I. Animation Players

Gif animations, as described earlier in the presentation, can be viewed on all Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers. Online streaming media experiences require the use of players to view them. Newer versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape will include players as part of their installation. Since these technologies are changing quickly, downloading players from the Internet and installing them on your computer is often the best way to stay up-to-date. Two of the most widely used streaming media players are :

Shockwave and Flash Player and the RealNetworks RealPlayer or G2 Player

These players can be downloaded and tested on your machine by going to the following URL: http://www.shockrave.com/ and click on the Verify/plugin test page.

To obtain players directly from the manufacturer go to:

Shockwave and Flash Player
http://www.macromedia.com
(To access download site - click on Shockwave and select Download Shockwave in the pulldown menu.) Follow the instructions from the site to install.

RealNetworks RealPlayer or G2 Player at:
http://www.real.com/products/player/index.html?src=hp_butn
Follow the instructions from the site to install.

II. Web-based Animations

The following sites show a variety of applications of using animations to convey learning experiences on the Internet. Before beginning this online tutorial, you need to download and install the animation players as described above.

Science-based animations
GIF animations - non-interactive
http://science.nasa.gov/msl1/ground_lab/ground_lab.htm

Mpg animations of molecular lattice
3D models as QuickTime movies - non interactive
http://www.pc.chemie.th-darmstadt.de/molcad/movie.html

Structure of the Earth Flash demo
Flash 3 animation - interactive
http://www.elf.fr/odyssee/us/genese/geolo/02terre.htm

Human anatomy online
Java-based animations - interactive
http://www.innerbody.com

Simplified Science Animations
High School Science program - GIF animations - non-interactive
http://www.geocities.com/athens/olympus/5297/index.html

Educational Animations
Industrial models - GIF animations - non-interactive
http://www.pfa-inc.com/movies.html

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Multimedia
Shockwave/Flash animations - interactive
http://www.hhmi.org/grants/lectures/vlab2

American Sign Language
GIF animations - interactive
http://www.bconnex.net/~randys/index_nf.html

Drawing Chinese Characters
GIF animations - non-interactive
http://www.ocrat.com/ocrat/chargif

III. New Streaming Technology Sample Sites

For information on the new Internet streaming media protocol, SMIL:
http://www.justsmil.com

RealNetworks streaming media sites:
http://www.timecast.com/sites/index.html

Latest and Greatest Flash animations:
http://www.shockrave.com
(Click on the 3 Enter/ Shockrave site)