Powerpoint is plagued by what all Microsoft (and Apple) apps are plagued by -- it doesn't work well
cross-computer or cross-platform because the fonts are specific to the machine on which it was
created. You can partially solve this problem by saving as Acrobat, because Acrobat attempted to use
generic system fonts if it can't find an obscure font.
NOTE -- use generic fonts and you'll never have bad problems!
Embedded video is a nightmare unless you are going to use the computer on which the Powerpoint is
created and you're sure it will work with the house projector (don't count on it). Audio is only
slightly more reliable, but not very much.
Why make your life more difficult if you're a presenter? Keep your slides simple, use screen
resolution graphics, save to Acrobat and use that as your presentation media, and keep the audio and
video separate as standard/well-known media (Red Book CDs and DVD+R media).
You wanna be fancy, OK, but it's risky. I saw some heartbreak at ARSC Rochester -- presentations
that just wouldn't work because they were too complex for the house systems.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Pultz" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 25, 2013 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tip for ARSC Conference presenters -- reinforcing previous lessons
Just an obscure little thing called PowerPoint, something of an international standard in the
business world for, what?, the last twenty years. Works on pretty much any computer that can play a
Youtube video. Maybe Michael Biel has heard of it? Does require some familiarity and forethought; a
quick skim of a Dummys book for a smart guy. Once learned, it is easier to revamp than changing
Ektachromes in a tray. Integrating other media into the PP is not simple, but not beyond someone
with an agile mind.
No offense intended, but one root of the problem is neatly summarised below, which doesn't reflect
on the quality of a presentation so much as the challenge it offloads onto the person who has to run
it, plus all the others. It is good that the task is understood, better if it is minimized. Isn't
assuring a smooth show a good enough reason? Pointing a finger at another guy isn't a solution. My
idea may not meet ARSC's needs, but without some strategy, gradually adopted, attendees may be
doomed to the same complaints, again and again.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Michael Biel
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 11:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tip for ARSC Conference presenters -- reinforcing previous lessons
I do not understand a thing that Carl Pultz wrote. Our presenters come from all over the country
and all over the world. We each have our own personal equipment. Most of us are not computer
experts. You cannot possibly consider that there would be one standard that all the presenters must
meet. You expect us to go out and get new equipment just to make an unpaid presentation that WE end
up having to pay for because we have to travel, pay for our rooms, AND conference registration. AND
finish these things far enough in advance that someone --WHO????-- would pre-load onto equipment
that the organization does not have. This seems to mean three times the amount of work FOR NO
REASON AT ALL. Just to make it easy for some techie who nobody has met and would have different
equipment every year at our different locations.
What is not understood is that the techie is working an audio mixer and a video projector, and a
CD/DVD player, and maybe a computer. We give him our CDs, DVDs, and maybe thumb drives, or else
plug in our own computers. We arrive the day before or the day of our presentations.
We are updating and editing our presentations the day before or the day of.
Consistency???? Put the audio on a CD. Put the video on a DVD. Put the powerpoint or graphics on
a thumb drive. What kind of an app are you thinking of????
Mike Biel [log in to unmask]
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tip for ARSC Conference presenters -- reinforcing previous lessons
From: Carl Pultz <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, February 24, 2013 10:04 pm
To: [log in to unmask]
In which case there is no substitute for consistancy. All the presentations should run the same way,
from the same media, with the same visual formatting of documentation. Each one should be so simple
a child could do it, because that's who you may be depending on.
Is there one app you can specify to the contractor, or bring to the conference, that will play both
visual and aural elements? You can then publish out to the presenters detailed info to meet that
standard. I'd suggest everything come in on memory sticks, or, better, be pre-loaded on the systems;
no CDs, no switching computers. Advantages include easy copying and sharing - a speaker could send
it to the "Presentation Technical Standards Committee" for a test drive on the approved platform.
Those platforms, ie laptops, could then be provided to the AV operators from which to run the day's
shows.
If I was running one of these things, after a night of rock-band PA-mixing and debauchery,
possessing minimal comprehension and language skills, I'd love to open My Documents and see:
ARSC Presentations\Thursday\Morning\Session 1 10:00am\Presentation 1\Uncle Dave Shocks.ppt ARSC
Presentations\Thursday\Morning\Session 1 10:00am\Presentation 2\Steve Smolian Amazes.ppt
Etc, etc.
Don't know if PowerPoint will support embedded audio at CD quality, but treating all elements as
slides seems like a slick solution. If there's a clicker at the podium, you are in control of
everything but the volume.
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Steve Smolian
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 5:27 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tip for ARSC Conference presenters -- reinforcing previous lessons
Many hotels have strict union rules forbidding this.
Steve Smolian
-----Original Message-----
From: Frank Strauss
Sent: Sunday, February 24, 2013 3:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Tip for ARSC Conference presenters -- reinforcing previous lessons
> One approach could be to rent the equipement and installation locally,
> but ARSC have its own operators. Hands?
>
> I have been the AV boy for a local Rotary Club for many years, from
> back
in the days of the Kodak Carousel, and I sometimes wish for the return of the Carousel, when the
worst emergency was a blown bulb or a slide that wouldn't drop. One of the most stressful situations
you can have is when the speaker shows up, often a little late, and his/her laptop doesn't like our
projector/sound system, or the speaker brings his/her presentation on non/semi compatible media. MS
has planted enough little time bombs in the different versions of Windows and PP, so that the 5
minutes before the presentation can be excruciating. The worst case scenario is when the speaker
shows up with a MAC, and doesn't realize we have a VGA projector, even though that information was
sent to him/her prior to the meeting.
They
assume we have a converter/adapter and we assume they have done it before, and have the necessary
equipment. There is no substitute for operator expertise and experience. Also, a very valid point
was raised about what is on your PP slide. Way too many people put a slide up and then read it word
for word. Another annoyance is the use of random slide transitions.
Just because they are there, you don't need to use them. Maybe a good subject for a presentation at
an ARSC convention would be how to put a presentation together, including how to make things work in
the 5 minutes before show time.
--
Frank B Strauss, DMD
|