PPT2DVD (formerly known as PowerPoint2DVD) gives you the option of creating a miniDVD (DVD format on a CD disc), moving a presentation and all of its files to a DVD, or creating an MPEG video.
Up to eight PowerPoint slide shows can be added to a conversion project, making this a handy way to archive shows that are no longer in circulation.
The product is easy to use, with the entire process handled in a wizard format.
Photo credit: wondershare
Once you select an output format (you will need 2 gigabytes of space in an output folder and a temp folder) you have a number of output otpions to select from:
- Aspect ratio of 4:3 (standard TV) or 16:9 (high-definition TV)
- Whether to keep transitions and animations
- The TV standard for your country or the country of distribution
- Video layout, including previous and next buttons, background color or image, and how much of the screen the movie should occupy
- Whether slides are shown automatically or manually
- The appearance of a menu in which the viewer selects how they want to view the movie
- Background music to play during the video.
PPT2DVD has a limited selection of templates for creating the DVD menu page, but since you can select a background image, you can create your own template. There does not appear to be a means of creating different buttons, either for the menu page or the next and previous buttons.
The conversion process takes some time. I tested a 54 slide show with a photo on each slide. The total conversion time was close to 10 minutes.
PowerPoint is opened during the process, so you should not have it open for other reasons while you are making the DVD.
It is probably a good idea not to have any programs running during conversion unless you have lots of memory and available disk space on your computer.
You can adjust slide duration and other playback options after the first conversion pass is completed. With this done, PPT2DVD creates the final output files.
Information about the current version of PPT2DVD is on the wondershare Web site.
You can download a 15-day free trial
at the wondershare Web site.
The trial version comes with a sample slide show you can use to evaluate the products functionality.
PPT2DVD is available in three licensing options:
- Personal License: $ 99.95
- Business License: $199.95
- Site License: $399.95
System requirements:
- Microsoft PowerPoint version: 2000 (or above)
- Operating System: Windows 2000/XP
- Processor (CPU): Pentium III / Athlon 500 MHz or above
- RAM: 256 MB or above
- Hard Drive(s) Speed: 5400 RPM or above
- Hard Drive(s) Size: 2 GB Free Space or above
- Graphics/Video Board: 1024 X 768, 24-bit,32 MB RAM
- DVD or CD writer: Yes
If you are looking for something to convert PowerPoint to other video formats, read Robin Good's reviews of several PowerPoint conversion products.
