Software/Add-Ins

Clipchamp – Install Guide

Clipchamp is a video editing app that focuses on making video editing simple and fun. It was purchased by Microsoft with the goal to “empower creators.” Users can edit videos for a variety of social media platforms, such as YouTube and Instagram, or video to be used in a PowerPoint presentation. The app focuses on their template designs, but ignore that, import your own media, and have an easy to use video editor that exports professional file formats.

Getting Clipchamp has many options right now; download from the Clipchamp website, download from the Microsoft App Store, or the mobile version (review of the mobile app later in this series) at the Apple or Android app stores. One note, ClipChamp is not available for Mac computers currently.

At TLC Creative our focus is presentation design, so here is the process of installing on a Windows computer.

1. Open the Microsoft app store and search for “Clipchamp”.

2. Click on Clipchamp and “get” to download.

3. Alternately, go to the Clipchamp website, which ultimately takes you to the Microsoft app store to install. Hover over the “About” link in the top navigation menu and click on “Our products” from the drop-down menu.


4. On the product information page, click “Desktop app”.

5. Then click the option that you need (eg. “Microsoft’s Windows”).

6. Then click “Get it from Microsoft” button. The pop-up window is the Microsoft Store. Click “get” to download and install.

When installed on a computer, the app interface is virtually the same as the web-based interface, but you do not need to upload media (eg. videos, photos, audio) and can work on them as local files.

More to come!
Karen @ TLC

 

By |2022-06-22T12:44:47-07:00June 13th, 2022|Software/Add-Ins|

Clipchamp – A New Video Editor

Climpchamp is a video editing app that focuses on making video editing simple and fun. Microsoft recently acquired the company and is adding clipchamp to its array of features. Microsoft notes the goal is to “empower creators” – and as presentation designers, we are creators!

Clipchamp is a very capable (eg. real) video editing application. It does have a strong focus on video for social media; YouTube, Instagram, etc. – but this blog series is focused on using clipchamp for videos to be used in presentations.

Microsoft acquired Clipchamp, the Australian based video-editing app, in early September 2021 for an undisclosed amount. Clipchamp will soon be pre-installed on Windows 11 computers and is available to all now if they search, download and install. Clipchamp is also unique in that is as a mobile app, web-based browser app, and installed as a local/desktop app.

Troy here at TLC Creative Services has been testing Clipchamp, and already used it on several client projects – which prompted adding this blog series. I heard Troy say he thinks as a Microsoft standard app, clipchamp will become a standard video workflow option for presentation designers.


The app is free to use, but is currently a “freemium” app where there is a subscription to add some of its  features, such as unlimited cloud storage, unlimited stock media, and create a brand kit.

Clipchamp’s other great features include text-to-speech, video captions, essential tools for trimming and cropping, fade effects, and even green screen. Standby for each to be covered in upcoming blog posts.

By |2022-06-17T08:58:15-07:00June 9th, 2022|Software/Add-Ins|

Remove Text Margins – in 1 Click!

Here is something I do dozens, if not hundreds of times per day. Select a text box > open the Format Shape pane > find the inner margin settings.

Then change all to zero’s

Recently I added this amazing icon to my QAT

It is the “Remove (inner margins) from Selection” feature now in Brightslide.

The Brightslide “Text Margins” has 3 options for removing inner margins; from selected shape (this is the one added to my QAT), from every text box on every slide (wow!) or from all Master Layouts (which means any text box associated with a master placeholder will have the inner margins set to zero, but all individual text boxes on slides not connected to a master layout will remain as set).

And the Brightslide PowerPoint add-in suite is FREE from the super people at BrightCarbon!

Troy @ TLC

By |2022-05-23T18:42:09-07:00May 25th, 2022|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|

Windows ML-Noise Suppression and Background Music

Coming soon to a Windows based computer! The rollout is slated for February through March 2022; ML-Noise Suppression.

What is ML-based noise suppression?

When researching this new Windows feature the phrase “ML-based noise suppression” was used a lot. So I had to identify what it was. It is “Machine Learning based noise suppression”, or AI (Artificial Intelligence). This feature is not entirely new. ML-based noise suppression was released earlier in Windows as an option users could turn on, but with this rollout it is now enabled by default.

How does it work?

The simple description is “ML-based noise suppression considers any non-speech signal picked up by the microphone as noise which should be suppressed.” Microsoft says “[our] noise suppression feature works by analyzing an individual’s audio feed and uses specially trained deep neural networks to filter out noise and only retain speech. While traditional noise suppression algorithms can only address simple stationary noise sources such as a consistent fan noise, our AI-based approach learns the difference between speech and unnecessary noise and is able to suppress various non-stationary noises, such as keyboard typing or food wrapper crunching.” The newest feature to this system is that “non-speech” also now means background music.

Where do we see it?

I am not entirely sure where this new background music suppression will show up. It is currently integrated into Microsoft Teams Desktop App for video and audio calls. I can see this being leveraged within PowerPoint’s record feature, and potentially by other applications (e.g. Zoom or other live microphone apps).

This is the notification seen in a Microsoft Teams meeting or call if the ML-based noise suppression is activated:

How do we turn it off?

If there is an option to turn on or enable, High Fidelity (music) Mode, that tells the machine learning system to allow music to be included.

The Microsoft Office Blog has a nice article written by one of the PM’s here.

 

Troy @ TLC

By |2022-01-26T08:00:09-08:00January 26th, 2022|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Slide Layouts on the QAT

This is something new on the TLC Creative PowerPoint QAT – Slide Layout (QAT stands for Quick Access Toolbar).

I am constantly looking for new ways to improve work flow while editing slides in PowerPoint. I’m not certain why this feature was not added years ago! Checking what Slide Layout is used for a slide, or changing a slide’s Master Layout is a tedious process of going to the HOME tab, then the SLIDE LAYOUT drop-down, and seeing the applied layout for that slide. To streamline the process, and make the Slide Layout option available at any time (eg. when not on the HOME tab), it now has a permanent home on the QAT (Quick Access Toolbar).

To add this to your QAT:

  • Go to the HOME tab
  • Right-click the LAYOUT icon
  • Select ADD TO QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR
  • Done!

Troy @ TLC

By |2022-01-14T05:37:57-08:00January 14th, 2022|Software/Add-Ins|

ToolsToo v10 Available!

The ToolsToo PowerPoint add-in recently released a big update, version 10.0.0.0.

We run this add-in on all design computers at TLC Creative and find many features invaluable. Here on ThePowerPointBlog ToolsToo has been reviewed and referenced several times (most recent full review looks like it was in 2016, here).

Version 10 has several new features that I have been experimenting with:

  • REMOVE DESIGN ELEMENTS: this is pretty cool. 1 click to remove all non-placeholder content on slide master and slide layouts. This includes placed images (full background, logos, etc.), placed PowerPoint shapes/lines/text boxes/basically everything but the placeholders.
    • For me so far, I would like to see this tool expanded to be able to just strip out content from a selected slide layout (vs. every layout in a file).
  • HIDE ALL BUT SELECTED: Actually, not certain if this is brand new, but it is a huge time saver when designing. Select 1 or more elements on a slide, use this tool to turn them off in the Selection Pane, without opening the Selection Pane! One step further is the option to do the opposite, select 1 or more elements and hide (or turn off in the Selection Pane) everything not selected!
    • Also, each tool can be separately added to the QAT
  • TOOL CHAINS: Basically, this allows every user to create their own multi-action custom VBA code. It is constrained to using only Toolstool PowerPoint tools (I am hopeful that this great feature will expand to allow native PowerPoint tools and maybe even other 3rd party tools be included in a chain – please!).
    • The interface for creating Chains is simple. Find the tool on the left, add to the right column, adjust order on right, give the Chain of actions a name and save.

Note: ToolsTool is a PowerPoint for Windows add-in (no Mac version option and does not work with PowerPoint for Web).

Get more information at the ToolsToo website here. ToolsTool is $20 and not only an amazing set of productivity tools, but an amazing value!

Troy @ TLC

By |2022-01-08T14:56:48-08:00January 10th, 2022|Software/Add-Ins|

Teams – Presenter View Grid View

While presenting in Teams via PowerPoint Live, there is a grid view of your presentation so you can see an overview of slides. To show Grid View, you can click the icon in the toolbar under the slides or use the short key G to bring up.

The important thing to know if the audience continues to see the current slide full screen. They do not see the slide sort, or Grid View. In grid view the active slide that the audience is seeing is highlighted with an orange outline.

As the presenter, you can click any slide to make that the active presentation slide (eg. go out of order). Or click the X in the upper right hand corner to close Grid View and continue presenting the current active slide.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-12-18T11:22:07-08:00December 23rd, 2021|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Teams – Customize the Teams Presenter View Layout

The Teams version of Presenter View is based on the PowerPoint desktop Presenter View (which needs improvement). Fortunately the Teams dev team is able to pick some of the best part of Presenter View, ignore some of the areas that are not well executed, and add some new features (that are needed in the desktop Presenter View!). At this time, in the Teams Presenter View, if you do not need the presenter notes, the film strip thumbnails along the bottom or Presenter View tools – a presenter can easily hide them.

The default view when presenting a PowerPoint presentation in Teams, is presenter view. Notes are displayed to the right and the film strip thumbnails along the bottom.

If you don’t have any notes or do not need to see the slide thumbnails, there is an option to show slides only. Do this by clicking the 3 dot menu under the active slide (1) and click “Hide Presenter View” (2).

Now the slides are larger, front, and center. You still have access to the tools if needed.

By |2021-12-18T11:17:12-08:00December 20th, 2021|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Teams – What is “Standout” Mode?

A new feature in Teams, is the Standout mode while presenting. This is a very cool feature, and I am certain just the start of a technology shift that will become a trend in presenting. Standout Model allows your webcam to be superimposed OVER the slides while you’re presenting. AND, it uses a digital green screen to only show you, the presenter on top of your presentation slides.

Here is how to do it.

  1. With your webcam turned on, click the Standout button (second icon in the Presenter Mode section at the top of the screen).
  2. Now your video feed is super imposed over your slides (1) and your regular teams camera view (2) is turned off. Teams will automatically remove your background.

Note: the digital green screen is not going to produce perfect results. Green screen technology itself relies on profession, even lighting – something most office and desk setups do not have. And the digital part of the digital green screen technology is still new and the code will get better and detecting edges and separating the presenter from the background.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-12-18T11:09:52-08:00December 18th, 2021|PowerPoint, Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Teams – What, The Audience Can See ALL of My Slides!

This is a feature – and one we at TLC Creative are not fond of (at least as the default behavior). While sharing a PowerPoint presentation in Teams, participants can scroll through your slides out of sync from you. This means anyone in the meeting can move through your slides, forward or back, away from the slide you are currently speaking to. They can see ahead, effectively ruining any big reveal. They can be distracted looking at other slide content and not focusing on you and the your presentation. AND, this is the default behavior when you present a slide deck in Teams!

To disable this function, click the eyeball icon next to the “Stop Presenting” button

The eye icon will now have a line through it, indicating it is now disabled.

Troy @ TLC

By |2021-12-18T11:03:51-08:00December 17th, 2021|PowerPoint, Software/Add-Ins|
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