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Taking PowerPoint to Video and Publishing it to DVD
by Betsy Weber
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Recording the PowerPoint Presentation
From Recording to Publishing to DVD
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Recording the PowerPoint Presentation
The recording process is very straightforward. After installing
Camtasia Studio 2.1 and opening PowerPoint, the add-in automatically
appears in the toolbar:
If users already have a saved presentation they only need to open
the presentation and click the Record button.
Camtasia Studio will begin recording everything – all the
transitions, timings, animation, and anything else the user has
in the original presentation. This saves valuable time and frustration
on the user’s part by not having to remove motion elements
that typical conversion software can’t convert. Users can
also customize the PowerPoint add-in by clicking on the blue microphone
so their narration will be recorded and synchronized with each
slide. If audio is already part of the presentation the user can
configure the add-in so that too is recorded.
By selecting the Camtasia Studio Recording Options button
users can setup in advance what they want to record and when they
want to record it.
For users like professional presenters, university professors
and corporate personnel that want to record their live presentation,
they can start the recording paused. This allows the user to display
the first slide such as a corporate logo while employees, students,
or audience takes their seat.
Another intuitive feature users will notice is the ability to
record the mouse cursor, which is critical for creating application
training. By selecting the Alt+Tab keys in the middle of a presentation
the user will automatically be taken to the application they want
to train users on. By clicking Alt+Tab again, the user will be
taken back to the same slide where they left off and the application
being demonstrated will be synchronized with that slide. Users
can even record a specific watermark to personalize their presentation
and choose hotkeys to start, stop, and pause the recording during
the presentation.
Here’s a quick tip. For best results, play the presentation
once in slideshow mode before using the PowerPoint add-in. This
allows the computer to cache the presentation in its memory. Regardless
of the computer’s processing power, the recorded presentation
will benefit.
After clicking OK, the user’s PowerPoint
presentation will start in slideshow mode and Camtasia Studio will
begin recording everything. If it’s a live presentation and
a question is asked, the presenter can pause the recording while
giving an answer or record the question and the answer, a practice
that’s very popular among educators.
Back
From Recording to Publishing to DVD
Aside from being very popular, the most common reasons that users
want to burn videos to DVD are usability, portability, and storage.
Since DVD is fast becoming the preferred video format for all kinds
of consumer applications, as well as computer peripherals, saving
videos to DVD makes good sense for storing and sharing them with
others.PC-created DVDs can be shown on other PCs that support DVD
or on consumer DVD players. Here are the requirements for saving
videos to DVD:
- In order to burn DVDs on a PC, users must have a DVD-RW drive
installed on their computer.
- In order to play DVDs on a PC, users must have a DVD drive
installed on their computer.
- In order to play DVDs on a TV, users must have a DVD player
hooked up to their television.
Examples of some DVD authoring and burning software include Ulead
DVD Movie Factory 3, Sonic MyDVD Studio 6, Roxio Easy Media Creator
7, and Nero 6.
Once the user is finished recording they will be prompted to save
any inking and highlighting and then save their presentation. For
people who use Tablet PCs, being able to record inking in real-time
is essential. It’s also a great way to take notes in a meeting
and record Q&A sessions.
If the Edit in Camtasia Studio when finished
option was selected, users will automatically be taken to the Camtasia
Studio for PowerPoint publishing wizard.
From the publishing wizard, users have various options. For this
purpose we’re going to select Produce your recording.
Users can also choose to edit their presentations further, add
more narration, additional transition, callouts, or even some background
music. They can also watch the presentation in Camtasia Player
to get a preview or click on the video tutorials link to watch
and listen to a narrated presentation on how to produce and edit
their presentation.
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