.mov | Glenn Ward

How to convert powerpoint presentations into video with free software

I have had a lot of requests for the best way and a simple solution for outputting a Powerpoint presentation to video and what are the limitations in doing so. A few suggestions I had heard in the past was using Picasa, Accoolsoft PPT or Slideshare, I didn’t have much luck with Picassa or Slideshare so I won’t write about them. Accoolsoft on the other hand produced some very nice results and even allowed you maintain transitions, animations with slides and to embed videos in the presentation.

Usually I would do this in the edit suite, PNG a deck of slides and time the transitions to a voice over, sometimes this is not necassary it merely needs to change slide every 5 or so seconds.

Doesn’t like fade to blacks on the video
Doesn’t like the when clicked option when embedding a video into a slide.
Doesn’t like embedded videos when things are deep on a drive.

Procedure

Homepage for the Acoolsoft PPT to Video software, Click add in the bottom left hand corner of the page.

Navigate to the PPT file you wish to convert to video

The PPT is added to the Que click Next to continue

Select the format for the video output file. Quicktime (.mov) is a generic format that will playback in quicktime free player.

Many other formats are available and the paid version of the software opens this up further.

You can also refine the settings for the output video as below.

Resolution = Frame size for the video
Encoder = Video codec
Frame rate = frames per second
Bitrate = increased bitrate improves quality but also increases file size.

Set the transition time between the slides

Advanced settings allows you to alter layout and add background music.

Select the location for the output video and click Start

Using Camtasia to Screen Capture / Record Video Tutorials

Despite pushing for Adobe Captivate we have installed Camtasia on the edit suites at work for screen capture and tutorial recording. I’m not disappointed though it does the job!

Firstly, the majority of recording the company will need to shoot will be on PC based software so we have bought the PC version and installed VMWare on the Macs. This should improve the workflow from recording to edit. The software is easy to set up and get started with, like most programs.

Load up Camtasia Studio and you will first be faced with an option screen. Choose screen recording.

A small window in the bottom right hand corner of the page will load. In this window you have options for Camera, Audio and Select Area.

Once you hit the record button the window is minimized to the tray and everything you do on screen or within your assigned area is recorded.

When you are done hit the Esc key or go down to the icon in the tray and click to reveal the stop option.

The recording is now in a ‘cache’ state and you now need to decide how you will save the file down.

Click the Save button in the bottom right corner of the window.

Save the files down as an AVI as we will not be editing the video in Camtasia Studio. Organise your clips well so you can quickly identify them and their order later.

Apple Quicktime removes the Mpeg2 playback component

Apple, what are you doin to me? QuickTime.. the one program I thought I could trust in the world of video. The program that I thought I could make play most videos has slowly been getting worse as apple moves their programs more towards the consumer market than the professional but this takes the buiscuit.

Why have you removed the MPEG2 playback component? I have hundreds of videos produced by the company and external agencies which now apparently are not movie files and it really messes up the playback of .tod files which up until a couple of weeks ago I played fine with the JVC Everio plugin.

Their is a solution! Apple will sell the MPeg2 playback component back to you for a bargain $19.99 but why? Who made this ridiculous decision to reduce the power of Apple programs! Come on let’s not turn into windows media player! Come to think of it, Powerpoint supports mpeg2 and no other mpeg codec.

Please ReTweet until someone at apple reads this.

Understanding the difference between Interlaced and Progressive scan video

When purchasing a video camera or choosing your project settings in your editing software you may come across the dimensions followed by an i or a p for example 1080i or 1080p. This stands for interlaced and progressive scan.

The difference between the two are as follows. If you imagine you video is built like a brick wall, in layers known as fields. In an interlaced video each field is offset not dissimilar to the brick wall. You have probably noticed this during moments of fast motion where you see lines like a comb at the edge of the moving subject.

Interlaced video should be deinterlaced for your final product. In Final Cut this is done by applying a deinterlace effect, in premiere pro it can be done as your send your media to Adobe Media Encoder.

Progressive scan video already has the fields aligned resulting in a much crisper image and less things to think about at edit. Be sure if you are working with progressive video not to deinterlace your video when you export it. It will reduce the quality.