Creating your own web-presentation with SMIL

Since March 1997 SMIL become a significant new technology which helps integrate multimedia into Web content. The importance of SMIL has grown with the apparition of its 2.0 version. SMIL offers XML-based technology for managing the presentation and timing of multimedia elements. SMIL is used in the software and technologies supported by Adobe, Microsoft, and the Real Networks.

Taking in consideration the development and support for the 2.0 specification, SMIL has the perspective of becoming a standard approach for the developers which work with any type of multimedia asset control.

SMIL was developed since March 1997, starting with the establishment of a working team on synchronized multimedia by the World Wide Web Consortium. It was created as an XML-based language that allows the creation of interactive multimedia presentations, without the use of multimedia tools. It gives the developers the possibility of describing the timing of presentations, associating hyperlinks with media and defining the layout of the presentation onscreen.

The 2.0 version of SMIL was released in August 2001. Afterwards this basic concept many independently-crafted SMIL authoring platforms were available. The World Wide Web Consortium designates two basic design aims for SMIL 2.0. First of all to define continuously an XML-based language that will allow the web-designers to make interactive multimedia presentations. And secondly is the possibility of re-using SMIL 2.0 semantics and syntax for other XML-based languages.

The SMIL format has a large vendor support. One of the most significant vendors is Real Networks. The RealOne player of this company supports playback of SMIL. Also Real Networks released its own version of XML/SMIL authoring tool, SMILGen in the autumn of 2001. Also the Microsoft Company added to Internet Explorer starting with the version 5.0 a subset of SMIL support to web. Adobe in its visual authoring software for Web designers GoLive Studio offers SMIL and also QuickTime editors.

The perspectives of SMIL are very promising because of the large use of MMS messaging instead of simple SMS. This could make SMIL one of the most used services in the future of mobile communications.