New Podcast Released Today!
Take a listen to the latest Presentation Podcast, “Presentation Software; Setup, Best Practices, Tips & Tricks.” Episode 4 at The Presentation Podcast!
How Do You Proof a Presentation…?
Developing a great presentation involves a lot of communication between designer and presenter. There are lots of options for supplying a proof to a client and receiving feedback and direction on content – some proofing rounds and processes are good, some hinder.
On The Presentation Podcast, a recent episode was all about design studios sending proofs of presentations from clients, listen to it here.
Here is a quick overview of the 4 most common options for providing a proof:
- PDFs are easy to create directly from PowerPoint, are easy to email, are mobile device friendly and have a great built-in commenting function. But they are static, so transitions, animation and video are not seen.
- Video is also easy to export directly from PowerPoint and show all animations, transitions, custom fonts, etc. The downside is that the files can be large and there is not an easy way to provide feedback/comments.
- Sending an editable PowerPoint file is the easiest option. The biggest concern is version control (who is working and minor items like custom fonts, client changes not being caught [for design, file size, etc.]) and ensuring what was designed is what is being seen.
- Co-authoring and collaboration, which can be the built-in Office 2016 feature or an external program, have improved to the point of being a valid solution. But I find the most common issue is scheduling – designer and client having same time available to “meet” can be difficult.
The next few posts are going to demo some of the online proofing tools TLC Creative has been using.
-Troy @ TLC
New Podcast Today!- How, and When, To Hire a Presentation Design Professional
This is the 1st Tuesday of April and Episode #3 is now live at The Presentation Podcast! Check out the show notes and subscribe on iTunes to listen in.
-Troy @ TLC
NEW Podcast on Presentation Design!!
Yes! It’s true! You can now hear me and other Presentation Design professionals on a new Podcast entitled The Presentation Podcast! New episodes will be available 2 times a month and we’ll cover different topics each week!
I am constantly listening to Podcasts, so I am extremely excited about the opportunity to put together a new Podcast specific to the presentation industry. The hosts are Nolan Haims, Sandra Johnson and Myself. We will have discussions all about presentation design, best practices, running a design studio, tips & tricks and lots more so be sure to tune in!
Add The Presentation Podcast to your iTunes Podcasts and join us for the fun!
-Troy @ TLC
HD, 2k,4k, 8k Resolution Guide
Living in the digital era isn’t always easy. It is difficult to keep up with aspect ratio and resolution for PowerPoint Presentations. Here is a quick reference beyond this modern marvel of technology:
Why is it called 2K-4K-8K?
An easy way to know what to call a resolution is to look only at the horizontal pixel count. 2K, 4K, 8K, etc. all refer to the horizontal resolution – approximately that number.
Note: For this post, all resolutions referenced are for 16×9 aspect ratio displays (with the exception of 2K).
HD (1920×1080)
HD, or High Definition, is used for two resolutions 1280×720 or 1920×1080. These are commonly referred to as 720p or 1080p (see this post that explains “P” and “I”). I am going to refer to 1080p as HD.
2K
HD, or High Definition, almost 2K, but not quite. 2K resolution is 2048×1080. It is a long story why computer displays did not just go with 2K, we’ll save that for another post. But needless to say, true 2K resolution is not used a lot in an HD world.
4K
Like HD, 4K is actually 2 different resolutions depending on the context. The resolution we use for PowerPoint resolution and 4K monitors is called UHDTV 4K @ 3840 x 2160 pixels. The film industry will use 4096 x 2160 pixels, but this is not a 16×9 aspect ratio so it is not a part of this discussion and something you will most likely never use.
8K
Yes, I am skipping 6K (noted below), because 8K is the next industry standard, also called UHDTV 8K @ 7680 x 4320 pixels. This is a lot of pixels and yes we design presentations for beyond 8K projection!
6K, 10K, 12K and beyond are all resolutions, but they are not industry standards. Here is a quick list of resolutions, that includes them for reference.
HD = 1920×1080
2K = 2048×1080
4K = 3840×2160
5K = 5120×2880
6K = 6144×3160
8K = 7680×4320
10K = 10328×7760
Yes, PowerPoint can handle any of these resolutions. It is not so much a question of can PowerPoint handle a high resolution as it is can the computer and monitor/projector handle the high resolution. In addition, many stage events we develop presentations for use an array of side-by-side projectors to create a custom resolution. Usually, it is an array of HD, 1920×1080, projectors, so (and I am simplifying the details) a 4 projector wide setup will create an 8K wide by HD height image. TLC then creates a custom PowerPoint for the 7680 x 1080 pixel resolution, which we generically refer to as “Ultrawide Presentations.”
Industry Standard Resolutions in 1 Chart
-Troy @ TLC
Download Streaming Videos using Keepvid.com
Keepvid.com allows you to download streaming videos from of a variety of websites, including YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and more. The process is quick, easy and very convenient.
A video version of this process is below.
1
To get started, you must first make sure that Java is enabled. According to keepvid.com/help, Java is sometimes required to fetch download links.
2
Find the video that you want to download, copy the link – URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to your video and paste it in the field to the left of the Download button.
3
A list of links to your video file will appear on the bottom of the page in various sizes and formats.
Formats to select from include Video formats: MP4, FLV, 3GP, WebM and Audio Formats: M4A, MP3.
Click on the actual link for your specific format and size to simply save the video file.
4
You now have the video (in the format of your choice) downloaded onto your computer!
– Troy @ TLC
[KGVID]https://thepowerpointblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/unnamed-file-3.mp4[/KGVID]
(Note: This an updated post. Original post 05/07/2014)
I’m sure you’re aware of the legalities over Copyright Infringement. Download videos that are not yours at your own risk.
Introduction to AudioBlocks
AudioBlocks.com is a great resource that TLC Creative Services uses often we’re looking for sound to put in a presentation. Audioblocks is a sister company/service to Videoblocks which we reviewed in the previous post.
AudioBlocks is a subscription service (i.e. Annual fee) and you get unlimited downloads. The entire audio library is royalty-free so you can legally download and use sounds in both commercial and personal projects, without having to pay any additional fees. The library has over 100,000 sound effects, loops and music and adds new clips continuously.
Clips are available in MP3 and WAV file formats.
A really good option is that the Search feature can be filtered by keyword or style. Searches can be filtered by music, SFX or loops. My favorite search option is by duration to further focus the results. Additional search filters are by Music category, genre, mood, and even instruments. Daetona did a sample search for polka music and found 21 results (that’s a lot of Polka!). The duration of clips ranged from 00:11 seconds to 03:23, and if I needed just a short clip, the duration filter would even further focus the results.
TLC Creative has been using AudioBlocks’ online subscription since it launched a few years ago. We were even a customer of their CD-ROM collections before that. The lowest price I have found for an annual subscription is currently $99/year. A less valuable monthly subscription is also available for $79.
-Troy @ TLC
Introduction to VideoBlocks
Presentations often feature videos. But where can designers get quality videos? VideoBlocks.com is a subscription-based site with unlimited downloads from a library of professional stock video footage. TLC Creative Services has used VideoBlocks for several years, going back to purchasing DVDs from their pre-online business.
VideoBlocks has an in-depth library with over 115,000 studio-quality videos, motion backgrounds and after effects clips. Additional videos are added every month. VideoBlocks members have two download options – videos included in the subscription (great value) or videos from an a la carte Global Marketplace where professional videos are uploaded and sold individually (average $49 per video).
In addition to variety (more on that in a moment), quality and value, one thing that distinguishes VideoBlocks from their competitors is their royalty free permissions on all videos (at least those in the subscription library). Videos are pretty much permitted to be used for any project, with any level of distribution and they include global usage rights. Other VideoBlocks customers include big companies like ABC, MTV, and even National Geographic, so we are in good company!
For variety, my sample search for puppies gave me over 27K results! That broke down to 65 videos in the free Unlimited Library and 27,000 in the a la carte Marketplace. Sixty-five puppy videos is a good result AND I found the perfect one for my presentation.
The search can be filtered only to show videos included in the subscription library or to include those available in the Global Marketplace. It can also be filtered by category or resolution (more on this in a moment). In addition, VideoBlocks has 15 preset categories that range from Business and Professions to Holidays and Celebrations. All in all, the TLC Creative Design Team has little trouble using the search options to find a video clip suitable for their presentations.
MP4 and MOV file formats are available for all video clips. Resolution sizes vary from SD 480p to full HD 1080p but almost all videos are 1080p. You can also look under the “Red Camera” category for a good selection of 4K resolution videos.
After a quick search on the site, I found that a one-year subscription is currently $149. The subscription price is a huge value and something TLC Creative has renewed annually for several years so we always have a video resource for our projects. They also have specials a few times per year that drop the price to $99. And you will be locked in at that special rate for renewals. I asked and received a referral link that will get anyone a $50 discount. Click here to bring the current price down to $99 a year!
-Troy @ TLC
Interlaced vs Progressive with Powerpoint
When it comes to exporting video in PowerPoint, or any other program, there are many factors that play a role in the final quality.
One of those factors is the concept of interlaced or progressive.
All PowerPoint videos export as progressive, but why?
In order to understand the answer, we first need to know what progressive vs. interlaced really means.
Here is the simple explanation:
- Interlaced is sending half the picture in 1 frame and the other half in the next frame. When done fast enough, the human eye sees a full picture.
- Progressive is sending the entire picture on every frame.
Interlaced video was made popular with television and over the air TV transmission (in the dark ages, before Cable TV). Interlaced video sends half the data and bandwidth, so it made TV signal transmission easier. For video editors, it made digital editing and processing faster because you were working with half the amount of data.
With current technologies of HD and beyond, computer monitors, television monitors and projectors, the idea of interlaced (or 1/2 quality) video is virtually a thing of the past. So 720p and 1080p stand for “progress video” at that resolution. 720i & 1080i means the video is interlaced at that resolution. If there is not an “i” or “p” after the resolution it is assumed to be progressive “p.”
Because progressive video has more data than interlaced video (entire picture in each frame vs. half the picture in each frame), it appears sharper and richer in color.
Progressive
This technique, however, is not ideal for broadcasting, due to the amount of data that needs to be transmitted. This brings us to Interlaced video. For the most part, interlaced video is used by TV broadcasters. It outputs from two adjacent frames one after the other, blending odd and even lines to form each image.
Interlaced
Quite a difference, right? To answer the original question “Is all PowerPoint video progressive?” – the answer is yes. PowerPoint’s video export only has profiles for progressive video, with 3 different resolution options. There is no practical need for interlaced video on any computer playback. If you are sourcing a video for a presentation and one of the options is progressive or interlaced, choose progressive.
-Troy @ TLC
Office Insider for Office 365
Get early updates to Office 365 as an Office Insider
Office Insider is an early release program, sort of equivalent to a Beta Release. For Office 365 subscribers, it’s called “Office Insider” and for Business subscriptions, it’s called “First Release.”
Both programs get new features automatically added to Office programs such as: PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, Skype, Excel.
The Office Insider program is free and easy to add to your subscription. The Office Insider program includes: PowerPoint for Windows Desktop, Mac, Android, and Mobile.
Here’s how to be an Office Insider
This example is based on Office 365 Business, which is the version we use at TLC. Your subscription might be different so take a look at the version of Office 365 you have.
1. Log into your Office 365 account to access the Admin Center (Note: The Admin option is only available to those with admin permissions). This Account Admin is not the same as the individual Admin inside PowerPoint or any Office app.
There’s different logins for different Subscriptions. Click this link for more information: Office 365 Login
2. Go to the Account Admin > SERVICE SETTINGS > UPDATES > NEW FEATURES AND UPDATES > EARLY RELEASE and select the option you want.
Office 365 Updates and who gets them
First, Office 365 Home, Personal, or University subscribers get the updates. Next, Office 365 Business subscribers, that do not have Admin restrictions, receive early release features. And finally, approximately 3-5 weeks later, the new features will install to all O365 subscribers.
Here is a page with details for Office 365 Early Release Options.
Here is a page that details each of the Office 365 Subscription Options .
-Troy @ TLC