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When the program starts, you can use the wizard to help you build your presentation and open the media files you need. Rather than starting with a blank slate, the wizard helps the presenter step-by-step add media to the presentation. However, presenters can skip the wizard and work with the program to create the presentation from scratch.
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Like PowerPoint, Producer comes with design templates and layouts to help the presenter visualize the presentation. The four design templates provide a little color and background image for the presentation and each design has various layouts from which to choose. You can customize the layouts to your liking including the background.
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If you're including video in the presentation, the layouts for Producer have different sizes for video from as small as 240x180 to as big as 800x600. Another layout option comes with audio and slides. The following image uses the 240x180 video and slides layout. Presenters will appreciate the layouts, which save time in figuring out where all the elements should go.
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The key difference between Producer and PowerPoint is that Producer comes with a timeline. You can set timing on PowerPoint slides, but the program requires opening each slide and changing the number. The Producer timeline has drag 'n drop capabilities for moving media in a different order, making the media longer or shorter and adding or removing the media from the presentation. The visual timeline provides an excellent overview of how the presentation is set up.
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While working on the presentation, the presenter can preview any element from the timeline right there on the interface. The presenter can switch to Preview Presentation mode and view the presentation almost exactly how it will look in a browser without opening the browser.
The entire video appears in the timeline when inserting the video into the presentation, but you can change the video to show only the start or end by shortening the video. To show the start of the video, slide the video item on the timeline from right-to-left. Sliding the video from left-to-right shows the end of video. The length depends on how long the item appears on the timeline.
Producer comes with transitions and effects for videos plus Producer retains the transitions and animation from PowerPoint slides, something not many applications can do.
The stars in the timeline indicate there are PowerPoint transitions and effects in the specific PowerPoint slide. However, after adding the animation in PowerPoint, the text in the presentation lost its quality as shown in the image below titled "History."
Presentations created with Microsoft Producer can only be viewed in Internet Explorer 5.0 and later, Netscape 7.0 and later, and Internet Explorer 5.2.2 and later for Macs. Opening the presentation in Firefox doesn't work as the presentation appears garbled. The presentation worked perfectly in Internet Explorer 6.0.
Microsoft Producer packs a lot of power not typically expected of free software. Users, even experienced computer users, will most likely need to play with the software to get comfortable and discover all relevant features. As previously mentioned, Producer has helpful tutorials, a thorough help file and other resources to support the presenter.
Requirements:
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or Windows XP
Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
Internet Explorer 5.0 and later, Netscape 7.0 and later or Internet Explorer 5.2.2 and later for Mac viewers
Supported File Formats:
- Audio files: .aif, .aifc, .aiff .asf, .au, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .snd, .wav, and .wma
- HTML files: .htm and .html
- Image files: .bmp, .dib, .emf, .gif, .jfif, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tif, .tiff, and .wmf
- PowerPoint files: .pps and .ppt
- Video files: .asf, .avi, .m1v, .mp2, .mp2v, .mpe, .mpeg, .mpg, .mpv2, .wm, and .wmv
Documentation, Tutorials, Examples and Help:
Producer comes with a detailed Help file and Microsoft also provides tutorials and a thorough Producer 2003 product information page. View demos and examples of Producer-produced presentations.
Price:
Free. If you want to order Producer on CD, the price is USD $0.65 plus shipping and handling.
Download Microsoft Producer
