As more and more people use the Internet, Web page designers try to find new ways to add excitement to their sites. Major corporations spend millions of dollars to design sites that feature animation, sounds, and interactivity. You can play games, watch movies, or listen to live radio and T-V programs. While most of these techniques are beyond the reach of all but the most experienced Web page designers, there are ways of adding sound and motion to even a simple home page. The simplest way is to use animated G-I-F's. These are graphics files that can be put onto your website just like still pictures. When an Internet user visits your site, however, the image will appear to move. It's also possible to add sound. There are several types of sound files. The simplest are Midi's. These are songs recorded on a synthesizer. Since synthesizers create music in a digital format, it's already ideal for computer use. One reason Midi's are so popular is that they're free. More sophisticated sound files are audio files, which are abbreviated A-U, or Sound Waves files, indicated by the abbreviation W-A-V. Prerecorded music in these formats is subject to royalty payments to the original artist. Finally, you can use your site to deliver RealAudio, which plays sound for visitors to your site while the sound files continue to load. You can even use your home computer to record a message of greeting. For more information on adding multimedia to your website, contact your website host.
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