Converting Powerpoint to Flash

With the help of a program called PowerCONVERTER from Presentation Pro, Microsoft Powerpoint presentations can easily be converted to Macromedia Flash. This Flash output file can then be inserted directly into an Aavelin Composer project. This document outlines the steps necessary to accomplish this.

Begin by installing PowerCONVERTER and opening your Powerpoint presentation.

Converting Powerpoint to Flash

Right-click on a slide thumbnail and select ‘Slide Transition’. Select ‘Automatically After’ and specify the slide duration. Click on the ‘Apply to All Slides’ button to automate the playback of the presentation. Durations for individual slides can be adjusted in a similar fashion.

This is the only modification necessary to prepare the presentation for conversion.

You are now ready to begin the conversion process. With the PowerCONVERTER software installed, click on the button shown below.

The PowerCONVERTER window opens:

Click on the button just below Step 1 to begin the conversion process. This may take several minutes. When completed, a pop-up window with your converted presentation will be shown. Click on the ‘Save as SWF’ button.

Answer ‘No’ to the prompts that follow about viewing your presentation with the player, and creating an HTML file. Neither of these are needed when importing an SWF file into Aavelin Composer.

You will then be prompted for a path to save the SWF file. Place this in a location where it may reside permanently.

Importing Flash to Aavelin Composer

Open Aavelin Composer and select the project of your choice, or create a new project. Double click the thumbnail for the page that you want to add the SWF file to. Or, if you want it on a new page, click the Append Page or Insert Page buttons. In the page editor, click on the ‘Insert Flash’ button.

Composer will ask if you wish to use the audio associated with the Flash object. This can be changed later using the ‘Audio’ tab of ‘Page Properties’.

Double-click on the placeholder graphic and click on the ‘Browse’ button. Browse to the location where the SWF output file was saved, select the file, and press the ‘Open’ button. Press ‘OK’ on the Object Properties window.

Back in the page editor, you can move and resize the Flash object on the page by using the white object handles. If the Flash object becomes deselected, you can reselect it using the Object Selection Toolbar (shown at the top of this capture).

You can now save and exit the project, and publish it to an Aavelin system for playback. PowerCONVERTER retains all settings of the original Powerpoint presentation including transitions, providing a dynamic, eye-catching addition to your Aavelin project.

About MagicBox

MagicBox, Inc. has been manufacturing Character Generators and Video Messaging Systems, for CATV, CCTV, Satellite and Digital Signage applications since 1992. Customers have expanded from cable to include education, government, hospitality, medical, and corporate applications. Product development is focused on ease of use and integration with other systems. For more information, visit www.magicboxinc.com.

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