Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Images were taken using 35 mm transparencies to show the frontages of each property.
The images are all approximately the same scale, encompassing a view of the property as
seen from the street. The total collection of building images was in excess of 100. Once the
transparencies had been collated and selected for inclusion, they were captured on videotape,
the same as the rest of the visual material. This involved the mounting of a slide projector
beside the video camera in the filming studios. Each slide was captured in a 20 s videotape
sequence, and later edited to six-frame segments on the master tape.
6.3 GeoExploratorium
Later, the
GeoExploratorium
was developed for Queenscliff (Cartwright, 1997, 1998) as a
discrete/distributed interactive multimedia product that included surrogate walks - via still
images and videos. It was developed as a combination discrete/distributed multimedia prod-
uct. The discrete unit contained a coordinated collection of different types of information
that can be readily accessed on demand. A package of mapping, photographic and video
screen frames was supported by a textual base that offers information about the images
displayed.
The discrete product was developed using Macromedia
Director
and then processed with
Macromedia
Afterburner
, creating .dcr files that could be embedded into a World Wide
Web page and then read with the Web browser (with Macromedia
Shockwave
and Apple
QuickTime
plug-ins). Due to the .dcr file being embedded in a Web page, the movement
from discrete to distributed elements is transparent to the user. Figure 6.4 shows the initial
user Web page for the prototype.
Surrogate walks were provided through the 'core' components of the product. This could
be undertaken by 'browsing' the product via aerial photographs, maps or videos of each
of the streets. Archival photographs include both terrestrial and aerial versions. The black
and white photographs include historic streetscapes and individual buildings. The videos
were the same as those used in the
Queenscliff Video Atlas
. Video was output from original
videodisc at 30 frames per second (fps) and digital video made at 15 fps at a 240
180
pixel resolution, and then compressed using MPEG. It was found that producing movies
at a larger resolution did not produce more usable products, just bigger ones that took up
more storage space and were slower to run.
Colour aerial photographs and still photographs of properties were used in the prototype.
The aerial photographs are at a scale of 1:10 000 and suit enlargement to depict individual
street blocks within the township. These blocks were captured on video from the photographs
to coincide with the moving video footage taken in Queenscliff and that from the maps above.
A number of black and white vertical and oblique photographs were copied from originals at
the Queenscliff Hydrographic Survey Office, and these show varying views of the Bellarine
Peninsula, down to the entrance of Port Phillip Bay, including Queenscliff.
Accessing the colour aerial photograph collection moves the user to a two-part photo-
graphic overview of the township. The directional arrows at the bottom right of the screen
can be used to toggle between the upper and lower images. Users can move to small-scale
photographs, cadastral maps or back to the main menu by clicking on the appropriate hot
spots. One of two large-scale photograph pages can be seen in Figure 6.5.
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