I’ve been doing some advanced Powerpoint presentations on my Mac Pro for my VP this last year, presentations that include audio, video, slideshows and various transitions. While they look very nice popped into a trustee’s report, they have not come without their share of problems. Let me break it down for you.
Video
In a nutshell: MOV files do not work. They appear to work on a Mac, but take that file to a PC…FAIL. And a PC is what this presentation will ultimately be viewed on, so it has to function properly. My solution has been to export the movie as an AVI file and insert it into the PPT on a PC, not a Mac.
Audio
If there is audio in a PPT and you export it to QuickTime, chances are the audio is gone on the export. Not so…again…with Keynote. You have the option to include both embedded sound files and movie audio. And it works.
Slideshows
Today was my eureka moment on this problem. I have 2 slides with multiple slideshows on each, but each time I exported the file in Powerpoint, I only got the initial state of the slide, not the transitions and the additional images. I searched around on the web for tips and found some software, which used Java, and worked, but I didn’t think this was a solution I actually needed to pay for. One of the search pages mentioned Keynote, which I don’t use normally, and I thought, “Hmm. Wonder if I could import this PPT into Keynote and see if Keynote could export it properly?” It did. And perfectly. I was able to get a successful result with exporting both to QuickTime and to Flash. The Flash file was smaller, but the quality was less, too, so, since server space wasn’t an issue, I decided to use the QuickTime format.
Transitions
See Slideshows above.
Conclusion
I think it’s time for me to give Keynote another look. Just like any Apple product, it tricks you with its superficial simplicity, thinking that it couldn’t possibly do the kinds of things you need it to do. And again, just like my discovery of the power of iMovie, I’m proven wrong. Score yet another point in your quest for world domination, Apple. And even though I’m a converted PC user, this just reinforces my decision to go Mac and never go back.
