For Adobe’s newborn Online Presentations on Acrobat.com Labs, a lot of details could be read thru Digital Inspiration’s first look: “Adobe Introduces Acrobat.com Presentations – Create Impressive Slides Online“. I’m definitely late for this big mashup from Adobe. But when I found out the truth on the experimental product, “oh my god”, it was not what I expect.

No connection to Microsoft PowerPoint slides just makes it a Flash-based slide designer toy. No sounds, no transitions, but Flash Video embedded? It’s immature. All the competitors from Google Docs, Zoho Show to ThinkFree have their right concept for users. I can’t believe that it’s our brother Adobe’s homework…

Last point, this toolkit just let you export slides as PDF? Oh, okay, it’s all about Acrobat. We know that now. More and more brilliant ideas are coming from our great Adobe Labs, but how about any serious evolution later?

Presentation Veteran
William Peterson

There is a famous PowerPoint called death by PowerPoint spread widely on the website. In this presentation, the author indicates that people do 30 presentations everyday but 50% of them are unbearable. Another data shows that in January 2008 alone, nearly 79 million users had made over 3 billion video views on YouTube, compared with PowerPoint presentation, video is easier for sharing and delivering. When searching news or information, we disposed to accept the videos because it is very concrete. But when we want to show our opinions we usually make a PowerPoint presentation because it is easier than making a video.

There are 5 ways for you to convert your PowerPoint to video.

1. Using Wondershare PPT to Video to convert PowerPoint to video with animations, transitions, sounds, video clips retained in the output.
2. Using windows movie maker to create a PowerPoint video if there are no dynamic elements in your computer.
3. Log in the slideshare.com and create a PowerPoint video online.
4. Using some screen recorder such as Camtasia to record your PowerPoint.
5. Make QuickTime movie on Mac.

Now there are the details of these 5 methods.

Part 1, using Wondershare PPT to Video to convert PowerPoint to video.

Wondershare PPT to Video can convert your PowerPoint presentations to WMV, MPEG, AVI, MP4, MOV and 3GP format. After the conversion, you can upload your PowerPoint to website like YouTube, your blog, Google video. You can also view your PowerPoint on iPhone, iPod, mobile phone and so on.

Follow the steps to convert your PowerPoint to video with Wondershare PPT to Video
Step 1, download PPT to Video and install it on your computer.
Step 2, launch the program, import your presentation to the program, (you can import 12 presentations at a time). Select the right format you need and start the conversion process.

Step 3, upload your presentations to the website or put it to your mobile sets.

Part 2, using Windows Movie Maker to create a PowerPoint video.

If you use Windows XP or vista, it’s free and it comes installed on your computer, if you don’t have this program, you can download it from Microsoft.com. If your presentation is created with text and pictures, Windows Movie Maker is the best choice for you.

Step 1, save your to PNG or JPG format. Just click the office button, save as, other formats, in the save as type drop-box, select PNG or JPG format.

Step 2, import pictures into Windows Movie Maker.
Step 3, select all the imported images and add them to Storyboard.

Step 4, add video effects to the slides if you want to make your video more lively.

Step 5, save the slide show as movie file.

The sounds, animations and transitions original in the PowerPoint will be lost totally. Maybe you need more information for learning how to use Windows Movie Maker, here is a nice guide for you. http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/moviemaker/a/mov_mak_beg.htm

Part 3, create a PowerPoint video online in sildeshare.net

Slideshare.net is a famous presentation sharing website. You can upload your presentation on this site then start the conversion process, after this, download your video to your computer. This is the easiest way to create a PowerPoint video, but you cannot add animations or sound in your PowerPoint.

Part 4, using Comtasia to record you presentation and create a PowerPoint video

Download Comtasia from http://www.techsmith.com and install it on your computer then follow the steps.

Step 1, save your PPT file as PPS file
Step 2, Set Camtasia studio to record the whole screen
Step 3, Play your PowerPoint PPS file and Press “F9″ to start recording the screen
Step 4, when you reach your last blank slide, Press F10 to tell Camtasia Recorder to stop recording. You will be prompted to save the captured slideshow, so choose a directory and enter a filename.
Step 5, save your capture in AVI format

Part 5, Make QuickTime movie on Mac

In PowerPoint, export your presentation as a QuickTime movie “PowerPoint Movie”, click File > Make movie. You can save your PowerPoint file to MOV file. The output is similar with Slideshare. It cannot retain the sounds and animations original in your presentations.
If you are using keynote, just export your presentation to QuickTime file directly.

Advantages and disadvantages:
If you want to retain the dynamic elements, without a doubt, PPT to Video is your choice. Windows Movie Maker and Slideshare.com can be conceded for those people who want to convert the presentation only include text and images in. Camtasia can record the screen and sound when your play your PowerPoint, but it is pay software and the price is $299.95. For Mac users, you can use the third and fifth method, I don’t know if there are some other programs which can convert PowerPoint to video with animations and sounds.

Internet gives us a convenient platform to share our knowledge world widely, and video has become more and more pop in the internet. I hope you can use these methods for sharing your presentation easily.

Rolling back to a year ago, right here I alleged that “Why Not Add YouTube Flash Video in Your Next PowerPoint Presentation“, as well as something more about rich media in presentation topics, such as “Best Practices for Playing and Controlling More in PowerPoint Presentations” or “Make Your Live Homepage in PowerPoint Slides. Maybe my old tips of YouTube video on PowerPoint is kinda obsolete now, and luckily Microsoft PowerPoint Team released its own illustrated tutorial on a blog post “How to insert that funny clip you found online“. Yeah, not late to learn more about this, as video sharing is still hot on the air.

Certainly the core technologies on this is simple, if you know Developer tab and Controls in PowerPoint. Something new I got, is now we can embed and play 720p HD (High Definition) YouTube video. It’s still easy to catch up: add “&ap=%2526fmt%3D22” at the end of the URL of the video file, making it look like “http://www.youtube.com/v/zlfKdbWwruY&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&ap=%2526fmt%3D22″. Enjoy our video sharing in every presentation!

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Keynote Remote lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch to control your presentation from anywhere in the room using Wi-Fi. See your slide with notes or both the current slide and the next slide in the palm of your hand. Just swipe to advance.

All we need is a tiny app for iPhone called Keynote Remote (¢99 on App Store). Now your iPhone can control your Keynote slides by going previous/next slide remotely via Wi-Fi network. It’s really simple to use, and its Note mode is greatly handy to help presenters recall any keynote points when presenting.

Such advanced feature is nice anyway, however, it could be better if the remote control is based on Bluetooth not Wi-Fi, as we know Wi-Fi is not easily available anywhere. Good luck!

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

How many times have you seen terrible PowerPoint presentations that use those horrible fly-in animations along with the unbearable screeching tires sound effect? That’s not a presentation—that’s a disaster….

Highly recommended for any PowerPoint users. The author Aaron Stannard is community outreach manager at SmartDraw, the world’s most popular business graphics software. But this article is not a product promotion for their smart PowerPoint integration with fantastic graphics. He indicated that, the systematic misuse of PowerPoint’s capabilities caused that well-known “Death by PowerPoint” syndrome around the world. And using PowerPoint animation wisely could make presenters out of trouble.

• Animation lets you present your ideas in a logical sequence, when done correctly.

• Animation helps your audience relate to an idea by focusing their attention on one point of order at a time.

• Animation builds up to your punch lines.

We’re making a public show for our business advancement, so we shouldn’t make business presentation boring anyway. That’s my idea.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Among those leaked Office 14 “alpha” screenshots and new feature rumors, I can’t find too much information about our PowerPoint baby. So how will Microsoft treat the leading presentation software in the world? Frankly speaking, Microsoft’s PowerPoint has changed little over the years, while competitor Apple’s Keynote coming with more improvements like “cinematic transitions”.

Right, SmartArt in PowerPoint 2007 is just sort of luxury accessories for a presentation. Microsoft should focus more classic elements like transitions, animations, since the ribbon and SmartArt are already well done. Hopefully Microsoft is working on kinda this, so no news about PowerPoint 14 yet.

The selection of presentation software is important, because we can easily tell the difference between PowerPoint and Keynote presentations. Intriguingly Microsoft shows a little interest in Web apps recently, and we can see these Web PowerPoint fantasies from last PDC weeks ago. Get all elements done in online editing of Web PowerPoint, better than those free services online to reveal your power, okay? This is my another request on our estimated PowerPoint 14 to Microsoft.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Maybe it’s somewhat off-topic to discuss this old problem at the 3rd time, as Flash is just an old-fashioned tool for Web development. However, most multimedia animations in current Web sites are built on Flash technology, so what I’m talking about is Web enhancement on mobile devices.

Nowadays those smartphones such as iPhone or BlackBerry provide us the better Web-based usabilities. If Java and Flash are perfectly supported on those devices, the mobile business could be boosted as an alternative to our desktops over Internet.

Days ago, in an interview with Bloomberg at the Davos, Adobe chief Shantanu Narayen mentioned this issue.

“It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating,” he says. “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

Since Flash Lite is too feature-limited, and standard Flash is kind of crash-maker, the balanced solution is not easy to implement. As an end user, I just want to surf the Internet on mobile as normal as I can do on any computer.

William Peterson

As I introduced before about Microsoft Certified PowerPoint Most Valuable Professionals (refer to my previous post Know Those PowerPoint MVPs to Help Yourself), who are really great PowerPoint professors and active contributors on presentation skills, the official Microsoft PowerPoint Team finally wrote something more (more than I knew at least) about those PowerPoint MVPs on its PowerPoint Team Blog.

PowerPoint’s Most Valued Professionals…

So how about PowerPoint’s MVPs?

PowerPoint’s MVPs are a great group, excellent folks who represent a diverse set of specialties and talents with the PowerPoint product. We have world-class designers, design consultants, writers, programmers, and some amazing feature hackers. A terrific, talented, and generous group of folks you really should get to know better.

Where Do Most Valuable Professionals Hang Out?

Sadly I’m not a PowerPoint MVP like them, because I’m not an active community member, and am totally a businessman. However, I appreciate Microsoft’s MVP program to reward these real helpers, for everyone.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Right, I’m a techie fan, and here I’d like to review these current technologies for teleconferencing, videoconferencing and Web conferencing.

1. Internet Teleconference, such as Skype
Internet telephony involves conducting a teleconference over the Internet or a Wide Area Network. One key technology in this area is Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). A lot of commercial VoIP networks available over the world, and Skype is the most popular one for personal and SME uses. Actually Skype offers a series of solution for business to start off such tele-conferencing soon.

One thing left, video conferencing is supported on Skype. And it’s usually my first place alternative for international calls.

2. Videoconference Impact on Education, Medicine and Business
No doubt videoconferencing could be sort of essentials on distance education, and also helps most doctors diagnose any complicated illness. And especially on business, it enables individuals in faraway places to have meetings on short notice. Time and money that used to be spent in traveling can be used to have short meetings. The technology is also used for telecommuting, in which employees work from home.

I ever tried such video conferencing on e-learning, and it works well. And it’s also widely used for any international conference on UN, or most multi-national enterprises.

3. The Boom of Web Conferencing Services
Web conferencing is not just the Internet version of teleconferencing or video conferencing, there’re some other typical advanced features here: slide show presentations, live or streaming video, VoIP, Web tours, meeting recording, whiteboard, text chat, polls and surveys, and screen sharing/desktop sharing/application sharing.

A lot of IT vendors provide Web conferencing service, including Adobe, IBM and Microsoft. But I still prefer another two services: Cisco’s WebEx (http://www.webex.com/) and Citrix’s GoToMeeting (http://www.gotomeeting.com/).

We really have more and more meetings to go, and technologies just make them cost-efficient with our brilliant ideas.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

I’m not a skilled Microsoft Project user, but I suddenly found this old add-in for Project 2003 terribly useful here. Basically, the installation drops a new toolbar within Project with a button labeled “Create Report Presentation…” and it allows you to select which milestones to show as well as which fields to include. Magically, now you get an auto-generated PowerPoint presentation with a slide dedicated to the project tasks. Maybe it’s a little out to use Office 2003, but I can’t find such good add-in with Office 2007. Whatever, it’s not bad trying this for just project leaders.

The Project Report Presentation Add-in for Microsoft Office Project 2003 helps a user to quickly and easily create a Microsoft Office PowerPoint presentation containing user-selected task information from Microsoft Office Project.

Download Office 2003 Add-in: Project Report Presentation Here > >

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran