The PowerPoint® Blog

I work with PowerPoint on a daily basis and I am very honored to be a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP. We have a talented team of presentation designers at TLC Creative Services and ThePowerPointBlog is our area to highlight PowerPoint tips, tricks, examples and tutorials. Enjoy! Troy Chollar

Woody Flies On This Slide

Marketing presentations for Pixar properties are always fun! In this slide, I was provided art from Toy Story 2 with the instructions to make it lively for the product introduction.
[youtube src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/-DZZsOXnu3A?rel=0″]

Here is the slide with is composed of 3 animated images:

Animation:
1. The background image (picture 7) is oversize and uses a short motion path to make the sky move as Woody flies by.
2. The first instance of Woody flying is the image on the right (picture 4), which uses a custom motion path.

3. Finally, Woody flies back and stops in the middle of the slide with a simple Fly In animation.

Note: Images for this presentation are provided by client and cannot be distributed (so the editable slide is not available, sorry).

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:05:21-07:00July 15th, 2011|Portfolio|

How Do I know if Service Pack 1 For Office 2010 is Installed?

There is a lot of confusion over the recent (and much anticipated) SP1 (Service Pack 1) for Office 2010. The install process was easy, but verifying it was installed has been a source of confusion.

Back with Office 2003, it was very easy and clear to know if a Service Pack was installed. Open PowerPoint, go to HELP and ABOUT and just read the first line of information:

But in Office 2010, that simple information is missing… Go to FILE >> HELP >> and in the right section is the install information – but where is the “SP1?”
(Before SP1 install)

(After SP1 install)

The answer is in the numbers. Thanks to PPT MVP Steve Rindsberg for figuring this out.
– Base build = 14.0.4760.1000
– Service Pack 1 = 14.0.6023.1000

The “6023” is the important number as it equals SP1. Now you know.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:06:10-07:00July 13th, 2011|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc|

What Version of Flash is Installed On My Computer?

Flash is still a major component of many projects. On a recent presentation that integrated Flash elements, I ran into a need to know exactly what version of the Flash Player was installed on each computer.

I use this website to instantly tell me exactly what version is installed (Click here to open):

Note: Firefox and Internet Explorer (IE) use separate installs of the Flash player. If you use Firefox as the default browser but a Flash app does not work, be sure to update Flash player through IE too as most applications access the IE player (like PowerPoint).

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:08:23-07:00July 11th, 2011|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Breaking Down Web Design

I read this explanation of how multifaceted web design has become –

“You have to realize that Web design is broken apart in several areas:

1. UI ‘Front end development’ (Which includes HTML, CSS, Photoshop, and some Jquery, Java Scrip and Flash elements, Etc….)

2. Web Programmer ‘Back End Development’ (Which includes PHP, Java Script, C#, CMS, Ajax, Apache, Ruby on Rails, Python, Etc…)

3. SEO Specialist ‘Search engine Optimization’ (Which includes Ad words, Blogging, Press releases, Forum Posting, Key word research, Meta Tagging, Etc…)”

That got me thinking how diverse “PowerPoint” is: speaker support presentations, kiosk presentations, learning modules, visual displays, etc. Each is a very different use of the PowerPoint application and each is really an expertise in itself.

Just something I was thinking about…

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:08:48-07:00July 9th, 2011|Resource/Misc|

The 2011 Presentation Summit

The Presentation Summit is most likely the largest gathering of PowerPoint users at a dedicated presentation-specific conference. I was also at the inaugural event (then called PPTLive) several years ago and have participated in some capacity every year since.

This September, the Summit is in Austin, TX and should prove to a be another fantastic event for the 250 lucky enough to attend.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:09:19-07:00July 7th, 2011|Resource/Misc|

2011 4th of July PowerPoint 16×9 Template

The 4th of July weekend was great! Lots of relaxing, time with family and grilling. This template is posted after the weekend, so everyone is very prepared for next year! This is a full featured 4th of July themed PowerPoint 2010 template that is setup for widescreen (16×9) presentations.

1 = Theme slide
2 = Title slide
3 = Content slide, and all standard layouts based on this one

Download the template here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2025-06-09T15:59:18-07:00July 5th, 2011|Templates/Assets|

Office 2010 SP1 Released

This week Microsoft released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Office 2010.

Service Packs are major updates, same as when software companies adjust a version number (eg. version 10, becomes 10.1). This Microsoft webpage has all the details. Here is the list of PowerPoint related fixes (paraphrased by me):

– Presenter View now defaults to showing the slide show on the secondary monitor.
– Animation preview fixes.– Mouse pointer does not disappear with extended desktop (multiple monitors) and slide show being viewed on second monitor
– “PowerPoint Viewer is now included with the Package for CD option.” Note: This is only a text edit in the Package for CD dialog, no new feature/fix/or improvement (thanks Echo and Steve for letting me know about this one).
– If an Excel object has VBA) code, fixes error messages when you try to edit it (which is mainly seen with the error message “Microsoft PowerPoint can’t start the application required to open this object. An error occurred and this feature is no longer functioning properly. Would you like to repair this feature now?”).
– Coding issue fixed which gives wrong Runs.Count value is returned when a PowerPoint 2003 format presentation runs a PowerPoint 2010 object model command.
– Fixes issue with audio or video media not playing in presentation that was created on Mac and played on Windows.
– Fixes issue where .emf image displays incorrectly when you save a slide as an Enhanced Windows Medafile (EMF) file which is then printed.
– Fixes issue in which a pen cannot persist through the Slide Show mode when you use the pen as a pointer.
– Fixes issue where default language change is not used on new slides or new presentations.
– Fixes issue where a linked image is not saved when you insert the linked image in a presentation, and then save the presentation an Open Document Format (ODF) file.
– Note: updates in Excel and office wide fixes are not listed here, but also work with PowerPoint.

SP1 is part of Microsoft Updates (if turned on), or a direct download link is on this Microsoft webpage.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:11:46-07:00July 1st, 2011|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc|

See You In July!

It’s summer time – and I would like to say this is what my days look like:

But the reality is a little of the above with some precious time with my kids during summer break and a lot of the below. Just lots of lists with design projects, new clients (yeah!), getting the new TLC Creative Services office building up and running, and more.

Get ready for July! There is a full month of blog posts almost all there and a list of blog post ideas I have been accumulating for awhile that will keep things going!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:12:19-07:00June 15th, 2011|Personal|

The Ultimate Presentation – Hot Wheels Secret Race

This is a real building (Customs House, Sydney, Australia) with a lot of incredible projection on it that was a live event (eg. not something created with great video editing). Maybe it is a hint to future meetings with no screen, but an entire building, theater or even the moon as the “screen”!
[youtube src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/wiSNuk3OvK8?rel=0″]

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-08-16T10:12:37-07:00June 10th, 2011|Resource/Misc|
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