PPTXP CD presentation with movies and PPT Viewer

[Steve R.]

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the terrific information.

I have questions/clarifications regarding a project I'm working on. I'm
developing a self running PowerPointXP presentation that will be
distributed on CDROM. The client wants to insert video interviews that
are being shot on a MiniDV video camera. The disc will be distributed
according to the client's mailing list. It is unknown what type of
computer or OS the audience will be using. I'm planning on including
the new Windows 2003 PPT Viewer and the old Macintosh 98 PPT
viewer on the disc.

The videographer wants me to determine the file format and
compression needed for the video interviews. I'm no expert on this
matter. After reviewing all the information I could locate on the subject,
it seems there is only one choice for this to work for the majority of
users:

Mpeg-1 format
352 x 240 pixels
29.97 frames per second
video stream 1150 kbits
audio stream 224 kbits
16-bit color depth

Is this correct? No other format will work dependably for the majority
of users?

Is there a codec I need to specify with Mpeg-1?

If the presentation is created in PPTXP, will the video play correctly on a
Macintosh computer?


Regarding the Windows 2003 PPT Viewer:

If I include the viewer on disc, does that mean Windows machines
without PowerPointXP will be able to view the show and see the XP
transitions/animations even if they are running a Windows OS older
than XP?

Does the viewer need to be in the same folder with the PPS file and
Mpeg-1 files?

Thank you in advance!

Steve R.

 

[Troy @ TLC Creative]

Steve,

These are the "tough" issues in dealing with distributed PPT presentations!
For the 2003 viewer - yes it supports video playback on all Windows
machines. If using XP specific animations, semi-transparent boxes,
hyperlinks. etc. be sure to run presentation in viewer to assure it all
works/appears as expected.

I personally use MPG-1 files in distributed presentations and out of
thousands of views have received only a handful of reports of people being
unable to view (most of those have been diagnosed down to Pentium I or II
machines with 4x or slower CDs).

For the Mac viewer, again test the presentation using the viewer as it has
many limitations when it comes to animations, transitions, etc. But if kept
to PPT 97 animations all should work just fine.

Unless you have a utility (such as fix links pro) or access to PPT 2003 (it
has a greatly improved pack & go) to make the links relative and able to
identify the multimedia in a separate folder it would be best to keep ALL in
the same folder.
--
Best Regards,
Troy Chollar
==============================
TLC Creative Services
www.tlccreative.com
(e-mail address removed)
==============================


Hello everyone! Thanks for all the terrific information.

I have questions/clarifications regarding a project I'm working on. I'm
developing a self running PowerPointXP presentation that will be
distributed on CDROM. The client wants to insert video interviews that
are being shot on a MiniDV video camera. The disc will be distributed
according to the client's mailing list. It is unknown what type of
computer or OS the audience will be using. I'm planning on including
the new Windows 2003 PPT Viewer and the old Macintosh 98 PPT
viewer on the disc.

The videographer wants me to determine the file format and
compression needed for the video interviews. I'm no expert on this
matter. After reviewing all the information I could locate on the subject,
it seems there is only one choice for this to work for the majority of
users:

Mpeg-1 format
352 x 240 pixels
29.97 frames per second
video stream 1150 kbits
audio stream 224 kbits
16-bit color depth

Is this correct? No other format will work dependably for the majority
of users?

Is there a codec I need to specify with Mpeg-1?

If the presentation is created in PPTXP, will the video play correctly on a
Macintosh computer?


Regarding the Windows 2003 PPT Viewer:

If I include the viewer on disc, does that mean Windows machines
without PowerPointXP will be able to view the show and see the XP
transitions/animations even if they are running a Windows OS older
than XP?

Does the viewer need to be in the same folder with the PPS file and
Mpeg-1 files?

Thank you in advance!

Steve R.

 

[Sonia]

The only correction I would make is that the Viewer runs in Win 98 SE, ME,
2000, XP and Windows 2003 Server. That means that it does not run in
Windows 3.1, 95, 98 or NT.

 

[Troy @ TLC Creative]

Thanks Sonia,
I was unaware the new 2003 viewer would not run in 3.1 or NT. I am uncertain
what version, but I have used it on several 98 machines (one is in my
daughters room - I'll have to check what version tonight).
--
Best Regards,
Troy Chollar
==============================
TLC Creative Services
www.tlccreative.com
(e-mail address removed)
==============================

 

[Sonia]

The Viewer spits a message if you try to run it on Win 98, so she must have
Win 98 SE. See
http://www.soniacoleman.com/Tutorials/PowerPoint/powerpoint_2003_viewer.htm

 

[Steve R.]

Thanks for all the terrific tips and info Sonia and Troy!

Regarding the video format I need to specify to the videographer:
(Mpeg-1 format
352 x 240 pixels
29.97 frames per second
video stream 1150 kbits
audio stream 224 kbits
16-bit color depth)

Is there a codec I need to specify with Mpeg-1 format?

Also, do you know of a software program that can create this format?
Quicktime Pro seems geared to MPEG4.

Thanks in again!

Steve R.