Mac- PowerPoint questions

[Limey]

Hi, I wonder if you can help me with a few questions about Powerpoint
on a Mac. I'm new to Macs and Powerpoint, so sorry if they seem a
little simple!

1. From doing a search here earlier I am under the impression that you
cannot get audio to run throuout a presentation. Is there any way I can
do this for example by linking to a different program? If I wanted to
do a presentation would I have to run the audio seperately, say from a
CD player?

2. When trying to align objects to the slide nothing seems to move. How
can I get things to even up? I use "align or distribute"---"relative to
slide" but nothing happends. Am I highlighting too many objects at
once?

3. I want to create four boxes that will move from the centre outand
disappear (smoothly), two left, two right. I have tried some of the
presets but they all seem to go in the same direction. What's the
solution?

Thanks for your time.

David.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Answers (from a sleepy Jim) in line below

--
Jim Gordon
Mac MVP
MVP FAQ
<http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;mvpfaqs>

Hi, I wonder if you can help me with a few questions about Powerpoint
on a Mac. I'm new to Macs and Powerpoint, so sorry if they seem a
little simple!

1. From doing a search here earlier I am under the impression that you
cannot get audio to run throuout a presentation. Is there any way I can
do this for example by linking to a different program? If I wanted to
do a presentation would I have to run the audio seperately, say from a
CD player?

You can have sounds play throughout a presentation. Did you want to have
a song play in the background, a sound-loop, or perhaps a narration?
What file format is the sound? Sounds (depending upon the file type) can
be linked or embedded. Will the presentation be played only on the
computer it is made or are you planning to distribute the presentation?
To Mac users? To Mac and Windows users?

Sorry to be a pest, but the best advice might be different depending...

2. When trying to align objects to the slide nothing seems to move. How
can I get things to even up? I use "align or distribute"---"relative to
slide" but nothing happends. Am I highlighting too many objects at
once?

The align and distribute tool works on the objects that have been
selected (have the little squares showing on their corners and sides).
Drag the mouse over the objects you wish to select in such a way that
the little selection box completely surrounds the objects you which to
work on. Then click the buttons on the selection toolbar. You can drag
that toolbar off the menu and it will become its own menu. Drag the
little gray bar of the align toolbar to get it to "float."

3. I want to create four boxes that will move from the centre outand
disappear (smoothly), two left, two right. I have tried some of the
presets but they all seem to go in the same direction. What's the
solution?

Control click on one of the boxes and choose custom animation. Click the
Add Effect button. Click the EXIT tab. Choose FLY OUT. Click OK

Then decide if you want the boxes to fly out all at the same time or in
sequence. If you want them to fly out all at once the START setting will
be WITH PREVIOUS. If you want them to fly out one a time change START to
AFTER PREVIOUS

Change the PROPERTY to TO LEFT or TO RIGHT as desired for the box.

-Jim

 

[Limey]

Hi Jim,

Many thanks for your help. all the suggestions you made work.
Concerning audio, could you let me know the different ways to link? I
hope to be using PowerPoint not only in the office but also for larger
conference presentations - I still need to do some research on
projectors and hooking them up to PP and a Mac. It's all new to me!

Right now, I want to run a track from itunes beneath the presentation.
Is it posible to get it to fade in/out with the start and end of the
project? I am under the impression that it must be an MP3 file as M4As
are unclickable. I have found out how to add sound effects on
individual objects.

This whole project is for me to familiarize myself with the new
software - if I come up with answers to the questions now, it might
avoid problems in the future.

Again - thanks a lot for your time.

David.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi again David,

First, give this a read - in particular if you plan to make
presentations that will also play on Windows.
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00099.htm

The advice is similar for Macs except that the application that is used
to play audio is QuickTime. iTunes might take over in some cases,
although it's because iTunes has built-in QuickTime.

The most common file format that both Mac and Windows have in common is
AVI.

Here's another tutorial
http://presentation.digitalmedianet.com/2003/04_apr/tutorials/cw_slides_p
pt.htm

There's a particular page that I can't find at the moment that has Mac
information on it.

Regardless, the main thing is to first put your presentation into a
folder. Save it there. Next Put all of the media files you want to use
into the exact same folder (not a subfolder). Then make links to the
media files and save the presentation.

PowerPoint doesn't have the ability to add fade to audio tracks. You'll
have to do that in a sound editing program (garage band, Audacity, etc.)

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP