Top 5 free multimedia courses you can take anywhere, anytime

The use of multimedia is seen in several areas like education, entertainment, advertising, digital media and so many more. It is a field in which technology can be used to present computer information in the form of audio, video, animation, graphics, etc. Multimedia specialists are in constant demand and can have very bright careers. These courses mentioned below will help beginners as well as experts in understanding the concept, history, and technology behind multimedia.

Copyright for Multimedia

This course about copyrights for multimedia is offered to students by Duke University, Emory University, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and can be completed in approximately 11 hours. The course will focus on four types of media i.e. data, images, music and audio, film, and video. Students will learn about the information required and the complications facing each media while making copyright decisions. Some topics that will be covered in the course include fair use for each media, TEACH Act for music and images, VARA and moral rights, anti-circumvention, and film permissions.

Internet of Things: Multimedia Technologies

This technical course in multimedia is offered by the University of California San Diego and is a part of their Internet of Things Specialization. In this course, students will learn about the different principles of audio and video codecs used in different platforms like YouTube and Netflix. Post completion of this course students will be able to build a basic application in python, extract metadata from media files, and understand the tradeoffs between bandwidth and media quality for efficient content delivery. Over five hours students will learn how to use the right codecs by understanding how data is sent and received in the data plane.

Micro Masters Program in Integrated Digital Marketing

This program is a 13-month specialization program comprising of 3 graduate-level courses and a project offered by NYU. This program combines Theories of Media and Technology, Media Law, Creative Coding, and a hands-on digital media project summarizing the learnings of the aforementioned topics. In the section on Theories of Media and Technology, students will learn about its history and evolution while relating it to current trends. Media Law will teach students about the laws and regulated to media and technology while Creative Coding will teach them about the concepts of object-oriented programming. The capstone project towards the end of the course will serve as a portfolio for students displaying their thorough understanding of Media and Technology. Each of these three courses can be taken separately as well.

Augmented Reality and Video Streaming Services Emerging Technologies

This technical but beginner’s course offered by Yonsei University can be completed by students in approximately 11 hours and is a part of a four-course specialization. This course is aimed at equipping students with the knowledge of the technologies like H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-DASH, and CDN that are behind multimedia products and services. Some topics that will be covered in the course include AR vs. VR, AR feature detection, SIFT, SURF, FAST, BRIEF, ORB, BRISK, and Skype codecs. This course will take students one step closer to becoming leaders in AR and multimedia technology products.

Fundamentals of Digital Image and Video Processing

As the name suggests, this course offered by Northwestern University will cover the fundamentals of image and video processing. During this 29-hour course, students will gain hands-on experience in enhancing images/videos as well as recovering and compressing them using several tools and statistical techniques. Some of the important topics that will be covered in the course include 2D convolution, complex exponential signals, 2D Fourier transform, phase correlation, and block matching.

All of the courses mentioned above are delivered in English along with English subtitles. Students can enroll in these courses for free but a fee may be required for earning a certificate. Financial aid is also available for those who are eligible.

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