Recommendation

Date: Aug. 9, 2001
Link: http://www.w3.org/TR/smil20/
Source Author or Organization: W3C

Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language 2.0 (SMIL 2.0) is an XML-based language that allows authors to describe the temporal behavior of a multimedia presentation, associate hyperlinks with media objects and describe the layout of the presentation on a screen.

Rather than being formulated as a standalone multimedia vocabulary (like SMIL 1.0), SMIL 2.0 syntax and semantics may be reused in other XML-based languages, as when SMIL components are used for integrating timing into eXstensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) or Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG).

SMIL 2.0 is currently comprised of the following modules: Animation, Content Control, Layout, Linking (which supports XML Pointer Language, but does not require that browsers be able to process XPointers in SMIL 2.0 Uniform Resource Identifier attributes), Media Objects, Metainformation, Structure, Timing and Synchronization, Time Manipulation, and Transition Effects.

SMIL 2.0 features are accessible via two language profiles. The SMIL 2.0 Language Profile contains support for all of the major SMIL 2.0 features including: animation, content control, layout, linking, media object, metainformation, structure, timing and transition effects. This profile is intended for Web clients that support direct playback from SMIL 2.0 markup.

The SMIL 2.0 Basic Language Profile is a baseline subset of the SMIL 2.0 Language Profile that is intended for resource-constrained devices such as mobile phones and portable disc players. It offers access to the basic layout, linking, media object, structure, and timing modules.