PowerPoint and Presentation News - Issue 046

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Giveaways for Everyone

By being subscribed to this ezine, you are eligible to win!

Everyone can download free PowerPoint templates now at Indezine!

I also announced my new Digital Dots collection at Ppted. I'm giving away two free copies of the collection - you might be the lucky one and receive the giveaway in your mailbox!

Now about prizes given away - congratulations to the winners!

Jim Carelas and Sharon Reid won copies of PowerPoint streaming video solutions from StreamPresentations.com - thank you, Jim Roach.

Sharon Freeding and Pauline Shaw won copies of Above & Beyond's Ten Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint product - thank you, Joanna Biggs.

Jayesh Unadkat and Chris Fogle won copies of Ars Media's Photoshop to PowerPoint add-in - thank you, Vladimir Zecevic.

PowerPoint Notes & Blog through RSS, Atom

PowerPoint Notes was launched this month as a repository of tips, ideas, techniques or just thoughts on using PowerPoint. New content is made available on an almost daily basis - and the best part is that the entire PowerPoint Notes section is available through a web-feed through RSS and Atom.

Incidentally, the entire PowerPoint Blog is also available through web feeds now.

PowerPoint and Video Part V

Read the full PowerPoint and Video article here.

Full Screen Videos

PowerPoint 2003 allows playing of full screen videos in a presentation:

1. Right-click the video object and choose Edit Movie Object option.
2. Check the option that reads Zoom to full screen.

You'll also find options to loop the movie or rewind it after playing within this dialog box.

The DVD Factor

Playback of DVD content is an often requested feature for PowerPoint that is not natively possible. A third party product from Visible Light called Onstage DVD for PowerPoint allows you insert and play DVD content within PowerPoint:

Visible Light OnStage DVD for PowerPoint

Between the Mac and Windows

Not surprisingly, PowerPoint on the Mac has no problems playing any type of QuickTime movie since that format is native to the Mac OS. However, this can create problems if the presentation is ported from the Mac to the Windows version of PowerPoint - and this is something that happens all the time.

Luckily, PowerPoint 2004 for the Mac ships with a Compatibility Wizard that undertakes what one would term pre-flighting in the print world. Unfortunately, no such equivalent wizard is available in PowerPoint for Windows.

Video Editing with Windows Movie Maker

You might want to explore Windows Movie Maker, a video editing application that is part of Windows to do basic video edits like adding credits to video or inserting transitions between different video clips.

Windows Movie Maker can only export to the WMV format which PowerPoint has no problem accepting.

Copyright Implications

There's one factor that can never be stressed enough and that's about copyright. Never assume that you can use a video clip in a presentation if it is not yours or licensed to you. To use a video clip that is or contains copyrighted work, you need to receive explicit permission from the owner of that content in writing.

Running Smooth Videos

What do you do if your video clips don't run too well within PowerPoint? Videos do require more system resources than most other media and some steps can go a long way in helping you run smoother videos. Here's some help - do remember that you don't have to follow every idea listed here. Some ideas are from my friend, TAJ Simmons.

1. Don't run any programs in the background that can be avoided - these include instant messengers, camera or webcam software, your PDA connectivity application, etc. Also, it's a good idea to disable your screen saver.
2. Close all open programs except PowerPoint.
3. Defrag your hard disk often so that it can function optimally.
4. Upgrade your video RAM - also upgrade your system RAM if possible.
5. Make the next 'event' in PowerPoint something very simple - you don't want PowerPoint trying to assemble a "zoom" bitmap while it's trying to play the video.
6. Right-click the movie within the slide, choose the Edit Movie Object option and check the option Hide while not playing in the Movie Options dialog box.
7. If you are creating your own video files, try making them "fade from black" in the actual video file since it helps to hide the fact that PowerPoint often stutters before playing the video file.

This concludes the PowerPoint and Video series.

Special Offer for PowerPlugs for Excel

Many PowerPoint users also use Excel - that's why here's a special offer for all Indezine subscribers from CrystalGraphics.

Whether you are a CEO or an office manager – or anything in between – managing your area of responsibility can be tough! In addition to all the people issues and endless decisions, there are business plans and budgets to create, as well as inventory logs, credit applications, reports, analyses, commission plans, evaluations and so much more to write up.

They're all important. So they have to be done accurately and look professional, too. But there is never enough time to do it all. So what's a manager to do? Would intelligent templates help?

The entire Excel solutions combo retails normally for US$694 - but for a limited time, you can get for US$299 - just use the promo code "EXCEL".

News & Content

Read the PowerPoint Blog here. The PowerPoint Blog now includes the Atom syndication service so that you can use an Atom compatible newsreader to read all postings.

Events & Seminars

PowerPoint Live
October 10 to 13, 2004, San Diego, California, USA
Rick Altman, R Altman Digital Consulting
PPT Live

Credits

During the preparation of this issue of the PowerPoint Ezine, I received assistance, content or feedback from Jim Roach, Joanna Biggs and Vladimir Zecevic (all in alphabetical order). I would like to use this platform to thank them for their help.