Questions on Powerpoint

[MossRoad]

Don't know if it's practical or not but I would like to set up a laptop computer to run a Power-point slide show in the background. The presentation would actually be displayed on a remote, wall mounted 26" flat screen monitor that will be around 37' from the laptop itself. While the presentation is running I would also like to be able to use the laptop for other applications ie. email or web site surfing. Is this possible, and would I need any special hardware or software? Will the laptop itself require any special configurations or memory requirements to work without being to slow?

Keep in mind that I have yet to purchase the laptop, monitor, or connecting cables so I would appreciate any input so that the correct equipment can be purchased the 1st time around.......

THANKS in advance!

Most decend laptops are now capable of running an external monitor at the same time as the laptop display. I do this every day at work. Just extend my desktop to cover both monitors. The mouse moves back and forth between them and you can drag any program to the other monitor or half way or whatever fits your needs. So, I would drag the Power Point presentation to the other monitor, maximize it and it will automatically fill the second monitor. I have a 50' VGA cable that works fine for this. I can plug it into the second monitor, projector or video input for our in-house cable TV distribution system and away I go. I can work on my laptop screen while the Power Point program runs on the other monitor.

The only thing you would have to worry about is the length of the cable and some signal loss. But I can tell you that I have been running several machines with remote monitors on cheap, crummy, inexpensive VGA cables with no problems whatsoever for 10 or more years. It should work fine.

 

[rswyan]

Now all I need to figure out is how to put a presentation on a CD-R

Mike,

I think what you actually need to do is create a DVD-Video (a format) on a DVD-R (aka DVD-Recordable, the physical disc or medium) - since your player will probably not play a DVD-Video which is recorded on a CD-R. (Desktop computers can play a DVD-Video recorded on CD-R, set-top DVD boxes usually can't)

Basically what you need to do is gather up your photos, decide the duration that you want each to appear, decide whether you want them to be static images or whether you want some zooming or panning across the images to create some motion (video that doesn't move or have any motion isn't real interesting - viewers' attention spans tend to be real short), decide if you want transitions (dissolves, etc.) or just cuts from one image to another and you need to decide if you want any background music.

Then you incorporate all the elements and "author" (or create) a movie in a program designed to do that. Personally I use Adobe After Effects.

Your movie will need to be compressed using MPEG-2, which is the format DVD's use. The audio should be compressed and encoded to Dolby Digital AC-3.

Then you take the compressed movie and import it into a DVD-Authoring program (I use DVD Studio Pro) and "build" a DVD-Video. Once the program is built, it needs to be burned onto a DVD-R disc using a burning program - personally I use Toast, but there are others.

 

[RFB]

And rswyan's post is why I suggested the MacBook Pro.

I have been a PC user since 286's with 20mb hard drives. This year I switched/added the MacBook Pro.

Mac excells at video composition (and all other artsy graphics, music and photo type stuff).

No computer is perfect, but the MacBook Pro is a signifcant step in having a multiple-use tool that solves the PC or Mac question. With the Parallels program installed, it is like having 2 notebooks in one, with no "stalls" running a Windows program on one side (like Power Point), while using the creativity and stability of the Mac on the other side.

 

[PineRidge]

Mike,

I think what you actually need to do is create a DVD-Video (a format) on a DVD-R (aka DVD-Recordable, the physical disc or medium) - since your player will probably not play a DVD-Video which is recorded on a CD-R. (Desktop computers can play a DVD-Video recorded on CD-R, set-top DVD boxes usually can't)

Basically what you need to do is gather up your photos, decide the duration that you want each to appear, decide whether you want them to be static images or whether you want some zooming or panning across the images to create some motion (video that doesn't move or have any motion isn't real interesting - viewers' attention spans tend to be real short), decide if you want transitions (dissolves, etc.) or just cuts from one image to another and you need to decide if you want any background music.

Then you incorporate all the elements and "author" (or create) a movie in a program designed to do that. Personally I use Adobe After Effects.

Your movie will need to be compressed using MPEG-2, which is the format DVD's use. The audio should be compressed and encoded to Dolby Digital AC-3.

Then you take the compressed movie and import it into a DVD-Authoring program (I use DVD Studio Pro) and "build" a DVD-Video. Once the program is built, it needs to be burned onto a DVD-R disc using a burning program - personally I use Toast, but there are others.

So Randy, do you think you can educate me enough that I might do this thing on my own or would it be simpler if I let my graphic artist guy (you) do it?

 

[MikePA]

If all you're doing is displaying photos, then there's a better product. Slide Show To Go handles photos, transitions, captions, creating standalone executables, continous playing, etc. much better than Powerpoint. It will also create a DVD or a CD. Forget Powerpoint for photos and no need for a graphic artist. Read all the photos into SSTG, select the transition between slides (or select random), select how long each slide stays on the screen, add text to photos (if needed), add sound, etc. All for $24.95. Much, much easier than PowerPoint. No muss, no fuss.

 

[PineRidge]

Mike I would actually like to display our web site HTML pages with graphics.

 

[MikePA]

Mike I would actually like to display our web site HTML pages with graphics.

All the pages in your website? If it's just a few (20, 30, ????), you could screen print them and create separate pictures for each screenshot.

 

[rswyan]

So Randy, do you think you can educate me enough that I might do this thing on my own

Mike,

What software tools do you have access to ? And do you do you a DVD recorder ?

How many images are we talking about ?

or would it be simpler if I let my graphic artist guy (you) do it?

I'm sure that it would be simpler for you.

I've done it long enough to be intimately familiar with the process.

 

[rswyan]

If all you're doing is displaying photos, then there's a better product. Slide Show To Go handles photos, transitions, captions, creating standalone executables, continous playing, etc. much better than Powerpoint. It will also create a DVD or a CD. Forget Powerpoint for photos Read all the photos into SSTG, select the transition between slides (or select random), select how long each slide stays on the screen, add text to photos (if needed), add sound, etc. All for $24.95. Much, much easier than PowerPoint. No muss, no fuss.

MikePA,

I would concur on avoiding the use of PowerPoint, to be sure. I can't speak to SSTG ... never used it myself.

and no need for a graphic artist.

Errr .... well ...... I guess that depends ...... if all you're looking to do just is display photos ..... then yeah, probably.

If you actually want a professional looking end product then ...... maybe .... depends on alot of things ....... including the graphic talents of the individual involved, what tools he he access to, ........ and his familiarity of the technical details of the medium.

I'm not saying that an individual can't produce a good-looking product ..... but then I'm sure that you aren't saying that an experienced professional brings nothing to the party either.

Being able to run a program doesn't necessarily mean one is able to design.

 

[MikePA]

No offense intended.

I was going by Mike's requirement, "The TV can be connected to the DVD player and constantly show web pages via Power-point for items that we offer."

I assumed this implied static screen shots of content of their web site, e.g., pictures of items for sale, description, price, etc., in a continous loop. The only 'problem' with this is it's static content. When something is sold, the DVD would have to be recreated.

The other issue I see is the pages on the web site that show items for sale require the person to page down to see both the description and the item for sale, Click Here. I'd think it'd best to have everything on one screen. Actually, that might be a good change to the web site.

I've attached a zip file that contains a 'quick and dirty' Slide Show To Go executable. All I did was a couple screen prints, cropped the browser parts of the screen print out, pulled them into SSTG, selected all the pictures, and applied random transitions, show each slide for 10 seconds.