How to record and syncronize business presentations with datashow apps?

Lawrence_S wrote on 9/6/2004, 10:42 AM

Hi fellas,

I need to record some business presentations. I have to capture and syncronize the presenters with their desktop aplications such as Power Point.

My question is: what is the best and/or easiest way to record and syncronize the datashow presentations with the captured images of the presenter(s)?

Thanks,

Lawrence

Comments

earthrisers wrote on 9/6/2004, 10:52 AM

Three possible ways:
(1)Videotape the whole show, including the (presumably) on-screen images the presenters present. Then you won't have to do any manual synching at all.

(2)If lighting/projection conditions wouldn't allow for a good video image using the first route, then videotape the whole show anyway, and obtain, from the presenters, the computer files of the images they projected. Import the still images into Vegas, and adjust the duration of each one to match the accompanying audio. Throw out the original video track, unless you want to fade back & forth between the presenters and the still-images, or whatever.

(3)If the presenters are using "fancy" Powerpoint stuff such as slide-animations, and if option #1 above won't work for your situation, then don't use video at all for your project. Instead, take advantage of PowerPoint's own ability to record audio tracks into a PowerPoint presentation.

Sab wrote on 9/6/2004, 11:10 AM

There is a product available from Microsoft called Micfrosoft Producer. This program is designed to do exactly what you asked about. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/producer/prodinfo/demos.mspx to see examples of what the finished product looks like. The program is a free add-onn to Powerpoint. It works exceptionally well. You can email me at avs@elitemm.com if you'd like more information.

Mike

Lawrence_S wrote on 9/6/2004, 12:49 PM

And... What if I need to record cursor movements and other things like animations running on Power Point presentations? I thought 2 ways. Tell me if you agree:

1. Use a VGA to video converter (hardware). The output of the PC video card conected to the input of a Mini-DV recorder. After that, I´ll sync using VEGAS.

2 Use a app like CAMTASIA that transforms desktop movements into video. The only doubt is that I don´t know if VEGAS works properly with the CAMTASIA video codec.

wombat wrote on 9/6/2004, 5:31 PM

I had no problems using Camtasia captured files in Vegas

Sab wrote on 9/6/2004, 6:25 PM

Hi again Lawrence. Did you get a chance to look at the MS Producer site? All of the animations and fly-ons and such are kept intact. No need for using any other program. I know it sounds too easy but it works very well.

Here is a synopsis of the workflow (abriviated):

1. Obtain a copy of the Powerpoint presentation that will be used and load it into your computer/laptop.

2. Connect a camcorder by firewire into your computer/laptop.

3. Follow the setup wizard in Producer and choose the final method of distribution.

4. Capture the speaker giving his or her presentation directly into Producer. When they change slides, you do the same with your copy of the presentation. In doing so, you are actually syncing the video and Powerpoint simultaneously. You can go back later and make a change if you made a mistake. Doing it live saves LOTS of hours of time.

5. When finished, assuming there were no mistakes, simply render in Producer. The finished product is actually a group of files and some html. The finished product can be burned to CD, DVD or streamed on the web. It is possible to get several hours of a presentation on 1 disc and depending on the quality setting you chose when you started, it looks very good.

Again, send me an email if you want more specifics as we do this all the time.

Mike

Lawrence_S wrote on 9/9/2004, 8:47 AM

Thanks Mike!

I´ve downloaded the MS Producer and I´ll test it :-)

Lawrence