 1998 from 5-6.30 in 380 Soda Hall.  I have office hours from 3-5 that day too, if you want to stop by and discuss the class/projects.

Larry Rowe
Copyright © 1998 by the Regents of the University of California
Last modified: