Thursday, September 27, 2012

PREPARING POWERPOINT SLIDES


Microsoft PowerPoint is an interesting and useful program that is widely used to prepare slideshows for Public Seminars and Presentations.  It is a software component of the integrated package by Microsoft for the Office which include; Ms Word, Ms Excel, Ms Access, Ms Outlook and sometimes includes Ms FrontPage & Ms Publisher.  Have them installed and get your hands on them. 

From an Artistic Perspective, individuals cannot easily understand theories alone for hours but can obtain much more within minutes or even seconds, with the use of Visual Presentations backing Theory. 

PowerPoint can solve the Problem in terms of communication technology for everyone. There are complicated and sophisticated methods for such; however the simplest and most commonly used method which has being used almost everywhere and anywhere in the world during Public Presentations & Seminars was the use of PowerPoint applications for seminars.

For this tutorial, you are going to do a Project that will help you learn the basics of laying out your PowerPoint slides for a presentation and further manipulate the slideshows by applying Animation Schemes and Custom Animations to your slideshows.  Versions 2000 & 2005 of PowerPoint would be used in this tutorial. 

Now, Let's Get Started;
Launch PowerPoint (Start the Program)
Go to;  Start > Programs > Microsoft PowerPoint  (See Illustration on the left)
* Left - Mouse click on the PowerPoint Icon to start Microsoft PowerPoint.
Once the Program is open, you’ll find a window similar to the one below.
 

Select one of the slide layouts that suit your requirement to begin your preparation. 


You will find that there are different layout options available for you to choose from. A basic one would be the blank slide.  You can always add text box wherever and whenever you  want to include texts or even insert images and Media Clips into your slides later on.  



3.0 THE MAIN/ MAJOR FUNCTIONS

There are (7) seven Major Functions of PowerPoint Document, which you can find on the Main Menu.  The Functions have their Sub and Sub-sub functions as well.  The Seven Major functions are shown on the diagram below which, Include; File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tool &, Slide Show 

3.1 File Menu:

File menu contains sub functions that manages your file.  It is where you create your new file, open an existing file or close your file. You have the option to save your file, save as a different name and even save for the web. You further have the print preview option to preview your work before you actually print them.  You can adjust settings of your page in the page setup sub function to either landscape or portrait formats, change the margins and it is where you exit/close the window. (See figure 1)


3.2 Edit Menu: 
This function gives you the option to amend your work.  You have the undo & redo functions that take you back to the previous action and to your current.  There is also the cut, copy  and paste function, which enables you to quickly duplicate texts or images etc instead of repeatedly typing or inserting the whole thing again.  If you have made a mistake by inserting a slide somewhere, you can use the delete slide sub function to get rid of it.  You might want to find a particular slide and this is when you use the Find sub function to quickly browse it up.  You have also other sub functions, which you can use to amend you presentation. (See figure 2
 
The View menu function contains sub functions that you can use to view your presentation.  Everything to do with viewing of your presentation or slide, you will find them in this menu.  If you want to use rulers or show certain toolbars, zooming in/ out or add header/footer, you can use this   menu to help.  (See figure 3

3.4 Format Menu: 

Format menu is where you find several sub functions to layout your presentation.  To change your font, its style and its size, add bullets & numbering, you can use this menu.  You may want to use a specific slide layout and then apply color schemes to them,  apply background and even apply design templates to your presentation.  There are other sub functions too, like the alignment; line spacing and changing case and all of this can be found in the format menu.  (See figure 4)  
 
3.5 Tools Menu:
 
This menu contains sub functions that act as tools to your presentation.  When you have done all your typing and are ready to animate your presentation, you can go to the sub function option “Spelling” to check for spelling errors.  There is an online collaboration sub function, which won’t be used often, however you have the customize sub function for you to modify certain icons/ commands of your window. 

 
There is also the option sub function, which gives you another option to your presentation.   (See figure 5)

3.6 Slideshow Menu:  
This is the menu where all the interesting part of the presentation creeps in.  The first sub function “View Show” gives you the outcome of your design.  You can broadcast a presentation to other users on your network that can include slides, audio and video for them to use. For this a web browser is normally used. You can also set up a show whether full screen, all slides, with/ without animation etc..  You may want to use the Preset Animation for the presentation or use the Custom Animation function to manipulate the outcome of your slides.  The Slide Transition are the transitional effects that appear before or after every slide during presentation.  You can use this to assign your slide transitions.  There are also action buttons, which you can add to your presentation to give some interactivity. (See figure 6

 As mentioned in our introduction on page one, you are going to do a tutorial project together, which will guide you into designing your own slideshow afterwards.

- Create a two-page presentation of your tutorial exercise. Follow the instructions.  The provided diagrams will help you do it step by step.  Good Luck and Enjoy!!

4.1: Create a New Blank Presentation & select a blank page/ blank layout. – See Ilustration 4.1 below);

On the outline column of the first slide, type in “TUTORIAL EXERCISE” in caps as your Title
(see illustration 4.2a above).

 Insert an image from the file or from the clip art.(Diagrams provided)  First, Click 
First Click on the empty slide /sheet;
Then, Go to; 
- Insert > Picture > From Clip Art/ From File  (figure below)

[A pop-up menu appears  (figure below)] – Locate your image and click the insert button.
The image is now inserted onto your slide.

4.2: Now go back to the outline column of the first slide, click there and press “ENTER”.  This will create the second slide.  (see figure  below)

Insert any two images from file or from the clip art. (Diagrams provided)
• Click on the empty slide /sheet;
• Then Go to;

* Insert > Picture > From Clip Art/ From File  
** Do this twice for each image
 
Let’s add a line of sentence to make it interesting; 
Add caption

On the outline column of the second slide, type “On my first tutorial, I was thought on how to prepare a slideshow for my PowerPoint presentation.” 

Reduce the font size to 30 points.  (see figure above)

4.3: Now let’s animate these slides.  The command functions for these are all in the Slide Show Menu of the
Main Menu.  We begin by animating each slide and then we will add the slide transitions.

 First, you select a slide show;
• Now Go to; Slide show > Custom Animation (see figure 4.3A)
In Custom Animation Menu, you’ll find several options.  Look at where it reads, Order & Timings, Effects, Chart
Effects and Multimedia Settings. This is where you configure your slide and apply its animation settings.  You
must select or Check a slide object before you animate it.  You can also preview the settings before actually
applying it.  Once you’re satisfied, click O.K. Do the same for the rest.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Inserting Video using Dreamweaver [Part 1]

A number of people requested me to show them how to insert videos onto their web pages using Adobe Dreamweaver.  This tutorial is specifically for them.  I am going to use Version CS 5.5 of Dreamweaver in this tutorial.  Please, follow along either with this version (Demo Version can be downloaded from the internet, via adobe’s website) or you can also use the earlier versions, which are also similar. In this tutorial, I will show both approaches using tables and divs.  The first part (this document) is just a basic approach where I will be using basic html to accomplish whilst the second part (Part 2 of this tutorial) is kind of intermediate in which I will demonstrate using xhtml and CSS.  Also in the second part, I am going to switch between the design and code views.  That part is just a modification of what would be created in this tutorial (Part 1).  I am going to show how you could replace tables with divs and control those divs in CSS. By the way, I assume that whoever reads this tutorial has a fair knowledge of Dreamweaver and basic html coding.  If you are new, look out for my other tutorial on the introduction of Dreamweaver, a brief overview of the workspace and it’s interface and also Html Basics, another introductory tutorial on HTML.

The video which I will be using is a sample video from the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System.  

By the way, if you want to download the PDF version of this tutorial, please visit my website ArTech and download from there.

1.0: Creating the page. 
Let’s create a blank html page 
STEPS: 

From the Screen, under “Create New” click HTML (outlined in red) 


This will create a new blank HTML page 


2.0: Adding a table 

Now create a table to hold the video file 

STEPS: 
2.1 Go to insert > Table 


2.2  Modify the table setting accordingly and click OK 


2.3  Align the Table to Centre using the properties panel 
While the table is still selected, align it to centre.  Click the drop-down tab of align option and set it to centre.  This will centre the table.


2.4  Once the table is centred, left-mouse click inside the table cell.


You’re set to add video now so the next few steps will show you how to add video. 

IMPORTANT: 
In order for you to proceed to the next step, you should make sure you have a compatible video file available and I mean a video file with format .FLV.  If you don’t have one yet, I recommend you read my other tutorial on Converting video formats to FLV. 

3.0: Inserting Video 
So you have a valid .flv video?
You also have your page saved ready to insert video.

 STEPS: 
3.1   Go to Insert > (down to) Media > (across to) FLV 


3.2  Adjusting Settings

Choose based on setting; 
Video type:Progressive Download Video 
URL:Click the browse button to locate your video (FLV format) 
Skin:Select from a range of skins provided.   
This will be the play controllers for the video on your pages. 
Width & Height: Click Detect Size.  (Do this after selecting your file via the URL
option)  
Auto play: For the video to automatically play when the page loads.  Else,
leave it unchecked so the user can play it themself. 
Auto Rewind:  For the video to automatically go to the beginning once completed. 
Else leave it blank.

NOTE:
It is best to leave the last two; 
Auto play and Auto rewind, unchecked.

 4.0: Testing the Video 
Test the video to make sure it works in the browser.

4.1  Preview in Browser
Within the workarea,click the Preview/ Debug in Browser icon and preview that in your browser.

4.2  Play Video
Use the Controls to test the video and sound. 



Well, that’s it.  That’s the END of Part 1 and I hope you’ve learnt something here.

 There are also video versions of all tutorials which are very interactive / informing and if you
would like to know more about those, please contact me on email tribaltoonsATgmailDOTcom
  
ENJOY 
Another tutorial by ArTech

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Convert Videos to FLV Format - Media Encoder

In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to convert your video footages into the FLV format so you can use it on your web pages.  This tutorial can be used along with my other tutorials to set up your videos for your online pages.   I will be using Adobe Encore CS4 in this tutorial and I’ll be demonstrating on Windows XP.  Please, follow along either with this version (Demo Version can be downloaded from the internet, via Adobe’s website) or if you have later versions, you can also use that since there won’t be much difference.  

Starting Adobe Media Encoder CS4
  
Go to Start > Programs > (locate the Adobe Folder) > Locate Adobe Media Encoder CS4 

This will start Adobe Media Encoder C4
 

Select Video source

Once the program is open, the next task is to bring in a video file to convert.  We can use any video formats based on the formats accepted by Adobe Media Encoder.  Most of the common formats are compatible so that shouldn’t be a problem with a lot of the common raw formats.

·         Click the Add button to bring in the video

 

Select the Destination 
From pop-up window, locate your video file.  Once you locate it, Select it (click on it) then click the Open button to bring the video file into Adobe Media Encoder. 

Choosing Format 
Now, under the Format option, select FLV | F4V format from the drop-down lists.
 

Adjusting Preset Settings


For the preset settings, choose a medium format if you wish to embed it onto a page that would load at a reasonable speed for most users.  Otherwise, you can leave it to its default setting as initially set automatically. 

Specify Destination for Output 

Click the Output File option to set the destination where your file would be saved.  Click on the orange text.  This will bring up a pop-up dialogue window where you can select your output folder. Click on Save once you’ve selected the location

 Converting VIdeo 
Once you have adjusted the necessary settings, Click the Start Queue button to start rendering your video to the selected format.
 

It should take some time depending on the size of your video.

Well, that brings us to the end of this tutorial.  I hope you’ve learnt something useful. 

There are also video versions of all tutorials which are very interactive / informing so if you would like to know more about those, please contact me on email tribaltoonsATgmailDOTcom 

ENJOY 

Another tutorial by http://www.artech.com.pg/