Recording a PowerPoint presentation

Recording a PowerPoint presentation

Document number: 18293

Before recording streaming media, ensure that your computer meets the hardware requirements listed in Eureka! document 18297 — Hardware requirements for streaming content creation. For additional information about creating streaming media, see Eureka! document 18291 — Creating streaming content.

You can create a narrated PowerPoint slide show in streaming format for training, presentations or meetings that need graphics to accompany the audio. The suggested tools are: Microsoft PowerPoint, Hypercam (or Camtasia); Microsoft® Encoder; suggested external microphone or headset.

PowerPoint is the most commonly used multimedia presentation tool in the company, and converting it to a streaming instead of making users download a large .ppt file can greatly reduce network traffic and eliminate the frustrating download delays from small-office and overseas users.

Follow the steps below to walk through and narrate your PowerPoint while recording it to an .avi movie with Hypercam, convert the movie to streaming using Encoder and publish it.

Hypercam and MS Encoder

The example here uses Hypercam, but depending on your machine, Camtasia Studio may work for you as well.

Record your PowerPoint using Hypercam. (Some weaker machines might have trouble capturing animations and transitions, so test it first to make sure.)

Bring up Hypercam and configure it properly:

Screen Area tab: Select the entire screen (if desired).
AVI File Tab: Name our file and place it in the directory you want to save it to; ensure Record Sound is checked; set frame rate to 10 fps for record and playback; set the key frames to 30.
Sound tab: Change sound to 16 Bit, 8000 samples per second.

Record the PowerPoint—Display your PowerPoint in Slide Show (F5); F2 is the default start/stop key; Narrate your slides and navigate through them normally. When you’re done, use the F2 key again to stop the recording. (Note: It’s recommended that you use a microphone or headset for better sound quality. You might want to try a slide or two first and then check the sound.)
Check the .avi Movie—You can press the Play button in Hypercam to review your recording. Full screen view (ALT + ENTER) in Media Player should be the best view.

To convert your recording to low-bandwidth, use Encoder’s Wizard—you can get Windows Media Encoder 9 Series from Microsoft’s site (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp). For more information about low-bandwidth, see the low/high bandwidth section of Eureka! document 18286 — Streaming Media FAQs.

Start Encoder and choose Convert a File under the Wizards tab in the New Session dialogue box; click OK.
At Source File, browse for your recorded .avi file.
Check the Output File location and the name and change it if you like; click Next.
Choose Windows Media Server for the content distribution type; click Next.
For Encoding Options, leave it as it is because you’re going to change this to the PeopleSoft custom profile in Step H below.
Enter the Title and Author in the display information dialogue (the rest is optional); click Next.
On Settings Review, make sure the box to begin converting when you click Finish is unchecked. You don’t want to start encoding yet. Then click Finish.
Click the Properties button in the toolbar, select the Output tab, and uncheck the Pull From Encoder box if it’s not already unchecked. Then check the Encode to File box and make sure the proper file location and name is in the File Name field if it isn’t already. This will be the name and location of your encoding.
Select the Compression tab and then the Edit button, and then click the Import button.
Select the custom profile, PSFT Screen Capture Low Bandwidth.prx.

Note: To ensure that as many small-office and dial-up users as possible can view the material, it’s PeopleSoft’s standard policy that all content recordings should have a low-bandwidth version at a minimum. There’s no improvement in the audio or video quality with the high-bandwidth profile, and it could limit the number of concurrent viewers in smaller offices. See the high or low bandwidth section of Eureka! document 18286 — Streaming Media FAQs for a more detailed explanation of high and low-bandwidth systems and their coverage.

Click OK. The Details window on the Session Properties screen should show the proper information now.
Click Apply and then the Start Encoding button in the toolbar.
Review the .wmv file by clicking the Play Output File button and make sure it looks/sounds right and has the correct bit rate (shown at the bottom of the viewer). Full screen mode (ALT + ENTER) in Media Player should be the best view.
When you’re satisfied with your recordings, you must have them published to the streaming server network and have links created in Planet PeopleSoft. Refer to Eureka! document 18298 — Publishing Streaming Content for details on where to put your finished file(s) and who to contact to get them published.

Note: If you plan on doing this process regularly, it will make the process easier to save this configuration in the Windows Media Encoder as a .wme file so you can use it in the future rather than recreate all the settings each time.