SMIL

Draft

“The Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL, pronounced "smile") enables simple authoring of interactive audiovisual presentations. SMIL is typically used for "rich media"/multimedia presentations which integrate streaming audio and video with images, text or any other media type. SMIL is an easy-to-learn HTML-like language, and many SMIL presentations are written using a simple text-editor.” (Synchronized Multimedia (W3C) retrieved 18:11, 20 March 2007 (MET)).

Versions and features

SMIL 1

SMIL 1 allows integrating a set of independent multimedia objects into a synchronized multimedia presentation. Using SMIL, an author can

1. describe the temporal behavior of the presentation
2. describe the layout of the presentation on a screen
3. associate hyperlinks with media objects

• These together can be used to produce "true" multimedia animation

SMIL 2

Features of SMIL 2:

1. Timing:
   • AccessKeyTiming
   • BasicInlineTiming
   • BasicTimeContainers
   • EventTiming
   • ExclTimeContainers
   • FillDefault
   • MediaMarkerTiming
   • MinMaxTiming
   • MultiArcTiming
   • RepeatTiming
   • RepeatValueTiming
   • RestartDefault
   • RestartTiming
   • SyncbaseTiming
   • SyncBehavior
   • SyncBehaviorDefault
   • SyncMaster
   • TimeContainerAttributes
   • WallclockTiming
2. Time Manipulations
3. Animation
   • BasicAnimation
   • SplineAnimation
4. Content Control
   • BasicContentControl
   • CustomTestAttributes
   • PrefetchControl
   • SkipContentControl
5. Layout
   • AudioLayout
   • BasicLayout
   • HierarchicalLayout
   • MultiWindowLayout
6. Linking
   • BasicLinking
   • LinkingAttributes
   • ObjectLinking
7. Media Objects
   • BasicMedia
   • BrushMedia
   • MediaAccessibility
   • MediaClipping
   • MediaClipMarkers
   • MediaDescription
   • MediaParam
8. Metainformation
9. Structure
10. Transitions
    • BasicTransitions
    • InlineTransitions
    • TransitionModifiers

SMIL profiles in other W3C languages

SMIL syntax and semantics can be used in other XML-based languages, in particular those who need to represent timing and synchronization. For example, SMIL 2.1 components are used for integrating timing into XHTML and into SVG. Not all of these SMIL 2 modules be integrated into the XHTML+SMIL profile or SVG and id addition how have to understand how they are integrated, i.e. what kinds of HTML/SVG elements can be animated in which ways.

Links

Tutorials

• SMIL Tutorial at W3C Schools
• SMIL Tutorials/Articles at streamingmediaworld.com.
• SMIL Tutorials at multimedia4everyone.com

Specifications

• Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) 1.0 Specification - W3C Recommendation 15-June-1998

• (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL 2.1) - W3C Recommendation 13 December 2005

• SMIL latest specification On May 2007, this was still 2.1

• XHTML+SMIL Profile W3C Note 31 January 2002. This profile describes the SMIL modules that are added to XHTML, and details the integration issues, including the application of integrated SMIL modules to CSS styles